[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 118 (Monday, June 21, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34923-34924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14981]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 118 / Monday, June 21, 2010 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 34923]]



OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 531

RIN 3206-AL96


General Schedule Locality Pay Areas

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Final rule.

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

SUMMARY: On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the U.S. Office of 
Personnel Management is issuing final regulations on the locality pay 
program for General Schedule employees. Originally published on 
September 28, 2009, as an interim rule with a request for comments, the 
regulations moved 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. We received no comments on the interim rule and 
adopt the final rule without change. We are also adding a corresponding 
note to the definition of the Philadelphia locality pay area to clarify 
that the Joint Base is not part of the Philadelphia locality pay area 
and changing titling of the Portland, OR, locality pay area to 
correspond to a change in the name of the Portland Metropolitan 
Statistical Area.

DATES: Effective on July 21, 2010.
    Applicability Date: The regulations were applicable on the first 
day of the first pay period that began on or after September 28, 2009.

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 United States and its territories and possessions.
    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. Most locality 
pay areas follow county lines under the methods recommended by the 
Federal Salary Council (Council) and adopted by the President's Pay 
Agent. However, exceptions are made for Federal facilities that cross 
county borders under criteria recommended by the Council and approved 
by the Pay Agent.
    As part of the base realignment and closure process, the Department 
of Defense established Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst effective 
October 1, 2009. McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix, in Burlington 
County, New Jersey, were in the Philadelphia locality pay area while 
Lakehurst, in Ocean County, New Jersey, was in the New York locality 
pay area. The President's Pay Agent concluded that the Joint Base 
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst met the Council's existing criteria to be 
included in the New York locality pay area. Accordingly, on September 
28, 2009, the Office of Personnel Management published an interim rule 
to move the Philadelphia locality pay area portions of the joint base 
from the Philadelphia locality pay area to the New York locality pay 
area. We received no comments on the interim rule and adopt it as final 
with a clarification that the Philadelphia locality pay area does not 
include Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
    On December 1, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
published OMB Bulletin No. 10-02 making changes in metropolitan 
statistical areas (MSAs). One of these changes renamed the Portland-
Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA as the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-
WA MSA; but this change did not alter the geographic definition of the 
MSA. Since we use MSAs as the core definition of locality pay areas, we 
are also renaming the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA locality pay 
area as the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA locality pay area and 
updating the MSA name in the regulation to match the new OMB MSA name. 
There are no changes in the geographic definition of the locality pay 
area or in employee entitlements as a result of this name change.

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.

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

0
Accordingly, OPM adopts as a final rule the interim rule published at 
74 FR 49307 on September 28, 2009 with the following changes:

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, paragraphs (b)(20), (b)(21), and (b)(24) are 
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

[[Page 34924]]

York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA, plus Monroe County, PA, Warren 
County, NJ, and all of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst;
    (21) Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD--consisting of the 
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA excluding Joint Base 
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, plus Kent County, DE, Atlantic County, NJ, and 
Cape May County, NJ;
* * * * *
    (24) Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA--consisting of the 
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA, plus Marion County, OR, and 
Polk County, OR;
* * * * *

[FR Doc. 2010-14981 Filed 6-18-10; 8:45 am]
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