Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Raven Rock Mountain Complex to the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington Federal Wage System Wage Area

91 FR 33579Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Raven Rock Mountain Complex to the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington Federal Wage System Wage Area

91 FR 33579Office of Personnel Management.

91 FR 33579The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to redefine the Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area coverage of the Raven Rock Mountain Complex (RRMC), which spans small portions of Washington County, Maryland, which is in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington wage area, and Adams County, Pennsylvania, which is in the Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, PA wage area. OPM will redefine the RRMC portion of Adams County from the Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, PA wage area to the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington wage area so that all of the RRMC is in the same wage area. Portions of Adams County outside of RRMC will continue to be defined to the Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, PA, wage area. This change will align wage area coverage for installations within the Pentagon Reservation and prevent pay disparities among FWS employees working at the RRMC.

91 FR 33579Effective date: This regulation is effective July 6, 2026. Applicability date: This change applies on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after July 6, 2026.

91 FR 33579Ana Paunoiu by telephone at (202) 606-2858 or by email at paypolicy@opm.gov.

91 FR 33579On February 25, 2026, OPM issued a proposed rule (91 FR 9170) to amend Appendix C of 5 CFR part 532, subpart B—Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey Areas, to redefine the FWS wage area coverage of the RRMC. The rule also proposed several additional corrections and revisions to Appendix C and corrections and revisions to Appendix A of 5 CFR 532, subpart B—Nationwide Schedule of Appropriated Fund Regular Wage Surveys. These additional corrections and revisions concern formatting, spelling, typographical errors, inconsistencies, and omissions made in final rule 90 FR 7428, published on January 21, 2025. The proposed rule had a 60-day comment period, during which OPM received no comments. Therefore, this final rule adopts the proposed rule at 91 FR 9170 without change. The revisions to Appendix A and Appendix C of 5 CFR part 532, subpart B, in this final rule are as follows: This final rule will make the following revision to Appendix A: adds the State of Connecticut, and a listing for the New Haven-Hartford wage area, with “DOD” as lead agency; “April” as the listing of the beginning month of survey; and “Odd” Fiscal Year of full-scale survey. The listing for the New Haven-Hartford wage area was inadvertently omitted in final rule. This final rule will make the following revisions to Appendix C:

91 FR 33579Adds “until” between “effective” and “January” to read “(effective until January 2028)” for Talladega County, Alabama, in the area of application. Talladega County, AL, was moved from the Anniston-Gadsden survey area to the Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega area of application, effective October 1, 2025, until January 2028. This county will subsequently be moved from the Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega area of application to the Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega survey area effective for local wage surveys beginning in January 2028. The final rule inadvertently omitted the word “until.”

91 FR 33579Adds Adams (Only includes the Raven Rock Mountain Complex) County, PA, to the area of application of the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington wage area. Revises the name of “Berkley” County, West Virginia, to read “Berkeley.”

91 FR 33579Adds St. Lucie County, Florida, to the area of application of the Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale wage area. Due to a formatting error, St. Lucie County was listed as a separate wage area, instead of being part of the Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale wage area. Deletes “St. Lucie” as a wage area entry.

91 FR 33579Replaces “:” with “.” after “Survey area,” to read “Area of Application. Survey area,” for the Augusta wage area, in the State of Maine. The Augusta wage area does not have an area of application. As such, the correct punctuation is a period instead of a colon.

91 FR 33579Deletes “IL” from the title of the “Chicago-Naperville, IL” wage area to read “Chicago-Naperville” to be consistent with how we list the titles of other wage areas.

91 FR 33579Adds “(Does not include the Raven Rock Mountain Complex)” after “Adams” to read “Adams (Does not include the Raven Rock Mountain Complex)” in the area of application of the Harrisburg-York-Lebanon wage area.

