2. Establishment of the Peace Corps as an Independent Agency

Partial text of Public Law 97–113 [International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1981; S. 1196], 95 Stat. 1519 at 1540, approved December 29, 1981

TITLE VI-PEACE CORPS

ESTABLISHMENT AS AN INDEPENDENT AGENCY

Sec. 601. (a) 1

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(b) There are transferred to the Director of the Peace Corps all functions relating to the Peace Corps which were vested in the Director of the ACTION Agency on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act.

(c)(1) All personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpected balance of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds as are determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, after consultation with the Comptroller General of the United States, the Director of the Peace Corps, and the Director of ACTION Agency, to be employed, held, used, or assumed primarily in connection with any function relating to the Peace Corps before the date of the enactment of this Act are transferred to the Peace Corps. The transfer of unexpended balances pursuant to the preceding sentence shall be subject to section 202 of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 581 c).

(2)(A) The transfer pursuant to this subsection of full-time personnel (except special Government employees) and part-time personnel holding permanent positions shall not cause any employee to be separated or reduced in rank, class, grade, or compensation, or otherwise suffer a loss of employment benefits for one year after

(i) the date on which the Director of the Office of Management and Budget submits the report required by subsection (f)(1) of this section, or

(ii) the effective date of the transfer of such employee, whichever occurs later.

(B) The personnel transferred pursuant to this subsection shall, to the maximum extent feasible, be assigned to such related functions and organizational units in the Peace Corps as such personnel were assigned to immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act.

(C) Collective-bargaining agreements in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act covering personnel transferred pursuant to

'Subsec. (a) added a new sec. 2A to the Peace Corps Act establishing the Peace Corps as an independent agency. See page 644 for text of sec. 2A.

this subsection or employed on such date of enactment by the Peace Corps shall continue to be recognized by the Peace Corps until the termination date of such agreements or until such agreements are modified in accordance with applicable procedures.

(3) Under such regulations as the President may prescribe, each person who, immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act, does not hold an appointment under section 7(a)(2) of the Peace Corps Act and who is determined under paragraph (1) of this subsection to be employed primarily in connection with any function relating to the Peace Corps shall, effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, and notwithstanding subparagraph (B) of section 7(a)(2) of the Peace Corps Act, be appointed a member of the Foreign Service under section 7(a)(2) of the Peace Corps Act, and be appointed or assigned to an appropriate class of the Foreign Service, except that

(A) any person who, immediately before such date of enactment, holds a career or career-conditional appointment shall not, without the consent of such person, be so appointed until three years after such date of enactment, during which period any such person not consenting to be so appointed may continue to hold such career or career-conditional appointment; and (B) each person so appointed who, immediately before such date of enactment held a career or career-conditional appointment at grade GS-8 or lower of the General Schedule established by section 5332 of title 5, United States Code, shall be appointed a member of the Foreign Service for the duration of operations under the Peace Corps Act.

Each person appointed under this paragraph shall receive basic compensation at the rate of such person's class determined by the President to be appropriate, except that the rate of basic compensation received by such person immediately before the effective date of such person's appointment under this paragraph shall not be reduced as a result of the provisions of this paragaph.

(d)(1) Section 4(b) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2503(b)) is amended by striking out "such agency or officer of the United States Government as he shall direct. The head of any such agency or any such officer" and inserting in lieu thereof "the Director of the Peace Corps. The Director of the Peace Corps".

(2) The Director of the Peace Corps shall continue to exercise all the functions under the Peace Corps Act or any other law or authority which the Director was performing on December 14, 1981.

(e)(1) Section 3 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502) is amended by repealing subsections (d), (e), and (f) and by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (d).

(2) The amendment made by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not alter or affect (A) the validity of any action taken before the date of the enactment of this Act under those provisions of law repealed by that amendment, or (B) the liability of any person for any payment described in section 3(f) of the Peace Corps Act as in effect immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act.

(f)(1) Not later than the thirtieth day after the date of the enactment of this Act, or February 15, 1982, whichever occurs later, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, after consultation with the Director of the Peace Corps and the Director of the

ACTION Agency, shall submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress and to the Comptroller General a report on the steps taken to implement the provisions of this title, including descriptions of the dispositions of administrative matters, including matters relating to personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances or appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds employed, used, held, available, or to be made available in connection with functions or activities relating to the Peace Corps.

