Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act
P.L. 108-176, the Vision 100 – “Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act,” enacted December 12, 2003 has, to this point, resulted in many unanswered questions. The Office of Personnel Management has developed a Draft Benefits Administration Letter (BAL) which provides answers to some of these questions and creates some new issues.
The provisions of P.L. 108-176 primarily affect employees in FERS. The only circumstances where CSRS employees would be affected would be when agencies need to either certify or look for certification for second-level supervisors in order to determine if the employee qualifies for retirement under ATC rules. There are two concepts to this law. The first added a new group of employees to the definition of “air traffic controllers” and the second added a new type of ATC retirement “ATC MRA + 30 years.”
Regulations were issued in 2004 extending the definition of “air traffic controller” found in 2109(1) of 5 USC to “second-level supervisors of individuals who are actively engaged in the separation and control of air traffic; or in providing pre-flight, in-flight, or airport advisory service to aircraft operators.” read more (pdf format)