Labor Surplus Area Classification, 45895-45896 [2017-20977]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2017 / Notices pay. The proposed Consent Decree also requires the City to cooperate with EPA and any parties performing cleanup work at the Site and to assist with implementing any necessary land use restrictions. The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on the Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and should refer to United States v. City of Cass Lake, D.J. Ref. No. 90–11–3–06790/3. All comments must be submitted no later than thirty (30) days after the publication date of this notice. Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail: To submit comments: Send them to: By email ....... pubcomment-ees.enrd@ usdoj.gov. Assistant Attorney General, U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044–7611. By mail ......... During the public comment period, the Consent Decree may be examined and downloaded at this Justice Department Web site: https:// www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We will provide a paper copy of the Consent Decree upon written request and payment of reproduction costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent Decree Library, U.S. DOJ— ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044–7611. Please enclose a check or money order for $17.75 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury. For a paper copy without the exhibits and signature pages, the cost is $8.00. Randall M. Stone, Acting Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. [FR Doc. 2017–21040 Filed 9–29–17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410–15–P DEPARTMENT OF LABOR sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES Employment and Training Administration Labor Surplus Area Classification Employment and Training Administration, Labor. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The purpose of this notice is to announce the annual list of labor surplus areas for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:01 Sep 29, 2017 Jkt 244001 The annual list of labor surplus areas is effective October 1, 2017, for all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samuel Wright, Office of Workforce Investment, Employment and Training Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room C–4514, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693–2870 (This is not a toll-free number) or email wright.samuel.e@ dol.gov. DATES: The Department of Labor’s regulations implementing Executive Orders 12073 and 10582 are set forth at 20 CFR part 654, subpart A. These regulations require the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to classify jurisdictions as labor surplus areas pursuant to the criteria specified in the regulations, and to publish annually a list of labor surplus areas. Pursuant to those regulations, ETA is hereby publishing the annual list of labor surplus areas. In addition, the regulations provide exceptional circumstance criteria for classifying labor surplus areas when catastrophic events, such as natural disasters, plant closings, and contract cancellations are expected to have a long-term impact on labor market area conditions, discounting temporary or seasonal factors. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Eligible Labor Surplus Areas A Labor Surplus Area (LSA) is a civil jurisdiction that has a civilian average annual unemployment rate during the previous two calendar years of 20 percent or more above the average annual civilian unemployment rate for all states during the same 24-month reference period. ETA uses only official unemployment estimates provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in making these classifications. The average unemployment rate for all states includes data for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. LSA classification criteria stipulate a civil jurisdiction must have a ‘‘floor unemployment rate’’ of 6.0% or higher to be classified a LSA. Any civil jurisdiction that has a ‘‘ceiling unemployment rate’’ of 10% or higher is classified a LSA. Civil jurisdictions are defined as follows: 1. A city of at least 25,000 population on the basis of the most recently available estimates from the Bureau of the Census; or 2. A town or township in the States of Michigan, New Jersey, New York, or Pennsylvania of 25,000 or more population and which possess powers PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 45895 and functions similar to those of cities; or 3. All counties, except for those counties which contain any type of civil jurisdictions defined in ‘‘1’’ or ‘‘2’’ above; or 4. A ‘‘balance of county’’ consisting of a county less any component cities and townships identified in ‘‘1’’ or ‘‘2’’ above; or 5. A county equivalent which is a town in the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, or a municipio in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Procedures for Classifying Labor Surplus Areas The Department of Labor (DOL) issues the LSA list on a fiscal year basis. The list becomes effective each October 1, and remains in effect through the following September 30. The reference period used in preparing the current list was January 2014 through December 2016. The national average unemployment rate (including Puerto Rico) during this period is rounded to 5.12 percent. Twenty percent higher than the national unemployment rate during this period is rounded to 6.14 percent but 6.1453 percent (since 5 is the 3rd place behind the decimal) will be used for the unemployment qualifying rate. Therefore, areas included on the FY 2018 LSA list had an unemployment rate for the reference period of 6.1453 percent or higher. To ensure that all areas classified as labor surplus meet the requirements, when a city is part of a county and meets the unemployment qualifier as a LSA, that city is identified in the LSA list, the balance of county, not the entire county, will be identified as a LSA if the balance of county also meets the LSA unemployment criteria. The FY 2018 LSA list, statistical data on the current and some previous year’s LSAs are available at ETA’s LSA Web site https:// www.doleta.gov/programs/lsa.cfm. Petition for Exceptional Circumstance Consideration The classification procedures also provide criteria for the designation of LSAs under exceptional circumstances criteria. These procedures permit the regular classification criteria to be waived when an area experiences a significant increase in unemployment which is not