[Federal Register: February 4, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 23)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 5257-5258]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04fe04-1]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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[[Page 5257]]
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
5 CFR Part 532
RIN 3206-AJ78
Prevailing Rate Systems; Redefinition of the North Dakota and
Duluth, MN, Appropriated Fund Wage Areas
AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to
redefine the North Dakota and Duluth, MN, Federal Wage System (FWS)
appropriated fund wage areas. This rule redefines Clearwater and
Mahnomen Counties and the White Earth Indian Reservation portion of
Becker County from the North Dakota FWS wage area to the Duluth FWS
wage area. These changes assign all blue-collar Federal employees
working in Indian Health Service facilities in northern Minnesota to
one FWS wage schedule.
DATES: Effective Date: This regulation is effective on the first day of
the first applicable pay period beginning on or after March 5, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark A. Allen at (202) 606-2838, e-
mail maallen@opm.gov, or FAX: (202) 606-4264.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 22, 2003, the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) published a proposed rule (68 FR 50727) to redefine
the North Dakota and Duluth, MN, Federal Wage System (FWS) appropriated
fund wage areas. The proposed rule had a 30-day public comment period.
OPM received 3 comments: one from the Minnesota National Guard Adjutant
General Office; 1 from the manager of the Minnesota Army National Guard
Organizational Maintenance Shop Number Five, Detroit Lakes; and 1 from
an employee representative of FWS workers at the Detroit Lakes
Maintenance Shop, Becker County, MN.
The proposed rule would redefine Clearwater and Mahnomen Counties
and the White Earth Indian Reservation portion of Becker County from
the North Dakota FWS wage area to the Duluth FWS wage area. Public
comments supported these changes but also asked that OPM define all of
Becker County, MN, to the Duluth wage area.
We proposed redefining Clearwater and Mahnomen Counties and the
White Earth Indian Reservation portion of Becker County to the Duluth
wage area because FWS employees who work for closely related Bemidji
Area Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities in northern Minnesota are
currently in two separate FWS wage areas. The Department of Health and
Human Services requested that OPM redefine the North Dakota and Duluth
wage areas so that blue-collar employees of its IHS facilities in
northern Minnesota would be covered by one wage schedule.
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.
Based on our analysis of the regulatory criteria for defining
appropriated fund FWS wage areas, we find that the criteria for
Clearwater, Mahnomen, and Becker counties do not strongly favor
defining the counties to one FWS wage area more than another. However,
the IHS medical centers in northern Minnesota are in an unusual
situation in that they are in a rural area that is economically and
socially integrated by the local reservation system and not strongly
integrated with the labor markets in either the North Dakota or Duluth
FWS survey areas. It is desirable to have IHS employees aligned under
one wage schedule because the area and population serviced by the
medical centers serve as a unique labor market. However, there is
insufficient private sector industry and FWS employment in northern
Minnesota to meet OPM's regulatory requirements for establishing a
separate FWS wage area for the IHS employees there. Because it is not
feasible to establish a separate FWS wage area for IHS employees in
northern Minnesota, the FWS employment locations must be defined to the
area of application of an existing FWS wage area.
Analysis of OPM's regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas
shows that the majority of IHS employment locations under the Bemidji
Area in northern Minnesota are more closely aligned with the Duluth
wage area than the North Dakota wage area. The White Earth, Red Lake,
and Cass Lake Indian Health Centers are part of the Bemidji Area but
their associated reservations are not currently located entirely within
the Duluth wage area. The White Earth Indian Reservation occupies the
northern portion of Becker County and most of Mahnomen County, while
the Red Lake and Cass Lake Indian Reservations occupy the northern
portions of Clearwater County. We therefore proposed that Clearwater
and Mahnomen Counties be redefined from the North Dakota wage area to
the Duluth wage area. We also proposed that the White Earth Indian
Reservation portion of Becker County be redefined from the North Dakota
wage area to the Duluth wage area. There are 11 IHS employees in Becker
County and none in Clearwater or Mahnomen counties. There are several
FWS employees stationed in the part of Becker County that we did not
propose to define to the Duluth wage area.
