on the date of his appointment to the Regular Corps, he would have had the training and experience necessary for such appointment.

(4) For purposes of promotion, any person whose original appointment is to the assistant grade in the Regular Corps shall be considered as having had on the date of appointment service equal to his total active service in the Reserve Corps in and above the assistant grade.

(e) (1) A former officer of the Regular Corps may, if application for appointment is made within two years after the date of the termination of his prior commission in the Regular Corps, be reappointed to the Regular Corps without examination, except as the Surgeon General may otherwise prescribe, and without regard to the numerical limitations of subsection (b).

(2) Reappointments pursuant to this subsection may be made to the permanent grade held by the former officer at the time of the termination of his prior commission, or to the next higher grade if such officer meets the eligibility requirements prescribed by regulation for original appointment to such higher grade. For purposes of pay, promotion, and seniority in grade, such reappointed officer shall receive the credits for service to which he would be entitled if such appointment were an original appointment, but in no event less than the credits he held at the time his prior commission was terminated, except that if such officer is reappointed to the next higher grade he shall receive no credit for seniority in grade.

(3) No former officer shall be reappointed pursuant to this subsection unless he shall meet such standards as the Secretary may prescribe.

(f) In accordance with regulations, special consultants may be employed to assist and advise in the operations of the Service. Such consultants may be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws and their compensation may be fixed without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended.1

(g) In accordance with regulations, individual scientists, other than commissioned officers of the Service, may be designated by the Surgeon General to receive fellowships, appointed for duty with the Service without regard to the civil-service laws and compensated without regard to the Classification Act of 1923,1 as amended, may hold their fellowships under conditions prescribed therein, and may be assigned for studies or investigations either in this country or abroad during the terms of their fellowships.

1 See footnote 2 on p. 5.

88-065 O 732 (Vol. 1)

42 U.S.C. 210

(h) Persons who are not citizens may be employed as consultants pursuant to subsection (e) and may be appointed to fellowships pursuant to subsection (f). Unless otherwise specifically provided, any prohibition in any other Act against the employment of aliens, or against the payment of compensation to them, shall not be applicable in the case of persons employed or appointed pursuant to such subsections.

(i) The appointment of any officer or employee of the Service made in accordance with the civil-service laws shall be made by the Secretary, and may be made effective as of the date on which such officer or employee enters upon duty.

PAY AND ALLOWANCES

SEC. 208. (a) Commissioned officers of the Regular and Reserve Corps shall be entitled to receive such pay and allowances as are now or may hereafter be authorized by law.

(b) Commissioned officers on active duty, and retired officers entitled to retired pay pursuant to section 210(g) (3), section 211 or section 221 (a), shall be permitted to purchase supplies from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps at the same price as is charged officers thereof.

(c) Members of the National Advisory Health Council and members of other national advisory or review councils or committees established under this Act, including members of the Technical Electronic Product Radiation Safety Standards Committee and the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine, but excluding ex officio members, while attending conferences or meetings of their respective councils or committees or while otherwise serving at the request of the Secretary shall be entitled to receive compensation at rates to be fixed by the Secretary, but at rates not exceeding the daily equivalent of the rate specified at the time of such service for grade GS-18 of the General Schedule, including traveltime; and while away from their homes or regular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 (b) of title 5 of the United States Code for persons in the Government service employed intermittently.

(d) Field employees of the Service, except those employed on a per diem or fee basis, who render parttime duty and are also subject to call at any time for services not contemplated in their regular part-time employment, may be paid annual compensation for such

part-time duty and, in addition, such fees for such other services as the Surgeon General may determine; but in no case shall the total paid to any such employee for any fiscal year exceed the amount of the minimum annual salary rate of the classification grade of the employee.

(e) Whenever any noncommissioned officer or other employee of the Service is assigned for duty which the Surgeon General finds require intimate contact with persons afflicted with leprosy, he may be entitled to receive, as provided by regulations of the President, in addition to any pay or compensation to which he may otherwise be entitled, not more than one-half of such pay or compensation.

(f) Individuals appointed under subsection (g) shall have included in their fellowships such stipends or allowances, including travel and subsistence expenses, as the Surgeon General may deem necessary to procure qualified fellows.

