[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 182 (Wednesday, September 21, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57650-57651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20247]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 21, 2022 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 57650]]



OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 531

RIN 3206-AO40


General Schedule Locality Pay Areas

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the Office of 
Personnel Management is proposing regulations to establish Carroll 
County, IL, as an area of application to the Davenport-Moline, IA-IL 
locality pay area and Brooks County, TX, as an area of application to 
the Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX, locality pay area. The 
proposed changes in the geographic definitions of those locality pay 
areas would be applicable on the first day of the first applicable pay 
period beginning on or after January 1, 2023, subject to issuance of 
final regulations.

DATES: We must receive comments on or before October 21, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and/or 
Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) and title, by the following method:
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    All submissions received must include the agency name and docket 
number or RIN for this document. The general policy for comments and 
other submissions from members of the public is to make these 
submissions available for public viewing at https://www.regulations.gov 
as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers 
or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Ratcliffe by email at [email protected] or phone at 202-936-3081.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 5304 of title 5, United States Code 
(U.S.C.), 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 (OMB), and the Director of the Office 
of Personnel Management (OPM)) to determine locality pay areas. The 
boundaries of locality pay areas are based on appropriate factors, 
which may include local labor market patterns, commuting patterns, and 
the practices of other employers. The Pay Agent considers 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 administration of the 
locality pay program, including the geographic boundaries of locality 
pay areas. (The Federal Salary Council's recommendations are posted on 
the OPM website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-systems/general-schedule/#url=Federal-Salary-Council.) The 
establishment or modification of pay area boundaries conforms to the 
notice and comment provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 
U.S.C. 553).
    This proposal provides notice and requests comments on proposed 
regulations to implement the Pay Agent's plan to establish Carroll 
County, IL, as an area of application to the Davenport-Moline, IA-IL 
locality pay area and Brooks County, TX, as an area of application to 
the Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX, locality pay area. The change 
to establish Carroll County, IL, as an area of application to the 
Davenport-Moline, IA-IL locality pay area was tentatively approved, 
pending appropriate rulemaking, in the December 15, 2021, report of the 
President's Pay Agent. (Annual Pay Agent reports on locality pay are 
posted on the OPM website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-systems/general-schedule/#url=Pay-Agent-Reports.) Also, 
in considering the Federal Salary Council's recommendation to make that 
change, the Pay Agent reviewed updated GS employment data for other 
locations and found that recent increases in GS employment for Brooks 
County, TX, have resulted in the county now meeting the GS employment 
criterion for establishment as an area of application to the Corpus 
Christi locality pay area. More detail is provided below.

Criteria for Areas of Application

    Locality pay areas consist of (1) the metropolitan statistical area 
or combined statistical area (MSA or CSA) comprising the basic locality 
pay area and, where criteria recommended by the Federal Salary Council 
and approved by the Pay Agent are met, (2) areas of application. Areas 
of application are locations that are adjacent to the basic locality 
pay area and meet approved criteria for inclusion in the locality pay 
area. Those criteria are explained below.
    The Pay Agent's current criteria for evaluating locations adjacent 
to a basic locality pay area for possible inclusion in the locality pay 
area as areas of application are as follows: For adjacent CSAs and 
adjacent multi-county MSAs the criteria are 1,500 or more GS employees 
and an employment interchange rate of at least 7.5 percent. For 
adjacent single counties, the criteria are 400 or more GS employees and 
an employment interchange rate of at least 7.5 percent. The employment 
interchange rate is defined as the sum of the percentage of employed 
residents of the area under consideration who work in the basic 
locality pay area and the percentage of the employment in the area 
under consideration that is accounted for by workers who reside in the 
basic locality pay area. (The employment interchange rate is calculated 
by including all workers in assessed locations, not just Federal 
employees.)
    The Pay Agent also has criteria for evaluating Federal facilities 
that cross county lines into a separate locality pay area. 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

[[Page 57651]]

must commute to work from the higher-paying locality pay area.

Carroll County, IL

    In the Federal Salary Council meeting on October 21, 2020, the 
Council heard testimony regarding Carroll County, IL, currently 
considered a ``Rest of U.S.'' location that is adjacent to the 
Davenport locality pay area. At that time, Carroll County met the 
employment interchange criterion but not the GS employment criterion to 
be included in the Davenport locality pay area as an area of 
application. Since that time and as noted in the Pay Agent's December 
2021 report, Carroll County now meets the GS employment criterion for 
establishment as an area of application to the Davenport locality pay 
area.
    The applicable criteria for Carroll County are those applied for 
locations evaluated as single counties. To meet those criteria, Carroll 
County would need 400 or more GS employees and an employment 
interchange rate of 7.5 percent or more with the Davenport basic 
locality pay area. Carroll County meets these criteria with 
approximately 420 GS employees and an employment interchange rate of 
18.14 percent with the Davenport basic locality pay area. Accordingly, 
we propose that Carrol County, IL, be established as an area of 
application to the Davenport locality pay area.

Brooks County, TX

    In reviewing updated GS employment data, the Pay Agent has 
identified Brooks County as meeting the applicable criteria applied for 
locations evaluated as single counties. To meet these criteria, Brooks 
County needed both 400 or more GS employees and an employment 
interchange rate of 7.5 percent or more with the Corpus Christi basic 
locality pay area. Brooks County now meets these criteria, with 
approximately 420 GS employees and an interchange rate of 42.64 percent 
with the Corpus Christi basic locality pay area. Accordingly, we 
propose that Brooks County, TX, be established as an area of 
application to the Corpus Christi locality pay area.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

    OPM has examined the impact of this rule as required by Executive 
Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563, which direct agencies to assess 
all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if 
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public, 
health, and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). This 
rule is not a ``significant regulatory action,'' under Executive Order 
12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    OPM certifies that this rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities as this rule only 
applies to Federal agencies and employees.

Federalism

    OPM has examined this rule in accordance with Executive Order 
13132, Federalism, and has determined that this rule will not have any 
negative impact on the rights, roles and responsibilities of State, 
local, or tribal governments.

Civil Justice Reform

    This regulation meets the applicable standard set forth in 
Executive Order 12988.

Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995

    This rule will not result in the expenditure by state, local, and 
tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 
million or more in any year and it will not significantly or uniquely 
affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were deemed necessary 
under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule does not impose any new reporting or record-keeping 
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 531

    Government employees, Law enforcement officers, Wages.

Office of Personnel Management.
Stephen Hickman,
Federal Register Liaison.

    Accordingly, OPM proposes to amend 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, 5305, and 5941(a); 
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, revise paragraphs (b)(16) and (18) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  531.603   Locality pay areas.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (16) Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX--consisting of the Corpus 
Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX CSA and also including Brooks County, TX;
    (18) Davenport-Moline, IA-IL--consisting of the Davenport-Moline, 
IA-IL CSA and also including Carroll County, IL;
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2022-20247 Filed 9-20-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P