[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 186 (Monday, September 28, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49307-49308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23359]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 186 / Monday, September 28, 2009 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 49307]]



OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 531

RIN 3206-AL96


General Schedule Locality Pay Areas

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Interim rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the U.S. Office of 
Personnel Management is issuing interim regulations on the locality pay 
program for General Schedule employees. The interim regulations move 
the McGuire Air Force Base, NJ, and Fort Dix, NJ, Philadelphia locality 
pay area portions of the new Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, from the 
Philadelphia locality pay area to the New York locality pay area.

DATES: Effective Date: The regulations are effective October 28, 2009.
    Applicability Date: The regulations apply on the first day of the 
first pay period beginning on or after the date of publication in the 
Federal Register, but no earlier than the first day of the first pay 
period beginning on or after October 1, 2009.
    Comment Date: We must receive comments on or before November 27, 
2009.

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments to Charles D. Grimes III, Deputy 
Associate Director for Performance and Pay Systems, Office of Personnel 
Management, Room 7H31, 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415-8200; 
Fax: (202) 606-4264; or e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allan Hearne, (202) 606-2838; Fax: 
(202) 606-4264; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, 
authorizes locality pay for General Schedule (GS) employees with duty 
stations in the 48 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, and the Director of the Office of 
Personnel Management) to determine locality pay areas. The boundaries 
of locality pay areas must be based on appropriate factors, 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 Council, which submits annual 
recommendations to the Pay Agent about the locality pay program.
    Most locality pay areas follow county lines under the methods 
recommended by the Council and adopted by the Pay Agent. However, 
exceptions are made for Federal facilities that cross county borders 
under the following criteria:
    [cir] For Federal facilities that cross locality pay area 
boundaries: To be included in an adjacent locality pay area, the whole 
facility must have at least 500 GS employees, with the majority of 
those employees in the higher-paying locality pay area, or that portion 
of a Federal facility outside of a higher-paying locality pay area must 
have at least 750 GS employees, the duty stations of the majority of 
those employees must be within 10 miles of the separate locality pay 
area, and a significant number of those employees must commute to work 
from the higher-paying locality pay area.
    See 2005 Annual Report on General Schedule Locality-Based 
Comparability Payments, p. 13 at http://www.opm.gov/oca/payagent/2005/2005PayAgentReport.pdf.
    We presently have two exceptions under these criteria; all of 
Edwards Air Force Base, CA, is included in the Los Angeles locality pay 
area, and all of the Federal Prison at Butner, NC, is included in the 
Raleigh locality pay area.
    As part of the base realignment and closure process, the Department 
of Defense is required to establish Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst 
and will do so effective October 1, 2009. Presently, McGuire AFB and 
Fort Dix, in Burlington County, are in the Philadelphia locality pay 
area while Lakehurst, in Ocean County, is in the New York locality pay 
area. The new joint base commander wrote to the Federal Salary Council 
requesting that all employees on the joint base be included in the 
higher paying New York locality pay area. As justification for this 
proposal, the base commander noted that (1) 49 percent of employees at 
McGuire AFB and Fort Dix commute from the New York locality pay area, 
(2) the work locations of the majority of those employees are within 10 
miles of the New York locality pay area, (3) McGuire AFB and Fort Dix 
have higher vacancy rates than found at Lakehurst, and (4) ``[T]o 
effectively and efficiently provide installation management, the joint 
base commander must be able to move and/or consolidate civilian 
employees * * * as needed, without impacting employees pay''.
    Since the McGuire AFB and Fort Dix portions of Joint Base McGuire-
Dix-Lakehurst outside of the New York locality pay area have more than 
750 GS employees, with the duty stations of the majority of those 
employees within 10 miles of the New York locality pay area, and a 
significant proportion of those employees commute from the New York 
locality pay area, the President's Pay Agent concludes the joint base 
meets the Council's existing criteria to be included in the New York 
locality pay area. This interim rule implements the change in pay areas 
effective with the first pay period beginning on or after the date of 
publication in the Federal Register, but no earlier than the first day 
of the first pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2009. Because 
the Federal Salary Council will not be able to meet until after October 
1, 2009, we will discuss this matter with the Council and hear their 
views when the Council holds its next public meeting. In the meantime, 
we see no reason to delay the regulatory process needed to implement 
this change.

[[Page 49308]]

Impact and Implementation

    The change in the coverage of the New York locality pay area will 
affect about 2,300 Federal white-collar employees of the Department of 
Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans 
Affairs stationed at McGuire AFB or Fort Dix, at an annual cost of 
about $8 million.

Waiver of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), I find that good cause exists 
for waiving the general notice of proposed rulemaking. Also pursuant to 
5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), I find that good cause exists for making this rule 
effective in less than 30 days. This notice is being waived and the 
regulation is being made effective in less than 30 days because the 
joint base goes into effect on October 1, 2009, and it will have an 
undesirable effect on base management to delay the implementation of a 
common locality pay rate for all employees on the base.

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review

    The Office of Management and Budget has reviewed this rule in 
accordance with E.O. 12866.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This document does not contain proposed information collection 
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 
104-13.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    I certify that these regulations will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because they 
will apply only to Federal agencies and employees.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 531

    Government employees, Law enforcement officers, Wages.

John Berry,
Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

0
Accordingly, OPM amends 5 CFR part 531 as follows:

PART 531--PAY UNDER THE GENERAL SCHEDULE

0
1. The authority citation for part 531 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5115, 5307, and 5338; sec. 4 of Public Law 
103-89, 107 Stat. 981; and E.O. 12748, 56 FR 4521, 3 CFR, 1991 
Comp., p. 316; Subpart B also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5303(g), 5305, 
5333, 5334(a) and (b), and 7701(b)(2); Subpart D also issued under 5 
U.S.C. 5335 and 7701(b)(2); Subpart E also issued under 5 U.S.C. 
5336; Subpart F also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5304 and 5305; E.O. 
12883, 58 FR 63281, 3 CFR, 1993 Comp., p. 682; and E.O. 13106, 63 FR 
68151, 3 CFR, 1998 Comp., p. 224.

Subpart F--Locality-Based Comparability Payments

0
2. In Sec.  531.603, paragraph (b)(20) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  531.603  Locality pay areas.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (20) New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA--consisting of the New 
York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA, plus Monroe County, PA, Warren 
County, NJ, and all of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst;
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E9-23359 Filed 9-25-09; 8:45 am]
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