Office of Personnel Management 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is republishing the proposed rule published on December 13, 2005, due to information that was inadvertently omitted. The purpose of these regulations is to revise the Administrative Law Judge Program. The purpose of these revisions is to remove procedures that appear in other parts of this chapter, update outdated information, and remove the internal examining processes from the regulations. Additionally, these revisions describe OPM and agency responsibilities concerning the Administrative Law Judge Program. This proposed regulation continues the basic intent of making administrative law judges independent in matters of tenure and compensation.

On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the Office of Personnel Management is issuing final regulations on locality pay areas for General Schedule employees. The final regulations merge the Kansas City, St. Louis, and Orlando locality pay areas with the Rest of U.S. locality pay area; create new locality pay areas for Buffalo, NY; Phoenix, AZ; and Raleigh, NC; add the Federal Correctional Complex Butner, NC, to the Raleigh locality pay area under revised criteria for evaluating Federal facilities that cross locality pay area boundaries; add Fannin County, TX, to the Dallas-Fort Worth locality pay area; and make minor changes in the official description of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside and Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia locality pay areas. The new locality pay area definitions will become effective in January 2006.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing final regulations to implement provisions of the Jobs for Veterans Act, signed into law on November 7, 2002. This Act makes a major change in the eligibility criteria for obtaining a Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA).

This gives notice of OPM decisions granting authority to make appointments under Schedules A, B, and C in the excepted service as required by 5 CFR 6.6 and 213.103.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for review of an expiring information collection form. OPM-1386B, Applicant Race and National Origin Questionnaire, is used to gather information concerning the race and national origin of applicants for employment under the Outstanding Scholar provision of the Luevano Consent Decree, 93 F.R.D. 68 (1981). New standards for collecting race and ethnicity are defined in the Federal Register notice, ``Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity,'' 62 FR 58782 (1997). The standards change the classification of Federal data on race and ethnicity contained in OMB Directive 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting. This classification provides a minimum standard for maintaining, collecting, and presenting data on race and ethnicity. The standards have five categories for race and two categories for ethnicity. They also allow individuals to select more than one race, based on self-identification. Approximately 100,000 OPM-1386B forms are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 8,333 hours. Comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Office of Personnel Management and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey by telephone (202) 606-8358, or by e-mail MaryBeth.Smith-Toomey@opm.gov.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) plans to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for the review of an expiring information collection form, Occupational Questionnaire (OPM Form 1203-FX). The Occupational Questionnaire is an optical scan form designed to collect applicant information and qualifications in a format suitable for automated processing and to create applicant records for an automated examining system. The 1203 series was commonly referred to as the ``Qualifications and Availability Form C.'' OPM has re-titled the series as ``Occupational Questionnaire'' to fit a more generic need. OPM uses this form to carry out its responsibility for open competitive examining for admission to the competitive service in accordance with section 3304, of title 5, United States Code. OPM is not revising the current Occupational Questionnaire. OPM Form 1203-FX is a seven page version that allows the applicant to transmit information via facsimile, mail, or the Internet using a fillable Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) file. Additionally, OPM is discontinuing the three-page version, OPM Form 1203-EZ which was previously approved by OMB in 2002. It was thought at that time the shortened form would reduce the public burden in applying for federal positions, but with the advent of platform changes to OPM's automated staffing product, the additional system programming needed to recognize the difference between the FX and EZ forms never occurred. Comments are particularly invited on whether this information is necessary for the proper performance of OPM; whether it will have practical utility; whether OPM's estimate of public burden in the collection of the information is accurate, based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which the burden of information collection can be minimized on those that respond through the use of appropriate collection technology or other forms of information technology. The public reporting burden of collecting this information is estimated to vary from 20 to 45 minutes to complete this form including time for reviewing instructions, gathering the data needed, and completing and reviewing entries. The average time to complete the form is 30 minutes. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey at 202- 606-8358, fax at 202-418-3251, or e-mail at mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final regulation for the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). This regulation requires that each federation and unaffiliated organization applying to participate in the CFC must, as a condition of participation, certify that it is in compliance with all statutes, Executive orders, and regulations restricting or prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in transactions and dealings with countries, entities, and individuals subject to economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The Department of Defense (DoD or the Department) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are issuing final regulations to establish the National Security Personnel System (NSPS), a human resources management system, within DoD, as authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act (Pub. L. 108-136, November 24, 2003). These regulations govern basic pay, staffing, classification, performance management, labor relations, adverse actions, and employee appeals. These changes are designed to ensure that the Department's human resources management and labor relations systems align with its critical mission requirements and protects the civil service rights of its employees.

