81 FR 40653 - Office of Administration; Commerce Alternative Personnel System

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 120 (June 22, 2016)

This notice announces modifications to the provisions of the Commerce Alternative Personnel System, formerly the Department of Commerce Personnel Management Demonstration Project, published in the Federal Register on December 24, 1997. As published on January 2, 2015 (80 FR 25), coverage under the Commerce Alternative Personnel System was expanded to include employees located in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), employed under the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), and direct-hire authority was implemented for certain FirstNet scientific and engineering positions in the ZP career path at the Pay Band IV and above, under section 3304(a)(3) of Title 5 of the United States Code. This notice serves to amend the System to increase the number of ZP positions FirstNet is authorized to fill under direct-hire authority and to include ZP positions at Pay Band level III and above.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40653-40654]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14785]


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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 120 / Wednesday, June 22, 2016 / 
Notices

[[Page 40653]]



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Docket No.: 160518437-6437-01]


Office of Administration; Commerce Alternative Personnel System

AGENCY: Office of Administration, Office of Human Resources Management, 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces modifications to the provisions of the 
Commerce Alternative Personnel System, formerly the Department of 
Commerce Personnel Management Demonstration Project, published in the 
Federal Register on December 24, 1997.
    As published on January 2, 2015 (80 FR 25), coverage under the 
Commerce Alternative Personnel System was expanded to include employees 
located in the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration (NTIA), employed under the First Responder Network 
Authority (FirstNet), and direct-hire authority was implemented for 
certain FirstNet scientific and engineering positions in the ZP career 
path at the Pay Band IV and above, under section 3304(a)(3) of Title 5 
of the United States Code.
    This notice serves to amend the System to increase the number of ZP 
positions FirstNet is authorized to fill under direct-hire authority 
and to include ZP positions at Pay Band level III and above.

DATES: The amended Commerce Alternative Personnel System is effective 
June 22, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Department of Commerce--Sandra 
Thompson, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue 
NW., Room 51020, Washington, DC 20230, (202) 482-0056 or Valerie Smith 
at (202) 482-0272.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background

    The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) approved the Department of 
Commerce (DoC) demonstration project for an alternative personnel 
management system and published the approval of the final plan in the 
Federal Register on Wednesday, December 24, 1997 (62 FR 67434). The 
demonstration project was designed to simplify current classification 
systems allowing greater flexibility in classifying work and paying 
employees; establish a performance management and rewards system for 
improving individual and organizational performance; and improve 
recruiting and examining to attract highly-qualified candidates. The 
purpose of the project was to strengthen the contribution of human 
resources management and test whether the same innovations conducted 
under the National Institute of Standards and Technology alternative 
personnel management system would produce similarly successful results 
in other DoC environments. The project was implemented on March 29, 
1998. The project plan has been modified nine times to clarify certain 
DoC Demonstration Project authorities, and to extend and expand the 
project: 64 FR 52810 (September 30, 1999); 68 FR 47948 (August 12, 
2003); 68 FR 54505 (September 17, 2003); 70 FR 38732 (July 5, 2005); 71 
FR 25615 (May 1, 2006); 71 FR 50950 (August 28, 2006); 74 FR 22728 (May 
14, 2009); 80 FR 25 (January 2, 2015); 81 FR 20322 (April 7, 2016). 
With the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Public 
Law 110-161, on December 26, 2007, the project was made permanent 
(extended indefinitely) and renamed the Commerce Alternative Personnel 
System (CAPS).
    CAPS provides for modifications to be made as experience is gained, 
results are analyzed, and conclusions are reached on how the system is 
working. This notice announces that the DoC modifies the plan to 
increase the number of FirstNet positions authorized to be filled under 
direct-hire authority in the approved ZP career paths and to include 
occupational series at Pay Band level III and above. The DoC will 
follow the CAPS plan, as published in the Federal Register on December 
24, 1997, and subsequent modifications as listed in the Background 
Section of this notice.

Kevin E. Mahoney,
Director for Human Resources Management and Chief Human Capital 
Officer.

Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary
II. Basis for CAPS Expansion
III. Changes to the Project Plan

I. Executive Summary

    CAPS is designed to (1) improve hiring and allow DoC to compete 
more effectively for high-quality candidates through direct hiring, 
selective use of higher entry salaries, and selective use of 
recruitment incentives; (2) motivate and retain staff through higher 
pay potential, pay-for-performance, more responsive personnel systems, 
and selective use of retention incentives; (3) strengthen the manager's 
role in personnel management through delegation of personnel 
authorities; and (4) increase the efficiency of personnel systems 
through the installation of a simpler and more flexible classification 
system based on pay banding through reduction of guidelines, steps, and 
paperwork in classification, hiring, and other personnel systems, and 
through automation.
    The current participating organizations include 7 offices of the 
Chief Financial Officer/Assistant Secretary for Administration in the 
Office of the Secretary; the Bureau of Economic Analysis; the Institute 
for Telecommunication Sciences--National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration; the First Responder Network Authority--
National Telecommunications and Information Administration; and 12 
units of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Office of 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Marine Fisheries Service, 
the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, 
National Weather Service--Space Environment Center, National Ocean 
Service, Program Planning and Integration Office, Office of the Under 
Secretary, Marine and Aviation Operations, Office of the Chief 
Administrative Officer, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the 
Workforce Management Office, and the Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
    This amendment modifies the January 2, 2015 Federal Register notice 
(80 FR

[[Page 40654]]

25). Specifically, it increases the number of positions authorized to 
be filled under direct-hire authority, now including Pay Band III and 
above, and enables FirstNet to hire, after public notice is given, any 
qualified applicants in the ZP career path series as defined in the 
Basis for CAPS Expansion section without regard to 5 U.S.C. 3309-3318, 
5 CFR part 211, or 5 CFR part 337, subpart A on a limited basis.

