123STA T . 13 9PUBLIC LA W 111 –5—FE B.1 7, 2 0 09 ofsuchti t le5, the S ec r et a r y of En er g y,u p ona d eter m ination that there is a se v ere shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need for particular positions, may from w ithin the funds provided, recruit and directly appoint highly q ualified individuals into the competitive service
- Provide
d fu r th er ,T hat such authority shall not apply to positions in the E x cepted Service or the Senior Execu - tive Service: Provided further, That any action authori z ed herein shall b e consistent with the merit principles of section 2301 of such title 5, and the D epartment shall comply with the public notice requirements of section 332 7 of such title 5: Provided further, That for the purpose of facilitating the development of regional transmission plans, the O ffice of Electricity Delivery and Energy R eliability within the Department of Energy is provided $8 0,000,000 within the available funds to conduct a resource assessment and an analysis of future demand and transmission requirements after consultation with the F ederal Energy Regulatory C ommission: Pro - vided further, That the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability in coordination with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will provide technical assistance to the N orth A merican Electric Reliability Corporation, the regional reliability entities, the States, and other transmission owners and operators for the forma- tion of interconnection-based transmission plans for the Eastern and W estern I nterconnections and ERCOT: Provided further, That such assistance may include modeling, support to regions and States for the development of coordinated State electricity policies, pro- grams, laws, and regulations: Provided further, That $10,000,000 is provided to implement section 1305 of P ublic L aw 110 – 1 4 0: Provided further, That the Secretary of Energy may use or transfer amounts provided under this heading to carry out new authority for transmission improvements, if such authority is enacted in any subsequent Act, consistent with existing fiscal management practices and procedures . F OS S IL E NERGY RESE A R CH AN D DE V ELO PM EN T For an additional amount for ‘ ‘Fossil Energy Research and Development ’ ’, $3,400,000,000. NON-DE F ENSE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN U P For an additional amount for ‘‘Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup’’, $483,000,000. U RANIUM ENRICHMENT DECONTAMINATION AND DECOMMISSIONING FUND For an additional amount for ‘‘Uranium Enrichment Decon- tamination and Decommissioning Fund’’, $3 9 0,000,000, of which $70,000,000 shall be available in accordance with title X , subtitle A of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. SCIENCE For an additional amount for ‘‘Science’’, $1, 6 00,000,000.