91 FR 33579Deletes the Cities of Staunton and Waynesboro, Virginia, which were incorrectly included and duplicated in the area of application of the Roanoke wage area. These cities were moved to the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington wage area and were inadvertently not deleted from the Roanoke wage area. Deletes Augusta (Does not include the Shenandoah National Park portion) County, VA, which was incorrectly included and duplicated in the area of application of the Roanoke wage area. The entire Augusta County was moved to the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington wage area, and the Shenandoah National Park portion was inadvertently not deleted from the Roanoke wage area.

91 FR 33580Section 5343 of title 5, U.S. Code, provides OPM with the authority and responsibility to define the boundaries of 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 rulemaking to impact around 50 FWS employees. Considering the small number of employees affected, OPM does not anticipate that 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.

91 FR 33580OPM has examined the impact of this rulemaking as required by Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 which 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 rulemaking is not a “significant regulatory action” under Executive Order 12866. The rule is not an E.O. 14192 regulatory action because it is not significant under E.O. 12866.

91 FR 33580The Director of OPM certifies that this rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

91 FR 33580OPM has examined this rule in accordance with Executive Order 13132, Federalism, and has determined that this rule will not have any negative impact on the rights, roles and responsibilities of State, local, or Tribal governments.

91 FR 33580This rulemaking 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 in 1995 dollars, updated annually for inflation. That threshold is currently approximately $206 million. This rulemaking 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.

91 FR 33580This rulemaking 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 in 1995 dollars, updated annually for inflation. That threshold is currently approximately $206 million. This rulemaking 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.

91 FR 33580The Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined this rule does not meet the criteria listed in 5 U.S.C. 804(2). In addition, this is a rule relating to agency management or personnel and does not come within the meaning of the term “rule” as used in 5 U.S.C. 804(3)(C). Therefore, the reporting requirement of 5 U.S.C. 801 does not apply.

91 FR 33580This rulemaking does not impose any reporting or record-keeping requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act.

91 FR 33580Administrative practice and procedure, Freedom of information, Government employees, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Wages.

91 FR 33580The Director of OPM, Scott Kupor, reviewed and approved this document and has authorized the undersigned to electronically sign and submit this document to the Office of the Federal Register for publication. Office of Personnel Management Accordingly, OPM amends 5 CFR part 532 as follows:

91 FR 335801. The authority citation for part 532 continues to read as follows:

91 FR 335805 U.S.C. 5343, 5346. Sec. 532.707 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552.

91 FR 335802. In Appendix A to subpart B, amend the table by adding in alphabetic order by state the New Haven-Hartford wage survey listing for the State of Connecticut.

91 FR 33580* * * * * * * Connecticut New Haven-Hartford DoD April Odd. * * * * * * *

91 FR 335803. In Appendix C to subpart B—Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey Areas, amend the table by revising the wage area listing for the District of Columbia and for the States of Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to read as follows:

91 FR 33580ALABAMA Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega Survey Area Alabama: Calhoun (effective for wage surveys beginning in January 2028) Etowah (effective for wage surveys beginning in January 2028) Jefferson St. Clair Shelby Talladega (effective for wage surveys beginning in January 2028) Tuscaloosa Walker Area of Application. Survey area plus: Alabama: Bibb Blount Calhoun (effective until January 2028) Chilton Clay Coosa Cullman Etowah (effective until January 2028) Fayette Greene Hale Lamar Marengo Perry Pickens Talladega (effective until January 2028) Winston Dothan Survey Area Alabama: Dale Houston Georgia: Early Area of Application. Survey area plus: Alabama: Barbour Coffee Geneva Henry Georgia: Clay Miller Seminole Huntsville Survey Area Alabama: Limestone Madison Marshall Morgan Area of Application. Survey area plus: Alabama: Colbert DeKalb Franklin Lauderdale Lawrence Marion Tennessee: Giles Lincoln Wayne Montgomery-Selma Survey Area Alabama: Autauga Elmore Montgomery Area of Application. Survey area plus: Alabama: Bullock Butler Crenshaw Dallas Lowndes Pike Wilcox DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington-Baltimore-Arlington Survey Area District of Columbia: Washington, DC Maryland (city): Baltimore (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Maryland (counties): Anne Arundel (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Baltimore (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Carroll (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Charles Frederick Harford (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Howard (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Montgomery Prince George's Washington (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Pennsylvania: Franklin (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Virginia (cities):

