[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 220 (Monday, November 16, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63591-63593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30511]


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Office of Personnel Management

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206-AI30


Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of Philadelphia, PA, and 
New York, NY, Appropriated Fund Wage Areas

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final 
rule to redefine Ocean County, NJ, excluding the portion occupied by 
the Fort Dix Military Reservation, from the area of application of the 
Philadelphia, PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area 
to the area of application of the New York, NY, wage area. This change 
is being made so that the wage area definition of Ocean County will be 
more reflective of the transportation and commuting patterns in central 
New Jersey.

DATES: Effective: December 16, 1998. Federal Wage System employees

[[Page 63592]]

stationed in Ocean County, NJ, excluding the portion occupied by the 
Fort Dix Military Reservation, will be moved from the Philadelphia, PA, 
wage schedule to the New York, NY, wage schedule on the first day of 
the first applicable pay period beginning on or after this date.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Allen at (202) 606-2848, or send 
an email message to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is 
engaged in an ongoing project to review the geographic definitions of 
selected Federal Wage System (FWS) appropriated fund wage areas. On 
June 23, 1998, OPM published a proposed rule to redefine Ocean County, 
NJ, excluding the portion occupied by the Fort Dix Military 
Reservation, from the area of application of the Philadelphia, PA, 
appropriated fund FWS wage area to the area of application of the New 
York, NY, wage area (63 FR 34134). The proposed rule provided a 30-day 
period for public comment, during which OPM received several comments 
requesting that Lakehurst Naval Air Station, the main employer of FWS 
workers in Ocean County, remain in the Philadelphia FWS wage area. The 
comments we received are addressed below, following an introduction to 
this issue.
    The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the 
statutory national labor-management committee responsible for advising 
OPM on matters concerning the pay of FWS employees, recommended by 
majority vote that OPM redefine Ocean County, NJ, excluding the portion 
occupied by the Fort Dix Military Reservation, from the area of 
application of the Philadelphia, PA, appropriated fund FWS wage area to 
the area of application of the New York, NY, wage area. FPRAC is 
composed of representatives from the Department of Defense, the 
Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, the Department of 
the Air Force, the Department of Veterans Affairs, OPM, the American 
Federation of Government Employees, the Metal Trades Department, the 
National Association of Government Employees, and the National 
Federation of Federal Employees.
    Section 532.211 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, lists the 
following criteria that OPM uses to determine appropriate 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.
    Ocean County is located in central New Jersey and is bordered by 
Burlington County to the West and Monmouth County to the North. FPRAC 
studied the appropriate wage area definition of Ocean County 
exhaustively. Based on their analysis of the regulatory criteria, the 
management members of FPRAC found no compelling reason to change the 
wage area designation of Ocean County. The labor members of the 
Committee argued that the transportation facilities and commuting 
patterns criteria favor placing Ocean County in the New York wage area. 
After failing to reach consensus, the Committee voted to accept the 
labor recommendation, with the Chairman of the Committee casting the 
tie-breaking vote in support of the labor position. The management 
members of FPRAC filed a minority report in opposition to the FPRAC 
majority recommendation.
    After careful consideration, OPM finds it appropriate to accept the 
FPRAC recommendation in this case. OPM has not overruled an FPRAC 
recommendation concerning the definition of an FWS wage area since the 
Committee was established in 1972. The distance, geographic features, 
and overall population, employment, and the kinds and sizes of private 
industrial establishments criteria do not clearly favor defining Ocean 
County to one wage area more than another. However, we find that the 
transportation facilities and commuting patterns criteria clearly favor 
defining Ocean County to the New York wage area rather than to the 
Philadelphia wage area.
    The largest employer of FWS workers in Ocean County is Lakehurst 
Naval Air Station, although several other smaller employment sites will 
be affected by the redefinition of Ocean County to the New York wage 
area. Employees with official duty stations in the Fort Dix Military 
Reservation portion of Ocean County will remain in the Philadelphia 
wage area. Employees with official duty stations at Lakehurst Naval Air 
Station and other facilities in Ocean County will be moved from the 
Philadelphia wage schedule to the New York wage schedule on the first 
day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after 30 days 
after the issuance of this final regulation.
    The comments received in response to the proposed rule raised 
issues that had been considered and discussed exhaustively during the 
deliberations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee on this 
matter. Commenters suggested that there is no clear demonstration of 
need to cause a change in the definitions of the Philadelphia and New 
York wage areas. FPRAC found that a demonstrated need exists to make 
this change. We find that this change is necessary so that the wage 
area definition of Ocean County will be in line with the regulatory 
criteria for defining FWS wage areas. This change will enable the wage 
area definition of Ocean County to be more reflective of the 
transportation and commuting patterns in central New Jersey.
    Commenters suggested that the use of commuting patterns and 
transportation facilities to justify a change is not supportable, 
citing the fact that 14 percent of the resident workforce of Ocean 
County commutes to work in the New York survey area, and citing 
anecdotal evidence that few blue-collar workers are included in this 
percentage. FPRAC found that the percentage of the Ocean County 
resident workforce commuting to New York is significant enough to favor 
removing the county from the Philadelphia wage area and redefining it 
to the New York wage area. Also, FPRAC received additional anecdotal 
evidence from local employees in Ocean County that significant numbers 
of blue-collar workers commute from Ocean County to jobs in New York, 
and that transportation facilities between Ocean County and New York 
are far better than between Ocean County and Philadelphia. We find that 
the commuting pattern and transportation facility information fully 
supports defining Ocean County to the New York wage area.
    Commenters pointed out that Ocean County is contiguous to the 
Philadelphia survey area but not contiguous to the New York survey 
area. While this is true, the distance criteria for defining FWS wage 
areas shows that Ocean County is about the same distance by road from 
the center of the New York survey area as it is from the center of the 
Philadelphia survey area. Therefore, OPM finds that the distance 
criterion does not clearly favor defining Ocean County to one wage area 
more than another.
    Commenters stated that placing adjacent Department of Defense 
installations (Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Lakehurst Naval 
Air Station) in separate wage areas would unnecessarily force the 
installations to compete for the same employees to fill positions in 
skilled aircraft maintenance occupations, thereby increasing the 
potential for disruptions in accomplishing mission critical work at the 
installations. Although not part of

