officer corps of the Administration, by the Secretary of 
Commerce or the Secretary’s designee.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
in section 1 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the 
Hydrographic Service Improvement Act of 1998, and for 
other purposes’’ (Public Law 107–372) is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 261 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 261A. Applicability of certain provisions of title 37, United States 
Code.’’. 
SEC. 407. APPLICATION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF COM-
PETITIVE SERVICE LAW. 
Section 3304(f) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and mem-
bers of the commissioned officer corps of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (or 
its predecessor organization the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey) separated from such uniformed service’’ 
after ‘‘separated from the armed forces’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or veteran’’ 
and inserting ‘‘, veteran, or member’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and mem-
bers of the commissioned officer corps of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (or 
its predecessor organization the Coast and Geodetic 
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Survey) separated from such uniformed service’’ 
after ‘‘separated from the armed forces’’. 
SEC. 408. ELIGIBILITY OF ALL MEMBERS OF UNIFORMED 
SERVICES FOR LEGION OF MERIT AWARD. 
Section 1121 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘armed forces’’ and inserting ‘‘uni-
formed services’’. 
SEC. 409. APPLICATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOY-
MENT RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF THE UNI-
FORMED SERVICES TO MEMBERS OF COM-
MISSIONED OFFICER CORPS. 
Section 4303(16) of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting ‘‘the commissioned officer corps of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,’’ 
after ‘‘Public Health Service,’’. 
SEC. 410. PROTECTED COMMUNICATIONS FOR COMMIS-
SIONED OFFICER CORPS AND PROHIBITION 
OF RETALIATORY PERSONNEL ACTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 261 (33 
U.S.C. 3071), as amended by section 405, is further 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through 
(23) as paragraphs (9) through (24), respectively; 
and 
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(2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(8) Section 1034, relating to protected com-
munications and prohibition of retaliatory personnel 
actions.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (b) of 
such section is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (8) of subsection (a), 
the term ‘Inspector General’ in section 1034 of such title 
10 shall mean the Inspector General of the Department 
of Commerce.’’. 
SEC. 411. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR WEARING UNIFORM 
WITHOUT AUTHORITY. 
Section 702 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘Service or any’’ and inserting ‘‘Serv-
ice, the commissioned officer corps of the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration, or any’’. 
SEC. 412. TREATMENT OF COMMISSION IN COMMISSIONED 
OFFICER CORPS AS EMPLOYMENT IN NA-
TIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN-
ISTRATION FOR PURPOSES OF CERTAIN HIR-
ING DECISIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E (33 U.S.C. 3071 et 
seq.), as amended by this title, is further amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 269A. TREATMENT OF COMMISSION IN COMMIS-
SIONED OFFICER CORPS AS EMPLOYMENT IN 
ADMINISTRATION FOR PURPOSES OF CER-
TAIN HIRING DECISIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which the Sec-
retary accepts an application for a position of employment 
with the Administration and limits consideration of appli-
cations for such position to applications submitted by indi-
viduals serving in a career or career-conditional position 
in the competitive service within the Administration, the 
Secretary shall deem an officer who has served as an offi-
cer in the commissioned officer corps for at least 3 years 
to be serving in a career or career-conditional position in 
the competitive service within the Administration for pur-
poses of such limitation. 
‘‘(b) CAREER APPOINTMENTS.—If the Secretary se-
lects an application submitted by an officer described in 
subsection (a) for a position described in such subsection, 
the Secretary shall give such officer a career or career- 
conditional appointment in the competitive service, as ap-
propriate. 
‘‘(c) COMPETITIVE SERVICE DEFINED.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘competitive service’ has the meaning given 
the term in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
in section 1 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the 
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Hydrographic Service Improvement Act of 1998, and for 
other purposes’’ (Public Law 107–372) is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 269, as added 
by this title, the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 269A. Treatment of commission in commissioned officer corps as employ-
ment in Administration for purposes of certain hiring deci-
sions.’’. 
TITLE V—OTHER MATTERS 
SEC. 501. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 
Section 101(21)(C) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended by inserting ‘‘in the commissioned officer 
corps’’ before ‘‘of the National’’. 
SEC. 502. REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com-
merce shall submit to Congress a report evaluating the 
current status and projected needs of the commissioned 
officer corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration to operate sufficiently through fiscal year 
2017. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 
(a) shall include the following: 
(1) The average annual attrition rate of officers 
in the commissioned officer corps of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
(2) An estimate of the number of annual re-
cruits that would reasonably be required to operate 
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the commissioned officer corps sufficiently through 
fiscal year 2017. 
(3) The projected impact of this Act on annual 
recruitment numbers through fiscal year 2017. 
(4) Identification of areas of duplication or un-
necessary redundancy in current activities of the 
commissioned officer corps that could otherwise be 
streamlined or eliminated to save costs. 
(5) Such other matters as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate regarding the provisions of this 
Act and the amendments made by this Act. 
SEC. 503. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, sec-
tions 101 through 411 shall take effect on the date that 
is 90 days after the date on which the Secretary of Com-
merce submits to Congress the report required by section 
502(a). 
Æ 
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