Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Little Rock, Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, Appropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Areas
| Published date | 13 February 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 8205 |
| Record Number | 2020-02833 |
| Section | Proposed rules |
| Court | Personnel Management Office |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8205-8207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02833]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
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. 85, No. 30 / Thursday, February 13, 2020 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 8205]]
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
5 CFR Part 532
RIN 3206-AN95
Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Little Rock,
Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, Appropriated Fund Federal Wage System
Wage Areas
AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed
rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the Little Rock,
Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, appropriated fund Federal Wage System
(FWS) wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine the Fort Chaffee
portion of Franklin County, AR, to the Tulsa wage area. This change is
based on a recent consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing
Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC).
DATES: Send comments on or before March 16, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and/or
Regulatory Information Number (RIN) and title, by the following method:
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://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 http://www.regulations.gov
as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers
or contact information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madeline Gonzalez, by telephone at
(202) 606-2838 or by email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OPM is issuing a proposed rule to redefine
the Little Rock, AR, and Tulsa, OK, appropriated fund FWS wage areas.
This proposed rule would redefine the Fort Chaffee portion of Franklin
County, AR, from the Little Rock wage area to the Tulsa wage area. This
change is based on a recent recommendation of FPRAC, the statutory
national labor-management committee responsible for advising OPM on
matters affecting the pay of FWS employees. From time to time, FPRAC
reviews the boundaries of wage areas and provides OPM with
recommendations for changes if the Committee finds that changes are
warranted.
As provided by 5 CFR 532.211, this regulation allows consideration
of the following criteria when defining wage area boundaries: distance,
transportation facilities, and geographic features; commuting patterns;
and similarities in overall population, employment, and the kinds and
sizes of private industrial establishments.
In addition, under OPM regulations at 5 CFR 532.211(2)(b), it is
permissible for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to be split
between FWS wage areas only in very unusual circumstances.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines MSAs and
maintains and periodically updates the definitions of MSA boundaries.
MSAs are composed of counties and are defined on the basis of a central
urbanized area--a contiguous area of relatively high population
density. Additional surrounding counties are included in MSAs if they
have strong social and economic ties to central counties.
When the boundaries of wage areas were first established in the
1960s, there were fewer MSAs than there are today and the boundaries of
the then existing MSAs were much smaller. Most MSAs were contained
within the boundaries of a wage area. With each OMB update, MSAs have
expanded and in some cases now extend beyond the boundaries of the wage
area.
Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, AR, and Sequoyah
County, OK, comprise the Fort Smith, AR-OK MSA. The Fort Smith MSA is
split between the Little Rock, AR, and Tulsa, OK, wage areas. Crawford,
Sebastian, and Sequoyah Counties are part of the Tulsa wage area, and
Franklin County is part of the Little Rock wage area.
Crawford, Sebastian, and Sequoyah Counties continue to be
appropriately defined to the Tulsa wage area. Managed by the Forest
Service, the Ozark National Forest is located in parts of 16 counties
in northwestern Arkansas. There are FWS Forest Service employees
working in the Ozark National Forest portion of Franklin and Stone
Counties. To avoid splitting the Forest Service employees working in
the Ozark National Forest between two wage areas, Franklin County also
continues to be appropriately defined to the Little Rock wage area.
However, in addition to the Forest Service employees currently
working in Franklin County, there are now three Department of the Army
employees working in the portion of Fort Chaffee located in Franklin
County. The Department of the Army also employs 74 FWS employees in the
portion of Fort Chaffee located in Sebastian County. So that the FWS
employees working at Fort Chaffee are not split between two wage areas,
OPM proposes that the Fort Chaffee portion of Franklin County be
redefined to the Tulsa wage area. Fort Chaffee would then be entirely
defined to the Tulsa wage area. This change would provide equal pay
treatment for FWS employees working at Fort Chaffee.
FPRAC, the national labor-management committee responsible for
advising OPM on matters concerning the pay of FWS employees,
recommended this change by consensus. This change would be effective on
the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after
30 days following publication of the final regulations.
Regulatory Impact Analysis
This action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the
terms of Executive Order (E.O.) 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993)
and is therefore not subject to review under E.O. 12866 and 13563 (76
FR 3821, January 21, 2011).
Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs
This rule is not an Executive Order 13771 regulatory action because
this rule is not significant under E.O. 12866.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
OPM certifies that this rule will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
[[Page 8206]]
Federalism
We have examined this rule in accordance with Executive Order
13132, Federalism, and have 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.
Congressional Review Act
This action pertains to agency management, personnel, and
organization and does not substantially affect the rights or
obligations of nonagency parties and, accordingly, is not a ``rule'' as
that term is used by the Congressional Review Act (Subtitle E of the
Small Business ``Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996''
(SBREFA)). Therefore, the reporting requirement of 5 U.S.C. 801 does
not apply.
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 532
Administrative practice and procedure, Freedom of information,
Government employees, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Wages.
Office of Personnel Management.
Alexys Stanley,
Regulatory Affairs Analyst.
Accordingly, OPM is proposing to amend 5 CFR part 532 as follows:
PART 532--PREVAILING RATE SYSTEMS
0
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.
0
2. In Appendix C to subpart B amend the table by revising the wage area
listings for the States of ``Arkansas'' and ``Oklahoma'' to read as
follows:
Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532--Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey
Areas
DEFINITIONS OF WAGE AREAS AND WAGE AREA SURVEY AREAS
* * * * *
ARKANSAS
Little Rock
Survey Area
Arkansas:
Jefferson
Pulaski
Saline
Area of Application. Survey area plus:
Arkansas:
Arkansas
Ashley
Baxter
Boone
Bradley
Calhoun
Chicot
Clay
Clark
Cleburne
Cleveland
Conway
Dallas
Desha
Drew
Faulkner
Franklin (Does not include the Fort Chaffee portion)
Fulton
Garland
Grant
Greene
Hot Spring
Independence
Izard
Jackson
Johnson
Lawrence
Lincoln
Logan
Lonoke
Marion
Monroe
Montgomery
Newton
Ouachita
Perry
Phillips
Pike
Polk
Pope
Prairie
Randolph
Scott
Searcy
Sharp
Stone
Union
Van Buren
White
Woodruff
Yell
* * * * *
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City
Survey Area
Oklahoma:
Canadian
Cleveland
McClain
Oklahoma
Pottawatomie
Area of Application. Survey area plus:
Oklahoma:
Alfalfa
Atoka
Beckham
Blaine
Bryan
Caddo
Carter
Coal
Custer
Dewey
Ellis
Garfield
Garvin
Grady
Grant
Harper
Hughes
Johnston
Kingfisher
Lincoln
Logan
Love
Major
Marshall
Murray
Noble
Payne
Pontotoc
Roger Mills
Seminole
Washita
Woods
Woodward
Tulsa
Survey Area
Oklahoma:
Creek
Mayes
Muskogee
Osage
Pittsburg
Rogers
Tulsa
Wagoner
Area of Application. Survey area plus:
Arkansas:
Benton
Carroll
Crawford
Franklin (Only includes the Fort Chaffee portion)
Madison
Sebastian
Washington
Missouri:
McDonald
Oklahoma:
Adair
Cherokee
Choctaw
Craig
Delaware
Haskell
Kay
Latimer
LeFlore
McCurtain
McIntosh
Nowata
[[Page 8207]]
Okfuskee
Okmulgee
Ottawa
Pawnee
Pushmataha
Sequoyah
Washington
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2020-02833 Filed 2-12-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P
