[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 160 (Thursday, August 17, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50165-50166]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20897]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 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.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 160 / Thursday, August 17, 2000 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 50165]]



OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206-AJ23


Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Los Angeles, CA, 
Appropriated Fund Wage Area

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed 
rule to remove Inyo County, CA, from the Los Angeles, CA, appropriated 
fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area. The county, excluding the 
China Lake Naval Weapons Center portion, would be defined to the Las 
Vegas, NV, FWS wage area. This change would reflect the regulatory 
criteria we use to define FWS wage areas more accurately. It would 
affect FWS employees at Death Valley National Park by placing them on a 
higher wage schedule.

DATES: We must receive comments by September 18, 2000.

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 20415-8200, or FAX: (202) 606-4264.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Hopkins at (202) 606-2848; 
FAX at (202) 606-0824; or email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to move Inyo 
County, California, from the Los Angeles, CA, appropriated fund Federal 
Wage System (FWS) wage area to the Las Vegas, NV, FWS wage area. The 
county is currently an area of application county in the Los Angeles 
wage area. China Lake Naval Weapons Center is located in Inyo, Kern, 
and San Bernardino Counties, CA. China Lake Naval Weapons Center would 
remain a part of the Los Angeles FWS wage area so that the installation 
would continue to be defined to a single wage area. The regulatory 
criteria we use to define FWS wage areas indicate that the main 
employment locations for FWS employees at China Lake are properly 
defined to the Los Angeles wage area. We would place the rest of Inyo 
County in the Las Vegas FWS wage area. The Las Vegas wage area 
currently consists of two survey counties, Clark and Nye Counties, NV, 
and three area of application counties, Esmeralda and Lincoln Counties, 
NV, and Mohave County, AZ.
    OPM considers the following regulatory criteria under 5 CFR 532.211 
when defining 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.
    Based on our analysis of the regulatory criteria for defining 
appropriated fund FWS wage areas, we find that Inyo County should be 
part of the Las Vegas wage area. The distance criterion is the major 
factor in our determination. The county is much closer to the Las Vegas 
wage area than to the Los Angeles wage area. Inyo County is 
approximately 194 km (120 miles) from Las Vegas. The county is 
approximately 203 km (126 miles) from Nellis Air Force Base, the Las 
Vegas wage area's host installation. We studied the other criteria, but 
they did not favor one wage area more than another. The Las Vegas, NV, 
FWS wage area would consist of two survey counties, Clark and Nye 
Counties, NV, and four area of application counties, Esmeralda and 
Lincoln Counties, NV, Mohave County, AZ, and Inyo County, CA.
    The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the 
national labor-management committee that advises OPM on FWS pay 
matters, reviewed and concurred by consensus with this change. Based on 
its review of the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, 
FPRAC recommended no other changes in the geographic definition of the 
Los Angeles FWS wage area.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

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

    U.S. 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. In appendix C to subpart B, the wage area listing for the State 
of California is amended by revising the listing for Los Angeles; and 
for the State of Nevada, by revising the listing for Las Vegas, to read 
as follows:

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

* * * * *

California

* * * * *

Los Angeles

Survey Area

California:
    Los Angeles

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

California:
    Inyo (Includes the China Lake Naval Weapons Center portion only)
    Kern (Includes the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, Edwards Air 
Force Base, and portions occupied by Federal activities at Boron 
(City) only)
    Orange
    Riverside (Includes the Joshua Tree National Monument portion 
only)
    San Bernardino (All of San Bernardino County except that portion 
occupied by, and south and west of, the Angeles and San Bernardino 
National Forests)

[[Page 50166]]

    Ventura
* * * * *

Nevada

Las Vegas

Survey Area

Nevada:
    Clark
    Nye

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Nevada:
    Esmeralda
    Lincoln
Arizona:
    Mohave
California:
    Inyo (Excludes the China Lake Naval Weapons Center portion only)

* * * * *
[FR Doc. 00-20897 Filed 8-16-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-01-P