Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of Certain Appropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Areas

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206-AL77

Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of Certain Appropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Areas

AGENCY:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION:

Final rule.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of several appropriated fund Federal Wage System wage areas for pay-setting purposes. Based on recent reviews of Metropolitan Statistical Area boundaries in a number of wage areas, OPM is redefining the following wage areas: Birmingham, AL; Denver, CO; Wilmington, DE; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Columbus, GA; Macon, GA; Chicago, IL; Bloomington-Bedford-Washington, IN; Indianapolis, IN; Louisville, KY; Baltimore, MD; Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD; St. Louis, MO; Southern Missouri; Omaha, NE; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA; Eastern South Dakota; Richmond, VA; and Milwaukee, WI.

DATES:

Effective date:

This regulation is effective on May 4, 2009.

Applicability date:

Agencies will place affected employees on their new wage schedule on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after June 3, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Madeline Gonzalez, (202) 606-2838; e-mail

pay-performance-policy@opm.gov;

or FAX: (202) 606-4264.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On January 14, 2009, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a proposed rule (74 FR 1948) to redefine the geographic boundaries of several appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. This proposed rule would redefine the following counties:

• Chilton County, AL, to the Birmingham, AL, area of application;

• Broomfield County, CO, to the Denver, CO, survey area;

• Clarke, Spotsylvania, and Warren Counties, VA; Fredericksburg City, VA; and Jefferson County, WV, to the Washington, DC, area of application;

• Jasper, Lamar, and Meriwether Counties, GA, to the Atlanta, GA, area of application;

• Kenosha County, WI, to the Chicago, IL, area of application;

• Brown County, IN, to the Indianapolis, IN, area of application;

• Union County, SD, to the Omaha, NE, area of application;

• Washington County, IN, to the Louisville, KY, area of application;

• Queen Anne's County, MD, to the Baltimore, MD, area of application;

• Moniteau County, MO, to the St. Louis, MO, area of application;

• Hunterdon County, NJ, and Pike County, PA, to the New York, NY, area of application; and

• Carbon County, PA, to the Philadelphia, PA, area of application.

The proposed rule had a 30-day comment period, during which OPM received no comments.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that these regulations will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because they will 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.

John Berry,

Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Accordingly, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is amending 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; § 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 Birmingham, AL; Denver, CO; Wilmington, DE; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Columbus, GA; Macon, GA; Chicago, IL; Bloomington-Bedford-Washington, IN; Indianapolis, IN; Louisville, KY; Baltimore, MD; Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD; St. Louis, MO; Southern Missouri; Omaha, NE; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA; Eastern South Dakota; Richmond, VA; and Milwaukee, WI, to read as follows:

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532—Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey Areas

ALABAMA

*    *    *    *    *

Birmingham

Survey Area

Alabama:

Jefferson

St. Clair

Shelby

Tuscaloosa

Walker

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Alabama:

Bibb

Blount

Chilton

Cullman

Fayette

Greene

Hale

Lamar

Marengo

Perry

Pickens

*    *    *    *    *

COLORADO

Denver

Survey Area

Colorado:

Adams

Arapahoe

Boulder

Broomfield

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

*    *    *    *    *

DELAWARE

Wilmington

Survey Area

Delaware:

Kent

New Castle

Maryland:

Cecil

New Jersey:

Salem

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Delaware:

Sussex

Maryland:

Caroline

Dorchester

Kent

Somerset

Talbot

Wicomico

Worcester (Does not include the Assateague Island portion.)

*    *    *    *    *

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Washington, DC

Survey Area

District of Columbia:

Washington, DC

Maryland:

Charles

Frederick

Montgomery

Prince George's

Virginia (cities):

Alexandria

Fairfax

Falls Church

Manassas

Manassas Park

Virginia (counties):

Arlington

Fairfax

Loudoun

Prince William

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Maryland:

Calvert

St. Mary's

Virginia (city):

Fredericksburg

Virginia (counties):

Clarke

Fauquier

King George

Spotsylvania

Stafford

Warren

West Virginia:

Jefferson

*    *    *    *    *

GEORGIA

*    *    *    *    *

Atlanta

Survey Area

Georgia:

Butts

Cherokee

Clayton

Cobb

De Kalb

Douglas

Fayette

Forsyth

Fulton

Gwinnett

Henry

Newton

Paulding

Rockdale

Walton

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Georgia:

Banks

Barrow

Bartow

Carroll

Chattooga

Clarke

Coweta

Dawson

Fannin

Floyd

Franklin

Gilmer

Gordon

Greene

Habersham

Hall

Haralson

Heard

Jackson

Jasper

Lamar

Lumpkin

Madison

Meriwether

Morgan

Murray

Oconee

Oglethorpe

Pickens

Pike

Polk

Rabun

Spalding

Stephens

Towns

Union

White

Whitfield

*    *    *    *    *

Columbus

Survey Area

Georgia (counties):

