viduals or considering applications by other individ-
uals for the positions; and
(2) after applications by eligible employees have
received consideration, if any positions remain un-
filled, shall notify other individuals of the openings.
(e) EMPLOYEE BENEFIT TRANSITION.—
(1) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the
heads of the Office of Personnel Management
and the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement
System shall enter into a memorandum of un-
derstanding providing for the transition for all
eligible employees of compensation made avail-
able through the Tennessee Valley Authority
Retirement System.
(B) EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION.—In decid-
ing on the terms of the memorandum of under-
standing, the Secretary and the heads of the
Office of Personnel Management and the Ten-
nessee Valley Authority Retirement System
shall meet and consult with and give full con-
sideration to the views of employees and rep-
resentatives of the employees of the Tennessee
Valley Authority.
(2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE TRANS-
FERRED TO OTHER UNITS OF TVA.—An eligible em-
ployee that is transferred to another unit of the Ten-
nessee Valley Authority shall experience no interrup-
tion in coverage for or reduction of any retirement,
health, leave, or other employee benefit.
(3) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE HIRED BY
THE SECRETARY.—
(A) LEVEL OF BENEFITS.—The Secretary
shall provide to an eligible employee that is
hired by the Forest Service a level of retirement
and health benefits that is equivalent to the
level to which the eligible employee would have
been entitled if the eligible employee had re-
mained an employee of the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
(B) TRANSFER
OF
RETIREMENT
BENE-
FITS.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—All retirement ben-
efits accrued by an eligible employee that
is hired by the Forest Service shall be
transferred into the Federal Retirement
System of the Forest Service.
(ii) FUNDING SHORTFALL.—
(I) IN GENERAL.—For all eligible
employees that are not part of the
Civil Service Retirement System, the
Tennessee Valley Authority shall meet
any funding shortfall resulting from
the transfer of retirement benefits.
(II) NOTIFICATION.—The Sec-
retary shall notify the Tennessee Val-
ley Authority Board of the cost associ-
ated with the transfer of retirement
benefits.
(III) PAYMENT.—Not later than
60 days after notification under sub-
clause (II), the Tennessee Valley Au-
thority, using nonappropriated funds,
shall fully compensate the Secretary
for the costs associated with the
transfer of retirement benefits.
(IV) NO INTERRUPTION.—An eli-
gible employee that is hired by the
Forest Service and is eligible for Civil
Service Retirement shall not experi-
ence any interruption in retirement
benefits.
(B) NO INTERRUPTION.—An eligible em-
ployee that is hired by the Secretary—
(i) shall experience no interruption in
coverage for any health, leave, or other em-
ployee benefit; and
(ii) shall be entitled to carry over any
leave time accumulated during employment
by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
(C) PERIOD OF SERVICE.—Notwithstand-
ing section 8411(b)(3) of title 5, United States
Code, except to the extent that an eligible em-
ployee may be otherwise compensated (including
the provision of retirement benefits in accord-
ance with the memorandum of understanding)
for the period of service as an employee of the
Tennessee Valley Authority, that period of serv-
ice shall be treated as a period of service as an
employee of the Secretary for all purposes relat-
ing to the Federal employment of the eligible
employee.
(4) ELIGIBLE
EMPLOYEES
THAT
ARE
DIS-
CHARGED NOT FOR CAUSE.—
(A) LEVEL OF BENEFITS.—The parties to
the memorandum of understanding shall have
authority to deem any applicable requirement to