Pay Under the General Schedule; Locality Pay Areas for 1997

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management is issuing proposed

regulations to remove three metropolitan areas from the ``Rest of

U.S.'' locality pay area and establish three new locality pay areas in

January 1997 corresponding to these metropolitan areas. The three

metropolitan areas affected by this proposed regulation are the

following: (1) Milwaukee-Racine, WI; (2) Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI;

and (3) Pittsburgh, PA. These proposed changes are based on a

recommendation of the Federal Salary Council. The purpose of this

notice is to solicit public comments on the boundaries of locality pay

areas recommended by the Federal Salary Council before the President's

Pay Agent makes a final determination on this matter.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 15, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent or delivered to Donald J. Winstead,

Assistant Director for Compensation Policy, Human Resources Systems

Service, Office of Personnel Management, Room 6H31, 1900 E Street NW.,

Washington, DC 20415 (FAX: (202) 606-0824).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jeanne D. Jacobson, (202) 606-2858 or FAX: (202) 606-0824.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 5304(a)(1) of title 5, United States

Code, provides that locality payments shall be payable within each

locality determined to have a pay disparity greater than 5 percent.

Section 5304(f)(1) authorizes the President's Pay Agent (consisting of

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 provide for such pay localities as the Pay Agent considers

appropriate. In so doing, 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 and representatives of Federal employee organizations. Members

of the Federal Salary Council are appointed by the President and meet

regularly to consider issues related to the locality pay system for

General Schedule employees.

In late 1994, the President's Pay Agent adopted the recommendations

of the Federal Salary Council concerning locality pay areas for 1995 in

their entirety. These recommendations resulted in the establishment of

a total of 27 locality pay areas consisting of 26 areas corresponding

to Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA's) or Consolidated Metropolitan

Statistical Areas (CMSA's), including certain ``areas of application''

contiguous to 2 CMSA's, plus 1 area composed of the ``Rest of U.S.''

(See 59 FR 67605, December 30, 1994, and 5 CFR 531.603(b).)

Starting with the January 1996 locality payments, 5 U.S.C.

5304(d)(1) requires the Pay Agent to make recommendations to the

President no later than 13 months before the start of the calendar year

for which the locality payments are paid. Therefore, the locality pay

areas established by the Pay Agent for the 1995 locality payments are

also applicable to the locality payments authorized for 1996.

At its meeting on September 28, 1995, the Federal Salary Council

recommended the removal of three metropolitan areas from the ``Rest of

U.S.'' locality pay area and the establishment of three new locality

pay areas corresponding to these metropolitan areas in January 1997.

The MSA's and CMSA's affected by this recommendation are the following:

(1) Milwaukee-Racine, WI; (2) Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI; and (3)

Pittsburgh, PA. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducted

additional local salary surveys in 1994-95 in these areas at the

direction of the Pay Agent following an earlier recommendation of the

Federal Salary Council, and these surveys showed that the pay disparity

in each of these areas was greater than in the ``Rest of U.S.''

locality pay area. These 3 new locality pay areas would be in addition

to the 27 locality pay areas established for the 1995 and 1996 locality

payments.

At the direction of the President's Pay Agent, BLS also conducted

local salary surveys in 1994-95 in the Phoenix-Mesa, AZ, and Tampa-St.

Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, metropolitan areas. These surveys showed the

pay disparities in these areas to be below the pay disparity for the

``Rest of U.S.'' locality pay area. In accordance with the criteria

previously established by the Federal Salary Council, these areas are

not being proposed as separate locality pay areas and will continue to

be part of the ``Rest of U.S.'' locality pay area because the pay

disparity in each area is \2/10\ths of a percentage point or more below

the pay disparity for the ``Rest of U.S.'' locality pay area. The

information used to make this determination is a part of the public

record and is available from OPM.

The Pay Agent's decision regarding locality pay areas for 1997 must

be made no later than November 30, 1995. Therefore, OPM has established

a 30-day public comment period on these proposed regulations. After the

public comment period, the Pay Agent will consider the comments

received from Federal employees, agencies, employee organizations, and

other interested parties before making its determination on the

establishment of pay localities. The Pay Agent also will consider any

additional views and recommendations expressed directly to the Pay

Agent by any member of the Federal Salary Council or by employee

organizations not represented on the Council. The final regulations

issued by OPM will reflect the Pay Agent's final determination on this

matter.

