5 CFR Part 532 - PREVAILING RATE SYSTEMS

This rule amends the geographic boundaries of two nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. Based on recommendations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is defining Kent County, Michigan, as an area of application county to the Macomb, MI, NAF FWS wage area and Cameron County, Texas, as an area of application county to the Nueces, TX, NAF FWS wage area. These changes are necessary due to NAF FWS employees working in Kent and Cameron Counties, and the counties are not currently defined to NAF wage areas.

This rule proposes to amend the geographic boundaries of several nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. Based on recommendations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would define Lee County, Florida, as an area of application county to the Hillsborough, FL, NAF FWS wage area; Leon County, FL, as an area of application county to the Lowndes, Georgia, NAF FWS wage area; Fulton County, GA, as an area of application county to the Cobb, GA, NAF FWS wage area; and Lane County, Oregon, as an area of application county to the Pierce, Washington, NAF FWS wage area. These changes are necessary because there are NAF FWS employees working in these four counties, and the counties are not currently defined to NAF wage areas. In addition, OPM is proposing to remove Mississippi County, AR, from the wage area definition of the Shelby, TN, NAF FWS wage area because there are no longer NAF FWS employees working in the county.

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 (FWS) wage areas for pay-setting purposes. Based on reviews of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) boundaries in a number of wage areas, OPM is redefining the following wage areas: Salinas-Monterey, CA; San Francisco, CA; New London, CT; Central and Western Massachusetts; Cincinnati, OH: Dayton, OH, Southeastern Washington-Eastern Oregon; and Spokane, WA.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the New York, NY, and Philadelphia, PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The final rule will address an anomalous situation affecting Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Portions of the Joint Base are currently defined to the Philadelphia wage area and to the New York wage area. OPM has developed a new criterion for defining wage areas to address this unique situation so that the entire Joint Base is covered by a single wage schedule.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the New York, NY, and Philadelphia, PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst portions of Burlington County, NJ, and Ocean County, NJ, that are currently defined to the Philadelphia wage area to the New York wage area so that the entire Joint Base is covered by a single wage schedule. This change is based on a majority recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the national labor-management committee responsible for advising OPM on the administration of the FWS.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of several appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas for pay-setting purposes. Based on recent reviews of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) boundaries in a number of wage areas, OPM proposes redefinitions affecting the following wage areas: Salinas-Monterey, CA; San Francisco, CA; New London, CT; Central and Western Massachusetts; Cincinnati, OH: Dayton, OH, Southeastern Washington-Eastern Oregon; and Spokane, WA.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the Asheville, NC, and Charlotte, NC, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine Alexander and Catawba Counties, NC, from the Charlotte wage area to the Asheville wage area. These changes are based on a recent consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC) to best match the counties proposed for redefinition to a nearby FWS survey area. There are no FWS employees stationed in Alexander or Catawba Counties.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to abolish the Newburgh, New York, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and redefine Orange County, NY, to the New York, NY, survey area; Dutchess County, NY, to the New York area of application; Delaware and Ulster Counties, NY, to the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY, area of application; and Sullivan County, NY, to the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, area of application. These changes are based on a consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC) to best match the counties proposed for redefinition to nearby FWS survey areas.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to define Hancock County, Mississippi, as an area of application county to the Harrison, MS, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area. This change is necessary because there are four NAF FWS employees working in Hancock County, and the county is not currently defined to a NAF wage area.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to establish special wage schedules specific to nonsupervisory, leader, and supervisory wage employees of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) who work at flood control dams (also known as reservoir projects) at the Vicksburg District of the Mississippi Valley Division. This final rule assigns lead agency responsibility for establishing and issuing these special wage schedules to the Department of Defense (DOD). The special wage schedules established will have rates of pay identical to the Memphis, TN, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage schedules and will be adjusted at the same times as those scheduled in the future.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would define Hancock County, Mississippi, as an area of application county to the Harrison, MS, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area. This change is necessary because there are four NAF FWS employees working in Hancock County, and the county is not currently defined to a NAF wage area.