[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 3 (Monday, January 6, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 459-460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-215]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 3 / Monday, January 6, 2003 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 459]]



OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206-AJ64


Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Scranton-Wilkes-
Barre, PA, Appropriated Fund Wage Area

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Final rule.

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

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to 
redefine Tioga County, Pennsylvania, from the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, 
PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area to the 
Rochester, New York, FWS wage area. This redefinition will better 
reflect economic trends in the area, which indicate that a linkage 
exists between Tioga County and the Rochester wage area. The change 
also will conform more accurately to the regulatory criteria we use to 
define FWS wage areas.

DATES: Effective Date February 5, 2003. Affected employees will be 
moved to the wage schedule for the Rochester wage area on the first day 
of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after the effective 
date of this final rule.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chenty I. Carpenter at (202) 606-2838; 
FAX at (202) 606-4264; or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 1, 2002, the Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM) published a proposed rule to redefine Tioga County, 
Pennsylvania, from the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA, appropriated fund 
Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area to the Rochester, New York, FWS 
wage area (67 FR 49878). The proposed rule provided a 30-day period for 
public comment, during which OPM received no comments.
    Tioga County is currently an area of application in the Scranton-
Wilkes-Barre wage area. This change to redefine the county to the 
Rochester wage area is necessary because economic trends indicate more 
linkage between Tioga County and the Rochester survey area than between 
Tioga County and the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre survey area.
    OPM considers the following regulatory criteria in 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 Tioga County would be 
more appropriately defined as part of the Rochester wage area. The 
distance criterion favors the Rochester wage area more than the 
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre wage area. The commuting patterns criterion 
favors the Rochester wage area. An additional factor we considered was 
that Tioga County is adjacent to the Rochester survey area, but not to 
the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre survey area. This change will affect about 10 
Department of the Army employees and 1 Department of the Interior 
employee.
    The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the 
national labor-management committee that advises OPM on FWS pay 
matters, recommended this change by consensus. Based on its review of 
the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC recommended 
no other changes in the geographic definitions of the Rochester or 
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre FWS wage areas.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    I certify that this regulation will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities because it affects 
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.
Kay Coles James,
Director.

    Accordingly, the Office of Personnel Management 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.

    2. In appendix C to subpart B, the wage area listing for the State 
of New York is amended by revising the listing for Rochester; and for 
the State of Pennsylvania, by revising the listing for Scranton-Wilkes-
Barre, to read as follows:

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

* * * * *

New York

* * * * *

Rochester

Survey Area

New York:
    Livingston
    Monroe
    Ontario
    Orleans
    Steuben
    Wayne

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

New York:
    Allegany
    Chemung
    Genesee
    Schuyler
    Seneca
    Wyoming
    Yates
Pennsylvania:
    Tioga
* * * * *

Pennsylvania

* * * * *

Scranton-Wilkes-Barre

Survey Area

Pennsylvania:
    Lackawanna
    Luzerne
    Monroe

[[Page 460]]

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

Pennsylvania:
    Bradford
    Carbon
    Lycoming (Excluding Allenwood Federal Prison Camp)
    Pike
    Sullivan
    Susquehanna
    Wayne
    Wyoming
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 03-215 Filed 1-3-03; 8:45 am]
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