This gives notice of OPM decisions granting authority to make appointments under Schedules A, B, and C in the excepted service as required by 5 CFR 6.6 and 213.103.

The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the Central North Carolina Federal Wage System (FWS) appropriated fund wage area. The final rule removes Edgecombe and Wilson Counties, NC, from the survey area and adds Hoke County, NC, to the survey area. The redefinition of Edgecombe, Hoke, and Wilson Counties aligns the geographic definition of the Central North Carolina wage area more closely with the regulatory criteria used to define FWS wage areas.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a request for extension of three previously-approved information collection forms for which approval will soon expire. The Establishment Information Form, the Wage Data Collection Form, and the Wage Data Collection Continuation Form are wage survey forms developed by OPM for use by the Department of Defense to establish prevailing wage rates for Federal Wage System employees. The Department of Defense contacts approximately 21,200 businesses annually to determine the level of wages paid by private enterprise establishments for representative jobs common to both private industry and the Federal Government. Each survey collection requires 1-4 hours of respondent burden, resulting in a total yearly burden of approximately 75,800 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, fax (202) 418-3251, or e-mail mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing proposed regulations concerning employee surveys required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004. The regulations will add a new subpart which requires agencies to conduct an annual survey of their employees. In addition, the proposed regulations provide a list of questions that must appear in each agency's employee survey.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a request for reclearance of a revised information collection. SF 3102, Designation of Beneficiary (FERS), is used by an employee or an annuitant covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System to designate a beneficiary to receive any lump sum due in the event of his/her death. Approximately 2,893 SF 3102 forms are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 723 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 418-3251 or via e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

The Federal Salary Council will meet at the time and location shown below. The Council is an advisory body composed of representatives of Federal employee organizations and experts in the fields of labor relations and pay policy. The Council makes recommendations to the President's Pay Agent (the Secretary of Labor and the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management) about the locality pay program for General Schedule employees under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code. The Council's recommendations cover the establishment of modification of locality pay areas, the coverage of salary surveys, the process of comparing Federal and non-Federal rates of pay, and the level of comparability payments that should be paid. The Council will review the results of pay comparisons and formulate its recommendations to the President's Pay Agent on pay comparison methods, locality pay area boundaries for 2007. The Council anticipates it will complete its work for this year at this meeting and has not scheduled any additional meetings for 2005. The public may submit written materials about the locality pay program to the Council at the address shown below. The meeting is open to the public.

The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule that would remove Adams County, CO, from the Adams-Denver, CO, Federal Wage System (FWS) nonappropriated fund (NAF) wage area and redefine Arapahoe County, CO, from the area of application to the survey area. In addition, we propose to change the name of the Adams-Denver FWS NAF wage area to Arapahoe-Denver. These changes are necessary because the closure of Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Adams County left the Adams-Denver survey area without a host activity to conduct local NAF wage surveys.

