SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On December 15, 2025, OPM published a final rule at 90 FR 57867 (the incentive waivers rule) amending subparts A and B of 5 CFR part 575 to expand agency authority to approve waivers of the payment limitations on recruitment and relocation incentives and to permit recruitment incentive service periods of less than 6 months. That rule became effective February 13, 2026. On February 6, 2026, OPM published a final rule at 91 FR 5580 (the Schedule Policy/Career rule) amending several parts of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, including §§ 575.104, 575.204, and 575.304 and the authority citation for part 575, to address incentive payments for employees whose positions are moved into Schedule Policy/Career. That rule became effective March 9, 2026. After publication, OPM identified the technical errors in part 575 described below, each of which has been carried into the Code of Federal Regulations. ( printed page 54797)

II. Need for Correction

A. Corrections Relating to the Schedule Policy/Career Rule

First, the Schedule Policy/Career rule revised and republished §§ 575.104, 575.204, and 575.304 (Ineligible categories of employees). In each section, the rule restructured former paragraphs (a) through (d) as paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(4) in order to add a new paragraph (b) addressing incentive payments for employees whose positions are moved into Schedule Policy/Career. The rule did not, however, conform the internal cross-reference in the introductory text of newly designated paragraph (a)(4) of each section, which continues to refer to “the exclusions in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section.” Under the revised structure of each section, the exclusions appear in paragraphs (a)(1) through (3); paragraph (b) is not an exclusion; and there is no paragraph (c). This document conforms the cross-reference in each of the three sections.

Second, the parallel paragraphs (b) added to §§ 575.104, 575.204, and 575.304 by the Schedule Policy/Career rule contain two unintended phrasing discrepancies: § 575.104(b)(1) requires the employee to “fulfill that term,” while the parallel provisions at §§ 575.204(b)(1) and 575.304(b)(1) use “fulfill that agreed-upon service period”; and the introductory text of § 575.304(b) reads “Notwithstanding any provision in this subpart,” while §§ 575.104(b) and 575.204(b) read “Notwithstanding any other provision in this subpart.” This document harmonizes the phrasing of these parallel provisions. No difference in meaning was intended or results.

Third, the Schedule Policy/Career rule revised the authority citation for part 575, setting out the citation as it existed before the incentive waivers rule. Because the Schedule Policy/Career rule became effective March 9, 2026, its revision superseded, without discussion, the revised authority citation for part 575 that the incentive waivers rule had made effective February 13, 2026. This document revises the authority citation for part 575 to restore the formulation adopted in the incentive waivers rule. The authorities cited are identical in substance under either formulation.

B. Correction Relating to the Incentive Waivers Rule

The incentive waivers rule revised § 575.110(a) to remove the requirement that a recruitment incentive service period be at least 6 months, permitting agencies to establish service periods of less than 6 months but not more than 4 years. The rule did not make the conforming amendment to the definition of “Service agreement” in § 575.102, which continues to describe “a specified period of employment of not less than 6 months or more than 4 years.” This document conforms the definition to § 575.110(a) as revised, consistent with the parallel definition in § 575.202.

C. Pre-Existing Typographical Error

In § 575.109(a), the introductory text joins the phrase “An agency may pay a recruitment incentive” to paragraph (a)(1) with a hyphen rather than an em dash. The error predates the two rules described above and appears in the official annual edition of the Code of Federal Regulations. This document replaces the hyphen with an em dash, consistent with the parallel provision at § 575.209(a).

III. Procedural Requirements

OPM finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to issue these correcting amendments without prior notice and opportunity for comment, because the amendments merely conform cross-references, definitions, parallel phrasing, and punctuation to regulatory text previously adopted after notice and comment, and make no substantive change to the regulations; notice and comment are therefore unnecessary. For the same reason, OPM finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to make these corrections effective upon publication.

Regulatory Review

OPM has examined this rule under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563. For the reasons discussed above, this rule is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866. This is not an E.O. 14192 regulatory action because this rule is not significant under E.O. 12866.

Signing Statement

The Director of OPM, Scott Kupor, reviewed and approved this document and has authorized the undersigned to electronically sign and submit this document to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

Accordingly, OPM corrects 5 CFR part 575 by making the following correcting amendments:

91 FR 54796