91 FR 33580Alexandria Fairfax Falls Church Manassas Manassas Park Virginia (counties): Arlington Fairfax King George (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Loudoun Prince William West Virginia: Berkeley (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Area of Application. Survey area plus: Maryland (city): Baltimore (effective until July 2027) Maryland (counties): Allegany Anne Arundel (effective until July 2027) Baltimore (effective until July 2027) Calvert Caroline Carroll (effective until July 2027) Dorchester Garrett Harford (effective until July 2027) Howard (effective until July 2027) Kent Queen Anne's St. Mary's Talbot Washington (effective until July 2027) Pennsylvania: Adams (Only includes the Raven Rock Mountain Complex) Franklin (effective until July 2027) Fulton Virginia (cities): Fredericksburg Harrisonburg Staunton Waynesboro Winchester Virginia (counties): Albemarle (Only includes the Shenandoah National Park portion) Augusta Caroline Clarke Culpeper Fauquier Frederick Greene (Only includes the Shenandoah National Park portion) King George (effective until July 2027) Madison Orange Page Rappahannock Rockingham Shenandoah Spotsylvania Stafford Warren Westmoreland West Virginia: Berkeley (effective until July 2027) Hampshire Hardy Jefferson Mineral Morgan FLORIDA Cocoa-Beach Survey Area Florida: Brevard Area of Application. Survey area. Jacksonville Survey Area Florida: Alachua Baker Clay Columbia (effective for wage surveys beginning in January 2027) Duval Nassau Orange (effective for wage surveys beginning in January 2027) St. Johns Sumter (effective for wage surveys beginning in January 2027) Georgia: Camden Area of Application. Survey area plus: Florida:

91 FR 33580Bradford Citrus Columbia (effective until January 2027) Dixie Flagler Gilchrist Hamilton Lafayette Lake Levy Madison Marion Orange (effective until January 2027) Osceola Polk Putnam Seminole Sumter (effective until January 2027) Suwannee Taylor Union Volusia Georgia: Charlton Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale Survey Area Florida: Miami-Dade Palm Beach (effective for wage surveys beginning in May 2027) Area of Application. Survey area plus: Florida: Broward Collier Glades Hendry Highlands Indian River Lee Martin Monroe Okeechobee Palm Beach (effective until May 2027) St. Lucie Panama City Survey Area Florida: Bay Gulf Area of Application. Survey area plus: Florida: Calhoun Franklin Gadsden Holmes Jackson Jefferson Leon Liberty Wakulla Washington Georgia: Decatur Pensacola Survey Area Florida: Escambia Santa Rosa Area of Application. Survey area plus: Alabama: Baldwin Clarke Conecuh Covington Escambia Mobile Monroe Washington Florida: Okaloosa Walton Tampa-St. Petersburg Survey Area Florida: Hillsborough Pasco Pinellas Area of Application. Survey area plus: Florida: Charlotte De Soto Hardee Hernando Manatee Sarasota ILLINOIS Bloomington-Pontiac Survey Area Illinois: Champaign Menard Sangamon Vermilion Area of Application. Survey area plus: Illinois: Christian Clark Coles Crawford Cumberland De Witt Douglas Edgar Ford Jasper Livingston Logan McLean Macon Morgan Moultrie Piatt Scott Shelby Chicago-Naperville Survey Area Illinois: Cook Du Page Kane Lake McHenry Will Area of Application. Survey area plus: Illinois: Boone Bureau De Kalb Grundy Iroquois Kankakee Kendall La Salle Ogle Putnam Stephenson Winnebago Indiana: Jasper Lake La Porte Newton Porter Pulaski Starke Wisconsin: Kenosha MAINE Augusta Survey Area Maine: Kennebec Knox Lincoln Area of Application. Survey area.

