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

64684 

Vol. 79, No. 211 

Friday, October 31, 2014 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Part 532 

RIN 3206–AN10 

Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition 

of Certain Appropriated Fund Federal 

Wage System Wage Areas 

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) is issuing a 

proposed rule that would redefine the 

geographic boundaries of several 

appropriated fund Federal Wage System 

(FWS) wage areas for pay-setting 

purposes. Based on recent reviews of 

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) 

boundaries in a number of wage areas, 

OPM proposes redefinitions affecting 

the following wage areas: Washington, 

DC; Hagerstown-MartinsburgChambersburg, MD; Minneapolis-St. 

Paul, MN; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC, 

and Southwestern Wisconsin. In 

addition, this proposed rule would 

make three minor corrections to the 

Miami, FL; Columbus, GA, and Kansas 

City, MO, wage areas. 

DATES: We must receive comments on or 

before December 1, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by ‘‘RIN 3206–AN10,’’ using 

any of the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Mail: Brenda L. Roberts, Acting 

Deputy Associate Director for Pay and 

Leave, Employee Services, U.S. Office of 

Personnel Management, Room 7H31, 

1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC 

20415–8200. 

Email: pay-leave-policy@opm.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Madeline Gonzalez, by telephone at 

(202) 606–2838 or by email at pay-leavepolicy@opm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OPM is 

issuing a proposed rule to redefine the 

geographic boundaries of several 

appropriated fund FWS wage areas. 

These changes are based on 

recommendations of the Federal 

Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee 

(FPRAC), the statutory national labormanagement committee responsible for 

advising OPM on matters affecting the 

pay of FWS employees. From time to 

time, FPRAC reviews the boundaries of 

wage areas and provides OPM with 

recommendations for changes if the 

Committee finds that changes are 

warranted. 

OPM considers the following 

regulatory criteria under 5 CFR 532.211 

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. 

In addition, OPM regulations at 5 CFR 

532.211 do not permit splitting MSAs 

for the purpose of defining a wage area, 

except in very unusual circumstances. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

defines MSAs and maintains and 

updates the definitions of MSA 

boundaries following each decennial 

census. MSAs are composed of counties 

and are defined on the basis of a central 

urbanized area—a contiguous area of 

relatively high population density. 

Additional surrounding counties are 

included in MSAs if they have strong 

social and economic ties to central 

counties. 

When the boundaries of wage areas 

were first established in the 1960s, there 

were fewer MSAs than there are today 

and the boundaries of the then existing 

MSAs were much smaller. Most MSAs 

were contained within the boundaries of 

a wage area. MSAs have expanded each 

decade and in some cases now extend 

beyond the boundaries of the wage area. 

FPRAC recently reviewed several 

wage areas where boundaries subdivide 

certain MSAs and concurred by 

consensus with the changes described 

in this proposed rule. These changes 

would be effective on the first day of the 

first applicable pay period beginning on 

or after 30 days following publication of 

the final regulations. 

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC– 

MD–VA–WV MSA 

Washington, DC; Calvert, Charles, 

Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince 

George’s Counties, MD; Alexandria, 

Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, 

Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities, 

VA; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, 

Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince 

William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, 

Stafford, and Warren Counties, VA; and 

Jefferson County, WV, comprise the 

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC– 

MD–VA–WV MSA. The WashingtonArlington-Alexandria, DC–MD–VA–WV 

MSA is split between the Washington, 

DC, wage area and the HagerstownMartinsburg-Chambersburg, MD, wage 

area. Washington, DC; Charles, 

Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince 

George’s Counties, MD; Alexandria, 

Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and 

Manassas Park Cities, VA; and 

Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince 

William Counties, VA, are part of the 

Washington, DC, survey area. Calvert 

and St. Mary’s Counties, MD; 

Fredericksburg City, VA; Clarke, 

Fauquier, King George, Spotsylvania, 

Stafford, and Warren Counties, VA; and 

Jefferson County, WV, are part of the 

Washington, DC, area of application. 

Culpeper and Rappahannock Counties, 

VA, are part of the HagerstownMartinsburg-Chambersburg area of 

application. 

OPM proposes to redefine Culpeper 

and Rappahannock Counties to the 

Washington, DC, area of application so 

that the entire Washington-ArlingtonAlexandria, DC–MD–VA–WV MSA is in 

one wage area. There are seven FWS 

employees working in Culpeper County 

and one FWS employee working in 

Rappahannock County. 

