Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 99 / Monday, May 22, 2000 / Notices 32135

Securities and Exchange Commission

Secretary to the Director, Office of

Compliance Inspections and

Examinations. Effective March 15, 2000.

Small Business Administration

Senior Advisor for Communications

and Public Liaison to the Associate

Administrator for Marketing and

Customer Service. Effective March 9,

2000.

Press Officer and Senior Advisor to

the Assistant Administrator for Public

Communications. Effective March 27,

2000.

U.S. International Trade Commission

Staff Assistant to the Commissioner.

Effective March 8, 2000.

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3301 and 3302; E.O.

10577, 3 CFR 1954–1958 Comp., P.218

Office of Personnel Management.

Janice R. Lachance,

Director.

[FR Doc. 00–12685 Filed 5–19–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–01–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory

Committee; Open Committee Meetings

According to the provisions of section

10 of the Federal Advisory Committee

Act (Pub. L. 92–463), notice is hereby

given that meetings of the Federal

Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee

will be held on—

Thursday, May 25, 2000

Thursday, June 8, 2000

Thursday, June 22, 2000

The meetings will start at 10 a.m. and

will be held in Room 5A06A, Office of

Personnel Management Building, 1900 E

Street NW, Washington, DC.

The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory

Committee is composed of a Chair, five

representatives from labor unions

holding exclusive bargaining rights for

Federal blue-collar employees, and five

representatives from Federal agencies.

Entitlement to membership on the

Committee is provided for in 5 U.S.C.

5347.

The Committee’s primary

responsibility is to review the Prevailing

Rate System and other matters pertinent

to establishing prevailing rates under

subchapter IV, chapter 53, 5 U.S.C., as

amended, and from time to time advise

the Office of Personnel Management.

This scheduled meeting will start in

open session with both labor and

management representatives attending.

During the meeting either the labor

members or the management members

may caucus separately with the Chair to

devise strategy and formulate positions.

Premature disclosure of the matters

discussed in these caucuses would

unacceptably impair the ability of the

Committee to reach a consensus on the

matters being considered and would

disrupt substantially the disposition of

its business. Therefore, these caucuses

will be closed to the public because of

a determination made by the Director of

the Office of Personnel Management

under the provisions of section 10(d) of

the Federal Advisory Committee Act

(Pub. L. 92–463) and 5 U.S.C.

552b(c)(9)(B). These caucuses may,

depending on the issues involved,

constitute a substantial portion of a

meeting.

Annually, the Chair compiles a report

of pay issues discussed and concluded

recommendations. These reports are

available to the public, upon written

request to the Committee’s Secretary.

The public is invited to submit

material in writing to the Chair on

Federal Wage System pay matters felt to

be deserving of the Committee’s

attention. Additional information on

this meeting may be obtained by

contacting the Committee’s Secretary,

Office of Personnel Management,

Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory

Committee, Room 5559, 1900 E Street

NW, Washington, DC 20415; (202) 606–

1500.

Dated: May 10, 2000.

John F. Leyden,

Chairman, Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory

Committee.

[FR Doc. 00–12689 Filed 5–19–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–01–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

Science and Technology (S&T)

Laboratory Personnel Management

Demonstration Project, Department of

the Army, U.S. Army Engineer

Research & Development Center

(ERDC)

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel

Management (OPM).

ACTION: Notice of change to reductionin-force (RIF) procedures to recognize

performance based on the average of the

last three annual performance scores in

the most recent 4-year period as a

criterion to establish retention registers.

SUMMARY: 5 U.S.C. 4703 authorizes OPM

to conduct demonstration projects that

experiment with new and different

personnel management concepts to

determine whether such changes in

personnel policy or procedures would

result in improved Federal personnel

management.

Public Law 103–337, October 5, 1994,

permits the Department of Defense

(DoD), with the approval of OPM, to

carry out personnel demonstration

projects at S&T Reinvention

Laboratories. This notice identifies a

revision to the ERDC plan where an

average of three annual performance

scores is used instead of a single

performance score to determine an

employee’s retention standing in a

reduction in force.

DATES: This revision to the ERDC

demonstration project will be

implemented May 22, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

ERDC: Dr. C.H. Pennington, U.S.

Army Engineer Research & Development

Center, ATTN: CEERD–ZT–E, 3909

Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg,

Mississippi 39180–6199, phone 601–

634–3549.

OPM: Ms. Joan M. Jorgenson, U. S.

Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E

Street NW Room 7458, Washington, DC

20415, phone 202–606–1315.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

OPM approved and published the

final plan in the Federal Register for the

following S&T Reinvention Laboratory

Demonstration Project.

A. U.S. Army Engineer Waterways

Experiment Station (WES) final

publication on Tuesday, March 3, 1998,

Volume 63, Number 41, Part IV.

WES correction and re-publication on

Wednesday, March 25, 1998, Volume

63, Number 57, Part V.

B. Publication of amendment to

expand coverage of the WES project to

include the Construction Engineering

Research Laboratory, Cold Regions

Research & Engineering Laboratory, and

Topographic Engineering Center.

Published in the Federal Register on

Friday, October 16, 1998, Volume 63,

Number 200, Part V.

Note: The WES demonstration project was

renamed the ERDC demonstration project

following consolidation of the Army Corps of

Engineers’ laboratories.

C. Publication of an amendment to

include competitive examining and

Distinguished Scholastic Achievement

Appointment authorities as part of the

ERDC plan. Published in the Federal

Register on Thursday, March 11, 1999,

Volume 64, Number 47, Part II.