[[Page 63593]]

the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC considered 
this issue carefully before making its recommendation to OPM. Should 
agencies experience recruitment or retention problems in particular 
occupations at an installation, OPM would consider the approval of 
requests for special rates to address those problems.
    Commenters stated that Lakehurst Naval Air Station is conducting 
cost comparisons with private industry to consider contracting out 
certain work, and that certain FWS employees at the installation will 
be placed at a competitive disadvantage during these studies if paid 
from the higher New York wage schedule. Although not among the 
regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC considered this 
issue carefully before making its recommendation to OPM. OPM finds that 
it is not appropriate to preclude the appropriate redefinition of an 
FWS wage area on the basis that the redefinition may increase the 
likelihood that it may be possible for private sector companies to more 
easily win contracts to provide services to Federal agencies.
    Commenters requested that OPM redefine Ocean County to the New York 
wage area, while leaving both the Fort Dix Military Reservation and 
Lakehurst Naval Air Station portions of Ocean County in the 
Philadelphia wage area. Under the regulatory criteria for defining FWS 
wage areas, a county may not be split between two wage areas except in 
unusual circumstances and as an exception to the regulatory criteria. 
The Fort Dix Military Reservation portion of Ocean County will continue 
to be defined to the Philadelphia wage area because the activity would 
otherwise be split between two wage areas. With most of the Fort Dix 
Military Reservation in Burlington County, and a lesser portion of the 
installation in Ocean County, we believe this represents an example of 
an appropriate exception to the regulatory criteria. OPM defines 
several counties in a similar manner, using exceptions to the 
regulatory criteria in certain wage areas to avoid splitting individual 
installations among two or more wage areas. Although Lakehurst Naval 
Air Station is adjacent to the Fort Dix Military Reservation portion of 
Ocean County, Lakehurst Naval Air Station is a separate installation. 
We do not believe it is appropriate to recognize that Ocean County is 
linked more closely to New York than to Philadelphia under the 
regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, but then refuse to 
acknowledge that the major FWS employer in the county should be treated 
in accordance with the appropriate wage area definition of the county.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

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

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 532

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

    Office of Personnel Management,
Janice R. Lachance,
Director.
    Accordingly, OPM is amending 5 CFR part 532 as follows:

PART 532--PREVAILING RATE SYSTEMS

    1. The authority citation for part 532 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5343, 5346; Sec. 532.707 also issued under 5 
U.S.C. 552.

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532 [Amended]

    2. Appendix C to subpart B is amended by revising the wage area 
listings for the New York, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
wage areas to read as follows:

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532--Appropriated Fund Wage and 
Survey Areas

* * * * *

New York

* * * * *

New York

Survey Area

New York:
    Bronx
    Kings
    Nassau
    New York
    Queens
    Suffolk
    Westchester
New Jersey:
    Bergen
    Essex
    Hudson
    Middlesex
    Morris
    Passaic
    Somerset
    Union

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

New York:
    Putnam
    Richmond
    Rockland
New Jersey:
    Monmouth
    Ocean (excluding the Fort Dix Military Reservation)
    Sussex
* * * * *

Pennsylvania

* * * * *

Philadelphia

Survey Area:

Pennsylvania:
    Bucks
    Chester
    Delaware
    Montgomery
    Philadelphia
New Jersey:
    Burlington
    Camden
    Gloucester

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Pennsylvania:
    Lehigh
    Northampton
New Jersey:
    Atlantic
    Cape May
    Cumberland
    Hunterdon
    Mercer
    Ocean (Fort Dix Military Reservation only)
    Warren
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-30511 Filed 11-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-01-P