This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

34134

Vol. 63, No. 120

Tuesday, June 23, 1998

Office of Personnel Management

5 CFR Part 532

RIN 3206–AI30

Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition

of Philadelphia, PA, and New York, NY,

Appropriated Fund Wage Areas

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel

Management is issuing a proposed rule

that would redefine Ocean County, NJ,

excluding the portion occupied by the

Fort Dix Military Reservation, from the

area of application of the Philadelphia,

PA, appropriated fund Federal Wage

System (FWS) wage area to the area of

application of the New York, NY, wage

area. This redefinition will more

accurately reflect the transportation

facilities and commuting patterns

criteria of Ocean County, NJ (excluding

Fort Dix Military Reservation).

DATES: Comments must be received by

July 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) 606–0824.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark A. Allen at (202) 606–2848, or email: maallen@opm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office

of Personnel Management (OPM) is

engaged in an ongoing project to review

the geographic definitions of selected

Federal Wage System (FWS)

appropriated fund wage areas. 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, has recommended by

majority vote that OPM redefine Ocean

County, NJ, excluding the portion

occupied by the Fort Dix Military

Reservation, from the area of application

of the Philadelphia, PA, appropriated

fund FWS wage area to the area of

application of the New York, NY, wage

area.

Section 532.211 of title 5, Code of

Federal Regulations, lists the following

criteria that OPM considers when

defining FWS wage area boundaries:

(i) Distance, transportation facilities,

and geographic features;

(ii) Commuting patterns; and

(iii) Similarities in overall population,

employment, and the kinds and sizes of

private industrial establishments.

Ocean County is located in central

New Jersey and is bordered by

Burlington County to the West and

Monmouth County to the North. The

members of FPRAC studied the

appropriate wage area definition of

Ocean County exhaustively. Based on

their analysis of the regulatory criteria,

the management members of FPRAC

found no compelling reason to change

the wage area designation of Ocean

County. The labor members of the

Committee argued that the

transportation facilities and commuting

patterns criteria favor placing Ocean

County in the New York wage area.

After failing to reach consensus, the

Committee voted to accept the labor

recommendation. The management

members of FPRAC filed a minority

report in opposition to the FPRAC

majority recommendation.

After careful consideration, OPM

finds that it is appropriate to accept the

FPRAC recommendation in this case.

The distance, geographic features, and

overall population, employment, and

the kinds and sizes of private industrial

establishments criteria do not clearly

favor defining Ocean County to one

wage area more than another. However,

we find that the transportation facilities

and commuting patterns criteria clearly

favor defining Ocean County to the New

York wage area rather than to the

Philadelphia wage area.

The largest employer of FWS workers

in Ocean County is Lakehurst Naval Air

Station, although several other smaller

employment sites would be affected by

the redefinition of Ocean County to the

New York wage area. Employees with

official duty stations in the Fort Dix

Military Reservation portion of Ocean

County would remain in the

Philadelphia wage area. Employees with

official duty stations at Lakehurst Naval

Air Station and other facilities in Ocean

County would be redefined from the

Philadelphia wage area to the New York

wage area on the first day of the first

applicable pay period beginning on or

after 30 days after the issuance of a final

regulation implementing this proposed

change.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that these regulations would

not have a significant economic impact

on a substantial number of small entities

because they would 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 proposes to amend

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.

2. Appendix C to subpart B is

amended by revising the wage area

listings for the New York, New York,

and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, wage

areas to read as follows:

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532—

Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey

Areas

* * * * *

New York

* * * * *

New York

Survey Area

New York:

Bronx

Kings

Nassau

New York

Queens

Suffolk

Westchester

New Jersey:

Bergen

Essex
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 120 /Tuesday, June 23, 1998 / Proposed Rules 34135

Hudson

Middlesex

Morris

Passaic

Somerset

Union

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

New York:

Putnam

Richmond

Rockland

New Jersey:

Monmouth

Ocean (excluding the Fort Dix Military

Reservation)

Sussex

* * * * *

Pennsylvania

* * * * *

Philadelphia

Survey Area

Pennsylvania:

Bucks

Chester

Delaware

Montgomery

Philadelphia

New Jersey:

Burlington

Camden

Gloucester

Area of Application. Survey Area Plus

Pennsylvania:

Lehigh

Northampton

New Jersey:

Atlantic

Cape May

Cumberland

Hunterdon

Mercer

Ocean (Fort Dix Military Reservation only)

Warren

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 98–16668 Filed 6–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 98–SW–01–AD]

Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter

France Model AS 332C, L, L1 and L2

Helicopters

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking

(NPRM).

