Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, Job Corps Evidence Building Portfolio, New Collection, 1528-1529 [2021-00078]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2021 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request, Job Corps
Evidence Building Portfolio, New
Collection
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Policy, Chief Evaluation
Office, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:
The Department of Labor
(DOL), as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, conducts a preclearance
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). 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
is properly assessed. Currently, the
Department of Labor is soliciting
comments concerning the collection of
data about the Job Corps Evidence
Building Portfolio. A copy of the
proposed Information Collection
Request (ICR) can be obtained by
contacting the office listed below in the
addressee section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted to the office listed in the
addressee section below on or before
March 9, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by either one of the following methods:
Email: ChiefEvaluationOffice@
dol.gov; Mail or Courier: Jessica
Lohmann, Chief Evaluation Office,
OASP, U.S. Department of Labor, Room
S–2312, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210. Instructions:
Please submit one copy of your
comments by only one method. All
submissions received must include the
agency name and OMB Control Number
identified above for this information
collection. Comments, including any
personal information provided, become
a matter of public record. They will also
be summarized and/or included in the
request for OMB approval of the
information collection request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jessica Lohmann by email at
ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov or by
phone at (202)693–5087.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:23 Jan 07, 2021
Jkt 253001
I. Background
The Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) of
the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
intends to design and conduct an
evaluation to assess the implementation
and outcomes of three Job Corps
demonstration pilots. The goals of the
implementation and outcomes
evaluation are to understand who the
pilots enroll, what services they
provide, how these services are
implemented, and how the pilots
compare with traditional Job Corps. The
evaluation will also assess outcomes of
participants in the demonstration pilots,
as well as identify any best practices.
The project also includes impact
feasibility assessments of each of the
demonstration pilots to assess the
potential for conducting an impact
evaluation of the pilot’s effectiveness or
similar future pilots. This Federal
Register Notice provides the
opportunity to comment on proposed
data collection instruments that will be
used in the implementation and impact
feasibility evaluation: Semi-structured
program staff and stakeholder interview
topic guide, participant interview or
focus group topic guide, program survey
of Job Corps centers and demonstration
pilot grantees, and impact feasibility
topic guide.
1. Semi-structured interviews with
program staff and staff from selected
community partner organizations topic
guide. Interviews will be conducted
over the phone or video or during inperson site visits in 2022. Each of the
pilot demonstration projects draw on a
range of staff and partners that deliver
services; thus, interviews may include
pilot staff, partner staff, employers, and
training and education providers. We
estimate that approximately 175
interviews will be conducted across all
pilots. We will also observe program
activities, either in person or virtually
via phone or video, to help us describe
key program components and
participant engagement. The
observations will not involve additional
burden.
2. Participant interviews or focus
group topic guide. We will also
interview demonstration pilot
participants through one-on-one
interviews or focus groups. Focus
groups or interviews will be conducted
with approximately 25 interviewees to
175 interviewees across all pilots. These
interviews or focus groups may be
conducted in person, online, or over the
phone.
3. Program survey of Job Corps centers
and demonstration pilot grantees. The
project will field a program survey to
each of the Job Corps centers and
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Frm 00054
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
demonstration pilots to gather
information about program
implementation, service offerings, and
staffing. The survey will be fielded to
131 Job Corps centers, and up to 30 pilot
demonstration sites in spring 2022.
4. Impact feasibility assessment
interviews with demonstration pilot staff
topic guide. In addition to the
implementation and outcome study, the
evaluation will gather information from
select grantee staff about topics related
to feasibility of conducting an impact
study of the demonstration pilot. The
team will conduct phone, video or in
person interviews with grantee staff
who are involved in management,
enrollment, and program services in fall
2021/winter 2022. The project will
conduct 25 interviews across the three
pilots.
II. Desired Focus of Comments
Currently, the Department of Labor is
soliciting comments concerning the
above data collection for the Job Corps
Evidence Building Project. DOL is
particularly interested in comments that
do the following:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance functions of
the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
• evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s burden estimate of the
proposed information collection,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions;
• 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—
for example, permitting electronic
submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions
At this time, the Department of Labor
is requesting clearance for the semistructured program and partner staff
topic guide, participant interview and
focus group topic guide, grantee
program survey, and impact feasibility
study topic guide.
Type of Review: New information
collection request.
OMB Control Number: 1290–0NEW.
Affected Public: Job Corp centers and
demonstration pilots, partners and
participants.
Comments submitted in response to
this request will be summarized and-or
included in the request for Office of
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08JAN1
1529
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2021 / Notices
Management and Budget approval of the
information collection request; they will
also become a matter of public record.
ESTIMATED ANNUAL BURDEN HOURS
Type of Instrument
(form-activity)
Number of
respondents
Semi-structured interview with staff,
partners, and stakeholders topic
guide ...................................................