Chattahoochee

Georgia (consolidated government):

Columbus

Alabama:

Autauga

Elmore

Lee

Macon

Montgomery

Russel

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Georgia:

Harris

Marion

Quitman

Schley

Stewart

Talbot

Taylor

Webster

Alabama:

Bullock

Butler

Chambers

Coosa

Crenshaw

Dallas

Lowndes

Pike

Tallapoosa

Wilcox

Macon

Survey Area

Georgia:

Bibb

Houston

Jones

Laurens

Twiggs

Wilkinson

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Georgia:

Baldwin

Bleckley

Crawford

Crisp

Dodge

Dooly

Hancock

Johnson

Macon

Monroe

Montgomery

Peach

Pulaski

Putnam

Telfair

Treutlen

Upson

Washington

Wheeler

Wilcox

*    *    *    *    *

ILLINOIS

*    *    *    *    *

Chicago

Survey Area

Illinois:

Cook

Du Page

Kane

Lake

McHenry

Will

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Illinois:

Boone

De Kalb

Grundy

Iroquois

Kankakee

Kendall

La Salle

Lee

Livingston

Ogle

Stephenson

Winnebago

Indiana:

Benton

Jasper

Lake

La Porte

Newton

Porter

Pulaski

Starke

Wisconsin:

Kenosha

INDIANA

Bloomington-Bedford-Washington

Survey Area

Indiana:

Daviess

Greene

Knox

Lawrence

Martin

Monroe

Orange

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Indiana:

Crawford

Dubois

Gibson

Jackson

Owen

Perry

Pike

Posey

Spencer

Vanderburgh

Warrick

Illinois:

Edwards

Gallatin

Hardin

Lawrence

Richland

Wabash

White

Kentucky:

Crittenden

Daviess

Hancock

Henderson

Livingston

McLean

Ohio

Union

Webster

*    *    *    *    *

Indianapolis

Survey Area

Indiana:

Boone

Hamilton

Hancock

Hendricks

Johnson

Marion

Morgan

Shelby

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Indiana:

Bartholomew

Brown

Clay

Clinton

Decatur

Delaware

Fayette

Fountain

Henry

Madison

Montgomery

Parke

Putnam

Rush

Sullivan

Tippecanoe

Tipton

Vermillion

Vigo

Warren

*    *    *    *    *

KENTUCKY

*    *    *    *    *

Louisville

Survey Area

Kentucky:

Bullitt

Hardin

Jefferson

Oldham

Indiana:

Clark

Floyd

Jefferson

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Kentucky:

Breckinridge

Grayson

Hart

Henry

Larue

Meade

Nelson

Shelby

Spencer

Trimble

Indiana:

Harrison

Jennings

Scott

Washington

*    *    *    *    *

MARYLAND

*    *    *    *

Baltimore

Survey Area

Maryland:

Baltimore City

Anne Arundel

Baltimore

Carroll

Harford

Howard

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Maryland:

Queen Anne's

Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg

Survey Area

Maryland:

Washington

Pennsylvania:

Franklin

West Virginia:

Berkeley

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Maryland:

Allegany

Garrett

Pennsylvania:

Fulton

Virginia (cities):

Harrisonburg

Winchester

Virginia (counties):

Culpeper

Frederick

Greene

Madison

Page

Rappahannock

Rockingham

Shenandoah

West Virginia:

Hampshire

Hardy

Mineral

Morgan

*    *    *    *    *

MISSOURI

*    *    *    *    *

St. Louis

Survey Area

Missouri:

St. Louis City

Franklin

Jefferson

St. Charles

St. Louis

Illinois:

Clinton

Madison

Monroe

St. Clair

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Missouri:

Audrain

Boone

Callaway

Clark

Cole

Crawford

Gasconade

Knox

Lewis

Lincoln

Marion

Moniteau

Monroe

Montgomery

Osage

Pike

Ralls

Randolph

St. Francois

Ste. Genevieve

Scotland

Shelby

Warren

Washington

Illinois:

Alexander

Bond

Calhoun

Clay

Effingham

Fayette

Franklin

Greene

Hamilton

Jackson

Jefferson

Jersey

Johnson

Macoupin

Marion

Massac

Montgomery

Morgan

Perry

Pike

Pope

Pulaski

Randolph

Saline

Scott

Union

Washington

Wayne

Williamson

Southern Missouri

Survey Area

Missouri:

Christian

Greene

Laclede

Phelps

Pulaski

Webster

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Missouri:

