This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

67257

Vol. 62, No. 247

Wednesday, December 24, 1997

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206–AI06

Prevailing Rate Systems; Removal of

Putnam, Richmond, and Rockland

Counties, NY, and Monmouth County,

NJ, from the New York, NY,

Appropriated Fund Survey Area

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel

Management (OPM) is issuing a final

rule to remove Putnam, Richmond, and

Rockland Counties, NY, and Monmouth

County, NJ, from the survey area of the

New York, NY, appropriated fund

Federal Wage System wage area. The

four counties will remain in the area of

application of the New York, NY, wage

area.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 23, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Allen at (202) 606–2848, or send

an email message to maallen@opm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

November 3, 1997, OPM published a

proposed rule to remove Putnam,

Richmond, and Rockland Counties, NY,

and Monmouth County, NJ, from the

survey area of the New York, NY,

appropriated fund Federal Wage System

(FWS) wage area (62 FR 59300). The

proposed rule provided a 30-day period

for public comment, during which OPM

received one comment. The comment

was related to the definition of the

Newburgh, NY, wage area—a matter

previously decided by OPM following

lengthy discussions at meetings of the

Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory

Committee (FPRAC), the statutory

national-level labor-management

committee responsible for advising

OPM on matters concerning the pay of

FWS employees. The proposed rule is

therefore being adopted as a final rule.

When the FWS was established in

1972, the New York, NY, survey area

was composed of Bronx, Kings, Nassau,

New York, Queens, Richmond,

Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester

Counties, NY; and Essex, Hudson,

Morris, and Union Counties, NJ. In

1975, FPRAC agreed by consensus to

recommend that the New York, NY,

survey area be expanded to include

Putnam County, NY; and Bergen,

Middlesex, Monmouth, Passaic, and

Somerset Counties, NJ. This change was

made so as to include 100 percent of the

New York wage area’s FWS employment

in the New York, NY, survey area and

to provide for a larger number of

surveyable private industrial

establishments.

As the largest FWS survey—with a

sample of more than 900 industrial

establishments—the New York, NY,

FWS wage survey has become

increasingly difficult to conduct because

its logistical demands create unusual

burdens on local agency activities

already strained by downsizing and

budget constraints. To reduce the

logistical burdens of the New York, NY,

FWS wage survey, OPM is removing

Putnam, Richmond, and Rockland

Counties, NY, and Monmouth County,

NJ, from the New York, NY, survey area.

Of the 19 counties in the New York, NY,

survey area, OPM is removing these four

counties from the survey area because

their removal appears to offer the best

means of reducing the logistical burdens

of surveys in the New York, NY, wage

area while least affecting the

determination of prevailing rates for

FWS employees in that wage area.

The removal of these four counties

from the New York, NY, FWS survey

area leaves about 90 percent of the wage

area’s FWS employment in the New

York, NY, survey area, and reduces the

number of surveyable private industrial

establishments in the New York, NY,

survey universe by only about 4 percent.

OPM also considered the possible

removal of other counties from the New

York survey area, but none appeared to

offer as convincing a rationale for

removal as do Putnam, Richmond,

Rockland, or Monmouth Counties.

FPRAC reviewed and concurred by

consensus with this change.

Because of a typographical error in

appendix C to subpart B of 5 CFR part

532, the wage area listing for the New

York, NY, wage area follows

immediately after the wage area listing

for the Newburgh, NY, wage area

without showing the title of the New

York, NY, wage area. This final rule also

corrects that inadvertent omission.

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.

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532

[Amended]

2. Appendix C to subpart B is

amended by revising the wage area

listings for the Newburgh, New York,

and New York, New York, wage areas to

read as follows:

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532—

Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey

Areas

* * * * *

New York

* * * * *

Newburgh

Survey Area

New York:

Dutchess

Orange

Ulster

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

New York:

Delaware

Sullivan
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.