[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 250 (Friday, December 30, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-32189]


  Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 250 / Friday, December 30, 1994 /
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[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: December 30, 1994]


                                                   VOL. 59, NO. 250

                                          Friday, December 30, 1994

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 531

RIN 3206-AG39

 

Pay Under the General Schedule; Locality-Based Comparability 
Payments

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management is issuing final 
regulations that reflect the final determination of the President's Pay 
Agent concerning the locality pay areas within which locality-based 
comparability payments will be paid beginning in January 1995. The 
regulations remove four metropolitan areas from the ``Rest of U.S.'' 
locality pay area, establish four new locality pay areas corresponding 
to these metropolitan areas, and move five pay localities that were 
established as locality pay areas in 1994 into the ``Rest of U.S.'' 
locality pay area. In addition, the regulations remove San Francisco as 
an interim geographic adjustment area.

DATES: The regulations are effective January 1, 1995. They are 
applicable on the first day of the first pay period beginning on or 
after January 1, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Belva MacDonald, (202) 606-2858.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 18, 1994, the Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM) published proposed regulations (59 FR 52467) based on 
a recommendation of the Federal Salary Council to remove six 
metropolitan areas from the ``Rest of U.S.'' locality pay area and 
establish six new locality pay areas corresponding to these 
metropolitan areas. At the direction of the President's Pay Agent 
(consisting of the Secretary of Labor, the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), and the Director of OPM), the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics conducted local salary surveys in 1993-94 in these six 
areas, which were in addition to the 27 Metropolitan Statistical Areas 
(MSA's) and Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas (CMSA's) within 
which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducted salary surveys for 
the implementation of locality pay in January 1994.
    The Council recommended that any area in which the pay disparity is 
2/10ths of a percentage point or more below the pay disparity for 
``Rest of U.S.'' should be dropped as a separate pay locality and 
combined with ``Rest of U.S.'' The data needed to make the 
determination for the six proposed areas did not become available until 
after the proposed regulations were published. Four of the proposed six 
metropolitan areas met the conditions recommended by the Council for 
removal from the ``Rest of U.S.'' locality pay area and establishment 
as separate pay localities. These four new locality pay areas are (1) 
Columbus, OH; (2) Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL; (3) Portland-Salem, OR-WA; 
and (4) Richmond-Petersburg, VA. Two of the six proposed areas, 
Albuquerque, NM, and New Orleans, LA, have pay disparities that are 
more than 2/10ths of a percentage point below that for the ``Rest of 
U.S.'' area. Therefore, they will remain in the ``Rest of U.S.'' area.
    There are also five areas that were established by the Pay Agent as 
locality pay areas for 1994 that are being dropped as separate locality 
pay areas and combined with ``Rest of U.S.'' for 1995 because they have 
pay disparities that are 2/10ths of a percentage point or more below 
the ``Rest of U.S.'' These areas are (1) Memphis, TN-AR-MS; (2) 
Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA-NC; (3) Oklahoma City, OK; (4) 
Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT; and (5) San Antonio, TX.
    There are 27 locality pay areas for 1995. They consist of 26 areas 
corresponding to MSA's or CMSA's, including certain ``areas of 
application'' contiguous to 2 CMSA's, plus 1 area composed of the 
``Rest of U.S.'' (i.e., those portions of the 48 contiguous States not 
located within another locality pay area). MSA's and CMSA's are defined 
by OMB.
    OPM received comments on locality pay areas from two members of 
Congress, one individual, one agency, and three organizations. Section 
5304(f)(1) of title 5, United States Code, authorizes the President's 
Pay Agent to provide for such pay localities as the Pay Agent considers 
appropriate. Comments on the proposed regulations were reviewed by the 
President's Pay Agent. The Pay Agent decided to adopt the changes in 
locality pay areas that were recommended by the Federal Salary Council. 
The final regulations list each of the locality pay areas for 1995 and 
are issued by OPM under the authority in 5 U.S.C. 5304(i).

