Office of Personnel Management December 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management announces the renewal of the Hispanic Council on Federal Employment (Council). The Commission shall advise the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on the implementation of leading employment practices in an effort to remove any unnecessary barriers to the recruitment, hiring, retention and advancement of Hispanics in the Federal workplace. The Council is an advisory committee composed of Federal employees and Hispanic organizations.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a proposed rule that would redefine the geographic boundaries of the Minneapolis- St. Paul, MN, and Southwestern Wisconsin appropriated fund Federal Wage System wage areas. The proposed rule would redefine Wabasha County, MN, from the Southwestern Wisconsin wage area to the Minneapolis-St. Paul wage area. This change is based on a recent consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee to best match Wabasha County to a nearby FWS survey area.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-503), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching Programs (54 FR 25818 published June 19, 1989), and OMB Circular No. A-130, revised November 28, 2000, ``Management of Federal Information Resources,'' the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is publishing notice of its new computer matching program with the Social Security Administration (SSA).

This notice identifies Schedule A, B, and C appointing authorities applicable to a single agency that were established or revoked from October 1, 2012, to October 31, 2012.

The Retirement Services, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a revised information collection request (ICR) 3206-0134, Application to Make Deposit or Redeposit (CSRS) and Application to Make Service Credit Payment for Civilian Service (FERS). As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35) as amended by the Clinger-Cohen Act (Pub. L. 104-106), OPM is soliciting comments for this collection. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in comments that: 1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; 2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; 3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing an interim regulation to amend regulations regarding the effect of any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation, or any court- approved property settlement agreement incident to any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation (hereinafter ``court order'') where the court order expressly provides that an individual receive Federal Employee's Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) benefits. The interim regulations will allow court orders submitted to the appropriate Federal agency before July 22, 1998 to be effective for providing FEGLI benefits if the court order was received in the appropriate office before the insured Federal employee's or annuitant's death. This revision does not affect the current statutory limitation that court orders apply only when FEGLI benefits are based on insured individuals who died after July 22, 1998.