50174 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 165 / Monday, August 25, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Part 591 

RIN 3206–AL65 

Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living 

Allowances; 2007 Interim Adjustments: 

Alaska and Puerto Rico 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) is proposing to 

change the cost-of-living allowance 

(COLA) rates received by certain whitecollar Federal and U.S. Postal Service 

employees in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and 

Juneau, Alaska, and in Puerto Rico. The 

proposed rate changes are the result of 

interim adjustments OPM calculated 

based on relative Consumer Price Index 

differences between the COLA areas and 

the Washington, DC, area. The proposed 

regulations would reduce the COLA 

rates for Anchorage, Fairbanks, and 

Juneau by 1 percentage point and would 

increase the rate for Puerto Rico by 1 

percentage point. 

DATES: We will consider comments 

received on or before October 24, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments 

to Charles D. Grimes III, Deputy 

Associate Director for Performance and 

Pay Systems, Strategic Human 

Resources Policy Division, Office of 

Personnel Management, Room 7300B, 

1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20415–8200; fax: (202) 606–4264; or 

e-mail: COLA@opm.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: J. 

Stanley Austin, (202) 606–2838; fax: 

(202) 606–4264; or e-mail: 

COLA@opm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

5941 of title 5, United States Code, 

authorizes Federal agencies to pay costof-living allowances (COLAs) to whitecollar Federal and U.S. Postal Service 

employees stationed in Alaska, Hawaii, 

Guam and the Northern Mariana 

Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin 

Islands (USVI). Executive Order 10000, 

as amended, delegates to the Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM) the 

authority to administer nonforeign area 

COLAs and prescribes certain 

operational features of the program. 

OPM conducts living-cost surveys in 

each allowance area and in the 

Washington, DC, area to determine 

whether, and to what degree, COLA area 

living costs are higher than those in the 

DC area. We set the COLA rate for each 

area based on the results of these 

surveys. 

As required by section 591.223 of title 

5, Code of Federal Regulations, we 

conduct COLA surveys once every 3 

years on a rotating basis. For areas not 

surveyed during a particular year, we 

adjust COLA rates by the relative change 

in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for 

the COLA area compared with the 

Washington, DC, area. (See 5 CFR 

591.224–226.) We adopted these 

regulations pursuant to the stipulation 

for settlement in Caraballo et al. v. 

United States, No. 1997–0027 (D.V.I), 

August 17, 2000. Caraballo was a classaction lawsuit which resulted in many 

changes in the COLA methodology and 

regulations. 

We computed interim adjustments 

based on the relative change in the CPI 

for the Alaska and Caribbean COLA 

areas. A separate notice on the 

calculation of these interim adjustments 

accompanies this proposed rule. The 

interim adjustments indicate that the 

Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, 

Alaska, COLA rates should be reduced 

by 1 percentage point in each area. 

We published a proposed rule on 

January 3, 2008, that would, when 

implemented, reduce the COLA rates in 

Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau from 

24 percent to 23 percent based on the 

results of the 2006 COLA survey in 

Alaska. The 1 percentage point 

reduction proposed in this rule would 

further reduce the rates in these areas to 

22 percent. However, 5 CFR 591.228(c) 

limits COLA rate decreases to 1 

percentage point in a 12-month period. 

Therefore, we will not implement COLA 

rate reductions under this proposed rule 

until 12 months have elapsed since the 

effective date of the proposed 

reductions based on the 2006 survey 

results. For example, if the proposed 

reductions based on the 2006 survey 

results become effective in mid-October 

of this year, the reductions proposed 

under this rule would not be 

implemented before mid-October of 

2009. 

The 2007 interim adjustments would 

also increase the COLA rate for Puerto 

Rico by 1 percentage point. We 

published a final rule on May 29, 2008, 

at 73 FR 30727, that increased the 

Puerto Rico COLA rate to 13 percent. 

The 2007 interim adjustment would 

further raise the COLA rate for Puerto 

Rico to 14 percent when published as 

final. We plan to implement this 

increase separately from the Alaska 

reductions to avoid the 12-month delay 

imposed by 5 CFR 591.228(c). 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Review 

This rule has been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget in 

accordance with Executive Order 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that this regulation will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

because the regulation will affect only 

Federal agencies and employees. 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 591 

Government employees, Travel and 

transportation expenses, Wages. 

Office of Personnel Management 

Michael W. Hager, 

Acting Director. 

Accordingly, OPM proposes to amend 

subpart B of 5 CFR part 591 as follows: 

PART 591—ALLOWANCES AND 

DIFFERENTIALS 

Subpart B—Cost-of-Living Allowance 

and Post Differential—Nonforeign 

Areas 

1. The authority citation for subpart B 

of 5 CFR part 591 continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5941; E.O. 10000, 3 

CFR, 1943–1948 Comp., p. 792; and E.O. 

12510, 3 CFR, 1985 Comp., p. 338. 

2. Revise appendix A of subpart B to 

read as follows: 

Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 591— 

Places and Rates at Which Allowances 

Are Paid 

This appendix lists the places approved for 

a cost-of-living allowance and shows the 

authorized allowance rate for each area. The 

allowance rate shown is paid as a percentage 

of an employee’s rate of basic pay. The rates 

are subject to change based on the results of 

future surveys. 

Geographic coverage 

Allowance 

rate 

(percent) 

State of Alaska: 

City of Anchorage and 80-kilometer (50-mile) radius by road ..................................................................................................... 22 

City of Fairbanks and 80-kilometer (50-mile) radius by road ...................................................................................................... 22 

City of Juneau and 80-kilometer (50-mile) radius by road .......................................................................................................... 22 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 165 / Monday, August 25, 2008 / Proposed Rules 50175 

Geographic coverage 

Allowance 

rate 

(percent) 

Rest of the State .......................................................................................................................................................................... 25 

State of Hawaii: 

City and County of Honolulu ........................................................................................................................................................ 25 

Hawaii County, Hawaii ................................................................................................................................................................. 18 

County of Kauai ............................................................................................................................................................................ 25 

County of Maui and County of Kalawao ...................................................................................................................................... 25 

Territory of Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ........................................................................................... 25 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ............................................................................................................................................................ 14 

U.S. Virgin Islands ............................................................................................................................................................................... 25 

[FR Doc. E8–19592 Filed 8–22–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with PROPOSALS