This demonstration project involves

simplified job classification, pay

banding, a performance-based

compensation system, employee

development provisions, and modified

RIF procedures.

32136 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 99 / Monday, May 22, 2000 / Notices

2. Overview

The action to combine all Corps of

Engineers laboratories into the ERDC

and expand coverage of the WES

Personnel Management Demonstration

Project to the entire ERDC prompted a

review of the provisions of the project

to assure acceptance by all levels of

management, employees, and bargaining

units. The review revealed that the best

interests of all involved would be better

served by revising the manner in which

performance is recognized in RIF

procedures to allow for performance

based on a longer period than that

represented by a single performance

score.

Dated: May 9, 2000.

Office of Personnel Management.

Janice R. Lachance,

Director.

I. Executive Summary

The Department of the Army

established the personnel management

demonstration projects to be generally

similar to the system in use at the Navy

personnel demonstration project known

as China Lake. The projects and this

amendment are built upon the concepts

of linking performance to pay for all

covered positions; simplifying

paperwork in the processing of

classification and other personnel

actions; emphasizing partnerships

among management, employees, and

unions; and delegating other authorities

to line managers.

II. Introduction

The demonstration project at the

ERDC attempts to provide managers

with the authority, control and

flexibility to achieve quality laboratories

and quality products. These goals are

met by employing the best candidates

and ensuring the best employees are

retained in the event of a reduction in

force. The purpose of this amendment is

to revise the procedures to recognize

employee performance in establishing

retention registers by basing the

criterion on the average of the last three

annual performance scores in the most

recent 4-year period instead of the last

single performance score. This

considers employee performance over a

longer period of time. Other basic

provisions of the approved plan are

unchanged.

III. Personnel System Changes

This project is built upon the

concepts of linking performance to pay,

simplifying paperwork in the processing

of classification and other personnel

actions, emphasizing partnerships

among management, employees and

unions, and delegating certain

authorities to line managers. Pay for

performance is accomplished by

assigning a numerical score to an

employee’s performance at the end of

the annual rating cycle and using the

score to determine the employee’s pay

increase. Currently, the score is also

used to determine in part an employee’s

retention standing in the event of a

reduction in force. For RIF purposes,

this amendment proposes instead to

recognize employee performance by

averaging the last three performance

scores rather than using only the last

performance score.

The Federal Register, Volume 63,

Number 57, dated March 25, 1998,

Section III.H.2. (Retention), page 14593,

first paragraph, first sentence, is

amended to read as follows:

Retention registers will be established

based on the following criteria listed in order

of priority: Tenure status (Tenure I—career,

Tenure II—career conditional, Tenure III—

modified term); veterans’ preference; the

average of the last three annual employee

performance scores in the most recent 4-year

period; and service computation date.

The use of three performance scores

recognizes that an employee’s

performance may vary from one year to

the next because of unforeseen

circumstances such as an illness,

relocation, a change in workload, or

reorganization. The amendment

incorporates the recommendations of

management, employees and unions,

ensures the very best employees are

retained in the event of a RIF, and

continues to support the objectives of

the ERDC personnel management

demonstration project.

[FR Doc. 00–12688 Filed 5–19–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–01–P

POSTAL SERVICE

Privacy Act of 1974, Systems of

Records

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Notice of amendments to

existing systems of records.

SUMMARY: The purpose of this document

is to publish notice of amendments to

two Privacy Act systems of records. The

amendments conform to a rule change

published in the Federal Register on

January 25, 2000 (65 FR 3857–3859),

amending Postal Service regulations

that govern the disclosure of

information contained in PS Form 1093,

Application for Post Office Box or Caller

Service, and PS Form 1583, Application

for Delivery of Mail Through Agent.

Information collected by these forms is

covered by Privacy Act systems of

records USPS 010.020, Collection and

Delivery Records—Boxholder Records,

and USPS 010.050, Collection and

Delivery Records—Delivery of Mail

Through Agents, respectively, for which

changes are proposed by this notice.

DATES: Any interested party may submit

written comments on the proposed

addition and modification. This

proposal will become effective without

further notice on June 21, 2000, unless

comments received on or before that

date result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this

proposal should be mailed or delivered

to Administration and FOIA, United

States Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza

SW, RM 8141, Washington, DC 20260–

5202. Copies of all written comments

will be available at the above address for

public inspection and photocopying

between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Betty Sheriff, (202) 268–2608.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Information about customers who use

post office box service is maintained

within Privacy Act system of records

USPS 010.020, Collection and Delivery

Records—Boxholder Records. In the

past, the Postal Service has disclosed to

the general public, upon request, the

name, address, and telephone number of

the holder of a post office box being

used for the purpose of doing or

soliciting business with the public. To

provide a greater degree of privacy and

security to the growing number of small

business owners who operate out of

their homes, that provision has been

repealed. As a result, routine use No. 1

is deleted. The rule change referenced

above also repeals a provision allowing

disclosure of boxholder information in

response to oral requests from law

enforcement agencies made through the

Postal Inspection Service, in the course

of a criminal investigation, necessitating

the deletion of routine use No. 4. The

remaining routine use Nos. 2, 3, and 5

are redesignated as routine uses 1

through 3, respectively, and the ‘‘Note’’

preceding them is amended to delete the

explanation as to when copies of PS

Form 1093 may be provided (now

incorporated into the routine use) and to

succeed the routine uses as an

exception. Under the exception,

disclosure is not authorized by the

routine uses if the individual boxholder

has filed a protective order with the

postmaster, unless the party seeking the

information submits an order of a court

of competent jurisdiction requiring

disclosure.