Areas of Application

    Three commenters requested that certain areas in the ``Rest of 
U.S.'' locality pay area be added as ``areas of application'' to other 
locality pay areas. One requested that Hartford County, CT, be added as 
an area of application to the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, 
NY-NJ-CT-PA CMSA. Another requested that the Rhode Island cities of 
Providence, Pawtucket, Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick, and Newport be 
added as areas of application to the Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-
ME-CT CMSA. The third commenter requested that the Massachusetts 
counties of Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket be added as areas of 
application to the Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA. 
However, none of these locations meet all of the criteria set forth by 
the Federal Salary Council for establishment as areas of application 
for locality pay purposes.
    The Federal Salary Council's criteria for making its 
recommendations on ``areas of application'' for the January 1995 
locality payments, as outlined in an attachment to the Council's 
memorandum of September 20, 1994, provided that to be considered for 
county-wide areas of application, the affected county must--
    1. Be contiguous to a pay locality.
    2. Contain at least 2,000 GS-GM employees.
    3. Have a significant level of urbanization, based on 1990 Census 
data. A ``significant level of urbanization'' is defined as a 
population density of more than 200 per square mile or at least 90 
percent of the population in urbanized areas.
    4. Demonstrate some economic linkage with the pay locality, defined 
as commuting at a level of 5 percent or more into or from the areas in 
question. The areas in question are the contiguous county under 
consideration and the central counties (or in the case of New England, 
the central cores) identified by the Census Bureau for the process of 
defining the CMSA's or MSA's involved.
    In the case of Hartford County, criterion 4--that commuting into or 
from the central counties identified by the Census Bureau for the New 
York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA CMSA be at a level of 
5 percent--is not met.
    With respect to the Rhode Island cities requested as areas of 
application, under established policies, areas of application must 
comprise entire counties (except in cases where a Federal facility 
crosses pay area boundaries). Even if these individual cities could be 
considered, they would not meet criterion 1--that an area of 
application be contiguous to a pay locality. Also, they would not meet 
the 5-percent commuting standard under criterion 4.
    In the case of the Massachusetts counties requested as areas of 
application, none of the counties meets criterion 2. Nantucket and 
Dukes Counties do not meet criterion 4. Also, Nantucket County fails to 
meet criterion 1, since it is not adjacent to the Boston-Worcester-
Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA.
    An agency commented that inconsistent application of criteria for 
areas of application could lead to unwarranted expansion of locality 
pay areas and agreed that it is in the best interest of the locality 
pay program to continue application of the criteria developed by the 
Federal Salary Council in 1994.

Pay Administration

    Locality pay rates to be implemented in January 1995 for the San 
Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA are greater than interim geographic 
adjusted rates for 1995. Therefore, the San Francisco CMSA was deleted 
as an interim geographic adjustment (IGA) area by Executive order and 
is being removed from the definition of interim geographic adjustment 
area in Sec. 531.101. A conforming change also is being made to ensure 
that an employee in San Francisco receiving a continued rate of pay 
under Sec. 531.106 will not be adversely affected by the removal of San 
Francisco as an IGA area. This is accomplished by providing an 
exception in the rules governing the termination of an adjusted rate of 
pay for an employee receiving a continued rate in an area that was an 
IGA area when the continued rate first became applicable in January 
1994. (See Sec. 531.103(f)(1).)
    The definitions of scheduled annual rate of pay for purposes of 
computing interim geographic adjustments, special pay adjustments for 
law enforcement officers, and locality-based comparability payments in 
Secs. 531.101, 531.301, and 531.602 have been revised to clarify that a 
rate of pay resulting from any of these provisions may not be used as 
the basis for computing the adjusted rate in question.

Comments Beyond the Scope of These Regulations

    A professional association commented that locality payments in 1995 
should be extended to Administrative Law Judges and other senior 
positions that do not automatically receive locality pay. These 
determinations are not within the purview of these regulations. 
However, on December 1, 1994, the Pay Agent informed heads of executive 
departments and agencies that 1995 locality payments would be extended 
to administrative law judges and various other senior positions.

