Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Eastern South Dakota and Wyoming Appropriated Fund Wage Areas

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206-AI74

Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Eastern South Dakota

and Wyoming Appropriated Fund Wage Areas

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule

that would redefine Jackson County, South Dakota, from the area of

application of the Eastern South Dakota appropriated fund Federal Wage

System (FWS) wage area to the area of application of the Wyoming wage

area, and redefine Teton County, Wyoming, from the area of application

of the Wyoming FWS wage area to the area of application of the Montana

wage area. The redefinition of Jackson County would provide equitable

pay treatment for all FWS employees at Badlands National Park and the

redefinition of Teton County would place employees at Grand Teton

National Park on the same wage schedule as employees at Yellowstone

National Park.

DATES: Comments must be received by July 23, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments to Donald J. Winstead, Assistant

Director for Compensation Administration, Workforce Compensation and

Performance Service, Office of Personnel Management, Room 7H31, 1900 E

Street NW., Washington, DC 20415, or FAX: (202) 606-4264.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Hopkins (202) 606-2848, or

send an email message to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is

engaged in an ongoing project to review the geographic definitions of

selected appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The

Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the statutory

national labor-management committee responsible for advising OPM on

matters concerning the pay of FWS employees, has recommended by

consensus that we redefine Jackson County, South Dakota, and Teton

County, Wyoming. After careful consideration of FPRAC's recommendation,

we have found that it is appropriate to redefine Jackson and Teton

Counties based on the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas

and on agency organizational relationships in the region.

Section 532.211 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, lists the

following criteria for consideration when OPM defines FWS wage area

boundaries:

(i) Distance, transportation facilities, and geographic features;

(ii) Commuting patterns; and

(iii) Similarities in overall population, employment, and the kinds

and sizes of private industrial establishments.

The Eastern South Dakota wage area continues to meet the regulatory

requirements to remain a separate wage area. There are currently about

550 FWS workers in the wage area, the wage area's host activity

continues to have the capacity to host local wage surveys, and wage

surveys in the area continue to produce adequate wage data to determine

local prevailing rates. Based on an analysis of the regulatory criteria

for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC found mixed results for Jackson

County. The distance to the closest city criterion favored the Wyoming

wage area, while the distance to the closest host installation

criterion favored the Eastern South Dakota wage area. All other

criteria studied had indeterminate findings. Based on the mixed nature

of the regulatory analysis findings, there was no clear indication that

Jackson County should be redefined to one wage area more than another;

however, Badlands National Park is currently split by the boundary of

the Wyoming wage area, with the park headquarters located in the

Eastern South Dakota wage area, while most of the park is located in

the Wyoming wage area. The redefinition of Jackson County to the

Wyoming wage area would place the entire park in one wage area. FPRAC

found no compelling reasons to make other changes in the Eastern South

Dakota wage area.

The Wyoming wage area also continues to meet the regulatory

requirements to remain a separate wage area. There are currently about

1,300 FWS workers in the wage area, the wage area's host activity

continues to have the capacity to host local wage surveys, and wage

surveys in the area continue to produce adequate wage data to determine

local prevailing rates. Based on an analysis of the regulatory criteria

for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC found mixed results for Teton

County. The distance to the closest city criterion slightly favored the

Montana wage area, while the distance to the closest host installation

criterion slightly favored the Wyoming wage area. All other criteria

had indeterminate findings. Based on the mixed nature of the regulatory

analysis findings, there was no clear indication that Teton County

should be redefined to one wage area more than another; however, the

two main FWS employers in northwestern Wyoming are Yellowstone National

Park and Grand Teton National Park. The parks are connected by the John

D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, with a distance of only about 5

miles (8 kilometers) separating the parks.

Because the parks are located in a region geographically isolated

by the Rocky Mountains from both the Montana and Wyoming survey areas,

and because the regulatory criteria do not clearly favor defining Teton

County to one wage more than another, FPRAC recommended that we place

the parks in the same wage area. This change would place all Department

of the Interior FWS employees stationed in northwestern Wyoming in the

same wage area and would provide equitable pay treatment for FWS

employees at Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park by

paying these employees from one wage schedule. FPRAC found no

compelling reasons to make other changes in the Wyoming wage area.

Jackson County and Teton County would be redefined on the first day

of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after 30 days after

the issuance of a final regulation implementing this proposed change.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that these regulations would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities

[[Page 33428]]

because they would affect only Federal agencies and employees.

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.

Janice R. Lachance,

Director.

Accordingly, the Office of Personnel Management proposes to amend 5

CFR part 532 as follows:

PART 532--PREVAILING RATE SYSTEMS

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.

2. Appendix C to subpart B is amended by revising the wage area

listings for the Montana, Eastern South Dakota, and Wyoming wage areas

to read as follows:

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532--Appropriated Fund Wage and

Survey Areas

* * * * *

MONTANA

Survey Area

Montana:

Cascade

Lewis and Clark

Yellowstone

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

Montana:

Beaverhead

Big Horn

Blaine

Broadwater

Carbon

Carter

Chouteau

Custer

Daniels

Dawson

Deer Lodge

Fallon

Fergus

Flathead

Gallatin

Garfield

Glacier

Golden Valley

Granite

Hill

Jefferson

Judith Basin

Lake

Liberty

Lincoln

McCone

Madison

Meagher

Mineral

Missoula

Musselshell

Park

Petroleum

Phillips

Pondera

Powder River

Powell

Prairie

Ravalli

Richland

Roosevelt

Rosebud

Sanders

Sheridan

Silver Bow

Stillwater

Sweet Grass

Teton

Toole

Treasure

Valley

Wheatland

Wibaux

Wyoming:

Big Horn

Park

Teton

* * * * *

SOUTH DAKOTA

EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA

Survey Area

South Dakota:

Minnehaha

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

South Dakota:

Aurora

Beadle

Bennett

Bon Homme

Brookings

Brown

Brule

Buffalo

Campbell

Charles Mix

Clark

Clay

Codington

Corson

Davison

Day

Deuel

Dewey

Douglas

Edmunds

Faulk

Grant

Gregory

Haakon

Hamlin

Hand

Hanson

Hughes

Hutchinson

Hyde

Jerauld

Jones

Kingsbury

Lake

Lincoln

Lyman

McCook

McPherson

Marshall

Mellette

Miner

Moody

Potter

Roberts

Sanborn

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Todd

Tripp

Turner

Union

Walworth

Washabaugh

Yankton

Ziebach

Iowa:

Dickinson

Emmet

Lyon

Osceola

Minnesota:

Jackson

Lincoln

Lyon

Murray

Nobles

Pipestone

Rock

* * * * *

WYOMING

Survey Area

Wyoming:

Albany

Laramie

Natrona

South Dakota:

Pennington

Area of application. Survey Area Plus

Wyoming:

Campbell

Carbon

Converse

Crook

Fremont

Goshen

Hot Springs

Johnson

Lincoln

Niobrara

Platte

Sheridan

Sublette

Sweetwater

Uinta

Washakie

Weston

Nebraska:

Banner

Box Butte

Cheyenne

Dawes

Deuel

Garden

Kimball

Morrill

Scotts Bluff

Sheridan

Sioux

South Dakota:

Butte

Custer

[[Page 33429]]

Fall River

Harding

Jackson

Lawrence

Meade

Perkins

Shannon

[FR Doc. 99-15963 Filed 6-22-99; 8:45 am]

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