(2) Not later than the forty-fifth day after the date of the enactment of this Act, or March 1, 1982, whichever occurs later, the Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a report stating whether, in the judgment of the Comptroller General, determinations made by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under subsection (c)(1) of this section were equitable.

(g) References in any statute, reorganization plan, Executive order, regulation, or other official document or proceeding to the ACTION Agency or the Director of the ACTION Agency with respect to functions or activities relating to the Peace Corps shall be deemed to refer to the Peace Corps or the Director of the Peace Corps, respectively.

3. Independent Implementing Provisions of Public Law 89-134

Partial text of Public Law 89-134 [S. 2045], 79 Stat. 549, approved August 24, 1965

The new Peace Corps personnel system provided for in section 7 of the Peace Corps Act, as amended by section 4 of Public Law 89-134 and section 302 of Public Law 96-53, is to be implemented according to section 5 of Public Law 89-134 which is set forth below.

Sec. 5.1 (a) Section 4 of this Act shall not become effective until the first day of the fourth pay period which begins after the date this Act becomes law.

(b) Under such regulations as the President may prescribe, each person employed under authorities repealed by section 4(a) of this Act immediately prior to the effective date of that section shall effective on that date be appointed a Foreign Service Reserve officer or Foreign Service staff officer or employee under the authority of section 7(a)(2) of the Peace Corps Act, as amended, and appointed or assigned to an appropriate class thereof; except that

(1) no person who holds a career or career-conditional appointment immediately prior to the effective date of section 4(a) of this Act shall, without his consent, be so appointed until three years after such effective date; and

(2) each person so appointed who, immediately prior to the effective date of section 4(a) of this Act, held a career or careerconditional appointment at grade 8 or below of the General Schedule established by the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, shall receive an appointment for the duration of operations under the Peace Corps Act, as amended.

Each person appointed under this subsection shall receive basic compensation at the rate of his class determined by the President to be appropriate, but the rate of basic compensation received by such person immediately prior to the effective date of his appointment under this subsection shall not be reduced by the provisions of this subsection.

122 U.S.C. 2506 note.

4. Executive Order 12137, May 16, 1979, 44 F.R. 29023, as amended by Executive Order 12245, October 6, 1980, 45 F.R. 66769; and by Executive Order 12399, December 31, 1982, 48 F.R. 379

THE PEACE CORPS

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Peace Corps Act, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2501-2523) and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

1-1. Peace Corps.

1-101. The Peace Corps, which was established as an agency in the Department of State pursuant to Executive Order No. 10924 of March 1, 1961 (26 FR 1789), which was continued in existence in that Department under the Peace Corps Act (the "Act") pursuant to Section 102 of Executive Order No. 11041 of August 6, 1962 (27 FR 7859), and which was transferred to and continued as a component of ACTION by Executive Order No. 11603 of June 30, 1971 (36 FR 12675), shall be an agency within ACTION pursuant to the provisions of this Order.

1-102. All references to the "Director" in Part 1-1 of this Order shall refer to the Director of the Peace Corps for whom provision is made in Section 4(a) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2503).

1-103. Exclusive of the functions otherwise delegated by or reserved to the President by this Order, and subject to the provisions of this Order, there are hereby delegated to the Director all functions conferred upon the President by the Act and by Section 2(b) of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1971.

1-104. The function of determining the portion of living allowances constituting basic compensation, conferred upon the President by Section 201(a) of Public Law 87-293 (26 U.S.C. 912(3)), is hereby delegated to the Director and shall be performed in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury.

1-105. The functions of prescribing regulations and making determinations (relating to appointment of Peace Corps employees in the Foreign Service System), conferred upon the President by Section 5 of Public Law 89-135 (79 Stat. 551), are hereby delegated to the Director.

1-106. The functions of prescribing conditions, conferred upon the President by the second sentence of Section 5(e), as amended (22 U.S.C. 2504(e)), and the third proviso of Section 6 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2505) (relating to providing health care in Government facilities) and hereinabove delegated to the Director, shall be exercised in consultation with the head of the United States Government agency responsible for the facility.