Rochester, MN MSA 

Dodge, Fillmore, Olmsted, and 

Wabasha Counties, MN, comprise the 

Rochester, MN MSA. The Rochester, 

MN MSA is split between the 

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, wage area 

and the Southwestern Wisconsin wage 

area. Dodge, Olmsted, and Wabasha 

Counties are part of the Minneapolis-St. 

Paul area of application and Fillmore 

County is part of the Southwestern 

Wisconsin area of application. 

OPM proposes to redefine Fillmore 

County to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area 

of application so that the entire 

Rochester, MN MSA is in one wage area. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 2014 / Proposed Rules 64685 

There are currently no FWS employees 

working in Fillmore County. 

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC MSA 

Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, 

Mecklenburg, Rowan, and Union 

Counties, NC, and Chester, Lancaster, 

and York Counties, SC; comprise the 

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC–SC 

MSA. The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 

MSA is split between the Charlotte, NC, 

wage area and the Columbia, SC, wage 

area. Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg, 

Rowan, and Union Counties, NC, are 

part of the Charlotte survey area; Iredell 

and Lincoln Counties, NC, and 

Lancaster and York Counties, SC, are 

part of the Charlotte area of application; 

and Chester County, SC, is part of the 

Columbia area of application. 

OPM proposes to redefine Chester 

County to the Charlotte area of 

application so that the entire CharlotteConcord-Gastonia, NC–SC MSA is in 

one wage area. There are currently no 

FWS employees working in Chester 

County. 

Miscellaneous Corrections 

In addition, this proposed rule would 

make the following minor corrections: 

• Update the name of the Columbus 

Consolidated Government in the 

Columbus, GA, FWS wage area because 

Columbus is the official name of the 

entity resulting from the consolidation 

of the City of Columbus and Muscogee 

County in 1971. 

• Update the name of Dade County in 

the Miami, FL, FWS wage area because 

the name of Dade County was officially 

changed to Miami-Dade County in 1997. 

• Delete the name of the St. Louis, 

MO, wage area from the list of area of 

application counties in the Kansas City, 

MO, wage area because, due to a 

formatting error, the name of the St. 

Louis wage area was incorrectly printed 

as if it was an area of application county 

in the Kansas City wage area. 

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. 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 

Katherine Archuleta, 

Director. 

Accordingly, OPM is proposing 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 in paragraph (3), under the 

undesignated center heading Definitions 

of Wage and Wage Survey Areas, for the 

Washington, DC; Miami, FL; Columbus, 

GA; Hagerstown-MartinsburgChambersburg, MD; Minneapolis-St. 

Paul, MN; Kansas City, MO; Charlotte, 

NC; Columbia, SC, and Southwestern 

Wisconsin wage areas to read as follows: 

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532— 

Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey 

Areas 

* * * * * 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

Washington, DC 

Survey Area 

District of Columbia: 

Washington, DC 

Maryland: 

Charles 

Frederick 

Montgomery 

Prince George’s 

Virginia (cities): 

Alexandria 

Fairfax 

Falls Church 

Manassas 

Manassas Park 

Virginia (counties): 

Arlington 

Fairfax 

Loudoun 

Prince William 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

Maryland: 

Calvert 

St. Mary’s 

Virginia (city): 

Fredericksburg 

Virginia (counties): 

Clarke 

Culpeper 

Fauquier 

King George 

Rappahannock 

Spotsylvania 

Stafford 

Warren 

West Virginia 

Jefferson 

* * * * * 

FLORIDA 

* * * * * 

Miami 

Survey Area 

Florida: 

Miami-Dade 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

Florida: 

Broward 

Collier 

Glades 

Hendry 

Highlands 

Martı ́n 

Monroe 

Okeechobee 

Palm Beach 

St. Lucie 

* * * * * 

GEORGIA 

* * * * * 

Columbus 

Survey Area 

Alabama: 

Autauga 

Elmore 

Lee 

Macon 

Montgomery 

Russell 

Georgia: 

Chattahoochee 

Columbus 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

Alabama: 

Bullock 

Butler 

Chambers 

Coosa 

Crenshaw 

Dallas 

Lowndes 

Pike 

Tallapoosa 

Wilcox 

Georgia: 

