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

The Office of Personnel Management is issuing interim regulations to implement section 301 of the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004, which amends the rules governing pay setting for employees covered by the General Schedule. In particular, we are revising provisions related to special rates, locality rates, and retained rates. The statutory and regulatory changes are designed to correct a variety of pay administration anomalies that resulted in unfair pay reductions or unwarranted pay increases, to allow locality rates and special rates to be treated in similar ways, and to improve the operation of the special rates program.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing the final regulations that set forth rules for the administration of the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP).

On February 28, 2005, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued proposed rules regarding the notification and training requirements of Title II of the No FEAR Act (70 FR 9544). The proposed rule contained a 60-day comment period. Upon further consideration, OPM has decided to reopen the initial comment period until June 28, 2005.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a request for extension of two previously- approved information collections for which approval will soon expire. OPM uses the two information collections, a price survey and a background survey, to gather data to be used in determining nonforeign area cost-of-living allowances (COLAs) paid to certain Federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. OPM conducts Price Surveys in the Washington, DC, area on an annual basis and once every 3 years in each allowance area on a rotating basis. Prior to these surveys, OPM conducts Background Surveys that are similar to the Price Surveys, but much more limited in scope. OPM uses the results of the Background Surveys to prepare for the Price Surveys. The COLA Price Survey is necessary for collecting living-cost data used to determine COLAs. OPM uses the Price Survey results to compare prices in the allowance areas with prices in the Washington, DC, area and to derive COLA rates where local living costs significantly exceed those in the DC area. The COLA Background Survey is necessary to determine the continued appropriateness of items, services, and businesses selected for the annual price surveys. OPM uses the Background Survey results to identify items to be priced and the outlets at which OPM will price the items in the Price Surveys. OPM will survey selected retail, service, realty, and other businesses and local governments in the allowance areas and in the Washington, DC, area. OPM will contact approximately 2,000 establishments in each annual Price Survey and approximately 100 establishments in each annual Background Survey. Participation in the surveys is voluntary. OPM estimates that the average price survey interview will take approximately 6 minutes, for a total burden of 200 hours. The average background survey interview will take approximately 6.5 minutes, for a total burden of 11 hours. For copies of this proposal, please contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey at (202) 606-8358; fax: (202) 418-3251; or E-mail: mbtoomey@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) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for review of a revised information collection. RI 25-7, Marital Status Certification Survey, is used to determine whether widows, widowers, and former spouses receiving survivor annuities from OPM have remarried before reaching age 55 and, thus, are no longer eligible for benefits from OPM. 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 those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological techniques or other forms of information technology. Approximately 2,500 forms are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 625 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 Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing final regulations modifying the Presidential Management Intern (PMI) Program. The regulations implement Executive Order 13318, which renames the PMI Program as the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program, with two components: Presidential Management Fellows (Fellows) and Senior Presidential Management Fellows (Senior Fellows). The regulations prescribe OPM and agency responsibilities with respect to administration of the PMF Program and amend other regulations to reflect the changes established by the Executive Order. In addition, the regulations allow the OPM Director to provide guidance for an orderly transition from the PMI Program to the PMF Program.

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

The Office of Personnel Management is issuing final regulations to implement a change in law that requires the pay of heads of agencies and other designated employees to be calculated and paid on a biweekly basis instead of on a monthly basis. The final regulations also prescribe the circumstances under which an agency may calculate the pay of an employee on a biweekly pay period basis whose pay otherwise would be calculated on a monthly or other basis.