[Federal Register: March 15, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 51)]
[Notices]
[Page 11723]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15mr02-109]
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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request for Reinstatement of a
Revised Information Collection: Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living
Allowance; Price and Background Surveys
AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) a request for reinstatement of two
previously-approved information collections for which approval has
expired. OPM uses the two information collections--a price survey and a
background survey--to gather data to be used in determining cost-of-
living allowances (COLAs) for certain Federal employees in Alaska,
Hawaii, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The price surveys will be
conducted in each COLA area on a rotating basis once every 3 years and
annually in the Washington, DC, area. The background surveys will be
conducted in these same areas and according to the same schedule, but
on a more limited basis.
The price survey is necessary for collecting living-cost data used
to determine cost-of-living allowances (COLAs) paid to General
Schedule, U.S. Postal Service, and certain other Federal employees in
the allowance areas. COLAs are based on differences in living costs in
the allowance areas compared with living costs in the Washington, DC,
area. The background survey is used to improve the COLA methodology and
to plan the price surveys and determine such things as the
appropriateness of items, services, and businesses selected for survey.
OPM will survey selected retail, service, realty, and other
businesses and local governments in the allowance areas and in the
Washington, DC, area. Approximately 2,200 establishments will be
contacted in the price survey, and approximately 30 establishments will
be contacted in the background survey. Participation in the surveys is
voluntary.
OPM estimates that the average price survey interview will take
approximately 7 minutes, for a total burden of 257 hours. The average
background survey interview will take approximately 10 minutes, for a
total burden of 5 hours.
For copies of this proposal, please contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey
at (202) 606-8358; fax: (202) 418-3251; or e-mail: mbtoomey@opm.gov.
Please include a mailing address with your request.
DATES: Submit comments on or before April 15, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments to:
Donald J. Winstead, Assistant Director for Compensation Administration,
Workforce Compensation and Performance Service, Office of Personnel
Management, Room 7H31, 1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC 20415-8200,
fax: (202) 606-4264, or e-mail: cola@opm.gov.
and
Joseph Lackey, OPM Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building
NW., Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt M. Springmann, (202) 606-2838.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OPM published notice of its intention to
request a reinstatement of the price and background surveys in the
Federal Register on October 17, 2001 (66 FR 52813). OPM received one
comment in response to the notice. The commenter noted that a sentence
in the Summary section of the notice could be interpreted to mean that
OPM will conduct surveys annually in selected COLA areas. We agree that
the sentence could be misinterpreted, and wish to clarify that OPM will
not conduct price surveys annually in any COLA area. As stated in the
Supplementary Information section of the notice, OPM will conduct the
price surveys in each COLA area on a rotating basis once every 3 years
and annually in the Washington, DC, area.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Kay Coles James,
Director.
[FR Doc. 02-6200 Filed 3-14-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P