91 FR 33580Central And Northern Maine Survey Area Maine: Aroostook Penobscot Area of Application. Survey area plus: Maine: Hancock Piscataquis Somerset Waldo Washington PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg-York-Lebanon Survey Area Pennsylvania: Cumberland Dauphin Lebanon Union (effective for wage surveys beginning in May 2026) York Area of Application. Survey area plus: Pennsylvania: Adams (Does not include the Raven Rock Mountain Complex) Clinton Juniata Lancaster Lycoming Mifflin Perry Snyder Union (effective until May 2026) Philadelphia-Reading-Camden Survey Area Delaware: Kent (effective for wage surveys beginning in October 2027) New Castle (effective for wage surveys beginning in October 2027) Maryland: Cecil (effective for wage surveys beginning in October 2027) New Jersey: Burlington (Excluding the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst portion) Camden Gloucester Salem (effective for wage surveys beginning in October 2027) Pennsylvania: Bucks Chester Delaware Montgomery Philadelphia Area of Application. Survey area plus: Delaware: Kent (effective until October 2027) New Castle (effective until October 2027) Sussex Maryland: Cecil (effective until October 2027) Somerset Wicomico Worcester (Does not include the Assateague Island portion) New Jersey: Atlantic Cape May Cumberland Salem (effective until October 2027) Pennsylvania: Berks Schuylkill Pittsburgh Survey Area Pennsylvania: Allegheny Beaver Butler Cambria (effective for wage surveys beginning in July 2027) Washington Westmoreland Area of Application. Survey area plus: Ohio: Belmont Harrison Jefferson Pennsylvania:

91 FR 33580Armstrong Bedford Blair Cambria (effective until July 2027) Cameron Centre Clarion Clearfield Crawford Elk (Does not include the Allegheny National Forest portion) Erie Fayette Forest (Does not include the Allegheny National Forest portion) Greene Huntingdon Indiana Jefferson Lawrence Mercer Potter Somerset Venango West Virginia: Brooke Hancock Marshall Ohio Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Survey Area Pennsylvania: Lackawanna Luzerne Area of Application. Survey area plus: Pennsylvania: Bradford Columbia Montour Northumberland Sullivan Susquehanna Wyoming VIRGINIA Richmond Survey Area Virginia (cities): Colonial Heights Hopewell Petersburg Richmond Virginia (counties): Charles City Chesterfield Dinwiddie Goochland Hanover Henrico New Kent Powhatan Prince George Area of Application. Survey area plus: Virginia (cities): Charlottesville Emporia Virginia (counties): Albemarle (Does not include the Shenandoah National Park portion) Amelia Brunswick Buckingham Charlotte Cumberland Essex Fluvanna Greene (Does not include the Shenandoah National Park portion) Greensville King and Queen King William Lancaster Louisa Lunenburg Mecklenburg Nelson Northumberland Nottoway Prince Edward Richmond Sussex Roanoke Survey Area Virginia (cities): Radford Roanoke Salem Virginia (counties): Botetourt Craig Montgomery Roanoke Area of Application. Survey area plus: Virginia (cities): Buena Vista Covington Danville Galax Lexington Lynchburg Martinsville Virginia (counties): Alleghany Amherst Appomattox Bath Bedford Bland Campbell Carroll Floyd Franklin Giles Halifax Henry Highland Patrick Pittsylvania Pulaski Rockbridge Wythe Virginia Beach-Chesapeake Survey Area North Carolina: Currituck Pasquotank (effective for wage surveys beginning in May 2026) Virginia (cities):

91 FR 33580Chesapeake Hampton Newport News Norfolk Poquoson Portsmouth Suffolk Virginia Beach Williamsburg Virginia (counties): Gloucester James City York Area of Application. Survey area plus: Maryland: Worcester (Only includes the Assateague Island portion) North Carolina: Camden Chowan Dare Gates Hertford Pasquotank (effective until May 2026) Perquimans Tyrrell Virginia (city): Franklin Virginia (counties): Accomack Isle of Wight Mathews Middlesex Northampton Southampton Surry