Commandant
United States Coast Guard
2100 Second Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20593-0001
(202) 426-2368
COMDTINST M12531.11A
9 DEC 1981
COMMANDANT INSTRUCTION M12531.11A
Subj: Environmental Differentials Paid for Exposure to Various Degrees of Hazards, Physical
Hardships, and Working Conditions of an Unusual Nature Under the Federal Wage System
1. PURPOSE
. This Manual Instruction provides information and instructions on administration
of the environmental differential pay plan for Federal Wage System (FWS) employees.
2. DIRECTIVES AFFECTED
. This Manual Instruction replaces Commandant Instruction
12531.11 which has been cancelled.
3. BACKGROUND
. One objective of the Coast Guard's Occupational Health and Safety
Program is to provide for the safety and health of its civilian and military personnel by
elimination or reduction to the lowest level possible of all hazards, physical hardships, and
working conditions of an unusually severe nature. Guidelines for carrying out this
responsibility are contained in the Coast Guard Safety and Occupational Health Manual,
COMDTINST M5100.29 series (Old CG-405), Occupational Health Monitoring RCS-G-KPS-
13013, COMDTINST 6260.5 series, Occupational Safety and Health Standards for Abrasive
Blasting and Painting Operations COMDTINST 6260.7 series, and many other Coast Guard
publications, such as the Civil Engineering Manual (CG-251), Naval Engineering Manual
(CG-413), and the Coating and Color Manual (CG-263), to name a few. When these efforts to
comply with published guidelines do not overcome the unusually severe nature of the hazard,
physical hardship, or working condition, an environmental differential is warranted. Even
though an environmental differential