SUMMARY: This document proposes the

adoption of a new airworthiness

directive (AD) that is applicable to

Eurocopter France Model AS 332C, L,

L1, and L2 helicopters. This proposal

would require replacing certain circuit

breakers. This proposal is prompted by

the manufacturer discovering, upon

testing a circuit breaker installed in a

helicopter, the loss of electrical

continuity between the terminals of the

installed circuit breaker. The actions

specified by the proposed AD are

intended to prevent loss of electrical

power caused by improper installation

of certain circuit breakers causing

deterioration in the operation of the

circuit breakers, loss of instrumentation,

and subsequent loss of control of the

helicopter.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before July 23, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in

triplicate to the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), Office of the

Regional Counsel, Southwest Region,

Attention: Rules Docket No. 98–SW–01–

AD, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Room 663,

Fort Worth, Texas 76137. Comments

may be inspected at this location

between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays. The service information referenced in

the proposed rule may be obtained from

American Eurocopter Corporation, 2701

Forum Drive, Grand Prairie, Texas

75053–4005, telephone (972) 641–3460,

fax (972) 641–3527. This information

may be examined at the FAA, Office of

the Regional Counsel, Southwest

Region, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Room

663, Fort Worth, Texas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Robert McCallister, Aerospace Engineer,

FAA, Rotorcraft Directorate, Rotorcraft

Standards Staff, 2601 Meacham Blvd.,

Fort Worth, Texas 76137, telephone

(817) 222–5121, fax (817) 222–5961.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

Interested persons are invited to

participate in the making of the

proposed rule by submitting such

written data, views, or arguments as

they may desire. Communications

should identify the Rules Docket

number and be submitted in triplicate to

the address specified above. All

communications received on or before

the closing date for comments, specified

above, will be considered before taking

action on the proposed rule. The

proposals contained in this notice may

be changed in light of the comments

received.

Comments are specifically invited on

the overall regulatory, economic,

environmental, and energy aspects of

the proposed rule. All comments

submitted will be available, both before

and after the closing date for comments,

in the Rules Docket for examination by

interested persons. A report

summarizing each FAA-public contact

concerned with the substance of this

proposal will be filed in the Rules

Docket.

Commenters wishing the FAA to

acknowledge receipt of their comments

submitted in response to this notice

must submit a self-addressed, stamped

postcard on which the following

statement is made: ‘‘Comments to

Docket No. 98–SW–01–AD.’’ The

postcard will be date stamped and

returned to the commenter.

Availability of NPRMs

Any person may obtain a copy of this

NPRM by submitting a request to the

FAA, Office of the Regional Counsel,

Southwest Region, Attention: Rules

Docket No. 98–SW–01–AD, 2601

Meacham Blvd., Room 663, Fort Worth,

Texas 76137.

Discussion

The Direction Generale De L’Aviation

Civile (DGAC), which is the

airworthiness authority for France,

recently notified the FAA that an unsafe

condition may exist on Eurocopter

France Model AS 332C, L, L1, and L2

helicopters. The DGAC advises of the

loss of continuity on certain single-pole

circuit breakers.

Eurocopter France has issued Service

Bulletin No. 01.00–49, dated June 30,

1997, (SB) for Models AS 332C, L, L1,

and L2 to inspect Crouzet single-pole

circuit breakers, Part Number (P/N) 84

400 028 through 84 400 037, and to

replace all circuit breakers that have any

loss of electrical continuity. The DGAC

classified this SB as mandatory and

issued DGAC AD’s 97–202–062(AB) and

97–201–007(AB), both dated August 27,

1997, to ensure the continued

airworthiness of these helicopters in

France.

These helicopter models are

manufactured in France and are type

certificated for operation in the United

States under the provisions of section

21.29 of the Federal Aviation

Regulations (14 CFR 21.29) and the

applicable bilateral airworthiness

agreement. Pursuant to this bilateral

airworthiness agreement, the DGAC has

kept the FAA informed of the situation

described above. The FAA has

examined the findings of the DGAC,

reviewed all available information, and

determined that AD action is necessary

for products of this type design that are

certificated for operation in the United

States.

Since an unsafe condition has been

identified that is likely to exist or

develop on other Eurocopter France

Model AS 332C, L, L1, and L2

helicopters of the same type design