42 U.S.C. § 16298c — National Energy Technology Laboratory reforms

(a) Special hiring authority. (1) The Director^* may appoint people to National Energy Technology Laboratory jobs to meet a particular project^* or research need without following civil-service laws. The people may have an advanced science or engineering background, or a business background that helps with particular technology-to-market needs. The Director may set their basic pay at no more than level II of the Executive Schedule. The Director may also give extra payments, but during any 12-month period the total may not exceed the least of $25,000, 25% of the employee’s annual basic pay, or the applicable limit under 5 U.S.C. § 5307(a)(1). (2) An appointment may last no more than 3 years. At any one time, no more than 10 full-time employees appointed under paragraph (1)(A) may work at the laboratory.

(b) Laboratory-directed research and development. (1) Starting in fiscal year 2021, the laboratory is eligible for laboratory-directed research and development funding. (2) Each fiscal year, the Secretary^* may place in a special fund account an amount from money made available to the laboratory that does not exceed the rate made available to National Laboratories for this purpose. The account may be used only for laboratory-directed research and development. The Secretary administers it; it is available without a fiscal-year limit and is not subject to appropriation. (3) The Director must conduct these activities consistently with Department of Energy Order 413.2C, dated August 2, 2018, or a successor order. (4) Each year, the Secretary must report to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on use of this authority during the preceding fiscal year.

(c) Laboratory operations. The Secretary must delegate the laboratory’s human-resources operations to the Director to help carry out this section.

(d) Review. Within 2 years after December 27, 2020, the Secretary must report to the same two committees on the laboratory’s management and research activities. The report must assess the quality of its science and research compared with similar work at other National Laboratories; review how effective the authorities in subsections (a) and (b) are; and recommend Department policy changes and legislative changes that would give the laboratory the tools and resources needed for its research mission.