Barry

Barton

Benton

Bollinger

Butler

Camden

Cape Girardeau

Carter

Cedar

Dade

Dallas

Dent

Douglas

Hickory

Howell

Iron

Jasper

Lawrence

McDonald

Madison

Maries

Miller

Mississippi

Morgan

New Madrid

Newton

Oregon

Ozark

Perry

Polk

Reynolds

Ripley

St. Clair

Scott

Shannon

Stoddard

Stone

Taney

Texas

Vernon

Wayne

Wright

Kansas:

Cherokee

Crawford

*    *    *    *    *

NEBRASKA

Omaha

Survey Area

Nebraska:

Douglas

Lancaster

Sarpy

Iowa:

Pottawattamie

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Nebraska:

Adams

Antelope

Arthur

Blaine

Boone

Boyd

Brown

Buffalo

Burt

Butler

Cass

Cedar

Chase

Cherry

Clay

Colfax

Cuming

Custer

Dakota

Dawson

Dixon

Dodge

Dundy

Fillmore

Franklin

Frontier

Furnas

Gage

Garfield

Gosper

Grant

Greeley

Hall

Hamilton

Harlan

Hayes

Hitchcock

Holt

Hooker

Howard

Jefferson

Johnson

Kearney

Keith

Keya Paha

Knox

Lincoln

Logan

Loup

McPherson

Madison

Merrick

Nance

Nemaha

Nuckolls

Otoe

Pawnee

Perkins

Phelps

Pierce

Platte

Polk

Red Willow

Richardson

Rock

Saline

Saunders

Seward

Sherman

Stanton

Thayer

Thomas

Thurston

Valley

Washington

Wayne

Webster

Wheeler

York

Iowa:

Adams

Audubon

Buena Vista

Cass

Cherokee

Clay

Crawford

Fremont

Harrison

Ida

Mills

Monona

Montgomery

O'Brien

Page

Palo Alto

Plymouth

Pocahontas

Sac

Shelby

Sioux

Taylor

Woodbury

South Dakota:

Union

*    *    *    *    *

NEW YORK

*    *    *    *    *

New York

Survey Area

New York:

Bronx

Kings

Nassau

New York

Queens

Suffolk

Westchester

New Jersey:

Bergen

Essex

Hudson

Middlesex

Morris

Passaic

Somerset

Union

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

New York:

Putnam

Richmond

Rockland

New Jersey:

Hunterdon

Monmouth

Ocean (Excluding the Fort Dix Military Reservation)

Sussex

Pennsylvania:

Pike

*    *    *    *    *

PENNSYLVANIA

*    *    *    *    *

Philadelphia

Survey Area

Pennsylvania:

Bucks

Chester

Delaware

Montgomery

Philadelphia

New Jersey:

Burlington

Camden

Gloucester

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Pennsylvania:

Carbon

Lehigh

Northampton

New Jersey:

Atlantic

Cape May

Cumberland

Mercer

Ocean (Fort Dix Military Reservation only)

Warren

*    *    *    *    *

Scranton-Wilkes-Barre

Survey Area

Pennsylvania:

Lackawanna

Luzerne

Monroe

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Pennsylvania:

Bradford

Columbia

Lycoming (Excluding Allenwood Federal Prison Camp)

Sullivan

Susquehanna

Wayne

Wyoming

*    *    *    *    *

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

Walworth

Washabaugh

Yankton

Ziebach

Iowa:

Dickinson

Emmet

Lyon

Osceola

Minnesota:

Jackson

Lincoln

Lyon

Murray

Nobles

Pipestone

Rock

*    *    *    *    *

VIRGINIA

*    *    *    *    *

Richmond

Survey Area

Virginia (cities):

Colonial Heights

Hopewell

Petersburg

Richmond

Virginia (counties):

Charles City

Chesterfield

Dinwiddie

Goochland

Hanover

Henrico

New Kent

Powhatan

Prince George

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Virginia (cities):

Charlottesville

Emporia

Virginia (counties):

Albemarle

Amelia

Brunswick

Buckingham

Caroline

Charlotte

Cumberland

Essex

Fluvanna

Greensville

King and Queen

King William

Lancaster

Louisa

Lunenberg

Mecklenburg

Middlesex

Northumberland

Nottoway

Orange

Prince Edward

Richmond

Sussex

Westmoreland

*    *    *    *    *

WISCONSIN

*    *    *    *    *

Milwaukee

Survey Area

Wisconsin:

Milwaukee

Ozaukee

Washington

Waukesha

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Wisconsin:

Brown

Calumet

Door

Fond du Lac

Kewaunee

Manitowoc

Outagamie

Racine

Sheboygan

Walworth

Winnebago

[FR Doc. E9-10177 Filed 5-1-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325-39-P