H.R. 9614: NRC Staff Pay Alignment Act

This bill would give the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

career appointees

What the bill would change

• It amends the Atomic Energy Act to allow the NRC Chairman to set the annual base pay of a career appointee at up to 110% of the maximum pay for Senior Executive Service positions at the Commission.
• This authority would apply regardless of when the person was appointed.
• The bill says using this pay authority would not change the certification of the NRC’s performance appraisal system.
• It defines “career appointee” by reference to an existing federal civil service definition.

Reporting and technical changes

• The bill also updates NRC reporting requirements so the agency would have to report the number of career appointees whose compensation was set under this new authority.
• It makes related wording changes throughout the law to keep the statute consistent with the new subsection.
• It also updates a separate provision in the ADVANCE Act of 2024 so that a GAO report requirement reflects the new pay authority.

Practical effect

In plain terms, the bill would let NRC leadership pay some long-term professional employees more flexibly than under the current rules, within a cap tied to senior federal executive pay. It would not automatically raise pay for everyone at the NRC; it would create a new option that the Chairman could use for certain employees.

Relevant Companies

None found