Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Southern and Western Colorado Appropriated Fund Wage Areas

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206-AI95

Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Southern and Western

Colorado 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 Eagle, Garfield, Lake, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, and

Routt Counties, Colorado, from the Southern and Western Colorado

appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area to the area of

application of the Denver wage area, and redefine Mesa County, CO, from

the Southern and Western Colorado FWS wage area to the area of

application of the Utah FWS wage area. In addition, we propose to

change the name of the Southern and Western Colorado FWS wage area to

Southern Colorado.

The redefinition of Eagle, Garfield, Lake, Mesa, Pitkin, Rio

Blanco, and Routt Counties, CO, would more accurately reflect the

regulatory criteria used to define FWS wage areas. The change in the

wage area name to the Southern Colorado FWS wage area would more

accurately describe the geographic coverage of the redefined wage area.

DATES: Comments must be received by January 26, 2000.

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 20415-8200, or FAX: (202) 606-4264.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Hopkins by phone at (202)

606-2848, by FAX at (202) 606-0824, or by email at [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 national labor-

management committee responsible for advising OPM on matters concerning

the pay of FWS employees, has recommended by consensus that we redefine

Eagle, Garfield, Lake, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, and Routt Counties,

Colorado, from the Southern and Western Colorado appropriated fund FWS

wage area to the area of application of the Denver FWS wage area, and

redefine Mesa County, CO, from the Southern and Western Colorado FWS

wage area to the area of application of the Utah FWS wage area. After

careful consideration of FPRAC's recommendations, and based on the

regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, we have found that it

is appropriate to redefine these counties. In addition, FPRAC

recommended that the name of the Southern and Western Colorado wage

area be changed to Southern Colorado. Although FPRAC carefully

considered the possibility of recommending other changes in the

Southern and Western Colorado FWS wage area, the Committee did not find

that additional changes would be appropriate at this time.

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 Southern and Western Colorado wage area continues to meet all

regulatory requirements to remain a separate wage area. There are

currently about 1,800 FWS workers in the wage area. The wage area's

host activity, the United States Air Force Academy, still has the

capacity to host annual local wage surveys. In addition, local wage

surveys in the Southern and Western Colorado survey area find more than

sufficient local private industry wage data to satisfy the regulatory

criteria for FWS wage survey adequacy under 5 CFR 532.239.

Based on an analysis of the regulatory criteria for defining FWS

wage areas, FPRAC found sufficient rationale to recommend that OPM

redefine Eagle, Garfield, Lake, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, and Routt Counties

to the Denver wage area. The distance criterion for these counties

favored the Denver wage area more than the Southern and Western

Colorado wage area. The transportation facilities and geographic

features criteria for these counties strongly favored the Denver wage

area because the most favorable route by road from these counties goes

through the present Denver wage area before reaching the Southern and

Western Colorado survey area. All other criteria studied did not favor

one wage area more than another.

For Mesa County, CO, the distance to the closest city criterion

favored the Utah wage area, while the distance to the closest host

installation criterion favored the Denver wage area. The transportation

facilities and geographic features criteria favored the Utah wage area.

The kinds and sizes of industry and population criteria also favored

the Utah wage area. All other criteria studied had indeterminate

findings. An additional factor taken into consideration for Mesa County

was that the Colorado National Monument, located in Mesa County, is

administratively in the same National Park Service region as most of

the National Parks in Utah. Arches National Park is defined to the Utah

wage area and is located just across the State line from the Colorado

National Monument. Based on the regulatory criteria analysis and

because of the organizational relationships and geographic proximity of

National Park Service facilities in the region, FPRAC recommended that

we place the Colorado National Monument in the same wage area as the

Arches National Park.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that these regulations would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 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.

[[Page 72293]]

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 A to subpart B of part 532 is amended for the State of

Colorado by removing the wage area listing for ``Southern & Western

Colorado'' and adding alphabetically in its place a listing for

``Southern Colorado''.

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

listings for Denver, Colorado, and Utah, and by removing the wage area

listing for Southern & Western Colorado and adding in its place a

listing of Southern Colorado to read as follows:

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

Survey Areas

* * * * *

Colorado

Denver

Survey Area

Colorado:

Adams

Arapahoe

Boulder

Denver

Douglas

Gilpin

Jefferson

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Colorado:

Clear Creek

Eagle

Elbert

Garfield

Grand

Jackson

Lake

Larimer

Logan

Morgan

Park

Phillips

Pitkin

Rio Blanco

Routt

Sedgwick

Summit

Washington

Weld

Yuma

Southern Colorado

Survey Area

Colorado:

El Paso

Pueblo

Teller

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Colorado:

Alamosa

Archuleta

Baca

Bent

Chaffee

Cheyenne

Conejos

Costilla

Crowley

Custer

Delta

Dolores

Fremont

Gunnison

Hinsdale

Huerfano

Kiowa

Kit Carson

Las Animas

Lincoln

Mineral

Montrose

Otero

Ouray

Pitkin

Prowers

Rio Grande

Saguache

San Juan

San Miguel

* * * * *

Utah

Survey Area

Utah:

Box Elder

Davis

Salt Lake

Tooele

Utah

Weber

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Utah:

Beaver

Cache

Carbon

Daggett

Duchesne

Emery

Garfield

Grand

Iron

Juab

Millard

Morgan

Piute

Rich

San Juan (Only includes the Canyonlands National Park portion.)

Sanpete

Sevier

Summit

Uintah

Wasatch

Washington

Wayne

Colorado:

Mesa

Moffat

[FR Doc. 99-33364 Filed 12-23-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325-01-U