temporary or seasonal and which was not reflected in the data for the 2-year reference period. Under the program’s exceptional circumstance procedures, LSA classifications can be made for civil jurisdictions, Metropolitan Statistical Areas or Combined Statistical Areas, as defined E:\FR\FM\02OCN1.SGM 02OCN1 45896 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2017 / Notices by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. In order for an area to be classified as a LSA under the exceptional circumstance criteria, the state workforce agency must submit a petition requesting such classification to the Department of Labor’s ETA. The current criteria for an exceptional circumstance classification are, (1) an area’s unemployment rate is at least 6.1453 percent for each of the three most recent months; (2) a projected unemployment rate of at least 6.1453 percent for each of the next 12 months; and (3) documentation that the exceptional circumstance event has occurred. The state workforce agency may file petitions on behalf of civil jurisdictions, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or Micropolitan Statistical Areas. The addresses of state workforce agencies are available on the ETA Web site at: https://www.doleta.gov/programs/ lsa.cfm. State Workforce Agencies may submit petitions in electronic format to wright.samuel.e@dol.gov, or in hard copy to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Workforce Investment, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room C–4514, Washington, DC 20210, Attention Samuel Wright. Data collection for the petition is approved under OMB 1205–0207, expiration date March 31, 2018. Signed at Washington, DC Byron Zuidema, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training. [FR Doc. 2017–20977 Filed 9–29–17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; ‘‘Suspension of Pension Benefits Pursuant to Regulations 29 CFR 2530.203–3’’ ACTION: Notice. On September 30, 2017, the Department of Labor (DOL) will submit the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ‘‘Suspension of Pension Benefits Pursuant to Regulations 29 CFR 2530.203–3,’’ to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use, without change, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:01 Sep 29, 2017 Jkt 244001 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited. DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that agency receives on or before November 1, 2017. ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR with applicable supporting documentation; including a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained free of charge from the RegInfo.gov Web site at https:// www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAView ICR?ref_nbr=201707-1210-002 or by contacting Michel Smyth by telephone at 202–693–4129, TTY 202–693–8064, (these are not toll-free numbers) or by email at DOL_PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov. Submit comments about this request by mail to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for DOL–EBSA, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503; by Fax: 202–395–5806 (this is not a toll-free number); or by email: OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov. Commenters are encouraged, but not required, to send a courtesy copy of any comments by mail or courier to the U.S. Department of Labor—OASAM, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Attn: Departmental Information Compliance Management Program, Room N1301, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; or by email: DOL_PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michel Smyth by telephone at 202–693– 4129, TTY 202–693–8064, (these are not toll-free numbers) or by email at DOL_ PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This ICR seeks to extend PRA authority for the Suspension of Pension Benefits Pursuant to Regulations 29 CFR 2530.203–3 information collection. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) section 203(a)(3)(B), 29 U.S.C. 1103(a)(3)(B), and its implementing regulations govern the circumstances under which a pension plan may suspend pension benefit payments to a retiree who returns to work or of a participant who continues to work beyond normal retirement age. In order for a plan to suspend benefits, it must notify the affected retiree or participant during the first calendar month or payroll period in which the plan withholds payment that benefits are suspended. The notice must include the specific reasons for such suspension, a general description of the plan provisions authorizing the suspension, a copy of the relevant plan provisions, and a statement indicating where the applicable regulations may be PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 found, i.e., 29 CFR 2530.203–3. The suspension notification must also inform the retiree or participant of the plan’s procedure for affording a review of the suspension of benefits. ERISA section 203 authorizes this information collection. See 29 U.S.C. 1103. This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and the public is generally not required to respond to an information collection, unless it is approved by the OMB under the PRA and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6. The DOL obtains OMB approval for this information collection under Control Number 1210–0048. The DOL seeks to extend PRA authorization for this information collection for three (3) more years, without any change to existing requirements. The DOL notes that existing information collection requirements submitted to the OMB receive a month-to-month extension while they undergo review. For additional substantive information about this ICR, see the related notice published in the Federal Register on May 22, 2017 (82 FR 23303). Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the OMB, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the address shown in the ADDRESSES section within thirty (30) days of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. In order to help ensure appropriate consideration, comments should mention OMB Control Number 1210–0048. The OMB 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 E:\FR\FM\02OCN1.SGM 02OCN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 189 (Monday, October 2, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45895-45896]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20977]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Labor Surplus Area Classification

