67258 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 24, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

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

Sussex

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97–33581 Filed 12–23–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–01–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206–AI11

Prevailing Rate Systems; Abolishment

of Kansas City, MO, Special Wage

Schedule for Printing Positions

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Interim rule with request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel

Management (OPM) is issuing an

interim rule to abolish the Federal Wage

System (FWS) special wage schedule for

printing positions in the Kansas City,

Missouri, wage area. Printing and

lithographic employees in Kansas City

will now be paid rates from the regular

Kansas City wage schedule.

DATES: This interim rule becomes

effective on January 4, 1998. Comments

must be received by January 23, 1998.

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, or FAX: (202) 606–4264.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Allen at (202) 606–2848, or send

an email message to maallen@opm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Department of Defense recommended to

OPM that the Kansas City, MO, special

wage schedule for printing positions be

abolished and that the regular Kansas

City wage schedule apply to printing

employees in the Kansas City wage area.

This recommendation was based on the

fact that the number of employees paid

from the special schedule has declined

in recent years from a total of about 70

employees in 1985 to a current total of

about 30 employees. With the reduced

number of employees, it has become

increasingly difficult to comply with the

requirement that workers paid from the

special printing schedule participate in

the local wage survey process. A fullscale special wage survey in the Kansas

City wage area would require the

substantial work effort of contacting

about 70 printing establishments spread

over 8 counties and would require the

participation of about 10 percent of the

employees who are paid from the

special printing schedule.

Upon abolishment of the Kansas City

special printing schedule, the printing

and lithographic employees will be

converted to the regular schedule for the

Kansas City wage area on a grade-forgrade basis. An employee’s new rate of

pay will be set at the rate for the step

of the applicable grade of the regular

schedule that equals the employee’s

existing scheduled rate of pay. When

the existing rate falls between two steps,

an employee’s new rate will be set at the

rate for the higher of those two steps.

Pay retention provisions will apply for

the few employees not receiving

increases upon conversion. This

conversion does not constitute an

equivalent increase for within-grade

increase purposes.

The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory

Committee, the statutory national-level

labor-management committee

responsible for advising OPM on

matters concerning the pay of FWS

employees, has reviewed and concurred

by consensus with this change.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), I

find that good cause exists for waiving

the general notice of proposed

rulemaking. Also, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.

553(d)(3), I find that good cause exists

for making this rule effective in less

than 30 days. The notice is being

waived and the regulation is being made

effective in less than 30 days because a

new regular wage schedule will go into

effect in the Kansas City wage area on

January 4, 1998, and employees

currently paid from the special printing

schedule for the wage area would have

received a wage adjustment on that date

had the Department of Defense been

able to conduct a special wage survey in

the wage area in 1997.

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; § 532.707

also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552.

§ 532.279 [Amended]

2. In § 532.279, paragraph (j)(3) is

removed, and paragraph (j)(4) is

redesignated as paragraph (j)(3).

[FR Doc. 97–33583 Filed 12–23–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Housing Service

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

Rural Utilities Service

Farm Service Agency

7 CFR Part 2003

Functional Organization of the Rural

Development Mission Area

AGENCIES: Rural Housing Service; Rural

Business-Cooperative Service; Rural

Utilities Service; Farm Service Agency;

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The issuing agencies amend

their regulations to reflect the

reorganization of the Department of

Agriculture. The intended effect of this

action is to provide efficient utilization

of Department personnel resources. This

publication provides the function

statements for organizational units

within the Rural Development mission

area, the Rural Housing Service, Rural

Business-Cooperative Service, and the

Rural Utilities Service.