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review

This rule has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget

in accordance with E.O. 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that these regulations would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number or small entities because they

would apply only to Federal agency and employees.

[[Page 53546]]

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 531

Govenment employees, Law enforcement officers, Wages.

Office of Personnel Management.

James B. King,

Director.

Accordingly, OPM is proposing to amend part 531 of title 5, Code of

Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 531--PAY UNDER THE GENERAL SCHEDULE

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

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5115, 5307, and 5558; sec. 4 of Pub. L. 103-

89, 107 Stat. 981; and E.O. 12748, 56 FR 4521, February 4, 1991, 3

CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 316;

Subaprt A also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5304, 5305, and 5553;

section 302 of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990

(FEPCA), Pub. L. 101-509, 104 Stat. 1462; and E.O. 12786, 56 FR

67453, December 30, 1991, 3 CFR, 1919 Comp., p. 376;

Subpart B also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5303(g) 5333, 5334(a), and

7701(b)(2);

Subaprt C also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5304, 5305, and 5553;

sections 302 and 404 of FEPCA, Pub. L. 101-509, 104 Stat. 1462 and

1466; and section 3(7) of Pub. L. 102-378, 106 Stat. 1356;

Subpart D also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5335(g) 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(g)(1), and 5553;

and E.O. 12883, 58 FR 63281, November 29, 1993, 3 CFR, 1993 Comp.,

p. 682

Subpart F--Locality-Based Comparability Payments

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

Sec. 531.603 Locality pay areas.

* * * * *

(b) The following are locality pay areas for the purpose of this

subpart;

(1) Atlanta, GA--consisting of the Atlanta, GA MSA;

(2) Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT--consisting of the

Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA;

(3) Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI--consisting of the Chicago-Gary-

Kenosha, IL-IN-WI CMSA;

(4) Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN--consisting of the Cincinnati-

Hamilton, OH-KY-IN CMSA;

(5) Cleveland-Akron, OH--consisting of the Cleveland-Akron, OH

CMSA;

(6) Columbus, OH--consisting of the Columbus, OH MSA;

(7) Dallas-Fort Worth, TX--consisting of the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

CMSA;

(8) Dayton-Springfield, OH--consisting of the Dayton-Springfield,

OH MSA;

(9) Denver-Boulder-Greeley, CO--consisting of the Denver-Boulder-

Greeley, CO CMSA;

(10) Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI--consisting of the Detroit-Ann

Arbor-Flint, MI CMSA;

(11) Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX--consisting of the Houston-

Galveston-Brazoria, TX CMSA;

(12) Huntsville, AL--consisting of the Huntsville, AL MSA;

(13) Indianapolis, IN--consisting of the Indianapolis, IN MSA;

(14) Kansas City, MO-KS--consisting of the Kansas City, MO-KS MSA;

(15) Los Angeles-Reverside-Orange County, CA--consisting of the Los

Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA CMSA, plus Santa Barbara County,

CA, and that portion of Edwards Air Force Base, CA, not located within

the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA CMSA;

(16) Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL--consisting of the Miami-Fort

Lauderdale, FL CMSA;

(17) Milwaukee-Racine, WI--consisting of the Milwaukee-Racine, WI

CMSA;

(18) Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI--consisting of the Minneapolis-St.

Paul, MN-WI MSA;

(19) New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA--

consisting of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA

CMSA;

(20) Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD--consisting

of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD CMSA;

(21) Pittsburgh, PA--consisting of the Pittsburgh, PA MSA;

(22) Portland-Salem, OR-WA--consisting of the Portland-Salem, OR-WA

CMSA;

(23) Richmond-Petersburg, VA--consisting of the Richmond-

Petersburg, VA MSA;

(24) Sacramento-Yolo, CA--consisting of the Sacramento-Yolo, CA

CMSA;

(25) St. Louis, MO-IL--consisting of the St. Louis, MO-IL MSA;

(26) San Diego, CA--consisting of the San Diego, CA MSA;

(27) San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA--consisting of the San

Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA;

(28) Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA--consisting of the Seattle-

Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA;

(29) Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV--consisting of the

Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV CMSA, plus St. Mary's County, MD; and

(30) Rest of U.S.--consisting of those portions of the continental

United States not located within another locality pay area.

[FR Doc. 95-25583 Filed 10-13-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325-01-M