II. Basis for CAPS Expansion

A. Purpose

    CAPS is designed to provide managers at the lowest organizational 
level the authority, control, and flexibility to recruit, retain, 
develop, recognize, and motivate its workforce, while ensuring adequate 
accountability and oversight.
    FirstNet is required to manage the deployment and maintenance of 
the National Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) for public safety 
responders within statutory requirements established in the Middle 
Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-96). Every 
phase of the program requires FirstNet to quickly hire qualified 
individuals, for specialized roles, to meet the requirements imposed by 
the Act. FirstNet recruitment efforts, utilizing direct-hire authority, 
have proven successful for ZP positions in the following occupational 
series: 0089--Emergency Management; 0854--Computer Engineering; and 
0855--Electronics Engineering. FirstNet was previously authorized to 
utilize direct-hire authority to fill up to 56 positions in the 0089 
series and up to 21 positions in the 0850; 0854; 0855 and the 1550 
series, with the total number of positions allowed to be filled under 
direct-hire authority to not exceed 77 positions in the ZP career path 
at any one time. By increasing the number of authorized ZP positions to 
be filled under direct-hire authority and expanding the Pay Band to 
include positions at the Pay Band III level and above, FirstNet will 
continue to recruit and compete more effectively for qualified 
personnel possessing technical expertise in 4G LTE wireless network and 
other emerging wireless network technologies and/or the development of 
mobile software and network architecture as well as individuals 
possessing technical expertise in the formulation, development, and 
engagement of public safety officials in planning and implementing the 
nation-wide public safety broadband network and the programmatic 
requirements of the network acquisition through their public safety 
experience in preventing, protecting, responding, coordinating and/or 
mitigating emergency events. These areas of expertise are critical in 
order to test, evaluate, deploy, and operate a nation-wide public 
safety broadband network. The number of positions in the 0089, 
Emergency Management series, authorized to be filled under direct-hire 
authority will increase from 56 positions to 89 at Pay Bands III and 
above. The number of positions in the following series will increase 
from 21 positions to 39 at Pay Bands III and above: 0850, Electrical 
Engineering; 0854, Computer Engineering; 0855, Electronics Engineering; 
and 1550, Computer Science. The use of direct-hire authority to fill 
these positions will not exceed 128 positions in the specified ZP 
career paths at any one time. FirstNet will track the number of hires 
made under direct-hire authority, ensuring numbers specified for the 
occupational series are not exceeded.
    Section 3304(a)(3) of Title 5 of the United States Code, provides 
agencies with the authority to appoint candidates directly to jobs for 
which the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) determines that there is 
a severe shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need. In 1997, 
with the approval of the DoC's Demonstration Project (62 FR 67434, 
December 24, 1997), OPM concurred that some occupations in the ZP 
career path at the Pay Band III and above constitute a shortage 
category, and some occupations for which there is a special rate under 
the General Schedule pay system constitute a shortage category. Past 
recruitment efforts have demonstrated a critical shortage of candidates 
possessing specialized technical, programmatic and contract expertise 
in 4G Long Term Evaluation (LTE) technologies and mobile systems, as 
well as expertise in public safety organizational operations and 
infrastructure capabilities.
    DoC's CAPS allows for modifications of procedures if no new waiver 
from law or regulation is added. Given that this expansion and 
modification is in accordance with existing law and regulation and CAPS 
is a permanent alternative personnel system, the DoC is authorized to 
make the changes described in this notice.

III. Changes to the Project Plan

    The CAPS at DoC, originally published in the Federal Register on 
December 24, 1997 (62 FR 67434) and subsequently expanded as discussed 
above, Section III (80 FR 25, January 2, 2015), is modified as follows:
    1. Section III Personnel System Changes, (B) Staffing: Replace the 
paragraph in subsection titled: ``Direct-Hire Authority: Critical 
Shortage Occupations'' to state:

    DoC FirstNet uses direct-hire procedures for categories of 
occupations that require skills that are in short supply. The 
following occupations constitute a shortage category at the Pay Band 
III and above, in the ZP Career Path: Electronics Engineers, 
Electrical Engineers, Computer Engineers, Computer Scientists, and 
Emergency Management Specialists (Public Safety). Any positions in 
these categories may be filled by FirstNet through direct-hire 
procedures in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3304(a)(3). DoC FirstNet 
advertises the availability of job opportunities in direct-hire 
occupations by posting on the OPM USAJOBS Web site. DoC FirstNet 
will follow internal direct-hire procedures for accepting 
applications.

[FR Doc. 2016-14785 Filed 6-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-EA-P