[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 220 (Monday, November 16, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63591-63593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30511]
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Office of Personnel Management
5 CFR Part 532
RIN 3206-AI30
Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of Philadelphia, PA, and
New York, NY, Appropriated Fund Wage Areas
AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final
rule to redefine Ocean County, NJ, excluding the portion occupied by
the Fort Dix Military Reservation, from the area of application of the
Philadelphia, PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area
to the area of application of the New York, NY, wage area. This change
is being made so that the wage area definition of Ocean County will be
more reflective of the transportation and commuting patterns in central
New Jersey.
DATES: Effective: December 16, 1998. Federal Wage System employees
[[Page 63592]]
stationed in Ocean County, NJ, excluding the portion occupied by the
Fort Dix Military Reservation, will be moved from the Philadelphia, PA,
wage schedule to the New York, NY, wage schedule on the first day of
the first applicable pay period beginning on or after this date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Allen at (202) 606-2848, or send
an email message to maallen@opm.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is
engaged in an ongoing project to review the geographic definitions of
selected Federal Wage System (FWS) appropriated fund wage areas. On
June 23, 1998, OPM published a proposed rule to redefine Ocean County,
NJ, excluding the portion occupied by the Fort Dix Military
Reservation, from the area of application of the Philadelphia, PA,
appropriated fund FWS wage area to the area of application of the New
York, NY, wage area (63 FR 34134). The proposed rule provided a 30-day
period for public comment, during which OPM received several comments
requesting that Lakehurst Naval Air Station, the main employer of FWS
workers in Ocean County, remain in the Philadelphia FWS wage area. The
comments we received are addressed below, following an introduction to
this issue.
The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the
statutory national labor-management committee responsible for advising
OPM on matters concerning the pay of FWS employees, recommended by
majority vote that OPM redefine Ocean County, NJ, excluding the portion
occupied by the Fort Dix Military Reservation, from the area of
application of the Philadelphia, PA, appropriated fund FWS wage area to
the area of application of the New York, NY, wage area. FPRAC is
composed of representatives from the Department of Defense, the
Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, the Department of
the Air Force, the Department of Veterans Affairs, OPM, the American
Federation of Government Employees, the Metal Trades Department, the
National Association of Government Employees, and the National
Federation of Federal Employees.
Section 532.211 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, lists the
following criteria that OPM uses to determine appropriate 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.
Ocean County is located in central New Jersey and is bordered by
Burlington County to the West and Monmouth County to the North. FPRAC
studied the appropriate wage area definition of Ocean County
exhaustively. Based on their analysis of the regulatory criteria, the
management members of FPRAC found no compelling reason to change the
wage area designation of Ocean County. The labor members of the
Committee argued that the transportation facilities and commuting
patterns criteria favor placing Ocean County in the New York wage area.
After failing to reach consensus, the Committee voted to accept the
labor recommendation, with the Chairman of the Committee casting the
tie-breaking vote in support of the labor position. The management
members of FPRAC filed a minority report in opposition to the FPRAC
majority recommendation.
After careful consideration, OPM finds it appropriate to accept the
FPRAC recommendation in this case. OPM has not overruled an FPRAC
recommendation concerning the definition of an FWS wage area since the
Committee was established in 1972. The distance, geographic features,
and overall population, employment, and the kinds and sizes of private
industrial establishments criteria do not clearly favor defining Ocean
County to one wage area more than another. However, we find that the
transportation facilities and commuting patterns criteria clearly favor
defining Ocean County to the New York wage area rather than to the
Philadelphia wage area.
The largest employer of FWS workers in Ocean County is Lakehurst
Naval Air Station, although several other smaller employment sites will
be affected by the redefinition of Ocean County to the New York wage
area. Employees with official duty stations in the Fort Dix Military
Reservation portion of Ocean County will remain in the Philadelphia
wage area. Employees with official duty stations at Lakehurst Naval Air
Station and other facilities in Ocean County will be moved from the
Philadelphia wage schedule to the New York wage schedule on the first
day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after 30 days
after the issuance of this final regulation.
The comments received in response to the proposed rule raised
issues that had been considered and discussed exhaustively during the
deliberations of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee on this
matter. Commenters suggested that there is no clear demonstration of
need to cause a change in the definitions of the Philadelphia and New
York wage areas. FPRAC found that a demonstrated need exists to make
this change. We find that this change is necessary so that the wage
area definition of Ocean County will be in line with the regulatory
criteria for defining FWS wage areas. This change will enable the wage
area definition of Ocean County to be more reflective of the
transportation and commuting patterns in central New Jersey.