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the Harrisburg, PA, and Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine Montour County, PA, from the Harrisburg wage area to the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre wage area. This change is based on a recent consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC) to best match the county proposed for redefinition to a nearby FWS survey area.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the Jacksonville, FL; Savannah, GA; Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD; Richmond, VA; and Roanoke, VA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The final rule redefines Brantley, Glynn, and Pierce Counties, GA, from the Jacksonville wage area to the Savannah wage area; Greene County, VA, from the Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg wage area to the Richmond wage area; and Nelson County, VA, from the Roanoke wage area to the Richmond wage area. These changes are based on consensus recommendations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC) to best match the counties proposed for redefinition to a nearby FWS survey area.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule to establish special wage schedules specific to nonsupervisory, leader, and supervisory wage employees of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) who work at flood control dams (also known as reservoir projects) at the Vicksburg District of the Mississippi Valley Division. The four lakes of the District are currently in two separate wage areas. The Department of Defense (DOD) would be assigned lead agency responsibility for establishing and issuing these special wage schedules. The special wage schedules would be established at the same time and with rates identical to the Memphis, TN, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage schedule.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to abolish the Portland, Maine, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and redefine Androscoggin, Cumberland, and Sagadahoc Counties, ME, to the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, survey area and Franklin and Oxford Counties, ME, and Coos County, NH, to the Portsmouth area of application. These changes are necessary because the closure of the Naval Air Station (NAS) Brunswick left the Portland wage area without an activity having the capability to conduct a local wage survey.

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 (FWS) 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: Washington, DC; Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC, and Southwestern Wisconsin. In addition, this final rule makes three minor corrections to the Miami, FL; Columbus, GA, and Kansas City, MO, wage areas.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would abolish the Portland, ME, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and redefine Androscoggin, Cumberland, and Sagadahoc Counties, ME, to the Portsmouth, NH survey area and Franklin and Oxford Counties, ME, and Coos County, NH, to the Portsmouth area of application. These changes are necessary because the closure of the Naval Air Station (NAS) Brunswick left the Portland wage area without an activity having the capability to conduct a local wage survey.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of several appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas for pay-setting purposes. Based on recent reviews of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) boundaries in a number of wage areas, OPM proposes redefinitions affecting the following wage areas: Washington, DC; Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC, and Southwestern Wisconsin. In addition, this proposed rule would make three minor corrections to the Miami, FL; Columbus, GA, and Kansas City, MO, wage areas.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the Fort Wayne-Marion, IN, and Detroit, MI, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine Fulton County, OH, from the Fort Wayne-Marion wage area to the Detroit wage area. This change is based on a recent consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC) to best match Fulton County to a nearby FWS survey area. In addition, this proposed rule adds La Crosse County, WI, to the survey area of the Southwestern Wisconsin wage area, which OPM inadvertently omitted in a final rule published in 2013.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to establish special wage schedules for the Department of Defense's (DOD's) nonappropriated fund (NAF) automotive mechanics. These special wage schedules will replace the current commission pay practice covering DOD's NAF automotive mechanics with a flat rate pay system. Implementation of a flat rate pay system will better align the pay practice for compensating NAF automotive mechanics with current prevailing pay practices in the private sector.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a final rule in the Federal Register on September 23, 2013 (78 FR 58153), updating the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes used in Federal Wage System wage survey industry regulations with the 2012 NAICS revisions published by the Office of Management and Budget. The final rule inadvertently omitted deleting two NAICS codes from the list of required NAICS codes in the Electronics specialized industry in 5 CFR 532.313. This document corrects this error.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to update the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes currently used in Federal Wage System wage survey industry regulations with the 2012 NAICS revisions published by the Office of Management and Budget.