Participant interview or focus group protocol ....................................................
Program survey of JC Centers and pilots ......................................................
Impact feasibility topic guide ..................
Total ................................................
Christina Yancey,
Chief Evaluation Officer, U.S. Department of
Labor.
[FR Doc. 2021–00078 Filed 1–7–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–HX–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of Workers’ Compensation
Programs
[Docket No. WCPO–2020–0002]
Guidance on Black Lung Benefits Act
Self-Insurance
Office of Workers’
Compensation Programs, Labor.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comments.
SUMMARY: The Office of Workers’
Compensation Programs (OWCP) is
announcing publication of a preliminary
program bulletin titled ‘‘DCMWC SelfInsurance Process Guidelines’’
describing the agency’s updated process
for evaluating self-insurance
applications under the Black Lung
Benefits Act (BLBA). The BLBA requires
coal mine operators to secure the
payment of benefits by either
purchasing commercial insurance or
obtaining the Department’s
authorization to self-insure those
liabilities. Authorization to self-insure
may be granted or denied at the
Department’s discretion. OWCP is
making the programmatic changes and
preliminary bulletin available for public
comment pursuant to the Department of
Labor’s PRO Good Guidance Rule.
tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY:
The Department invites written
comments on the self-insurance
program and the bulletin from
interested parties. Written comments
must be received by February 8, 2021.
DATES:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:23 Jan 07, 2021
Jkt 253001
Number of
responses per
respondent
Estimated
burden
hours
175
1
175
1.5
262.5
175
1
175
1.5
262.5
161
30
1
1
161
30
2
1.5
322
45
541
..............................
541
..............................
892
You may submit written
comments electronically by the
following method:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions on the website for
submitting comments.
Instructions. Include the docket
number WCPO–2020–0002 in your
comments. All comments received will
be posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov. Please do not
include any personally identifiable or
confidential business information you
do not want publicly disclosed.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael Chance, Director, Division of
Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation,
Office of Workers’ Compensation
Programs, U.S. Department of Labor,
200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N–
3464, Washington, DC 20210.
Telephone: 1–800–347–2502. This is a
toll-free number. TTY/TDD callers may
dial toll-free 1–800–877–8339 for
further information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ADDRESSES:
I. Overview
The BLBA provides benefits to coal
miners who are totally disabled by
pneumoconiosis (commonly known as
black lung disease) and to certain of
their survivors. The BLBA requires coal
mine operators to secure the payment of
benefits by either purchasing
commercial insurance or obtaining the
Department’s authorization to selfinsure those liabilities. 30 U.S.C. 933(a).
Authorization to self-insure may be
granted or denied at the Department’s
discretion. 20 CFR 726.101(a). When a
self-insurer is unable (or unwilling) to
meet its payment obligations, the Black
Lung Disability Trust Fund (Trust Fund)
makes those payments. Although the
Trust Fund acts as a backstop, Congress
intended ‘‘to ensure that individual coal
PO 00000
Average
burden time
per response
(hours)
Total
number of
responses
Frm 00055
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
operators rather than the trust fund bear
the liability for [black lung] claims
arising out of such operators’ mines to
the maximum extent feasible.’’ See Old
Ben Coal Co. v. Luker, 826 F.2d 688, 693
(7th Cir. 1987) (quoting S. Rep. No. 209,
95th Cong., 1st Sess. 9 (1977), reprinted
in House Comm. on Educ. and Labor,
96th Cong., Black Lung Benefits Reform
Act and Black Lung Benefits Revenue
Act of 1977, 612 (Comm. Print 1979));
20 CFR 725.1(e). To help ensure that
self-insured operators’ liabilities do not
fall on the Trust Fund, OWCP created
new forms CM–2017, CM–2017a, and
CM–2017b and now seeks to update its
process for evaluating the information
collected through those forms to
determine whether a coal mine operator
should be allowed to self-insure and to
determine the security amount each
operator must provide to guarantee
payment of current and future
liabilities. OWCP has set forth the
updated process in its preliminary
bulletin titled ‘‘DCMWC Self-Insurance
Process Guidelines.’’ OWCP now seeks
public comment on the bulletin and the
process discussed in the bulletin.
II. Bulletin Publication
Out of an abundance of caution,
OWCP is requesting comments on the
bulletin and its underlying
programmatic changes, in line with the
requirements of the Department’s PRO
Good Guidance Rule, see 29 CFR part
89, and also because OWCP believes the
public’s input on the self-insurance
process could be very helpful to the
program’s administration. OWCP’s
request for comments is also consistent
with the openness and transparency
goals of the Department’s guidance
regulations; E.O. 13891, 84 FR 55235
(Oct. 15, 2019); and OMB’s Final
Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance
Practices, 72 FR 3432 (Jan. 25, 2007).
