Proposed Extension of the Approval of Information Collection Requirements, 45255-45256 [E9-21025]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
• Office of Labor-Management Standards

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 168 (Tuesday, September 1, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45255-45256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-21025]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Labor-Management Standards


Proposed Extension of the Approval of Information Collection 
Requirements

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. 
Currently, the Office of Labor-Management Standards is soliciting 
comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval of the Information Collection 1215-0205: Pre-2007 
Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report (Pre-2007 Form LM-30). A 
copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by 
contacting the office listed below in the ADDRESSES section of this 
Notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
address section below on or before November 2, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Steven D. Lawrence, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Ave., NW., Room S-3201, Washington, DC 20210, telephone 
(202) 693-0292, fax (202) 693-1451, E-mail Lawrence.Steven@dol.gov. 
Please use only one method of transmission for comments (mail, fax, or 
E-mail).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Congress enacted the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act 
(LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. 401 et seq., to provide for the disclosure of 
information on the financial transactions and administrative practices 
of labor organizations, and, under certain circumstances, for reporting 
by labor organization officers and employees, employers, labor 
relations consultants, and surety companies. Section 208 of the Act 
authorizes the Secretary to issue rules and regulations prescribing the 
form of the required reports and such other rules and regulations 
(including rules prescribing reports concerning trusts in which a labor 
organization is interested) as may be necessary to prevent 
circumvention or evasion of the reporting requirements.
    The Secretary established the Form LM-30, Labor Organization 
Officer and Employee Report, pursuant to section 202 of the LMRDA, 29 
U.S.C. 432. See 29 CFR Part 404. Section 202 was intended to disclose 
certain payments and interests that could create a potential conflict 
of interest between the union officer and employee and his or her 
obligations to the union. The Form LM-30 requires every labor 
organization officer and employee (other than an employee performing 
exclusively clerical or custodial services) to file a Form LM-30 report 
within 90 days of the end of his/her fiscal year listing and describing 
certain financial transactions engaged in, and interests held by, the 
officer or employee or his/her spouse or minor child:

    (1) Legal and equitable interests, transactions with, and 
economic benefits from an employer whose employees his/her union 
represents or seeks to represent; (2) legal and equitable interests 
in, transactions with, and economic benefits from certain businesses 
that deal in substantial part with the business of the employer 
whose employees the union represents or seeks to represent, or that 
deal with the union or a trust in which the labor organization is 
interested; and (3) certain income and other economic benefits 
received from any employer or labor relations consultant.

    The Form LM-30 applies to officers and employees of labor 
organizations with private sector employees working in interstate 
commerce within the meaning of sections 3(i) and (j) of the LMRDA, 29 
U.S.C. 402(i) and (j), and of labor organizations composed of U.S. 
Postal Service employees. It does not apply to officers and employees 
of labor organizations that represent employees of the executive branch 
agencies of the

[[Page 45256]]

Federal Government, the Library of Congress, the Government Printing 
Office, or employees of the U.S. Congress. Form LM-30 filers must 
ensure the maintenance and retention of supporting records for five 
years after the required reports are filed.
    On July 2, 2007, the Department published a final rule establishing 
a revised Form LM-30, which dramatically altered the pre-2007 Form LM-
30 (72 FR 36105). The information collection for the 2007 version of 
the Form LM-30 is currently approved by OMB through November 30, 2011, 
with an OMB number of 1215-0188. (Information collection 1215-0188 also 
includes the remaining LMRDA reporting and disclosure forms).
    However, fundamental questions have arisen regarding the scope and 
extent of the reporting obligations under the 2007 Form LM-30 and 
remain unanswered, and litigation challenging some aspects of this form 
remains pending. The Department published in the spring 2009 Semi-
Annual Regulatory Agenda notice of an intended rulemaking to revise the 
Form LM-30. The rulemaking is intended to review questions of policy 
and law surrounding the union officer and employee-reporting obligation 
and will focus on reporting changes resulting from the 2007 regulatory 
revision of the LM-30 form and instructions.
    While the planned rulemaking is pending, union officers and 
employees must continue to meet their statutory obligation pursuant to 
section 202 of the LMRDA. In light of the unresolved questions 
regarding the scope of reporting required under section 202, the 
pending regulatory action, the pending litigation, and the statutorily 
mandated filing obligation, the Department has determined that it would 
not be a good use of resources to bring enforcement actions based upon 
a failure to use a specific form to comply with the statutory 
obligation to report under section 202 of the LMRDA. Accordingly, the 
Department will refrain from initiating enforcement actions against 
union officers and union employees based solely on the failure to file 
the report required by section 202 using the 2007 form, as long as 
individuals meet their statutorily-required filing obligation in some 
manner. The Department will accept a report filed on either the pre-
2007 Form LM-30 or the 2007 form for purposes of this enforcement 
policy.
    This information collection request is needed to ensure that filers 
have both options available pending regulatory action, and pertains 
only to the pre-2007 Form LM-30. This information collection is 
currently approved for use through September 30, 2009. The Department 
is seeking an extension of this information collection on the pre-2007 
Form LM-30 through November 30, 2011. This date is the current 
expiration date for OMB Number 1215-0188 (all other reporting and 
disclosure forms).

II. Review Focus

    The Department of Labor is particularly interested in comments 
that:
    * Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    * 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;
    * Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    * 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.

III. Current Actions

    The DOL seeks the approval of the extension of this information 
collection in order to ensure parties receive information required by 
the LMRDA and for the agency to carry out its responsibilities under 
the Act.
    Type of Review: Extension.
    Agency: Office of Labor-Management Standards.
    Title: Pre-2007 Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report 
(Pre-2007 Form LM-30).
    OMB Number: 1215-0205.
    Affected Public: Private Sector.
    Total Respondents: 1,998.
    Total Annual Responses: 1,998.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,166.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 35 minutes.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they will also become a 
matter of public record.

    Dated: August 27, 2009.
Steven D. Lawrence,
Acting Chief, Branch of Management Review and Internal Control, 
Division of Financial Management, Office of Management, Administration 
and Planning.
[FR Doc. E9-21025 Filed 8-31-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-CP-P