E9-6364. Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the New Haven-Hartford and New London, CT, Appropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Areas

AGENCY:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION:

Proposed rule with request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule that would define the New Haven-Hartford and New London, CT, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas by county rather than by city and town boundaries. Defining the New England FWS wage areas by primarily considering county boundaries would provide greater consistency in how OPM defines FWS wage areas and would improve the ability to make direct data comparisons with Census Bureau data. The proposed rule would define the New Haven-Hartford wage area to include Hartford and New Haven Counties, CT, as the survey area and Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, and Tolland Counties, CT, as the area of application and the New London wage area to include New London County, CT, as the survey area and Windham County, CT, as the area of application.

DATES:

We must receive comments on or before April 23, 2009.

ADDRESSES:

Send or deliver comments to Charles D. Grimes III, Deputy Associate Director for Performance and Pay Systems, Strategic Human Resources Policy Division, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Room 7H31, 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415-8200; e-mail [e-mail]; or FAX: [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Madeline Gonzalez, [phone]; e-mail [e-mail]; or FAX: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is engaged in an ongoing project to review the geographic definitions of Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas. OPM considers the following regulatory criteria under 5 CFR 532.211 when defining 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.

FWS wage areas in New England differ from the majority of FWS wage areas in that they are geographically defined according to the boundaries of cities and towns rather than by the boundaries of counties. Under its methodology for defining metropolitan areas, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) uses counties rather than cities and towns as the primary geographic entities for defining metropolitan areas in New England. OMB uses cities and towns in New England to define a secondary set of metropolitan areas. Because OMB considers its county-based metropolitan areas the primary set of metropolitan areas for New England, we propose to primarily apply the county-based metropolitan area definitions to FWS wage area boundaries. Defining the New England FWS wage areas by primarily considering county boundaries will provide greater consistency in how the OPM defines FWS wage areas and will improve the ability to make direct data comparisons with Census Bureau data. For example, some statistical programs, such as the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns, provide data by counties.

OPM recently completed reviews of the definitions of the New Haven-Hartford and New London, CT, wage areas and, based on analyses of the regulatory criteria for defining wage areas, is proposing the changes described below.

New Haven-Hartford, CT

This proposed rule would define the New Haven-Hartford, CT, appropriated fund FWS wage area by county rather than by city and town boundaries. The proposed rule would define the New Haven-Hartford wage area to include Hartford and New Haven Counties, CT, as the survey area and Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, and Tolland Counties, CT, as the area of application.

The New Haven-Hartford survey area currently includes 1 town of Fairfield County, 15 towns of Hartford County, 2 towns of Middlesex County, and 11 towns of New Haven County. We propose that the New Haven-Hartford survey area be changed to include all of Hartford and New Haven Counties. The survey area would be conveniently located in the central part of the wage area and would closely reflect the prevailing rates paid by businesses in the wage area. Stratford town in Fairfield County and Cromwell and Middlefield towns in Middlesex County, currently part of the New Haven-Hartford survey area, would be redefined to the New Haven-Hartford area of application.

Hartford, Middlesex, and Tolland Counties comprise the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Old Saybrook town in Middlesex County is part of the current New London wage area. Somers and Somersville towns in Tolland County are part of the current Central and Western Massachusetts wage area. OPM regulations at 5 CFR 532.211 do not permit splitting MSAs for the purpose of defining a wage area, except in very unusual circumstances (e.g., organizational relationships among closely located Federal activities). OPM proposes to redefine Old Saybrook town in Middlesex County and Somers and Somersville towns in Tolland County to the New Haven-Hartford area of application so that the entire Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT MSA is in one wage area. No FWS employees currently work in Middlesex or Tolland Counties. With these changes, the New Haven-Hartford area of application would include all of Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, and Tolland Counties.

These changes would be effective for the full-scale wage survey in the New Haven-Hartford wage area scheduled to begin in April 2011.

New London, CT

This proposed rule would define the New London, CT, appropriated fund FWS wage area by county rather than by city and town boundaries. The proposed rule would define the New London wage area to include New London County, CT, as the survey area and Windham County, CT, as the area of application.

The New London survey area currently includes 28 towns of New London County, CT, 1 town of Middlesex County, CT, and 2 towns of Washington County, RI. We propose that the New London survey area be changed to include all of New London County.

