[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 200 (Friday, October 16, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55770-55771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27819]



[[Page 55769]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part V





Office of Personnel Management





_______________________________________________________________________



Science and Technology Laboratory Personnel Management Demonstration 
Project, Department of the Army; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 200 / Friday, Month October 16, 1998 
/ Notices  

[[Page 55770]]



OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT


Science and Technology Laboratory Personnel Management 
Demonstration Project, Department of the Army: the Army Engineer 
Waterways Experiment Station (WES); the Army Construction Engineering 
Research Laboratories (CERL); the Army Topographic Engineering Center 
(TEC); and the Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory 
(CRREL)

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Notice to expand coverage of all provisions of the WES 
Personnel Management Demonstration Project to include employees at 
CERL, TEC, and CRREL.

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

SUMMARY: 5 U.S.C. 4703 authorizes the Office of Personnel Management 
(OPM) to conduct demonstration projects that experiment with new and 
different personnel management concepts to determine whether such 
changes in personnel policy or procedures would result in improved 
Federal personnel management.
    Pub. L. 103-337, October 5, 1994, permits the Department of Defense 
(DoD), with the approval of OPM, to carry out personnel demonstration 
projects at DoD Science and Technology (S&T) Reinvention Laboratories. 
This notice identifies the expanded coverage of the WES Personnel 
Management Demonstration Project to include employees assigned to CERL, 
TEC, and CRREL .

DATES: This notice to expand the WES Demonstration Project may be 
implemented at CERL, TEC, and CRREL effective on October 19, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    WES: Dr. C. H. Pennington, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment 
Station, ATTN: CEWES-ZT-E, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, 
Mississippi 39180-6199, phone 601-634-3549.
    CERL: Mr. John M. Deponai, III, U.S. Army Construction Engineering 
Research Laboratories, ATTN: CECER-ZC, PO Box 9005, Champaign, IL 
61826-9005, phone 217-373-7201.
    TEC: Mr. Bobbie F. Kerns, Jr., U.S. Army Topographic Engineering 
Center, ATTN: CETEC-SD, 7701 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22315-3864, 
phone 703-428-7703.
    CRREL: Ms. Susan F. Koh, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and 
Engineering Laboratory, ATTN: CECRL-HR, 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 
03755-1290, phone 603-646-4500.
    OPM: Ms. Fidelma A. Donahue, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 
1900 E Street, NW, Room 7460, Washington, DC 20415, phone 202-606-1138.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    OPM has approved ``Science and Technology Laboratory Personnel 
Management Demonstration Projects'' and published the WES final plan in 
the Federal Register on Tuesday, March 3, 1998, Volume 63, Number 41, 
Part IV, with a corrected version published on Wednesday, March 25, 
1998, Volume 63, Number 57, Part V. The WES Demonstration Project 
involved simplified job classification, pay banding, performance-based 
compensation systems, employee development provisions, and modified 
reduction-in-force procedures.

2. Overview

    The Headquarters Corps of Engineers recently made a decision to 
consolidate the management structure of its four laboratories into one 
Research and Development (R&D) organization. Under re-engineering 
activities, the Corps will integrate R&D program planning and oversight 
activities and consolidate support operations under a single commander 
located at WES. The Corps projects that these efforts will ultimately 
result in significant reductions in operating costs. The integrated 
program management will increase the Corps' efficiency in executing the 
R&D program and consequently improve the ability to serve the Army and 
the Nation.

    Dated: September 29, 1998.

Office of Personnel Management.
Janice R. Lachance,
Director.

I. Executive Summary

    The Department of the Army established the WES Personnel Management 
Demonstration Project to be generally similar to the system in use at 
the Navy Personnel Demonstration Project known as China Lake. The 
project was built upon the concepts of linking performance to pay for 
all covered positions, simplified paperwork in the processing of 
classification and other personnel actions, emphasizing partnerships 
among management, employees, and unions, and delegating other 
authorities to line managers.