Harris 

Marion 

Quitman 

Schley 

Stewart 

Talbot 

Taylor 

Troup 

Webster 

* * * * * 

MARYLAND 

* * * * * 

Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg 

Survey Area 

Maryland: 

Washington 

Pennsylvania: 

Franklin 

West Virginia: 

Berkeley 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

Maryland: 

Allegany 

Garrett 

Pennsylvania: 

Fulton 

Virginia (cities): 

Harrisonburg 

Winchester 

Virginia (counties): 

Frederick 

Greene 

Madison 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
64686 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

Page 

Rockingham 

Shenandoah 

West Virginia: 

Hampshire 

Hardy 

Mineral 

Morgan 

* * * * * 

MINNESOTA 

* * * * * 

Minneapolis-St. Paul 

Survey Area 

Minnesota: 

Anoka 

Carver 

Chisago 

Dakota 

Hennepin 

Ramsey 

Scott 

Washington 

Wright 

Wisconsin: 

St. Croix 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

Minnesota: 

Benton 

Big Stone 

Blue Earth 

Brown 

Chippewa 

Cottonwood 

Dodge 

Douglas 

Faribault 

Fillmore 

Freeborn 

Goodhue 

Grant 

Isanti 

Kanabec 

Kandiyohi 

Lac Qui Parle 

Le Sueur 

McLeod 

Martin 

Meeker 

Mille Lacs 

Morrison 

Mower 

Nicollet 

Olmsted 

Pope 

Redwood 

Renville 

Rice 

Sherburne 

Sibley 

Stearns 

Steele 

Stevens 

Swift 

Todd 

Traverse 

Wabasha 

Wadena 

Waseca 

Watonwan 

Yellow Medicine 

Wisconsin: 

Pierce 

Polk 

* * * * * 

Missouri 

Kansas City 

Survey Area 

Kansas: 

Johnson 

Leavenworth 

Wyandotte 

Missouri: 

Cass 

Clay 

Jackson 

Platte 

Ray 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

Kansas: 

Allen 

Anderson 

Atchison 

Bourbon 

Doniphan 

Douglas 

Franklin 

Linn 

Miami 

Missouri: 

Adair 

Andrew 

Atchison 

Bates 

Buchanan 

Caldwell 

Carroll 

Chariton 

Clinton 

Cooper 

Daviess 

De Kalb 

Gentry 

Grundy 

Harrison 

Henry 

Holt 

Howard 

Johnson 

Lafayette 

Linn 

Livingston 

Macon 

Mercer 

Nodaway 

Pettis 

Putnam 

Saline 

Schuyler 

Sullivan 

Worth 

* * * * * 

NORTH CAROLINA 

* * * * * 

Charlotte 

Survey Area 

North Carolina: 

Cabarrus 

Gaston 

Mecklenburg 

Rowan 

Union 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

North Carolina: 

Alexander 

Anson 

Catawba 

Cleveland 

Iredell 

Lincoln 

Stanly 

Wilkes 

South Carolina: 

Chester 

Chesterfield 

Lancaster 

York 

* * * * * 

SOUTH CAROLINA 

* * * * * 

Columbia 

Survey Area 

South Carolina: 

Darlington 

Florence 

Kershaw 

Lee 

Lexington 

Richland 

Sumter 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

South Carolina: 

Abbeville 

Anderson 

Calhoun 

Cherokee 

Clarendon 

Fairfield 

Greenville 

Greenwood 

Laurens 

Newberry 

Oconee 

Orangeburg 

Pickens 

Saluda 

Spartanburg 

Union 

* * * * * 

WISCONSIN 

* * * * * 

Southwestern Wisconsin 

Survey Area 

Wisconsin: 

Chippewa 

Eau Claire 

La Crosse 

Monroe 

Trempealeau 

Area of Application. Survey area plus: 

Minnesota: 

Houston 

Winona 

Wisconsin: 

Barron 

Buffalo 

Clark 

Crawford 

Dunn 

Florence 

Forest 

Jackson 

Juneau 

Langlade 

Lincoln 

Marathon 

Marinette 

Menominee 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 2014 / Proposed Rules 64687 

Oneida 

Pepin 

Portage 

Price 

Richland 

Rusk 

Shawano 

Taylor 

Vernon 

Vilas 

Waupaca 

Wood 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2014–25903 Filed 10–30–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Part 9501 

RIN 3206–AL02 

Office of Personnel Management 

Criteria for Internal Revenue Service 

Broadbanding Systems 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

withdrawal. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) hereby withdraws a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 

regarding the criteria governing the 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 

broadbanding systems, published in the 

Federal Register April 17, 2007. OPM 

has determined withdrawal of the 

NPRM is appropriate as it would be 

impractical to issue this rule at this 

time. 

