[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 23, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33427-33429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15963]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 120 / Wednesday, June 23, 1999 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 33427]]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206-AI74


Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Eastern South Dakota 
and Wyoming Appropriated Fund Wage Areas

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule 
that would redefine Jackson County, South Dakota, from the area of 
application of the Eastern South Dakota appropriated fund Federal Wage 
System (FWS) wage area to the area of application of the Wyoming wage 
area, and redefine Teton County, Wyoming, from the area of application 
of the Wyoming FWS wage area to the area of application of the Montana 
wage area. The redefinition of Jackson County would provide equitable 
pay treatment for all FWS employees at Badlands National Park and the 
redefinition of Teton County would place employees at Grand Teton 
National Park on the same wage schedule as employees at Yellowstone 
National Park.

DATES: Comments must be received by July 23, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments to Donald J. Winstead, Assistant 
Director for Compensation Administration, Workforce Compensation and 
Performance Service, Office of Personnel Management, Room 7H31, 1900 E 
Street NW., Washington, DC 20415, or FAX: (202) 606-4264.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Hopkins (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 appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. 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, has recommended by 
consensus that we redefine Jackson County, South Dakota, and Teton 
County, Wyoming. After careful consideration of FPRAC's recommendation, 
we have found that it is appropriate to redefine Jackson and Teton 
Counties based on the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas 
and on agency organizational relationships in the region.
    Section 532.211 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, lists the 
following criteria for consideration when OPM defines 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.
    The Eastern South Dakota wage area continues to meet the regulatory 
requirements to remain a separate wage area. There are currently about 
550 FWS workers in the wage area, the wage area's host activity 
continues to have the capacity to host local wage surveys, and wage 
surveys in the area continue to produce adequate wage data to determine 
local prevailing rates. Based on an analysis of the regulatory criteria 
for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC found mixed results for Jackson 
County. The distance to the closest city criterion favored the Wyoming 
wage area, while the distance to the closest host installation 
criterion favored the Eastern South Dakota wage area. All other 
criteria studied had indeterminate findings. Based on the mixed nature 
of the regulatory analysis findings, there was no clear indication that 
Jackson County should be redefined to one wage area more than another; 
however, Badlands National Park is currently split by the boundary of 
the Wyoming wage area, with the park headquarters located in the 
Eastern South Dakota wage area, while most of the park is located in 
the Wyoming wage area. The redefinition of Jackson County to the 
Wyoming wage area would place the entire park in one wage area. FPRAC 
found no compelling reasons to make other changes in the Eastern South 
Dakota wage area.
    The Wyoming wage area also continues to meet the regulatory 
requirements to remain a separate wage area. There are currently about 
1,300 FWS workers in the wage area, the wage area's host activity 
continues to have the capacity to host local wage surveys, and wage 
surveys in the area continue to produce adequate wage data to determine 
local prevailing rates. Based on an analysis of the regulatory criteria 
for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC found mixed results for Teton 
County. The distance to the closest city criterion slightly favored the 
Montana wage area, while the distance to the closest host installation 
criterion slightly favored the Wyoming wage area. All other criteria 
had indeterminate findings. Based on the mixed nature of the regulatory 
analysis findings, there was no clear indication that Teton County 
should be redefined to one wage area more than another; however, the 
two main FWS employers in northwestern Wyoming are Yellowstone National 
Park and Grand Teton National Park. The parks are connected by the John 
D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, with a distance of only about 5 
miles (8 kilometers) separating the parks.
    Because the parks are located in a region geographically isolated 
by the Rocky Mountains from both the Montana and Wyoming survey areas, 
and because the regulatory criteria do not clearly favor defining Teton 
County to one wage more than another, FPRAC recommended that we place 
the parks in the same wage area. This change would place all Department 
of the Interior FWS employees stationed in northwestern Wyoming in the 
same wage area and would provide equitable pay treatment for FWS 
employees at Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park by 
paying these employees from one wage schedule. FPRAC found no 
compelling reasons to make other changes in the Wyoming wage area.
    Jackson County and Teton County would be redefined on the first day 
of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after 30 days after 
the issuance of a final regulation implementing this proposed change.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    I certify that these regulations would not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities

[[Page 33428]]

because they would 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, the Office of Personnel Management proposes to amend 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.

    2. Appendix C to subpart B is amended by revising the wage area 
listings for the Montana, Eastern South Dakota, and Wyoming wage areas 
to read as follows:

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

* * * * *

MONTANA

Survey Area

Montana:
    Cascade
    Lewis and Clark
    Yellowstone

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

Montana:
    Beaverhead
    Big Horn
    Blaine
    Broadwater
    Carbon
    Carter
    Chouteau
    Custer
    Daniels
    Dawson
    Deer Lodge
    Fallon
    Fergus
    Flathead
    Gallatin
    Garfield
    Glacier
    Golden Valley
    Granite
    Hill
    Jefferson
    Judith Basin
    Lake
    Liberty
    Lincoln
    McCone
    Madison
    Meagher
    Mineral
    Missoula
    Musselshell
    Park
    Petroleum
    Phillips
    Pondera
    Powder River
    Powell
    Prairie
    Ravalli
    Richland
    Roosevelt
    Rosebud
    Sanders
    Sheridan
    Silver Bow
    Stillwater
    Sweet Grass
    Teton
    Toole
    Treasure
    Valley
    Wheatland
    Wibaux
Wyoming:
    Big Horn
    Park
    Teton
* * * * *

SOUTH DAKOTA

EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA

Survey Area

South Dakota:
    Minnehaha

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

South Dakota:
    Aurora
    Beadle
    Bennett
    Bon Homme
    Brookings
    Brown
    Brule
    Buffalo
    Campbell
    Charles Mix
    Clark
    Clay
    Codington
    Corson
    Davison
    Day
    Deuel
    Dewey
    Douglas
    Edmunds
    Faulk
    Grant
    Gregory
    Haakon
    Hamlin
    Hand
    Hanson
    Hughes
    Hutchinson
    Hyde
    Jerauld
    Jones
    Kingsbury
    Lake
    Lincoln
    Lyman
    McCook
    McPherson
    Marshall
    Mellette
    Miner
    Moody
    Potter
    Roberts
    Sanborn
    Spink
    Stanley
    Sully
    Todd
    Tripp
    Turner
    Union
    Walworth
    Washabaugh
    Yankton
    Ziebach
Iowa:
    Dickinson
    Emmet
    Lyon
    Osceola
Minnesota:
    Jackson
    Lincoln
    Lyon
    Murray
    Nobles
    Pipestone
    Rock
* * * * *

WYOMING

Survey Area

Wyoming:
    Albany
    Laramie
    Natrona
South Dakota:
    Pennington

Area of application. Survey Area Plus

Wyoming:
    Campbell
    Carbon
    Converse
    Crook
    Fremont
    Goshen
    Hot Springs
    Johnson
    Lincoln
    Niobrara
    Platte
    Sheridan
    Sublette
    Sweetwater
    Uinta
    Washakie
    Weston
Nebraska:
    Banner
    Box Butte
    Cheyenne
    Dawes
    Deuel
    Garden
    Kimball
    Morrill
    Scotts Bluff
    Sheridan
    Sioux
South Dakota:
    Butte
    Custer

[[Page 33429]]

    Fall River
    Harding
    Jackson
    Lawrence
    Meade
    Perkins
    Shannon

[FR Doc. 99-15963 Filed 6-22-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-01-P