16 U.S.C. § 1401 — Establishment

(a) Designation. The Marine Mammal Commission is established. This subchapter calls it the “Commission”. (b) Membership and term of office. (1) Beginning September 1, 1982, the Commission consists of three members appointed by the President with the Senate’s advice and consent. The President must choose from a list of people knowledgeable about marine ecology and resource management who are not positioned to profit from taking marine mammals. The Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality submits the list. That Chairman, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences must agree unanimously to the list. During service, a Commission member may not hold another United States officer or employee position, except as a retired United States officer or civilian employee. (2) Each member’s term is three years. For the first members, one term is one year, one is two years, and one is three years. A member may not be reappointed, except that a member filling a vacancy before the predecessor’s term ends must serve the remainder of that term and may then be reappointed for one full term. A member may continue serving after the term ends until a successor takes office. (c) Chairman. The President must choose a Commission member to be Chair. This subchapter calls that person the “Chairman”. (d) Compensation; reimbursement for travel expenses. Each member receives, for each day spent performing Commission duties, the daily equivalent of the GS-18 General Schedule rate under section 5332 of title 5. Each member must be reimbursed for travel expenses, including a daily subsistence allowance, as section 5703 of title 5 authorizes for people intermittently employed in Government service. (e) Executive Director. The Commission must have an Executive Director. The Chair appoints the Director, without applying title 5 rules for appointments in the competitive service, with the Commission’s approval. The Director may be paid no more than the GS-18 General Schedule rate under section 5332 of title 5. The Director has the duties the Chair assigns.