§ 3198.
(a)
Program
After consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, the Secretary shall establish an excepted service appointment authority, under which any individual who, by reason of having lived or worked in or near public lands, has special knowledge or expertise concerning the natural or cultural resources of public lands and the management thereof (as determined by the Secretary) shall be considered for selection for any position within public lands without regard to—
(1)
any provision of the civil service laws or regulations thereunder which require minimum periods of formal training or experience,
(2)
any such provision which provides an employment preference to any other class of applicant is such selection, and
(3)
any numerical limitation on personnel otherwise applicable.
Individuals appointed under this subsection shall not be taken into account in applying any personnel limitation described in paragraph (3).
(c)
Payment of expenses after death of an employee
(1)
Definition of immediate family member
(2)
Payments
If an employee appointed under the program established by subsection (a) dies in the performance of any assigned duties on or after October 1, 2002, the Secretary may—
(A)
pay or reimburse reasonable expenses, regardless of when those expenses are incurred, for the preparation and transportation of the remains of the deceased employee to a location in the State of Alaska which is selected by the surviving head of household of the deceased employee;
(B)
pay or reimburse reasonable expenses, regardless of when those expenses are incurred, for transporting immediate family members and the baggage and household goods of the deceased employee and immediate family members to a community in the State of Alaska which is selected by the surviving head of household of the deceased employee.
([Pub. L. 96–487, title XIII, § 1308], Dec. 2, 1980, [94 Stat. 2480]; [Pub. L. 100–689, title IV, § 401], Nov. 18, 1988, [102 Stat. 4177]; [Pub. L. 102–415, § 16], Oct. 14, 1992, [106 Stat. 2124]; [Pub. L. 108–199, div. H, § 147], Jan. 23, 2004, [118 Stat. 445]; [Pub. L. 111–11, title VI, § 6101], Mar. 30, 2009, [123 Stat. 1170]; [Pub. L. 112–74, div. E, title I, § 121(b)], Dec. 23, 2011, [125 Stat. 1012].)