This gives notice of OPM decisions granting authority to make appointments under Schedules A, B, and C in the excepted service as required by 5 CFR 6.6 and 213.103.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) submitted a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency clearance and review for a reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved collection for the OPM Form 1300, Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program Online Application and Resume Builder. Approval of the PMF Online Application and Resume Builder is necessary to facilitate the timely registration, nomination, selection, and placement of PMF finalists in Federal agencies. This also serves as the 60 Day Notice for review for full clearance. As a result of Executive Order 13318, the OPM issued a final rule on May 19, 2005 (FR, Vol. 70, No. 96, Page 28775) implementing new program regulations effective June 20, 2005. Consistent with these new regulations, the following significant changes have been made to the application and nomination process: (1) The programmatic guidance in the Program and Application Overview, found under the PMF Web site's ``How to Apply'' section, was rewritten to reflect myriad changes resulting from the new regulations; (2) the nomination process was modified to clarify that eligible graduate students are to be nominated by their school's Dean, Chairperson, or Academic Program Director (i.e. a nominating official), and not by a designee or nomination coordinator; and (3) the dates and times were revised from last year to reflect the current academic year of 2005/2006. We estimate 3,500 to 4,000 applications will be received and processed in the 2005/2006 open season for PMF applications. During the 2004/2005 open season OPM received approximately 3,321 applications, leading to 3,073 nominations by colleges and universities. We estimate students will need 2 hours to complete the OPM Form 1300 and electronically submit it to their school's nominating official. In addition, we estimate school nominating officials will need one-half hour to receive, review, and render a decision on the student's application for nomination into the PMF Program. The annual estimated burden for nominees is 8,000 hours and 2,000 hours for school nominating officials, for a total of 10,000 hours. Comments are particularly invited on: whether this information is necessary for the proper performance of functions on the Office of Personnel Management, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey at (202) 606-8358, fax (202) 418-3251, or e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include your complete mailing address with your request.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing final regulations to implement provisions contained in the E-Government Act of 2002. This law authorizes the temporary detail of employees in the field of information technology (IT) management from the Federal Government to private sector organizations. It also authorizes Federal agencies to accept private sector employees detailed under this program. This program is envisioned to promote the interchange of Federal and private sector workers to enhance skills and competencies.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing an interim regulation to amend its direct-hire authority regulations to allow non- Department of Defense agencies to recruit and appoint highly qualified individuals for certain Federal acquisition positions deemed as a shortage category under the Services Acquisition Reform Act.

