Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 93.djvu/1088

 93 STAT. 1056

PUBLIC LAW 96-135—DEC. 5, 1979

Public Law 96-135 96th Congress An Act Dec. 5, 1979 [H.R. 1885]

Indians. Civil service retirement provisions.

To amend Civil Service retirement provisions as they apply to certain employees of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and of the Indian Health Service who are not entitled to Indian employment preference and to modify the application of the Indian employment preference laws as it applies to those agencies.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) section 8336 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (k) and inserting after subsection (i) the following new subsection: "(j)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), an employee is entitled to an annuity if he— "(A)(i) is separated from the service after completing 25 years of service or after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service, or "(ii) is involuntarily separated, except by removal for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency, during the 2-year period before the date on which he would meet the years of service and age requirements under clause (i), "(B) was employed in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service, a tribal organization (to the extent provided in paragraph (2)), or any combination thereof, continuously from December 21, 1972, to the date of his separation, and "(C) is not entitled to preference under the Indian preference laws. "(2) Employment in a tribal organization may be considered for purposes of paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection only if— "(A) the employee was employed by the tribal organization after January 4, 1975, and immediately before such employment he was an employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Indian Health Service, and "(B) at the time of such employment such employee and the tribal organization were eligible to elect, and elected, to have the employee retain the covercige, rights, and benefits of this chapter under section 105(e)(2) of the Indian Self-Determination Act (25 U.S.C. 450i(a)(2); 88 Stat. 2209). "(3)(A) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply with respect to any separation of any employee which occurs after the date 5 years after— "(i) the date the employee first meets the years of service and age requirements of paragraph (IXAXi), or "(ii) the date of the enactment of this paragraph, if the employee met those requirements before that date. "(B) For purposes of applying this paragraph with respect to any employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior or of the Indian Health Service in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of the department involved may postpone the date otherwise applicable under subparagraph (A) if— vMVii

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