II. Introduction

A. Purpose

    The Demonstration Project at the WES attempts to provide managers, 
at the lowest practical level, the authority, control, and flexibility 
needed to achieve quality laboratories and quality products. The 
purpose of this notice is to expand the coverage of the WES Personnel 
Management Demonstration Project to CERL, TEC, and CRREL as a result of 
laboratory consolidation. The project will allow the Corps' 
Laboratories to compete more effectively for high-quality personnel and 
strengthen the manager's role in personnel management. All provisions 
of the approved WES Personnel Management Demonstration Project will 
apply.
    Employee notification will be made by delivery of a copy of the 
corrected version of the WES plan and this notice. Training for 
supervisors and employees will be accomplished by information briefings 
and training sessions prior to implementation.

B. Duty Locations

    Employees assigned to CERL, TEC, and CRREL work at the locations 
shown in Table 1.

                        Table 1.--Duty Locations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Total number
                        Location                           of employees
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hanover, NH.............................................             304
Anchorage, AK...........................................               5
Fairbanks, AK...........................................              11
Arlington, VA...........................................               1
Alexandria, VA..........................................             346
Ft. Huachuca, AZ........................................               1
Champaign, IL...........................................             351
------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Participating Employees

    The project will cover all General Schedule (GS) employees assigned 
to CERL, TEC, and CRREL. Federal Wage System (FWS) employees, Civilian 
Intelligence Personnel Management System (CIPMS) employees covered by 
Title 10, and 5 U.S.C. 3105 Scientific and Technical (ST) employees are 
not covered, but will follow the same employee development provisions 
of this plan, except, in the case of CIPMS employees, where the 
provisions are found to be in conflict with CIPMS. The additional 
occupational series of employees included in the project are identified 
by occupational family in Table 2. All GS employees at CERL, TEC, and 
CRREL with appointments exceeding one year will be covered by the 
provisions of this project. GS employees with appointments limited to 
one year or less will be covered for pay banding, the performance 
appraisal process, and salary adjustments. Senior Executive Service 
(SES) employees will not be included in the project. It is intended to 
expand coverage of the project to all FWS employees 1 to 2 years 
following the date of implementation. In the event of

[[Page 55771]]

expansion to FWS employees beyond the employee development provisions, 
full approval will be obtained from DA, DoD, and OPM.

                 Table 2.--Additional Occupational Series Included in the Demonstration Project
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Engineers and scientists           E&S technicians            Administrative            General support
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0020  Community Planning Series..  0404  Biological Science   0340  Program Management  0350  Equipment Operator
                                    Technician Series.         Series.                   Series.
0190  General Anthropology Series  1374  Geodetic Technician  0342  Support Services    1087  Editorial
                                    Series.                    Administration Series.    Assistance Series.
0457  Soil Conservation Series...                             083  Technical Writing &
                                                               Editing Series.
0460  Forestry Series............                             1103  Industrial
                                                               Property Management
                                                               Series.
0890  Agricultural Engineering                                1640  Facility
 Series.                                                       Management Series.
1321  Metallurgy Series..........                             1701  General Education
                                                               and Training Series.
1340  Meteorology Series.........                             2003  Supply Program
                                                               Management Series.
1370  Cartography Series.........                             2010  Inventory
                                                               Management Series.
1372  Geodesy
1529  Mathematical Statistician
 Series
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) Local 1017 
represents approximately 96 non-professional, non-managerial/
supervisory, non-confidential GS and FWS employees at CERL. NFFE Local 
1472 represents approximately 150 non-professional, non-managerial/
supervisory, non-confidential GS and FWS employees at CRREL. The 
project will be expanded to include the administrative and support 
employees at CERL, TEC, and CRREL no earlier than November 1, 1998. All 
other employees at CERL, TEC, and CRREL will be included for provisions 
of the project on or about October 1, 1999.

III. Demonstration Project Costs

    Costs associated with the expansion of the Personnel Demonstration 
system include software automation, training, and project evaluation. 
The projected annual expenses for each area are summarized in Table 3.

                                         Table 3.--Projected Costs ($K)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       FY 98           FY 99           FY 00           FY 01
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Training........................................              39              25  ..............  ..............
Project Evaluation..............................              60             110             110             110
Automation......................................              20  ..............  ..............  ..............
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Grand Total.................................             119             135             110             110
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[FR Doc. 98-27819 Filed 10-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-01-P