[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67403-67404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19477]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT


General Schedule Locality Pay Areas

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the Office of 
Personnel Management (OPM) is providing notice about two changes in 
locality pay area boundaries in 2007 under the locality pay program for 
General Schedule and certain other employees. Grayson County, TX, will 
be added to the Dallas locality pay area, and Berks County, PA, will be 
added to the Philadelphia locality pay area. These changes will occur 
automatically under existing regulations. OPM also plans to issue a 
notice later about changes in the regulations needed to update the 
official descriptions of the Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH-ME-RI 
locality pay area and the Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO locality pay area. 
As required by OPM regulations, the additions to locality pay areas are 
effective as of the first pay period beginning on or after January 1, 
2007. Both the additions and the planned description changes are the 
result of changes made by the Office of Management and Budget in 
Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Combined Statistical Areas.

DATES: The additions to locality pay areas are applicable on the first 
day of the first pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allan Hearne, (202) 606-2838; FAX: 
(202) 606-4264; e-mail: [email protected].
    Section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, authorizes locality 
pay for General Schedule (GS) employees with duty stations in the 
contiguous United States and the District of Columbia.
    Section 5304(f) of title 5, United States Code, authorizes the 
President's Pay Agent (the Secretary of Labor, the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Director of the Office 
of Personnel Management (OPM) to determine locality pay areas. The 
boundaries of locality pay areas must be based on appropriate factors,

[[Page 67404]]

which may include local labor market patterns, commuting patterns, and 
the practices of other employers. The Pay Agent must give thorough 
consideration to the views and recommendations of the Federal Salary 
Council, a body composed of experts in the fields of labor relations 
and pay policy and representatives of Federal employee organizations. 
The President appoints the members of the Federal Salary Council, which 
submits annual recommendations to the President's Pay Agent about the 
locality pay program.
    Based on recommendations of the Federal Salary Council, we use 
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Combined Statistical Area (CSA) 
definitions established by the Office of Management and Budget as the 
basis for locality pay area definitions. The definitions of the terms 
CSA and MSA in section 531.602 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, 
and section 531.609(d) provide that locality pay area definitions 
change automatically when OMB adds locations to a CSA or MSA. Under the 
regulations, the changes in locality pay areas resulting from OMB 
additions to a CSA or MSA go into effect the first pay period beginning 
on or after January 1, of the following year.
    On April 25, 2006, and May 26, 2006, OMB issued bulletins 
announcing corrections to OMB Bulletin 06-01 updating MSAs and CSAs. 
The bulletins add the Sherman-Denison, TX MSA to the Dallas-Fort Worth, 
TX CSA, and the Reading, PA MSA to the Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, 
PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA. OMB also added the Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, 
RI-MA MSA to the Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH CSA, and the 
Greeley, CO MSA to the Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO CSA. The addition to 
the Dallas CSA will add Grayson County, TX, to the Dallas locality pay 
area and the addition to the Philadelphia CSA will add Berks County, PA 
to the Philadelphia locality pay area. These changes will occur 
automatically under existing regulations. The other changes require 
corresponding changes in the official designation of the Boston and 
Denver locality pay areas but do not change the geographic scope of 
those pay areas because the Providence area is already included in the 
Boston locality pay area and the Greeley area is already part of the 
Denver locality pay area under the Pay Agent's rules for areas of 
application.

Impact and Implementation

    The changes in locality pay area boundaries will move an estimated 
61 GS employees from the Rest of U.S. (RUS) locality pay area to the 
Dallas locality pay area and about 187 GS employees from the RUS 
locality pay area to the Philadelphia locality pay area, at a total 
cost of about $600,000 per year. The changes become applicable on the 
first day of the first pay period beginning on or after January 1, 
2007.

Office of Personnel Management.
Linda M. Springer,
Director.
[FR Doc. E6-19477 Filed 11-20-06; 8:45 am]
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