This notice publishes revised shelter (rent) analyses relating to the ``2002 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance Survey Report: Caribbean and Washington, DC, Areas'' and the ``2003 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance Survey Report: Alaska and Washington, DC, Areas.'' The Federal Government uses the results of surveys such as these to set cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates for General Schedule, U.S. Postal Service, and certain other Federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This notice explains the revised shelter analyses adopted by the Office of Personnel Management based on additional research undertaken after the publication of these two reports.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for the elimination of the optional form (OF) called Applying for a Federal Job (OF 510), the revision of the optional form called Optional Application for Federal Employment (OF 612), the specifications of the improved resume builder in the USAJOBS Web site (https://www.USAJOBS.gov), and screen shots of the web pages within the USAJOBS Web site. OPM proposes eliminating the OF 510. The OF 510 is a brochure that has been used to provide guidance to the general public on how to apply for Federal jobs and how to construct a Federal resume (i.e., what necessary work, education, and other information applicants should include in their resumes or other applications). However, the same instructions contained in the OF 510 have been incorporated into the revised OF 612 and the USAJOBS resume builder. The instructions are also available through numerous other sources, including the USAJOBS Web site, that were not available at the time this brochure was originally created. This proposed action will eliminate the need to print, maintain, and distribute an instructional guide in hard copy format now that the information can be readily updated and delivered by leveraging current web and other automated technology. The OF 612 is a form used to collect applicant qualifications information associated with vacancy announcements. The form provides necessary guidance to applicants so that they can be considered for employment when applying for Federal jobs. Presently the OF 612 is downloadable from OPM's electronic forms page on the USAJOBS Web site (https://www.opm.gov/forms) in fillable pdf format. The data collected are necessary for Federal agencies to evaluate applicants for Federal jobs under the authority of sections 1104, 1302, 3301, 3304, 3320, 3361, 3393, and 3394 of title 5, United States Code. OPM has reconstructed the resume builder in the USAJOBS Web site to be in line with the data elements collected in the revised OF 612. The resume builder contains the critical elements applied across the Federal government to assess an applicant's qualifications as required under the aforementioned sections of 5 United States Code. The OF 612 and the resume builder in the USAJOBS Web site contain questions regarding the applicant's education history, including dates of attendance, name, type and place of institution, and degrees earned. Due to the increasing number of claimed degrees earned from non- accredited or bogus institutions, commonly referred to as ``diploma mills,'' the revised OF 612 and the USAJOBS resume ask applicants to list only degrees from schools that were accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or other education that meets the provisions of OPM's Operating Manual at www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e4.htm. The revised OF 612 and resume builder also advise applicants not to list education from degrees based solely on life experiences, or obtained from schools with little or no academic standards. The USAJOBS Web site is the Federal Government's official one-stop source for Federal jobs and employment information. USAJOBS is operated by OPM and provides job vacancy information, employment fact sheets, job applications/forms, and on-line resume development. Job seekers may create a ``My USAJOBS'' account where they can create up to five resumes. These resumes are stored in one location where they can be updated, saved, or sent at any time. The public reporting burden for the collection of the data will vary from 20 to 240 minutes, with an average of 90 minutes for both, the OF 612 and the online resume builder. This time estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering data, and completing and reviewing the information. OF 612burden hours calculation: Estimated number of respondents: 245,000. Average time to complete the OF 612: 90 min. (1.5 hours). 245,000 x 1.5 = 367,500 burden hours. Federal Resumeburden hours calculation: Estimated number of respondents: 3,510,600. Average time to complete the on-line resume builder: 90 min. (1.5 hours). 3,510,600 x 1.5 = 5,265,900 burden hours. The dramatic upsurge in responses is due to expansion and acceptance of resumes in the Federal application process and the advancement of technology to provide for online application, as well as increased interest by job seekers in Federal employment as evidenced by an eightfold growth in visits to the USAJOBS Federal employment information system in FY 2004 over FY 2003. The increase in time is based on new requirements that job applicants provide accreditation information for institutions of higher education from which they have received a degree. As job applicants will need to verify their education against this new requirement, the OF-612 or Federal resume will take longer to complete than it has in the past. As a result of the 60-day notice, OPM received one comment expressing concern about the additional burden for applicants. The reason for this extra burden was the requirement that applicants provide accreditation information for institutions of higher education from which they have received degrees. OPM has determined that this was a valid concern. Therefore, the OF 612 and the resume builder will contain specific instructions to the applicant to list only degrees from facilities that have been duly accredited by the U.S. Department of Education or other education that meets the provisions of OPM's Operating Manual at https://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e4.htm, and not from non-accredited or bogus institutions. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey by phone at (202) 606-8358, by FAX at (202) 418-3251, or via e-mail at MaryBeth.Smith-Toomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has completed its annual determination of the States that qualify as Medically Underserved Areas under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program for calendar year 2006. This is necessary to comply with a provision of the FEHB law that mandates special consideration for enrollees of certain FEHB plans who receive covered health services in States with critical shortages of primary care physicians. Accordingly, for calendar year 2006, OPM's calculations show that the following states are Medically Underserved Areas under the FEHB Program: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming. For the 2006 contract year Arizona and West Virginia are being added to the list and Texas is being removed.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for reclearance of a revised information collection. RI 34-1, Financial Resources Questionnaire, collects detailed financial information for use by OPM to determine whether to agree to a waiver, compromise, or adjustment of the collection of erroneous payments from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. RI 34-3, Notice of Amount Due Because of Annuity Overpayment, informs the annuitant about the overpayment and collects information. Approximately 520 RI 34-1 and 1, 561 RI 34-3 forms are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 60 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 520 hours and 1,561 hours respectively. The total amount estimated burden is 2,081 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 498-3251 or via e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

This gives notice of OPM decisions granting authority to make appointments under Schedules A, B and C in the excepted service as required by 5 CFR 6.6 and 213.103.