E:\FR\FM\08JAN1.SGM
08JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1528-1529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00078]
[[Page 1528]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request, Job Corps Evidence Building Portfolio, New
Collection
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Chief Evaluation
Office, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL), as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a
preclearance 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). 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 is properly assessed. Currently, the Department of Labor is
soliciting comments concerning the collection of data about the Job
Corps Evidence Building Portfolio. A copy of the proposed Information
Collection Request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the office
listed below in the addressee section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addressee section below on or before March 9, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either one of the following
methods:
Email: [email protected]; Mail or Courier: Jessica
Lohmann, Chief Evaluation Office, OASP, U.S. Department of Labor, Room
S-2312, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210. Instructions:
Please submit one copy of your comments by only one method. All
submissions received must include the agency name and OMB Control
Number identified above for this information collection. Comments,
including any personal information provided, become a matter of public
record. They will also be summarized and/or included in the request for
OMB approval of the information collection request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Lohmann by email at
[email protected] or by phone at (202)693-5087.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) of the U.S. Department of Labor
(DOL) intends to design and conduct an evaluation to assess the
implementation and outcomes of three Job Corps demonstration pilots.
The goals of the implementation and outcomes evaluation are to
understand who the pilots enroll, what services they provide, how these
services are implemented, and how the pilots compare with traditional
Job Corps. The evaluation will also assess outcomes of participants in
the demonstration pilots, as well as identify any best practices. The
project also includes impact feasibility assessments of each of the
demonstration pilots to assess the potential for conducting an impact
evaluation of the pilot's effectiveness or similar future pilots. This
Federal Register Notice provides the opportunity to comment on proposed
data collection instruments that will be used in the implementation and
impact feasibility evaluation: Semi-structured program staff and
stakeholder interview topic guide, participant interview or focus group
topic guide, program survey of Job Corps centers and demonstration
pilot grantees, and impact feasibility topic guide.
1. Semi-structured interviews with program staff and staff from
selected community partner organizations topic guide. Interviews will
be conducted over the phone or video or during in-person site visits in
2022. Each of the pilot demonstration projects draw on a range of staff
and partners that deliver services; thus, interviews may include pilot
staff, partner staff, employers, and training and education providers.
We estimate that approximately 175 interviews will be conducted across
all pilots. We will also observe program activities, either in person
or virtually via phone or video, to help us describe key program
components and participant engagement. The observations will not
involve additional burden.
2. Participant interviews or focus group topic guide. We will also
interview demonstration pilot participants through one-on-one
interviews or focus groups. Focus groups or interviews will be
conducted with approximately 25 interviewees to 175 interviewees across
all pilots. These interviews or focus groups may be conducted in
person, online, or over the phone.
3. Program survey of Job Corps centers and demonstration pilot
grantees. The project will field a program survey to each of the Job
Corps centers and demonstration pilots to gather information about
program implementation, service offerings, and staffing. The survey
will be fielded to 131 Job Corps centers, and up to 30 pilot
demonstration sites in spring 2022.
4. Impact feasibility assessment interviews with demonstration
pilot staff topic guide. In addition to the implementation and outcome
study, the evaluation will gather information from select grantee staff
about topics related to feasibility of conducting an impact study of
the demonstration pilot. The team will conduct phone, video or in
person interviews with grantee staff who are involved in management,
enrollment, and program services in fall 2021/winter 2022. The project
will conduct 25 interviews across the three pilots.
II. Desired Focus of Comments
Currently, the Department of Labor is soliciting comments
concerning the above data collection for the Job Corps Evidence
Building Project. DOL is particularly interested in comments that do
the following:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
evaluate the accuracy of the agency's burden estimate of
the proposed information collection, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions;
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--for example,
permitting electronic submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions
At this time, the Department of Labor is requesting clearance for
the semi-structured program and partner staff topic guide, participant
interview and focus group topic guide, grantee program survey, and
impact feasibility study topic guide.
Type of Review: New information collection request.
OMB Control Number: 1290-0NEW.
Affected Public: Job Corp centers and demonstration pilots,
partners and participants.
Comments submitted in response to this request will be summarized
and-or included in the request for Office of
[[Page 1529]]
Management and Budget approval of the information collection request;
they will also become a matter of public record.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Average burden
Type of Instrument (form-activity) Number of responses per Total number of time per Estimated burden
respondents respondent responses response (hours) hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Semi-structured interview with staff, partners, and 175 1 175 1.5 262.5
stakeholders topic guide................................
Participant interview or focus group protocol............ 175 1 175 1.5 262.5
Program survey of JC Centers and pilots.................. 161 1 161 2 322
Impact feasibility topic guide........................... 30 1 30 1.5 45
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total................................................ 541 ................. 541 ................. 892
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christina Yancey,
Chief Evaluation Officer, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2021-00078 Filed 1-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-HX-P
