[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 163 (Friday, August 22, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50727-50729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21415]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206-AJ78


Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the North Dakota and 
Duluth, MN, Appropriated Fund Wage Areas

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule 
that would redefine the North Dakota and Duluth, MN, Federal Wage 
System (FWS) appropriated fund wage areas. The proposed rule would 
redefine Clearwater and Mahnomen Counties and the White Earth Indian 
Reservation portion of Becker County from the North Dakota FWS wage 
area to the Duluth FWS wage area. These changes would assign all blue-
collar Federal employees working in Indian Health Service facilities in 
northern Minnesota to one FWS wage schedule.

DATES: We must receive comments on or before September 22, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments to Donald J. Winstead, Deputy 
Associate Director for Pay and Performance Policy, Strategic Human 
Resources Policy Division, Office of Personnel Management, Room 7H31, 
1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC 20415-8200, e-mail [email protected], 
or FAX: (202) 606-4264.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark A. Allen at (202) 606-2848, e-
mail [email protected], or FAX: (202) 606-4264.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is 
proposing to redefine the North Dakota and Duluth, MN, Federal Wage 
System (FWS) appropriated fund wage areas. This proposed rule would 
redefine Clearwater and Mahnomen Counties and the White Earth Indian 
Reservation portion of Becker County from the North Dakota FWS wage 
area to the Duluth FWS wage area. We are taking this action because FWS 
employees who work for closely related Bemidji Area Indian Health 
Service (IHS) facilities in northern Minnesota are currently in two 
separate FWS wage areas. The Department of Health and Human Services 
has requested that OPM redefine the North Dakota and Duluth wage areas 
so that blue-collar employees of its IHS facilities in northern 
Minnesota would be covered by one wage schedule.

[[Page 50728]]

    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 the criteria for 
Clearwater, Mahnomen, and Becker Counties do not strongly favor 
defining the counties to one FWS wage area more than another. However, 
the IHS medical centers in northern Minnesota are in an unusual 
situation in that they are in a rural area that is economically and 
socially integrated by the local reservation system and not strongly 
integrated with the labor markets in either the North Dakota or Duluth 
FWS survey areas. It is desirable to have IHS employees aligned under 
one wage schedule because the area and population serviced by the 
medical centers serves as a unique labor market. However, there is 
insufficient private sector industry and FWS employment in northern 
Minnesota to meet OPM's regulatory requirements for establishing a 
separate FWS wage area for the IHS employees there. Because it is not 
feasible to establish a separate FWS wage area for IHS employees in 
northern Minnesota, the FWS employment locations must be defined to the 
area of application of an existing FWS wage area.
    Analysis of OPM's regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas 
shows that the majority of IHS employment locations under the Bemidji 
Area in northern Minnesota are more closely aligned with the Duluth 
wage area than the North Dakota wage area. The White Earth, Red Lake, 
and Cass Lake Indian Health Centers are part of the Bemidji Area but 
their associated reservations are not entirely within the Duluth wage 
area. The White Earth Indian Reservation occupies the northern portion 
of Becker County and most of Mahnomen County, while the Red Lake and 
Cass Lake Indian Reservations occupy the northern portions of 
Clearwater County. We therefore propose that Clearwater and Mahnomen 
Counties be redefined from the North Dakota wage area to the Duluth 
wage area. We also propose that the White Earth Indian Reservation 
portion of Becker County be redefined from the North Dakota wage area 
to the Duluth wage area.
    There are 11 IHS employees in Becker County, and none in Clearwater 
or Mahnomen Counties. There are several FWS employees stationed in the 
part of Becker County that we do not propose to define to the Duluth 
wage area. We believe the mixed nature of the regulatory analysis 
findings for Becker County indicates that the non-IHS employment 
locations in Becker County should remain appropriately defined to the 
North Dakota wage area. The affected IHS employees in Becker County 
would be placed on the wage schedule for the Duluth wage area after we 
publish final regulations in the Federal Register.
    The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the 
national labor-management committee that advises OPM on FWS pay 
matters, reviewed and recommended these changes 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 
North Dakota and Duluth wage areas.

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.

Kay Coles James,
Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
    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 Minnesota is amended by revising the listing for Duluth; and for the 
State of North Dakota, to read as follows:

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

 
                                * * * * *
                                MINNESOTA
                                 Duluth
                               Survey Area
Minnesota:
    Carlton
    St. Louis
Wisconsin:
  Douglas
 
                 Area of Application. Survey area plus:
 
Minnesota:
  Aitkin
  Becker (Including the White Earth Indian Reservation portion only)
  Beltrami
  Cass
  Clearwater
  Cook
  Crow Wing
  Hubbard
  Itasca
  Koochiching
  Lake
  Lake of the Woods
  Mahnomen
  Pine
Wisconsin:
  Ashland
  Bayfield
  Burnett
  Iron
  Sawyer
  Washburn
 
                                * * * * *
                              NORTH DAKOTA
                               Survey Area
North Dakota:
  Burleigh
  Cass
  Grand Forks
  McLean
  Mercer
  Morton
  Oliver
  Traill
  Ward
Minnesota:
  Clay
  Polk
 
                 Area of Application. Survey area plus:
 
North Dakota:
  Adams
  Barnes
  Benson
  Billings
  Bottineau
  Bowman
  Burke
  Cavalier
  Dickey
  Divide
  Dunn
  Eddy
  Emmons
  Foster
  Golden Valley
  Grant
  Griggs
  Hettinger
  Kidder
  La Moure
  Logan
  McHenry
  McIntosh
  McKenzie
  Mountrail
  Nelson
  Pembina

[[Page 50729]]

 
  Pierce
  Ramsey
  Ransom
  Renville
  Richland
  Rolette
  Sargent
  Sheridan
  Sioux
  Slope
  Stark
  Steele
  Stutsman
  Towner
  Walsh
  Wells
  Williams
Minnesota:
  Becker (Excluding the White Earth Indian Reservation portion)
  Kittson
  Marshall
  Norman
  Otter Tail
  Pennington
  Red Lake
  Roseau
  Wilkin
 
                                * * * * *
 


[FR Doc. 03-21415 Filed 8-21-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P