Waiver of Delay in Effective Date

    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), I find that good cause exists to 
make this rule effective in less than 30 days. The final regulations 
are being made effective on January 1, 1995, to authorize locality-
based comparability payments in the locality pay areas established by 
the final regulations on the first day of the first pay period 
beginning on or after January 1, 1995, as required by 5 U.S.C. 
5304(d)(2) and as directed by the President's memorandum of November 
30, 1994, to the President's Pay Agent (59 FR 62549, December 5, 1994).

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review

    This rule has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget 
in accordance with E.O. 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    I certify that these regulations will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because they 
will apply only to Federal agencies and employees.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 531

    Government employees, Law enforcement officers, Wages.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
James B. King,
Director.

    Accordingly, OPM is amending part 531 of title 5, Code of Federal 
Regulations, as follows:

PART 531--PAY UNDER THE GENERAL SCHEDULE

    1. The authority citation for part 531 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5115, 5307, and 5338; sec. 4 of Pub. L. 103-
89, 107 Stat. 981; and E.O. 12748, 56 FR 4521, February 4, 1991, 3 
CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 316;
    Subpart A also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5304, 5305, and 5553; 
section 302 of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 
(FEPCA), Pub. L. 101-509, 104 Stat. 1462; and E.O. 12786, 56 FR 
67453, December 30, 1991, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 376;
    Subpart B also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5303(g), 5333, 5334(a), and 
7701(b)(2);
    Subpart C also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5304, 5305, and 5553; 
sections 302 and 404 of FEPCA, Pub. L. 101-509, 104 Stat. 1462 and 
1466; and section 3(7) of Pub. L. 102-378, 106 Stat. 1356;
    Subpart D also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5335(g) and 7701(b)(2);
    Subpart E also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5336;
    Subpart F also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5304, 5305(g)(1), and 5553; 
and E.O. 12883, 58 FR 63281, November 29, 1993, 3 CFR, 1993 Comp., 
p. 682.

Subpart A--Interim Geographic Adjustments

    2. In Sec. 531.101, in the definition of scheduled annual rate of 
pay, paragraph (1) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 531.101  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Scheduled annual rate of pay means--
    (1) The General Schedule rate of basic pay for the employee's grade 
and step (or relative position in the rate range), including a special 
rate for law enforcement officers under section 403 of the Federal 
Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA) (Pub. L. 101-509, 104 
Stat. 1465), but exclusive of a special salary rate established under 5 
U.S.C. 5305 or similar provision of law (other than section 403 of 
FEPCA), an adjusted annual rate of pay under this subpart (including a 
rate continued under Sec. 531.106), a special law enforcement adjusted 
rate of pay under subpart C of this part (including a rate continued 
under Sec. 531.307), a locality rate of pay under subpart F of this 
part, or additional pay of any kind;
* * * * *
    3. In Sec. 531.103, paragraph (f)(1) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 531.103  Administration of adjusted rates of pay.

* * * * *
    (f) * * *
    (1) An employee's official duty station is no longer located in an 
interim geographic adjustment area, except that, for an employee 
receiving an adjusted annual rate of pay that is continued under 
Sec. 531.106(a), the continued rate terminates when the employee is no 
longer in an area that was an interim geographic adjustment area when 
the continued rate first became applicable in January 1994;
* * * * *
    4. In Sec. 531.301, in the definition of Scheduled annual rate of 
pay, paragraph (1) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 531.301  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Scheduled annual rate of pay means--
    (1) The General Schedule rate of basic pay for the employee's grade 
and step (or relative position in the rate range), including a special 
rate for law enforcement officers under section 403 of the Federal 
Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA) (Pub. L. 101-509, 104 
Stat. 1465), but exclusive of a special salary rate established under 5 
U.S.C. 5305 or similar provision of law (other than section 403 of 
FEPCA), an adjusted annual rate of pay under subpart A of this part 
(including a rate continued under Sec. 531.106), a special law 
enforcement adjusted rate of pay under this subpart (including a rate 
continued under Sec. 531.307), a locality rate of pay under subpart F 
of this part, or additional pay of any kind;
* * * * *