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the St. Louis, MO; Southern Missouri; Cleveland, OH; and Pittsburgh, PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The final rule redefines Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, and Perry Counties, MO, from the Southern Missouri wage area to the St. Louis wage area and Mercer County, PA, from the Pittsburgh wage area to the Cleveland wage area. These changes are based on recent consensus recommendations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee to best match the counties proposed for redefinition to a nearby FWS survey area. This final rule makes two additional corrections. It renames the Champaign-Urbana, IL, wage area as the Central Illinois wage area and updates the name of the White Sands Proving Ground in the Albuquerque, NM, and El Paso, TX, wage areas to White Sands Missile Range.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule that would update the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes currently used in Federal Wage System wage survey industry regulations with the 2012 NAICS revisions published by the Office of Management and Budget.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management published a final rule in the Federal Register on December 14, 2012, abolishing the Washington, DC, Federal Wage System special wage schedule for printing and lithographic positions. The final rule incorrectly listed the page number of the interim rule published on July 13, 2012, in the words of issuance. This document corrects this error.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, and Southwestern Wisconsin appropriated fund Federal Wage System wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine Wabasha County, MN, from the Southwestern Wisconsin wage area to the Minneapolis-St. Paul wage area. This change is based on a recent consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee to best match Wabasha County to a nearby FWS survey area.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to abolish the Washington, DC, Federal Wage System (FWS) special wage schedule for printing and lithographic positions. Printing and lithographic employees in the Washington, DC, wage area will now be paid from the regular Washington, DC, appropriated fund FWS wage schedule. This change is necessary because Federal employment in printing and lithographic occupations in the Washington, DC, wage area has declined sharply in recent years, and a separate wage schedule is no longer viable or beneficial to employees.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the St. Louis, MO; Southern Missouri; Cleveland, OH; and Pittsburgh, PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, and Perry Counties, MO, from the Southern Missouri wage area to the St. Louis wage area and Mercer County, PA, from the Pittsburgh wage area to the Cleveland wage area. These changes are based on recent consensus recommendations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee to best match the counties proposed for redefinition to a nearby FWS survey area. This proposed rule makes two additional corrections. It renames the Champaign-Urbana, IL, wage area as the Central Illinois wage area and updates the name of the White Sands Proving Ground in the Albuquerque, NM, and El Paso, TX, wage areas to White Sands Missile Range.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to abolish the Montgomery, Pennsylvania, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and redefine Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties, PA, to the Burlington, NJ, NAF wage area and Luzerne County, PA, to the Morris, NJ, NAF wage area. Bucks County, PA, will no longer be defined to an NAF wage area. These changes are necessary because the closure of the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) Willow Grove left the Montgomery wage area without an activity having the capability to conduct a local wage survey.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing an interim rule to abolish the Washington, DC, Federal Wage System (FWS) special wage schedule for printing and lithographic positions. Printing and lithographic employees in the Washington, DC, wage area will now be paid from the regular Washington, DC, appropriated fund FWS wage schedule. This change is necessary because Federal employment in printing and lithographic occupations in the Washington, DC, wage area has declined sharply in recent years, and a separate wage schedule is no longer viable or beneficial to employees.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule to establish special wage schedules for the Department of Defense's (DOD's) nonappropriated fund (NAF) automotive mechanics. These special wage schedules would replace the current commission pay practice covering DOD's NAF automotive mechanics with a flat rate pay system. Implementation of a flat rate pay system will better align the pay practice for compensating NAF automotive mechanics with current prevailing pay practices in the private sector.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing an interim rule to abolish the Montgomery, Pennsylvania, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and redefine Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties, PA, to the Burlington, NJ, NAF wage area and Luzerne County, PA, to the Morris, NJ, NAF wage area. Bucks County, PA, will no longer be defined. These changes are necessary because the closure of the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) Willow Grove left the Montgomery wage area without an activity having the capability to conduct a local wage survey.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the Austin, TX, and Waco, TX, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. The final rule redefines Burleson and Lampasas Counties, TX, from the Austin wage area to the Waco wage area. These changes are based on recent consensus recommendations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee to best match the counties proposed for redefinition to a nearby FWS survey area. This final rule makes an additional correction to add the entire Syracuse-Utica-Rome, NY, wage area to Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532—Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey Areas, which was inadvertently deleted when the CFR was published in January 2004.