
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 5USC3318]

 
             TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
 
                           PART III--EMPLOYEES
 
                   Subpart B--Employment and Retention
 
            CHAPTER 33--EXAMINATION, SELECTION, AND PLACEMENT
 
        SUBCHAPTER I--EXAMINATION, CERTIFICATION, AND APPOINTMENT
 
Sec. 3318. Competitive service; selection from certificates

    (a) The nominating or appointing authority shall select for 
appointment to each vacancy from the highest three eligibles available 
for appointment on the certificate furnished under section 3317(a) of 
this title, unless objection to one or more of the individuals certified 
is made to, and sustained by, the Office of Personnel Management for 
proper and adequate reason under regulations prescribed by the Office.
    (b)(1) If an appointing authority proposes to pass over a preference 
eligible on a certificate in order to select an individual who is not a 
preference eligible, such authority shall file written reasons with the 
Office for passing over the preference eligible. The Office shall make 
the reasons presented by the appointing authority part of the record of 
the preference eligible and may require the submission of more detailed 
information from the appointing authority in support of the passing over 
of the preference eligible. The Office shall determine the sufficiency 
or insufficiency of the reasons submitted by the appointing authority, 
taking into account any response received from the preference eligible 
under paragraph (2) of this subsection. When the Office has completed 
its review of the proposed passover, it shall send its findings to the 
appointing authority and to the preference eligible. The appointing 
authority shall comply with the findings of the Office.
    (2) In the case of a preference eligible described in section 
2108(3)(C) of this title who has a compensable service-connected 
disability of 30 percent or more, the appointing authority shall at the 
same time it notifies the Office under paragraph (1) of this subsection, 
notify the preference eligible of the proposed passover, of the reasons 
therefor, and of his right to respond to such reasons to the Office 
within 15 days of the date of such notification. The Office shall, 
before completing its review under paragraph (1) of this subsection, 
require a demonstration by the appointing authority that the passover 
notification was timely sent to the preference eligible's last known 
address.
    (3) A preference eligible not described in paragraph (2) of this 
subsection, or his representative, shall be entitled, on request, to a 
copy of--
        (A) the reasons submitted by the appointing authority in support 
    of the proposed passover, and
        (B) the findings of the Office.

    (4) In the case of a preference eligible described in paragraph (2) 
of this subsection, the functions of the Office under this subsection 
may not be delegated.
    (c) When three or more names of preference eligibles are on a 
reemployment list appropriate for the position to be filled, a 
nominating or appointing authority may appoint from a register of 
eligibles established after examination only an individual who qualifies 
as a preference eligible under section 2108(3)(C)-(G) of this title.

(Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 421; Pub. L. 90-83, Sec. 1(8), 
Sept. 11, 1967, 81 Stat. 197; Pub. L. 95-454, title III, Sec. 307(d), 
title IX, Sec. 906(a)(2), (3), Oct. 13, 1978, 92 Stat. 1148, 1224.)

                      Historical and Revision Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Revised Statutes and
     Derivation                U.S. Code             Statutes at Large
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a), (b)...........  5 U.S.C. 633(2)2.             Jan. 16, 1883, ch.
                                                    27, Sec.  2(2)2, 22
                                                    Stat. 404.
                     5 U.S.C. 857 (less 1st        June 27, 1944, ch.
                      sentence, 2d proviso, and     287, Sec.  8 (less
                      last sentence).               1st sentence, 2d
                                                    proviso, and last
                                                    sentence), 58 Stat.
                                                    389.
                                                   Aug. 14, 1953, ch.
                                                    485, Sec.  2, 67
                                                    Stat. 582.
(c)................  5 U.S.C. 864 (less 1st        June 27, 1944, ch.
                      sentence).                    287, Sec.  15 (less
                                                    1st sentence), 58
                                                    Stat. 391.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The word ``authority'' is substituted for ``officer'' in recognition 
of the several appointing authorities named in section 2105(a)(1).
    In subsection (a), the provisions of former section 633(2)2 are 
merged in the requirement of former section 857, since the certificate 
must be of the three highest on the register and the nominating or 
appointing employee may select one of the three.
    In subsection (c), the prohibition in former section 864 is restated 
in positive form. The words ``an individual who qualifies as a 
preference eligible under section 2108(3)(B)-(F)'' are substituted for 
``ten-point preference eligibles''.
    Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable 
and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.


                               Amendments

    1978--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95-454, Sec. 906(a)(2), (3), substituted 
``Office of Personnel Management'' and ``Office'' for ``Civil Service 
Commission'' and ``Commission'', respectively.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95-454, Sec. 307(d), designated existing 
provisions as par. (1), substituted provisions respecting authority of 
the Office with respect to the selection procedures applicable, for 
provisions respecting authority of the Commission with respect to the 
selection procedures applicable, and added pars. (2) to (4).
    1967--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 90-83 substituted ``section 2108(3)(C)-
(G)'' for ``section 2108(3)(B)-(F).'' See Historical and Revision Notes 
under section 3305 of this title.


                    Effective Date of 1978 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 95-454 effective 90 days after Oct. 13, 1978, 
see section 907 of Pub. L. 95-454, set out as a note under section 1101 
of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2302, 3320, 9510 of this 
title; title 22 section 1438.