(g) The Secretary is authorized to establish and fix the compensation for, within the Public Health Service, not more than one hundred and fifty positions, of which not less than one hundred and fifteen shall be for the National Institutes of Health, in the professional, scientific, and executive service, each such position being established to effectuate those research and development activities of the Public Health Service which require the services of specially qualified scientific, professional, and administratíve personnel: Provided, That the rates of compensation for positions established pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall not be less than the minimum rate of grade 16 of the General Schedule of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended,1 nor more than (1) the highest rate of grade 18 of the General Schedule of such Act, or (2) in the case of two such positions, the rate specified, at the time the service in the position is performed, for level II of the Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5313); and such rates of compensation for all positions included in this proviso shall be subject to the approval of the Civil Service Commission. Positions created pursuant to this subsection shall be included in the classified civil service of the United States, but appointments to such positions shall be made without competitive examination upon approval of the proposed appointee's qualifications by the Civil Service Commission or such officers or agents as it may designate for this purpose.

1 See footnote 2 on p. 5.

42 U.S.C. 210b

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES

SEC. 209. (a) For the purpose of establishing eligibility of officers of the Regular Corps for promotions, the Surgeon General shall by regulation divide the corps into professional categories. Each category shall, as far as practicable, be based upon one of the subjects of examination set forth in section 207 (a) (1) or upon a subdivision of such subject, and the categories shall be designed to group officers by fields of training in such manner that officers in any one grade in any one category will be available for similar duty in the discharge of the several functions of the Service.

(b) Each officer of the Regular Corps on active duty shall, on the basis of his training and experience, be assigned by the Surgeon General to one of the categories established by regulations under subsection (a). Except upon amendment of such regulations, no assignment so made shall be changed unless the Surgeon General finds (1) that the original assignment was erroneous, or (2) that the officer is equally well qualified to serve in another category to which he has requested to be transferred, and that such transfer is in the interests of the Service.

(c) Within the limits fixed by the Secretary in regulations under section 206 (d) for any fiscal year, the Surgeon General shall determine for each category in the Regular Corps the maximum number of officers authorized to be in each of the grades from the assistant grade to the director grade, inclusive.

(d) The excess of the number so fixed for any grade. in any category over the number of officers of the Regular Corps on active duty in such grade in such category (including, in the case of the director grade, officers holding such grade in accordance with section 206 (c)) shall for the purpose of promotions constitute vacancies in such grade in such category. For purposes of this subsection, an officer who has been temporarily promoted or who is temporarily holding the grade of director in accordance with section 206 (c) shall be deemed to hold the grade to which so promoted or which he is temporarily holding; but while he holds such promotion or grade, and while any officer is temporarily assigned to a position pursuant to section 205 (c), the number fixed under subsection (c) of this section for the grade of his permanent rank shall be reduced by one.

(e) The absence of a vacancy in a grade in a category shall not prevent an appointment to such grade pursuant to section 207, a permanent length of service promotion, or the recall of a retired officer to active duty; but the

making of such an appointment, promotion, or recall shall be deemed to fill a vacancy if one exists.

(f) Whenever a vacancy exists in any grade in a category the Surgeon General may increase by one the number fixed by him under subsection (c) for the next lower grade in the same category, without regard to the numbers fixed in regulations under section 206(d); and in that event the vacancy in the higher grade shall not be filled except by a permanent promotion, and upon the making of such promotion the number for the next lower grade shall be reduced by one.

PROMOTIONS AND SEPARATION OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS

IN THE REGULAR CORPS

SEC. 210. (a) Promotions of officers of the Regular 42 U.S.C. 211 Corps to any grade up to and including the director grade shall be either permanent promotions based on length of service, other permanent promotions to fill vacancies, or temporary promotions. Permanent promotions shall be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and temporary promotions shall be made by the President. Each permanent promotion shall be to the next higher grade, and shall be made only after examination given in accordance with regulations of the President.

(b) The President may by regulation provide that in a specified professional category permanent promotions to the senior grade, or to both the full grade and the senior grade, shall be made only if there are vacancies in such grade. A grade in any category with respect to which such regulations have been issued is referred to in this section as a "restricted grade".

(c) Examinations to determine qualification for permanent promotions may be either noncompetitive or competitive, as the Surgeon General shall in each case determine; except that examinations for promotions to the assistant or senior assistant grade shall in all cases be noncompetitive. The officers to be examined shall be selected by the Surgeon General from the professional category, and in the order of seniority in the grade, from which promotion is to be recommended. In the case of a competitive examination the Surgeon General shall determine in advance of the examination the number (which may be one or more) of officers who, after passing the examination, will be recommended to the President for promotion; but if the examination is one for promotions based on length of service, or is one for promotions to fill vacancies other than vacancies in the director grade or in a restricted grade, such number shall not be less than 80 per centum of the number of officers to be examined.