[Federal Register: October 1, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 190)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 53179-53181] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 5 CFR Part 532 RIN 3206-AI74 Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the Eastern South Dakota and Wyoming Appropriated Fund Wage Areas AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management. ACTION: Final rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule that will redefine Jackson County, South Dakota, from the area of application of the Eastern South Dakota appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area to the area of application of the Wyoming wage area, and redefine Teton County, Wyoming, from the area of application of the Wyoming FWS wage area to the area of application of the Montana wage area. The redefinition of Jackson County will place all of Badlands National Park in one wage area and the redefintion of Teton County will place employees at Grand Teton National Park on the same wage schedule as employees at the nearby Yellowstone National Park. DATES: Effective Date: This regulation is effective on November 1, 1999. Applicability Date: This regulation applies on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after October 1, 1999. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Hopkins, by phone at (202) 606-2848, by FAX at (202) 606-0824, or by email at jdhopkin@opm.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 23, 1999, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a proposed rule (64 FR 33427) to redefine Jackson County, South Dakota, from the area of application of the Eastern South Dakota appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area to the area of application of the Wyoming wage area and to redefine Teton County, Wyoming, from the area of application of the Wyoming wage area to the area of application of the Montana wage area. Under section 5343 of title 5, United States Code, OPM is responsible for defining wage areas. For this purpose, we follow the regulatory criteria established in section 532.211 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations. 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 consensus that we redefine Jackson County, South Dakota, and Teton County, Wyoming. FPRAC found no compelling reasons to make other changes in the Eastern South Dakota and Wyoming FWS wage areas. [[Page 53180]] The Eastern South Dakota wage area continues to meet the regulatory requirements to remain a separate wage area. There are currently about 550 FWS workers in the wage area, the wage area's host activity continues to have the capacity to host local wage surveys, and wage surveys in the area continue to produce adequate wage data to determine local prevailing rates. Based on an analysis of the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas, FPRAC found mixed results for Jackson County. However, Badlands National Park is currently split by the boundary of the Wyoming wage area. The park headquarters is located in the Eastern South Dakota wage area, while most of the park is located in the Wyoming wage area. The redefinition of Jackson County to the Wyoming wage area will place the entire park in one wage area. The Wyoming wage area also continues to meet the regulatory requirements to remain a separate wage area. There are currently about 1,300 FWS workers in the wage area, the wage area's host activity continues to have the capacity to host local wage surveys, and wage surveys in the area continue to produce adequate wage data to determine local prevailing rates. Based on the mixed nature of the regulatory analysis findings, there was no clear indication that Teton County should be redefined to one wage area more than another. However, the two main FWS employers in northwestern Wyoming are Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. The parks are connected by the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, with a distance of only about 8 kilometers (5 miles) separating the parks. The parks are located in a region geographically isolated by the Rocky Mountains from both the Montana and Wyoming survey areas. Although the regulatory criteria do not favor defining Teton County to one wage area more than another, we are placing the parks in the same wage area based on FPRAC's recommendation. This change will place all Department of the Interior FWS employees stationed in northwestern Wyoming in the same wage area, including those FWS employees assigned to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. The proposed rule provided a 30-day public comment period, during which we received two comments, both of which supported these changes. 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 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. Janice R. Lachance, Director. Accordingly, the Office of Personnel Management amends 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. 2. Appendix C to subpart B is amended by revising the wage area listings for the Montana, Eastern South Dakota, and Wyoming wage areas to read as follows: Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532--Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey Areas * * * * * MONTANA Survey Area Montana: Cascade Lewis and Clark Yellowstone Area of Application. Survey area plus Montana: Beaverhead Big Horn Blaine Broadwater Carbon Carter Chouteau Custer Daniels Dawson Deer Lodge Fallon Fergus Flathead Gallatin Garfield Glacier Golden Valley Granite Hill Jefferson Judith Basin Lake Liberty Lincoln McCone Madison Meagher Mineral Missoula Musselshell Park Petroleum Phillips Pondera Powder River Powell Prairie Ravalli Richland Roosevelt Rosebud Sanders Sheridan Silver Bow Stillwater Sweet Grass Teton Toole Treasure Valley Wheatland Wibaux Wyoming: Big Horn Park Teton * * * * * SOUTH DAKOTA EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA Survey Area South Dakota: Minnehaha Area of Application. Survey area plus: South Dakota: Aurora Beadle Bennett Bon Homme Brookings Brown Brule Buffalo Campbell Charles Mix Clark Clay Codington Corson Davison Day Deuel Dewey Douglas Edmunds Faulk Grant Gregory Haakon Hamlin Hand Hanson Hughes Hutchinson Hyde Jerauld Jones Kingsbury Lake Lincoln Lyman McCook McPherson Marshall [[Page 53181]] Mellette Miner Moody Potter Roberts Sanborn Spink Stanley Sully Todd Tripp Turner Union Walworth Washabaugh Yankton Ziebach Iowa: Dickinson Emmet Lyon Osceola Minnesota: Jackson Lincoln Lyon Murray Nobles Pipestone Rock * * * * * WYOMING Survey Area Wyoming: Albany Laramie Natrona South Dakota: Pennington Area of application. Survey area plus: Wyoming: Campbell Carbon Converse Crook Fremont Goshen Hot Springs Johnson Lincoln Niobrara Platte Sheridan Sublette Sweetwater Uinta Washakie Weston Nebraska: Banner Box Butte Cheyenne Dawes Deuel Garden Kimball Morrill Scotts Bluff Sheridan Sioux South Dakota: Butte Custer Fall River Harding Jackson Lawrence Meade Perkins Shannon [FR Doc. 99-25611 Filed 9-30-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6325-01-P