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to announce the annual list of 
labor surplus areas for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018.

DATES: The annual list of labor surplus areas is effective October 1, 
2017, for all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samuel Wright, Office of Workforce 
Investment, Employment and Training Administration, 200 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Room C-4514, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-
2870 (This is not a toll-free number) or email wright.samuel.e@dol.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Labor's regulations 
implementing Executive Orders 12073 and 10582 are set forth at 20 CFR 
part 654, subpart A. These regulations require the Employment and 
Training Administration (ETA) to classify jurisdictions as labor 
surplus areas pursuant to the criteria specified in the regulations, 
and to publish annually a list of labor surplus areas. Pursuant to 
those regulations, ETA is hereby publishing the annual list of labor 
surplus areas.
    In addition, the regulations provide exceptional circumstance 
criteria for classifying labor surplus areas when catastrophic events, 
such as natural disasters, plant closings, and contract cancellations 
are expected to have a long-term impact on labor market area 
conditions, discounting temporary or seasonal factors.

Eligible Labor Surplus Areas

    A Labor Surplus Area (LSA) is a civil jurisdiction that has a 
civilian average annual unemployment rate during the previous two 
calendar years of 20 percent or more above the average annual civilian 
unemployment rate for all states during the same 24-month reference 
period. ETA uses only official unemployment estimates provided by the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics in making these classifications. The average 
unemployment rate for all states includes data for the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico. LSA classification criteria stipulate a civil jurisdiction 
must have a ``floor unemployment rate'' of 6.0% or higher to be 
classified a LSA. Any civil jurisdiction that has a ``ceiling 
unemployment rate'' of 10% or higher is classified a LSA.
    Civil jurisdictions are defined as follows:
    1. A city of at least 25,000 population on the basis of the most 
recently available estimates from the Bureau of the Census; or
    2. A town or township in the States of Michigan, New Jersey, New 
York, or Pennsylvania of 25,000 or more population and which possess 
powers and functions similar to those of cities; or
    3. All counties, except for those counties which contain any type 
of civil jurisdictions defined in ``1'' or ``2'' above; or
    4. A ``balance of county'' consisting of a county less any 
component cities and townships identified in ``1'' or ``2'' above; or
    5. A county equivalent which is a town in the States of 
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, or a municipio in the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Procedures for Classifying Labor Surplus Areas

    The Department of Labor (DOL) issues the LSA list on a fiscal year 
basis. The list becomes effective each October 1, and remains in effect 
through the following September 30. The reference period used in 
preparing the current list was January 2014 through December 2016. The 
national average unemployment rate (including Puerto Rico) during this 
period is rounded to 5.12 percent. Twenty percent higher than the 
national unemployment rate during this period is rounded to 6.14 
percent but 6.1453 percent (since 5 is the 3rd place behind the 
decimal) will be used for the unemployment qualifying rate. Therefore, 
areas included on the FY 2018 LSA list had an unemployment rate for the 
reference period of 6.1453 percent or higher. To ensure that all areas 
classified as labor surplus meet the requirements, when a city is part 
of a county and meets the unemployment qualifier as a LSA, that city is 
identified in the LSA list, the balance of county, not the entire 
county, will be identified as a LSA if the balance of county also meets 
the LSA unemployment criteria. The FY 2018 LSA list, statistical data 
on the current and some previous year's LSAs are available at ETA's LSA 
Web site https://www.doleta.gov/programs/lsa.cfm.

Petition for Exceptional Circumstance Consideration

    The classification procedures also provide criteria for the 
designation of LSAs under exceptional circumstances criteria. These 
procedures permit the regular classification criteria to be waived when 
an area experiences a significant increase in unemployment which is not 
temporary or seasonal and which was not reflected in the data for the 
2-year reference period. Under the program's exceptional circumstance 
procedures, LSA classifications can be made for civil jurisdictions, 
Metropolitan Statistical Areas or Combined Statistical Areas, as 
defined

[[Page 45896]]

by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. In order for an area to be 
classified as a LSA under the exceptional circumstance criteria, the 
state workforce agency must submit a petition requesting such 
classification to the Department of Labor's ETA. The current criteria 
for an exceptional circumstance classification are,
    (1) an area's unemployment rate is at least 6.1453 percent for each 
of the three most recent months;
    (2) a projected unemployment rate of at least 6.1453 percent for 
each of the next 12 months; and
    (3) documentation that the exceptional circumstance event has 
occurred. The state workforce agency may file petitions on behalf of 
civil jurisdictions, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or Micropolitan 
Statistical Areas.
    The addresses of state workforce agencies are available on the ETA 
Web site at: https://www.doleta.gov/programs/lsa.cfm. State Workforce 
Agencies may submit petitions in electronic format to 
wright.samuel.e@dol.gov, or in hard copy to the U.S. Department of 
Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Workforce 
Investment, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room C-4514, Washington, DC 
20210, Attention Samuel Wright. Data collection for the petition is 
approved under OMB 1205-0207, expiration date March 31, 2018.

    Signed at Washington, DC
Byron Zuidema,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.
[FR Doc. 2017-20977 Filed 9-29-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P

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