Subpart F--Locality-Based Comparability Payments

    5. In Sec. 531.602, in the definition of scheduled annual rate of 
pay, paragraph (1) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 531.602  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Scheduled annual rate of pay means--
    (1) The General Schedule rate of basic pay for the employee's grade 
and step (or relative position in the rate range), including a special 
rate for law enforcement officers under section 403 of the Federal 
Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA) (Pub. L. 101-509, 104 
Stat. 1465), but exclusive of a special salary rate established under 5 
U.S.C. 5305 or similar provision of law (other than section 403 of 
FEPCA), an adjusted annual rate of pay under subpart A of this part 
(including a rate continued under Sec. 531.106), a special law 
enforcement adjusted rate of pay under subpart C of this part 
(including a rate continued under Sec. 531.307), a locality rate of pay 
under this subpart, or additional pay of any kind;
* * * * *
    6. In Sec. 531.603, paragraph (b) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 531.603  Locality pay areas.

* * * * *
    (b) The following are locality pay areas for the purpose of this 
subpart:
    (1) Atlanta, GA--consisting of the Atlanta, GA MSA;
    (2) Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT--consisting of the 
Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA;
    (3) Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI--consisting of the Chicago-Gary-
Kenosha, IL-IN-WI CMSA;
    (4) Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN--consisting of the Cincinnati-
Hamilton, OH-KY-IN CMSA;
    (5) Cleveland-Akron, OH--consisting of the Cleveland-Akron, OH 
CMSA:
    (6) Columbus, OH--consisting of the Columbus, OH MSA;
    (7) Dallas-Fort Worth, TX--consisting of the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 
CMSA;
    (8) Dayton-Springfield, OH--consisting of the Dayton-Springfield, 
OH MSA;
    (9) Denver-Boulder-Greeley, CO--consisting of the Denver-Boulder-
Greeley, CO CMSA;
    (10) Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI--consisting of the Detroit-Ann 
Arbor-Flint, MI CMSA;
    (11) Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX--consisting of the Houston-
Galveston-Brazoria, TX CMSA;
    (12) Huntsville, AL--consisting of the Huntsville, AL MSA;
    (13) Indianapolis, IN--consisting of the Indianapolis, IN MSA:
    (14) Kansas City, MO-KS--consisting of the Kansas City, MO-KS MSA;
    (15) Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA--consisting of the Los 
Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA CMSA, plus Santa Barbara County, 
CA, and that portion of Edwards Air Force Base, CA, not located within 
the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA CMSA;
    (16) Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL--consisting of the Miami-Fort 
Lauderdale, FL CMSA;
    (17) New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA--
consisting of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA 
CMSA;
    (18) Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD--consisting 
of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD CMSA;
    (19) Portland-Salem, OR-WA--consisting of the Portland-Salem, OR-WA 
CMSA;
    (20) Richmond-Petersburg, VA--consisting of the Richmond-
Petersburg, VA MSA;
    (21) Sacramento-Yolo, CA--consisting of the Sacramento-Yolo, CA 
CMSA;
    (22) St. Louis, MO-IL--consisting of the St. Louis, MO-IL MSA;
    (23) San Diego, CA--consisting of the San Diego, CA MSA;
    (23) San Diego, CA--consisting of the San Diego, CA MSA;
    (24) San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA--consisting of the San 
Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA;
    (25) Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA--consisting of the Seattle-
Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA;
    (26) Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV--consisting of the 
Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV CMSA, plus St. Marys County, MD; and
    (27) Rest of U.S.--consisting of those portions of the continental 
United States not located within another locality pay area.

[FR Doc. 94-32189 Filed 12-29-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-01-M