Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of Certain Appropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Areas

79 FR 64684Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of Certain Appropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Areas

79 FR 64684U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

79 FR 64684Proposed rule with request for comments.

79 FR 64684The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of several appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas for pay-setting purposes. Based on recent reviews of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) boundaries in a number of wage areas, OPM proposes redefinitions affecting the following wage areas: Washington, DC; Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC, and Southwestern Wisconsin. In addition, this proposed rule would make three minor corrections to the Miami, FL; Columbus, GA, and Kansas City, MO, wage areas.

79 FR 64684We must receive comments on or before December 1, 2014.

79 FR 64684You may submit comments, identified by “RIN 3206-AN10,” using any of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Mail: Brenda L. Roberts, Acting Deputy Associate Director for Pay and Leave, Employee Services, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Room 7H31, 1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC 20415-8200. Email: pay-leave-policy@opm.gov.

79 FR 64684Madeline Gonzalez, by telephone at (202) 606-2838 or by email at pay-leave-policy@opm.gov.

79 FR 64684OPM is issuing a proposed rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of several appropriated fund FWS wage areas. These changes are based on recommendations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the statutory national labor-management committee responsible for advising OPM on matters affecting the pay of FWS employees. From time to time, FPRAC reviews the boundaries of wage areas and provides OPM with recommendations for changes if the Committee finds that changes are warranted. OPM considers the following regulatory criteria under 5 CFR 532.211 when defining FWS wage area boundaries: (i) Distance, transportation facilities, and geographic features; (ii) Commuting patterns; and (iii) Similarities in overall population, employment, and the kinds and sizes of private industrial establishments. In addition, OPM regulations at 5 CFR 532.211 do not permit splitting MSAs for the purpose of defining a wage area, except in very unusual circumstances. The Office of Management and Budget defines MSAs and maintains and updates the definitions of MSA boundaries following each decennial census. MSAs are composed of counties and are defined on the basis of a central urbanized area—a contiguous area of relatively high population density. Additional surrounding counties are included in MSAs if they have strong social and economic ties to central counties. When the boundaries of wage areas were first established in the 1960s, there were fewer MSAs than there are today and the boundaries of the then existing MSAs were much smaller. Most MSAs were contained within the boundaries of a wage area. MSAs have expanded each decade and in some cases now extend beyond the boundaries of the wage area.

79 FR 64684FPRAC recently reviewed several wage areas where boundaries subdivide certain MSAs and concurred by consensus with the changes described in this proposed rule. These changes would be effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after 30 days following publication of the final regulations.

79 FR 64684Washington, DC; Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George's Counties, MD; Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities, VA; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, VA; and Jefferson County, WV, comprise the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-MD-VA-WV MSA. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-MD-VA-WV MSA is split between the Washington, DC, wage area and the Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD, wage area. Washington, DC; Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George's Counties, MD; Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities, VA; and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties, VA, are part of the Washington, DC, survey area. Calvert and St. Mary's Counties, MD; Fredericksburg City, VA; Clarke, Fauquier, King George, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, VA; and Jefferson County, WV, are part of the Washington, DC, area of application. Culpeper and Rappahannock Counties, VA, are part of the Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg area of application. OPM proposes to redefine Culpeper and Rappahannock Counties to the Washington, DC, area of application so that the entire Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-MD-VA-WV MSA is in one wage area. There are seven FWS employees working in Culpeper County and one FWS employee working in Rappahannock County.

79 FR 64684Dodge, Fillmore, Olmsted, and Wabasha Counties, MN, comprise the Rochester, MN MSA. The Rochester, MN MSA is split between the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, wage area and the Southwestern Wisconsin wage area. Dodge, Olmsted, and Wabasha Counties are part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of application and Fillmore County is part of the Southwestern Wisconsin area of application. OPM proposes to redefine Fillmore County to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of application so that the entire Rochester, MN MSA is in one wage area. There are currently no FWS employees working in Fillmore County.

79 FR 64685Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, and Union Counties, NC, and Chester, Lancaster, and York Counties, SC; comprise the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC MSA. The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia MSA is split between the Charlotte, NC, wage area and the Columbia, SC, wage area. Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg, Rowan, and Union Counties, NC, are part of the Charlotte survey area; Iredell and Lincoln Counties, NC, and Lancaster and York Counties, SC, are part of the Charlotte area of application; and Chester County, SC, is part of the Columbia area of application. OPM proposes to redefine Chester County to the Charlotte area of application so that the entire Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC MSA is in one wage area. There are currently no FWS employees working in Chester County.

79 FR 64685In addition, this proposed rule would make the following minor corrections: • Update the name of the Columbus Consolidated Government in the Columbus, GA, FWS wage area because Columbus is the official name of the entity resulting from the consolidation of the City of Columbus and Muscogee County in 1971. • Update the name of Dade County in the Miami, FL, FWS wage area because the name of Dade County was officially changed to Miami-Dade County in 1997. • Delete the name of the St. Louis, MO, wage area from the list of area of application counties in the Kansas City, MO, wage area because, due to a formatting error, the name of the St. Louis wage area was incorrectly printed as if it was an area of application county in the Kansas City wage area.