OPM regulations at 5 CFR 532.211 do not permit splitting Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) for the purpose of defining a wage area, except in very unusual circumstances (e.g., organizational relationships among closely located Federal activities). OPM proposes to redefine Old Saybrook town in Middlesex County, currently part of the New London survey area, to the New Haven-Hartford area of application so the entire Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT MSA is in one wage area. No FWS employees currently work in Middlesex County. OPM proposes to redefine Hopkinton and Westerly towns in Washington County, currently part of the New London survey area, to the Narragansett Bay, RI, area of application so the entire Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA MSA is in one wage area. No FWS employees currently work in Hopkinton and Westerly towns.

These changes would be effective for the full-scale wage survey in the New London wage area scheduled to begin in September 2010.

The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the national labor-management committee that advises OPM on FWS pay matters, reviewed and recommended these changes by consensus. Based on its review of the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC recommended no other changes in the geographic definitions of the New Haven-Hartford and New London wage areas.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

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

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Kathie Ann Whipple,

Acting Director.

Accordingly, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is proposing to amend 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. In appendix C to subpart B, the wage area listing for the State of Connecticut is amended by revising the listings for New Haven-Hartford and New London; for the State of Massachusetts, by revising the listing for Central and Western Massachusetts; and for the State of Rhode Island, by revising the listing for Narragansett Bay, to read as follows:

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

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CONNECTICUT

New Haven-Hartford

Survey Area

Connecticut:

Hartford

New Haven

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Connecticut:

Fairfield

Litchfield

Middlesex

Tolland

New London

Survey Area

Connecticut:

New London

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Connecticut:

Windham

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MASSACHUSETTS

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Central and Western Massachusetts

Survey Area

Massachusetts:

The following cities and towns in:

Hampden County

Agawam

Chicopee

East Longmeadow

Feeding Hills

Hampden

Holyoke

Longmeadow

Ludlow

Monson

Palmer

Southwick

Springfield

Three Rivers

Westfield

West Springfield

Wilbraham

Hampshire County

Easthampton

Granby

Hadley

Northampton

South Hadley

Worcester County

Warren

West Warren

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Massachusetts:

Berkshire

Franklin

Worcester (except Blackstone and Millville)

The following cities and towns in:

Hampshire County

Amherst

Belchertown

Chesterfield

Cummington

Goshen

Hatfield

Huntington

Middlefield

Pelham

Plainfield

Southampton

Ware

Westhampton

Williamsburg

Worthington

Hampden County

Blandford

Brimfield

Chester

Granville

Holland

Montgomery

Russell

Tolland

Wales

Middlesex County

Ashby

Shirley

Townsend

New Hampshire:

Belknap

Carroll

Cheshire

Grafton

Hillsborough

Merrimack

Sullivan

Vermont:

Addison

Bennington

Caledonia

Essex

Lamoille

Orange

Orleans

Rutland

Washington

Windham

Windsor

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RHODE ISLAND

Narragansett Bay

Survey Area

Rhode Island:

Bristol

Newport

The following cities and towns:

Kent County

Anthony

Coventry

East Greenwich

Greene

Warwick

West Warwick

Providence County

Ashton

Burrillville

Central Falls

Cranston

Cumberland

Cumberland Hill

East Providence

Esmond

Forestdale

Greenville

Harrisville

Johnston

Lincoln

Manville

Mapleville

North Providence

North Smithfield

Oakland

Pascoag

Pawtucket

Providence

Saylesville

Slatersville

Smithfield

Valley Falls

Wallum Lake

Woonsocket

Washington County

Davisville

Galilee

Lafayette

Narragansett

North Kingstown

Point Judith

Quonset Point

Saunderstown

Slocum

Massachusetts:

The following cities and towns:

Bristol County

Attleboro

Fall River

North Attleboro

Rehoboth

Seekonk

Somerset

Swansea

Westport

Norfolk County

Caryville

Plainville

South Bellingham

Worcester County

Blackstone

Millville

Area of Application. Survey area plus:

Rhode Island:

The following cities and towns in:

Kent County

West Greenwich

Providence County

Foster

Glocester

Scituate

Washington County

Charlestown

Exeter

Hopkinton

New Shoreham

Richmond

South Kingstown

Westerly

Massachusetts:

The following cities and towns in:

Bristol County

Acushnet

Berkley

Dartmouth

Dighton

Fairhaven

Freetown

Mansfield

New Bedford

Norton

Raynham

Taunton

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