Prevailing Rate Systems; Abolishment of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, as a Nonappropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Area

88 FR 78223Prevailing Rate Systems; Abolishment of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, as a Nonappropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Area

88 FR 78223Office of Personnel Management.

88 FR 78223The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to abolish the Allegheny, Pennsylvania, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and redefine Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to the Macomb, Michigan, NAF wage area; Trumbull County, OH, to the Niagara, New York, NAF wage area; Allegheny and Butler Counties, PA, to the Cumberland, PA, NAF wage area; Harrison County, West Virginia, to the Prince William, Virginia, NAF wage area; and Westmoreland County, PA, will no longer be defined. These changes are necessary because NAF FWS employment in the survey area is now below the minimum criterion of 26 wage employees to maintain a wage area, and the local activities no longer have the capability to conduct local wage surveys.

88 FR 78223Effective date: This regulation is effective December 15, 2023. Applicability date: This change applies on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after December 15, 2023.

88 FR 78223Ana Paunoiu, by telephone at (202) 606-2858 or by email at pay-leave-policy@opm.gov.

88 FR 78223On August 15, 2023, OPM issued a proposed rule (88 FR 55421) to abolish the Allegheny, PA, NAF FWS wage area and redefine Cuyahoga County, OH, as an area of application county to the Macomb, MI, NAF wage area; Trumbull County, OH, as an area of application county to the Niagara, NY, NAF wage area; Allegheny and Butler Counties, PA, as an area of application counties to the Cumberland, PA, NAF wage area; and Harrison County, WV, as an area of application county to the Prince William, VA, NAF wage area. Westmoreland County, PA, will no longer be defined to a NAF wage area. The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee, the national labor-management committee responsible for advising OPM on matters concerning the pay of FWS employees, reviewed and recommended these changes by consensus. The proposed rule had a 30-day comment period, during which OPM received no comments. Therefore, this final rule adopts the proposed rule at 88 FR 55421 without change.

88 FR 78223Section 5343 of title 5, U.S. Code, provides OPM with the authority and responsibility to define the boundaries of NAF FWS wage areas. Any changes in wage area definitions can have the long-term effect of increasing pay for Federal employees in affected locations. OPM expects this final rule to impact approximately 26 NAF FWS employees. Considering the small number of employees affected, OPM does not anticipate this rule will substantially impact local economies or have a large impact in local labor markets. As this and future wage area changes may impact higher volumes of employees in geographical areas and could rise to the level of impacting local labor markets, OPM will continue to study the implications of such impacts in this or future rules as needed.

88 FR 78223Executive Orders 13563, 12866, and 14094 direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). This rule is not a “significant regulatory action” under the provisions of Executive Order 14094 and, therefore, was not reviewed by OMB.

88 FR 78223The Director of OPM certifies that this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

88 FR 78223OPM has examined this rule in accordance with Executive Order 13132, Federalism, and have determined that this rule will not have any negative impact on the rights, roles and responsibilities of State, local, or tribal governments.

88 FR 78223This rule meets the applicable standard set forth in Executive Order 12988.

88 FR 78223This rule will not result in the expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more in any year and it will not significantly or uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were deemed necessary under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.

88 FR 78223Subtitle E of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (known as the Congressional Review Act or CRA) (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq. ) requires most final rules to be submitted to Congress before taking effect. OPM will submit to Congress and the Comptroller General of the United States a report regarding the issuance of this rule before its effective date. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget has determined that this rule is not a major rule as defined by the CRA (5 U.S.C. 804).

88 FR 78223This rule does not impose any reporting or record-keeping requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act.

88 FR 78223Administrative practice and procedure, Freedom of information, Government employees, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Wages. Office of Personnel Management. Accordingly, OPM amends 5 CFR part 532 as follows:

88 FR 782241. The authority citation for part 532 continues to read as follows:

88 FR 782245 U.S.C. 5343, 5346; § 532.707 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552.

88 FR 782242. In Appendix D to subpart B, amend the table by revising the wage area listing for the States of Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to read as follows:

88 FR 78224Michigan: Alpena Calhoun Crawford Grand Traverse Huron Iosco Kent Leelanau Ottawa Saginaw Washtenaw Wayne Ohio: Cuyahoga Lucas Ottawa

88 FR 78224New York: Albany Oneida Onondaga Ontario Schenectady Steuben

88 FR 78224New Jersey: Essex Hudson New York: Bronx Nassau New York Richmond Suffolk

88 FR 78224New York: Erie Genesee Ohio: Trumbull Pennsylvania: Erie

88 FR 78224Pennsylvania: Allegheny Blair Butler Franklin

88 FR 78224Virginia (city): Alexandria Virginia (counties): Arlington Fairfax

88 FR 78224Virginia (city): Richmond Virginia (county): Chesterfield

88 FR 78224Virginia (cities): Bedford Charlottesville Salem Virginia (counties): Caroline Nottoway Prince George West Virginia: Pendleton

88 FR 78224Virginia (cities): Hampton Newport News

88 FR 78224Virginia (city): Williamsburg Virginia (county): York

88 FR 78224Virginia (cities): Norfolk Portsmouth Virginia Beach

88 FR 78224North Carolina: Pasquotank Virginia (cities): Chesapeake Suffolk Virginia (counties): Accomack Northampton

88 FR 78224Virginia: Fauquier West Virginia: Harrison