79 FR 64685I certify that these regulations would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because they would affect only Federal agencies and employees.

79 FR 64685Administrative practice and procedure, Freedom of information, Government employees, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Wages. U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Accordingly, OPM is proposing to amend 5 CFR part 532 as follows:

79 FR 646851. The authority citation for part 532 continues to read as follows:

79 FR 646855 U.S.C. 5343, 5346; § 532.707 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552. 2. Appendix C to subpart B is amended by revising the wage area listings in paragraph (3), under the undesignated center heading Definitions of Wage and Wage Survey Areas, for the Washington, DC; Miami, FL; Columbus, GA; Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Kansas City, MO; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC, and Southwestern Wisconsin wage areas to read as follows:

79 FR 64685* * * * * DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington, DC Survey Area District of Columbia: Washington, DC Maryland: Charles Frederick Montgomery Prince George's Virginia (cities): Alexandria Fairfax Falls Church Manassas Manassas Park Virginia (counties): Arlington Fairfax Loudoun Prince William Area of Application. Survey area plus: Maryland: Calvert St. Mary's Virginia (city): Fredericksburg Virginia (counties): Clarke Culpeper Fauquier King George Rappahannock Spotsylvania Stafford Warren West Virginia Jefferson * * * * * FLORIDA * * * * * Miami Survey Area Florida: Miami-Dade Area of Application. Survey area plus: Florida: Broward Collier Glades Hendry Highlands Martín Monroe Okeechobee Palm Beach St. Lucie * * * * * GEORGIA * * * * * Columbus Survey Area Alabama: Autauga Elmore Lee Macon Montgomery Russell Georgia: Chattahoochee Columbus Area of Application. Survey area plus: Alabama: Bullock Butler Chambers Coosa Crenshaw Dallas Lowndes Pike Tallapoosa Wilcox Georgia: Harris Marion Quitman Schley Stewart Talbot Taylor Troup Webster * * * * * MARYLAND * * * * * Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg Survey Area Maryland: Washington Pennsylvania: Franklin West Virginia: Berkeley Area of Application. Survey area plus: Maryland: Allegany Garrett Pennsylvania: Fulton Virginia (cities): Harrisonburg Winchester Virginia (counties): Frederick Greene Madison Page Rockingham Shenandoah West Virginia: Hampshire Hardy Mineral Morgan * * * * * MINNESOTA * * * * * Minneapolis-St. Paul Survey Area Minnesota: Anoka Carver Chisago Dakota Hennepin Ramsey Scott Washington Wright Wisconsin: St. Croix Area of Application. Survey area plus: Minnesota: Benton Big Stone Blue Earth Brown Chippewa Cottonwood Dodge Douglas Faribault Fillmore Freeborn Goodhue Grant Isanti Kanabec Kandiyohi Lac Qui Parle Le Sueur McLeod Martin Meeker Mille Lacs Morrison Mower Nicollet Olmsted Pope Redwood Renville Rice Sherburne Sibley Stearns Steele Stevens Swift Todd Traverse Wabasha Wadena Waseca

79 FR 64686Watonwan Yellow Medicine Wisconsin: Pierce Polk * * * * * Missouri Kansas City Survey Area Kansas: Johnson Leavenworth Wyandotte Missouri: Cass Clay Jackson Platte Ray Area of Application. Survey area plus: Kansas: Allen Anderson Atchison Bourbon Doniphan Douglas Franklin Linn Miami Missouri: Adair Andrew Atchison Bates Buchanan Caldwell Carroll Chariton Clinton Cooper Daviess De Kalb Gentry Grundy Harrison Henry Holt Howard Johnson Lafayette Linn Livingston Macon Mercer Nodaway Pettis Putnam Saline Schuyler Sullivan Worth * * * * * NORTH CAROLINA * * * * * Charlotte Survey Area North Carolina: Cabarrus Gaston Mecklenburg Rowan Union Area of Application. Survey area plus: North Carolina: Alexander Anson Catawba Cleveland Iredell Lincoln Stanly Wilkes South Carolina: Chester Chesterfield Lancaster York * * * * * SOUTH CAROLINA * * * * * Columbia Survey Area South Carolina: Darlington Florence Kershaw Lee Lexington Richland Sumter Area of Application. Survey area plus: South Carolina: Abbeville Anderson Calhoun Cherokee Clarendon Fairfield Greenville Greenwood Laurens Newberry Oconee Orangeburg Pickens Saluda Spartanburg Union * * * * * WISCONSIN * * * * * Southwestern Wisconsin Survey Area Wisconsin: Chippewa Eau Claire La Crosse Monroe Trempealeau Area of Application. Survey area plus: Minnesota: Houston Winona Wisconsin: Barron Buffalo Clark Crawford Dunn Florence Forest Jackson Juneau Langlade Lincoln Marathon Marinette Menominee Oneida Pepin Portage Price Richland Rusk Shawano Taylor Vernon Vilas Waupaca Wood * * * * *