The comments OPM received from Minnesota National Guard managers
and employees request that all of Becker County, rather than just the
White Earth Indian Reservation portion, be defined to the Duluth wage
area. The reasons cited in the requests include organizational
relationships in the Minnesota National Guard's Maintenance Division,
the cost of living in Becker County, and an analysis of economic and
salary indicators. Comments cited the fact that the Minnesota National
Guard's Maintenance Division has similar facilities with similar blue-
collar workforces in Detroit Lakes (Becker County), Cloquet (Carlton
County), and Hibbing (St. Louis County).
We do not find a compelling reason to place all of Becker County in
the Duluth wage area. Both Cloquet and Hibbing are located in the
Duluth FWS
[[Page 5258]]
survey area while Detroit Lakes is only 26 kilometers, or 16 miles,
from the North Dakota FWS survey area. Under the statutory principles
for determining FWS pay, we find that pay rates for FWS employees at
Minnesota National Guard facilities in Detroit Lakes, Cloquet, and
Hibbing are appropriate. We find no compelling reason that FWS pay
rates should be the same in Detroit Lakes as in Cloquet or Hibbing.
Detroit Lakes has little linkage with the labor market in the Duluth
survey area while it has a significant linkage with the North Dakota
survey area. For example, commuting rates from the 2000 Census show
that only 0.03 percent of the Becker County resident workforce commutes
to work in the Duluth FWS survey area. In comparison, 8.8 percent of
the Becker County resident workforce commutes to work in the North
Dakota FWS survey area.
We believe the mixed nature of the regulatory analysis findings for
Becker County, including demographic and industry patterns, indicates
that the non-IHS employment locations in Becker County should remain
appropriately defined to the North Dakota wage area. Because the pay of
FWS employees must be based on the local cost of labor rather than the
local cost of living, the local cost of living is not a factor OPM
considers when defining FWS wage area boundaries.
The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC), the
national labor-management committee that advises OPM on FWS pay
matters, reviewed and recommended these changes by consensus. Based on
its review of the regulatory criteria for defining FWS wage areas,
FPRAC recommended no other changes in the geographic definitions of the
North Dakota and Duluth wage areas. The affected IHS employees in
Becker County must be placed on the wage schedule for the Duluth wage
area on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning 30
days after the date this final regulation is published in the Federal
Register.
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.
Kay Coles James,
Director.
0
Accordingly, the Office of Personnel Management is amending 5 CFR part
532 as follows:
PART 532--PREVAILING RATE SYSTEMS
0
1. The authority citation for part 532 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5343, 5346; Sec. 532.707 also issued under 5
U.S.C. 552.
0
2. In appendix C to subpart B, the wage area listing for the State of
Minnesota is amended by revising the listing for Duluth; and for the
State of North Dakota, to read as follows:
Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 532--Appropriated Fund Wage and Survey
Areas
* * * * *
Minnesota
Duluth
Survey Area
Minnesota:
Carlton
St. Louis
Wisconsin:
Douglas
Area of Application. Survey Area Plus
Minnesota:
Aitkin
Becker (Including the White Earth Indian Reservation portion
only)
Beltrami
Cass
Clearwater
Cook
Crow Wing
Hubbard
Itasca
Koochiching
Lake
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen
Pine
Wisconsin:
Ashland
Bayfield
Burnett
Iron
Sawyer
Washburn
* * * * *
North Dakota
Survey Area
North Dakota:
Burleigh
Cass
Grand Forks
McLean
Mercer
Morton
Oliver
Traill
Ward
Minnesota:
Clay
Polk
Area of Application. Survey Area Plus
North Dakota:
Adams
Barnes
Benson
Billings
Bottineau
Bowman
Burke
Cavalier
Dickey
Divide
Dunn
Eddy
Emmons
Foster
Golden Valley
Grant
Griggs
Hettinger
Kidder
La Moure
Logan
McHenry
McIntosh
McKenzie
Mountrail
Nelson
Pembina
Pierce
Ramsey
Ransom
Renville
Richland
Rolette
Sargent
Sheridan
Sioux
Slope
Stark
Steele
Stutsman
Towner
Walsh
Wells
Williams
Minnesota:
Becker (Excluding the White Earth Indian Reservation portion)
Kittson
Marshall
Norman
Otter Tail
Pennington
Red Lake
Roseau
Wilkin
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 04-2149 Filed 2-3-04; 8:45 am]
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