I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4528 
To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to address the insufficient com-
pensation and recruitment of employees and other personnel of the Nu-
clear Regulatory Commission, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 11, 2023 
Ms. DEGETTE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to address the 
insufficient compensation and recruitment of employees 
and other personnel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening the 
NRC Workforce Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. COMMISSION WORKFORCE. 
(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Atomic Energy Act 
of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 161A the following: 
‘‘SEC. 161B. COMMISSION WORKFORCE. 
‘‘(a) DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 
161 d. of this Act and section 3304 of title 5, 
United States Code, and without regard to the pro-
visions of sections 3309 through 3318 of title 5, 
United States Code, if the Chairman of the Commis-
sion issues a certification that there is a severe 
shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need for 
covered positions to carry out the Commission’s re-
sponsibilities and activities, the Chairman may, sub-
ject to paragraphs (2) and (3), recruit and directly 
appoint highly qualified individuals into the competi-
tive service. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—Any action authorized pur-
suant to paragraph (1) shall be consistent with the 
merit principles of section 2301 of title 5, United 
States Code, and the Chairman shall comply with 
the public notice requirements of section 3327 of 
such title 5. 
‘‘(3) TERMINATION.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A certification issued 
or renewed under this subsection shall termi-
nate on the earlier of— 
‘‘(i) the date that is 5 years after the 
certification is renewed or issued; or 
‘‘(ii) the date on which the Chairman 
determines there is no longer a severe 
shortage of candidates or a critical hiring 
need for covered positions to carry out the 
Commission’s responsibilities and activi-
ties. 
‘‘(B) 
RENEWAL.—The 
Chairman 
may 
renew a certification issued or renewed under 
this subsection for an additional 5-year period 
if the Chairman determines there is still a se-
vere shortage of candidates or a critical hiring 
need for covered positions to carry out the 
Commission’s responsibilities and activities. 
‘‘(4) COVERED POSITION.—In this subsection, 
the term ‘covered position’ means a position in 
which an employee is responsible for conducting 
work of a scientific, technical, engineering, mathe-
matical, legal, or otherwise highly specialized or 
skilled nature. 
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‘‘(b) ADDRESSING INSUFFICIENT COMPENSATION OF 
EMPLOYEES AND OTHER PERSONNEL OF THE COMMIS-
SION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, if the Chairman of the Commission 
publicly certifies that compensation for a category of 
employees or other personnel of the Commission is 
insufficient to retain or attract employees and other 
personnel to allow the Commission to carry out the 
functions of the Commission in a timely, efficient, 
and effective manner, the Chairman may fix the 
compensation for the category of employees or other 
personnel without regard to chapter 51 and chapter 
53 of title 5, United States Code, or any other civil 
service law. 
‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—A cer-
tification issued under paragraph (1) shall— 
‘‘(A) apply with respect to a category of 
employees who serve in covered positions, as de-
fined in subsection (a)(4); 
‘‘(B) specify a maximum amount of rea-
sonable compensation for the category of em-
ployees or other personnel; 
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‘‘(C) be valid for a 5-year period beginning 
on the date on which the certification is issued; 
and 
‘‘(D) be no broader than necessary to 
achieve the objective of retaining or attracting 
employees and other personnel to allow the 
Commission to carry out the functions of the 
Commission in a timely, efficient, and effective 
manner. 
‘‘(3) RENEWAL.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 90 
days before the date of expiration of a certifi-
cation issued under paragraph (1), the Chair-
man shall determine whether the certification 
should be renewed for a subsequent 5-year pe-
riod. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—If the Chairman de-
termines that a certification should be renewed 
under subparagraph (A), the Chairman may 
renew the certification, subject to the certifi-
cation requirements under paragraph (2) that 
were applicable to the initial certification. 
‘‘(4) NEW HIRES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An employee or other 
personnel that is a member of a category of em-
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fect with respect to the compensation of the category 
of employees or other personnel. 
‘‘(6) CONSULTATION
REQUIRED.—The Chair-
man shall consult with the Director of the Office of 
Personnel Management in implementing this sub-
section, including in the determination of the 
amount of compensation with respect to each cat-
egory of employees or other personnel. Not later 
than 60 days after the Chairman’s request for con-
sultation under this paragraph, the Director of the 
Office of Personnel Management shall respond to 
and consult with the Chairman for purposes of this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(7) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the Chairman may— 
‘‘(i) obtain the services of experts and 
consultants in accordance with section 
3109 of title 5, United States Code; 
‘‘(ii) compensate those experts and 
consultants for each day (including travel 
time) at rates not in excess of the rate of 
pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule 
under section 5315 of that title; and 
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‘‘(iii) pay to the experts and consult-
ants serving away from the homes or reg-
ular places of business of the experts and 
consultants travel expenses and per diem 
in lieu of subsistence at rates authorized 
by sections 5702 and 5703 of that title for 
persons in Government service employed 
intermittently. 
‘‘(B) 
LIMITATIONS.—The 
Chairman 
shall— 
‘‘(i) to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, limit the use of experts and con-
sultants pursuant to subparagraph (A); 
and 
‘‘(ii) ensure that the employment con-
tract of each expert and consultant em-
ployed pursuant to subparagraph (A) is 
subject to renewal not less frequently than 
annually. 
‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) FOR NEW EMPLOYEES.—The Commission 
may pay a person recruited and directly appointed 
under subsection (a) a 1-time hiring bonus in an 
amount not to exceed $25,000. 
‘‘(2) FOR EXISTING EMPLOYEES.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), an employee who the Chairman de-
termines exhibited exceptional performance in a 
fiscal year may be paid a performance bonus in 
an amount not to exceed the least of— 
‘‘(i) $25,000; and 
‘‘(ii) the amount of the limitation that 
is applicable for a calendar year under sec-
tion 5307(a)(1) of title 5, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(i) 
SUBSEQUENT
BONUSES.—Any 
person who receives a performance bonus 
under subparagraph (A) may not receive 
another performance bonus under that 
subparagraph for a period of 5 years there-
after. 
‘‘(ii) HIRING BONUSES.—Any person 
who receives a 1-time hiring bonus under 
paragraph (1) may not receive a perform-
ance bonus under subparagraph (A) unless 
more than one year has elapsed since the 
payment of such 1-time hiring bonus.’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 161A the following: 
‘‘Sec. 161B. Commission workforce.’’. 
SEC. 3. REPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there-
after, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report 
on information relating to hiring, vacancies, and com-
pensation at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 
(b) INCLUSIONS.—Each report under subsection (a) 
shall include— 
(1) an analysis of any trends with respect to 
hiring, vacancies, and compensation at the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission; and 
(2) a description of the efforts to retain and at-
tract employees or other personnel responsible for 
conducting work of a scientific, technical, engineer-
ing, mathematical, legal, or otherwise highly special-
ized or skilled nature at the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission. 
Æ 
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