Commenters suggested that the use of commuting patterns and
transportation facilities to justify a change is not supportable,
citing the fact that 14 percent of the resident workforce of Ocean
County commutes to work in the New York survey area, and citing
anecdotal evidence that few blue-collar workers are included in this
percentage. FPRAC found that the percentage of the Ocean County
resident workforce commuting to New York is significant enough to favor
removing the county from the Philadelphia wage area and redefining it
to the New York wage area. Also, FPRAC received additional anecdotal
evidence from local employees in Ocean County that significant numbers
of blue-collar workers commute from Ocean County to jobs in New York,
and that transportation facilities between Ocean County and New York
are far better than between Ocean County and Philadelphia. We find that
the commuting pattern and transportation facility information fully
supports defining Ocean County to the New York wage area.
Commenters pointed out that Ocean County is contiguous to the
Philadelphia survey area but not contiguous to the New York survey
area. While this is true, the distance criteria for defining FWS wage
areas shows that Ocean County is about the same distance by road from
the center of the New York survey area as it is from the center of the
Philadelphia survey area. Therefore, OPM finds that the distance
criterion does not clearly favor defining Ocean County to one wage area
more than another.
Commenters stated that placing adjacent Department of Defense
installations (Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Lakehurst Naval
Air Station) in separate wage areas would unnecessarily force the
installations to compete for the same employees to fill positions in
skilled aircraft maintenance occupations, thereby increasing the
potential for disruptions in accomplishing mission critical work at the
installations. Although not part of
[[Page 63593]]
the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC considered
this issue carefully before making its recommendation to OPM. Should
agencies experience recruitment or retention problems in particular
occupations at an installation, OPM would consider the approval of
requests for special rates to address those problems.
Commenters stated that Lakehurst Naval Air Station is conducting
cost comparisons with private industry to consider contracting out
certain work, and that certain FWS employees at the installation will
be placed at a competitive disadvantage during these studies if paid
from the higher New York wage schedule. Although not among the
regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC considered this
issue carefully before making its recommendation to OPM. OPM finds that
it is not appropriate to preclude the appropriate redefinition of an
FWS wage area on the basis that the redefinition may increase the
likelihood that it may be possible for private sector companies to more
easily win contracts to provide services to Federal agencies.
Commenters requested that OPM redefine Ocean County to the New York
wage area, while leaving both the Fort Dix Military Reservation and
Lakehurst Naval Air Station portions of Ocean County in the
Philadelphia wage area. Under the regulatory criteria for defining FWS
wage areas, a county may not be split between two wage areas except in
unusual circumstances and as an exception to the regulatory criteria.
The Fort Dix Military Reservation portion of Ocean County will continue
to be defined to the Philadelphia wage area because the activity would
otherwise be split between two wage areas. With most of the Fort Dix
Military Reservation in Burlington County, and a lesser portion of the
installation in Ocean County, we believe this represents an example of
an appropriate exception to the regulatory criteria. OPM defines
several counties in a similar manner, using exceptions to the
regulatory criteria in certain wage areas to avoid splitting individual
installations among two or more wage areas. Although Lakehurst Naval
Air Station is adjacent to the Fort Dix Military Reservation portion of
Ocean County, Lakehurst Naval Air Station is a separate installation.
We do not believe it is appropriate to recognize that Ocean County is
linked more closely to New York than to Philadelphia under the
regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, but then refuse to
acknowledge that the major FWS employer in the county should be treated
in accordance with the appropriate wage area definition of the county.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
I certify that these regulations will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because they
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.
Office of Personnel Management,
Janice R. Lachance,
Director.
Accordingly, OPM 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; Sec. 532.707 also issued under 5
U.S.C. 552.
Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532 [Amended]
2. Appendix C to subpart B is amended by revising the wage area
listings for the New York, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
wage areas to read as follows:
Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532--Appropriated Fund Wage and
Survey Areas
* * * * *
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:
Monmouth
Ocean (excluding the Fort Dix Military Reservation)
Sussex
* * * * *
Pennsylvania
* * * * *
Philadelphia
Survey Area:
Pennsylvania:
Bucks
Chester
Delaware
Montgomery
Philadelphia
New Jersey:
Burlington
Camden
Gloucester
Area of Application. Survey area plus:
Pennsylvania:
Lehigh
Northampton
New Jersey:
Atlantic
Cape May
Cumberland
Hunterdon
Mercer
Ocean (Fort Dix Military Reservation only)
Warren
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-30511 Filed 11-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-01-P