DATES: Effective Date: The proposed 

rule, published on April 17, 2007, in the 

Federal Register (72 FR 19126), is 

withdrawn as of October 31, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Melvin, Senior Human 

Resources Specialist, Office of 

Personnel Management, Employee 

Services, Pay and Leave, Room 7H31, 

1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC 

20415. Email: jennifer.melvin@opm.gov; 

Telephone: (202) 606–2858; or 

Facsimile: (202) 606–0824. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under 5 U.S.C. 9509, the Secretary of 

the Treasury may, under criteria 

prescribed by the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM), establish one or 

more broadbanding systems covering all 

or any portion of the Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS) workforce that would 

otherwise be covered by the General 

Schedule (GS) pay and classification 

system. OPM published its criteria for 

IRS broadbanding systems as a final 

notice in the Federal Register on 

December 19, 2000 (65 FR 79433) and 

the criteria in that notice are still in 

effect. 

On April 17, 2007, OPM issued a 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 

in the Federal Register (72 FR 19126) to 

amend title 5, Code of Federal 

Regulations, to establish a new chapter 

XCV and part 9501 providing revised 

criteria for IRS broadbanding systems. 

The proposed regulations would have 

provided the Department of the 

Treasury with the flexibility, in 

coordination with OPM, to establish 

broader bands for covered IRS 

employees and would have established 

a more direct relationship between pay 

and performance. The proposed 

regulations would have also revised the 

criteria consistent with changes in the 

GS pay administration rules made by 

the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 

2004 and OPM implementing 

regulations. 

The comment period for the NPRM 

closed on June 18, 2007. OPM received 

and considered all five written 

comments in response to the NPRM. 

Comments were received from one 

Federal agency, one labor organization, 

two professional associations, and one 

individual. The following is a general 

overview of the comments OPM 

received during the public comment 

period raised in connection with the 

merits of the proposed rule. 

The comments received were varied. 

The main items of concern included the 

role of labor organizations in applying 

the IRS broadbanding system authority 

and OPM criteria, the maximum number 

of grades that may be combined into a 

band, the requirements and flexibilities 

for providing various within-band pay 

adjustments, performance ratings and 

the IRS performance management 

system, limitations on the maximum 

rates of pay for bands, and the flexibility 

to establish control points that limit 

salary progression within bands. Several 

commenters also asked for clarification 

regarding the language used in various 

parts of the proposed rule. 

Office of Personnel Management. 

Katherine Archuleta, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25902 Filed 10–30–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Part 94 

[Docket No. APHIS–2014–0032] 

Importation of Beef From a Region in 

Argentina 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: We are reopening the 

comment period for our proposed rule 

that would allow, under certain 

conditions, the importation of fresh 

(chilled or frozen) beef from a region in 

Argentina located north of Patagonia 

South and Patagonia North B, referred to 

as Northern Argentina. This action will 

allow interested persons additional time 

to prepare and submit comments. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

proposed rule published on August 29, 

2014 (79 FR 51508) is reopened. We will 

consider all comments that we receive 

on or before December 29, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/#!docket

Detail;D=APHIS–2014–0032. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2014–0032, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;

D=APHIS–2014–0032 or in our reading 

room, which is located in room 1141 of 

the USDA South Building, 14th Street 

and Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC. Normal reading room 

hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except holidays. To be 

sure someone is there to help you, 

please call (202) 799–7039 before 

coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Silvia Kreindel, Senior Staff 

Veterinarian, Regionalization Evaluation 

Services, National Import Export 

Services, Veterinary Services, APHIS, 

4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1231; (301) 851–3313. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

29, 2014, we published in the Federal 

Register (79 FR 51508–51514, Docket 

No. APHIS–2014–0032) a proposal to 

allow, under certain conditions, the 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS