[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 89 (Monday, May 11, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21771-21772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-11014]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 89 / Monday, May 11, 2009 / Proposed
Rules
[[Page 21771]]
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
5 CFR Part 300
RIN 3206-AL18
Revocation of Final Rule Eliminating Time-in-Grade Requirements
Pending Policy Review; Extension of Effective Date During Rulemaking
AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking with request for public comments;
notice of proposed extension of effective date with request for public
comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposes to
revoke the final rule, titled Time-in-Grade Rule Eliminated, published
in the Federal Register on November 7, 2008, pending OPM's review and
consideration of additional public comments received in response to a
March 9, 2009 Federal Register notice which extended the final rule's
effective date. OPM also proposes to extend the final rule's effective
date for an additional 90 days, from May 18, 2009 until August 16,
2009, to avoid the unnecessary expense of allowing a rule to take
effect that may later be amended or revoked as a result of the
rulemaking proceeding. OPM seeks comments, with a 30-day comment
period, on the merits of revoking, retaining, or amending OPM's
November 7, 2008 final rule. OPM also seeks comments, with a 5-day
comment period, on the merits of extending the final rule's effective
date pending the completion of the rulemaking proceeding.
DATES: The effective date of Time-in-Grade Rule Eliminated, published
in the Federal Register on November 7, 2008 (73 FR 66157), was delayed
by a document published March 9, 2009 (74 FR 9951) to May 18, 2009,
unless the effective date is extended to August 16, 2009 as proposed in
this document. The comment period for OPM's proposal to extend the
final rule's effective date will close on May 12, 2009. The comment
period for OPM's proposal to revoke the final rule will close on June
10, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN number ``3206-
AL18,'' using any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``RIN 3206-AL18, Time in Grade'' in
the subject line of the message.
Fax: (202) 606-2329.
Mail: Angela Bailey, Deputy Associate Director, Center for Talent
and Capacity Policy, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Room 6551,
1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415-9700.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Angela Bailey, Deputy Associate Director,
Center for Talent and Capacity Policy, U.S. Office of Personnel
Management, Room 6551, 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415-9700.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Janice Warren by telephone (202)
606-0960; by fax (202) 606-2329; by TTY (202) 418-3134; or by e-mail
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 6, 2008, OPM proposed, at 73 FR 6857, removing and
reserving 5 CFR part 300, subpart F, thereby eliminating the time-in-
grade restriction on advancement to competitive service positions in
the General Schedule. Under the rule that OPM proposed to eliminate,
employees in competitive service General Schedule positions at grades 5
and above must serve 52 weeks in grade before becoming eligible for
promotion to the next grade level. Abolishing the restriction would
eliminate the 52-week service requirement. If the requirement is
eliminated, an employee must continue to meet occupational
qualification standard requirements, and any additional job-related
qualification requirements established for the position.
On November 7, 2008, after considering comments from seven
agencies, five unions, one national employee organization, and 33
individuals, as well as 61 form letters from individuals, OPM issued a
final rule, at 73 FR 66157, eliminating the time-in-grade restriction.
The final rule was given an effective date of March 9, 2009 in order to
give agencies time to amend their policies and communicate changes to
their human resources staff and employees.
On March 9, 2009, OPM published a document, at 74 FR 9951,
extending the final rule's effective date until May 18, 2009 and
reopening the public comment period. OPM issued this notice pursuant to
a January 20, 2009 White House memorandum on regulatory review, which
requested agencies to consider extending for 60 days the effective date
of regulations that were published in the Federal Register but that had
not yet taken effect, for the purpose of reviewing questions of law and
policy raised by those regulations.
Proposal To Revoke the Final Rule
OPM received public comments in response to the March 9, 2009
Federal Register notice. Ten individuals commented favorably on the
final rule. One of these individuals also offered qualified support for
extending the rule's effective date. One executive agency commented
neutrally on the final rule. Two executive agencies, one legislative
agency, and one individual submitted qualified comments on the final
rule requesting amendments or clarifications or stating concerns about
implementation. Seven individuals and two labor organizations commented
in opposition to the final rule. One of these labor organizations also
commented in favor of extending the rule's effective date. One
individual commented solely in opposition to extending the final rule's
effective date. Finally, one individual submitted a statement
describing his personal experience with time-in-grade requirements, but
not commenting on the rule or its effective date.
As OPM stated in its March 9, 2009 Federal Register notice, the
purpose of the additional public comment period was ``to allow
interested parties to provide comments about issues of law and policy''
raised by regulations that had not yet taken effect. OPM's March 9,
2009 Federal Register referenced the January 20, 2009 White House
memorandum on regulatory review, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_regmatters/, which stated that the
purpose of extending the effective date and reopening the public
comment period for such rules was to give the incoming Administration's
[[Page 21772]]
appointees and designees an opportunity to review and approve such
rules. As noted above, when OPM reopened the public comment period, we
received numerous substantive comments opposing the final rule,
requesting amendments or clarifications, or stating concerns about
implementation. OPM needs time to evaluate these comments, as well as
the new comments in favor of the rule, as part of the review and
evaluation process described in the White House memorandum on
regulatory review.
Accordingly, OPM proposes to revoke the November 7, 2008 final rule
pending OPM's review and consideration of the additional public
comments that were solicited on March 9, 2009. OPM seeks additional
public comments, with a 30-day comment period, on the merits of
revoking, retaining, or amending the November 7, 2008 final rule. When
OPM issues a new final rule, or reissues the November 7, 2008 final
rule, with or without amendments, OPM will account for the public
comments received in response to the March 9, 2009 Federal Register
notice, as well as any comments received in response to this notice of
proposed rulemaking.
Proposal To Extend the Final Rule's Effective Date
The November 7, 2008 final rule is scheduled to take effect on May
18, 2009. However, in its February 6, 2008 notice of proposed
rulemaking, OPM recognized that agencies need significant time to
implement any new policy on time-in-grade requirements, and to
communicate the policy to human resources staff and employees. This
concern was validated by one agency's comment, in response to OPM's
March 9, 2009 Federal Register notice, that implementing a time-in-
grade policy required significant lead time, because of that agency's
need to modify merit promotion procedures, notify labor organizations,
and amend hundreds of vacancy announcements for competitive service
positions, all at a time when the agency had significant competing
obligations.
Unless the final rule's effective date is further extended,
agencies likely will undertake significant effort and expense to meet
the changes required by the rule. If the decision is made to revoke or
amend the final rule, these expenses will have been incurred
unnecessarily. Furthermore, OPM will have to begin answering questions
and providing compliance assistance about how the final rule is to be
implemented, guidance that will only confuse agencies if new guidance
about a revised rule has to be provided in the near future. For these
reasons, OPM proposes to extend the November 7, 2008 final rule's
effective date by an additional 90 days, until August 16, 2009. This
will give OPM time to review public comments and complete the
rulemaking proceeding. OPM is opening a 5-day public comment period on
the proposed extension of the final rule's effective date, separate
from the 30-day public comment period on the notice of proposed
rulemaking.
OPM suggests that agencies delay preparations and financial
commitments associated with the changes required by the final rule
until a decision is made regarding whether and when, if at all, the
regulation will go into effect.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
I certify that this regulation will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities because it affects
only certain Federal employees.
E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review
This rule has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget
in accordance with Executive Order 12866.
List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 300
Freedom of information, Government employees, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Selective Service System.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
John Berry,
Director.
[FR Doc. E9-11014 Filed 5-7-09; 12:00 pm
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