[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 118 (Monday, June 21, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34923-34924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14981]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 118 / Monday, June 21, 2010 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 34923]]
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
5 CFR Part 531
RIN 3206-AL96
General Schedule Locality Pay Areas
AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the U.S. Office of
Personnel Management is issuing final regulations on the locality pay
program for General Schedule employees. Originally published on
September 28, 2009, as an interim rule with a request for comments, the
regulations moved the McGuire Air Force Base, NJ, and Fort Dix, NJ,
Philadelphia locality pay area portions of the new Joint Base McGuire-
Dix-Lakehurst, from the Philadelphia locality pay area to the New York
locality pay area. We received no comments on the interim rule and
adopt the final rule without change. We are also adding a corresponding
note to the definition of the Philadelphia locality pay area to clarify
that the Joint Base is not part of the Philadelphia locality pay area
and changing titling of the Portland, OR, locality pay area to
correspond to a change in the name of the Portland Metropolitan
Statistical Area.
DATES: Effective on July 21, 2010.
Applicability Date: The regulations were applicable on the first
day of the first pay period that began on or after September 28, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allan Hearne, (202) 606-2838;
Fax: (202) 606-4264; e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 5304 of title 5, United States Code,
authorizes locality pay for General Schedule (GS) employees with duty
stations in the United States and its territories and possessions.
Section 5304(f) of title 5, United States Code, authorizes the
President's Pay Agent (the Secretary of Labor, the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management) to determine locality pay areas. Most locality
pay areas follow county lines under the methods recommended by the
Federal Salary Council (Council) and adopted by the President's Pay
Agent. However, exceptions are made for Federal facilities that cross
county borders under criteria recommended by the Council and approved
by the Pay Agent.
As part of the base realignment and closure process, the Department
of Defense established Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst effective
October 1, 2009. McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix, in Burlington
County, New Jersey, were in the Philadelphia locality pay area while
Lakehurst, in Ocean County, New Jersey, was in the New York locality
pay area. The President's Pay Agent concluded that the Joint Base
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst met the Council's existing criteria to be
included in the New York locality pay area. Accordingly, on September
28, 2009, the Office of Personnel Management published an interim rule
to move the Philadelphia locality pay area portions of the joint base
from the Philadelphia locality pay area to the New York locality pay
area. We received no comments on the interim rule and adopt it as final
with a clarification that the Philadelphia locality pay area does not
include Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
On December 1, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
published OMB Bulletin No. 10-02 making changes in metropolitan
statistical areas (MSAs). One of these changes renamed the Portland-
Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA as the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-
WA MSA; but this change did not alter the geographic definition of the
MSA. Since we use MSAs as the core definition of locality pay areas, we
are also renaming the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA locality pay
area as the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA locality pay area and
updating the MSA name in the regulation to match the new OMB MSA name.
There are no changes in the geographic definition of the locality pay
area or in employee entitlements as a result of this name change.
E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review
The Office of Management and Budget has reviewed this rule in
accordance with E.O. 12866.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This document does not contain proposed information collection
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law
104-13.
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 apply only to Federal agencies and employees.
List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 531
Government employees, Law enforcement officers, Wages.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
John Berry,
Director.
0
Accordingly, OPM adopts as a final rule the interim rule published at
74 FR 49307 on September 28, 2009 with the following changes:
PART 531--PAY UNDER THE GENERAL SCHEDULE
0
1. The authority citation for part 531 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5115, 5307, and 5338; sec. 4 of Public Law
103-89, 107 Stat. 981; and E.O. 12748, 56 FR 4521, 3 CFR, 1991
Comp., p. 316; Subpart B also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5303(g), 5305,
5333, 5334(a) and (b), and 7701(b)(2); Subpart D also issued under 5
U.S.C. 5335 and 7701(b)(2); Subpart E also issued under 5 U.S.C.
5336; Subpart F also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5304 and 5305; E.O.
12883, 58 FR 63281, 3 CFR, 1993 Comp., p. 682; and E.O. 13106, 63 FR
68151, 3 CFR, 1998 Comp., p. 224.
Subpart F--Locality-Based Comparability Payments
0
2. In Sec. 531.603, paragraphs (b)(20), (b)(21), and (b)(24) are
revised to read as follows:
Sec. 531.603 Locality pay areas.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(20) New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA--consisting of the New
[[Page 34924]]
York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA, plus Monroe County, PA, Warren
County, NJ, and all of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst;
(21) Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD--consisting of the
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA excluding Joint Base
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, plus Kent County, DE, Atlantic County, NJ, and
Cape May County, NJ;
* * * * *
(24) Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA--consisting of the
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA, plus Marion County, OR, and
Polk County, OR;
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2010-14981 Filed 6-18-10; 8:45 am]
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