Posting of Hearing Transcript Regarding Proposed Amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 (the QPAM Exemption) and Closing of Reopened Comment Period, 77140-77141 [2022-27334]

Download as PDF 77140 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 241 / Friday, December 16, 2022 / Notices lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 Overview of This Collection Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery. Abstract: The information collection activity will garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with the Administration’s commitment to improving service delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management. Feedback collected under this generic clearance will provide useful information, but it will not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data collection, and any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior fielding the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative results. Following is the Department of Justice’s projected average estimates for the next three years: Current Action: Extension. Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection. Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and VerDate Sep<11>2014 20:05 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 259001 Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government. Average Expected Annual Number of Activities: 42. Average Number of Respondents per Activity: 51,500. Annual Responses: 309,000. Frequency of Response: Once per request. Average Minutes per Response: 30 min. Burden Hours: 99,847. Federal Government Cost: $176,925. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number. If additional information is required contact: Robert Houser, Department Clearance Officer, Policy and Planning Staff, Justice Management Division, United States Department of Justice, Two Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE, 3E.206, Washington, DC 20530. Dated: December 13, 2022. Robert Houser, Department Clearance Officer for PRA, Policy and Planning Staff, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Justice. [FR Doc. 2022–27277 Filed 12–15–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410–ML–P DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employee Benefits Security Administration [Application No. D–12022] Z–RIN 1210 ZA07 Posting of Hearing Transcript Regarding Proposed Amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84–14 (the QPAM Exemption) and Closing of Reopened Comment Period Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor. ACTION: Notice of hearing transcript posting and closing of the reopened comment period. AGENCY: As discussed in the DATES section below, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is announcing that it has posted the transcript on its website of the virtual public hearing regarding the proposed amendment to prohibited transaction class exemption 84–14 (the QPAM Exemption) and determined the closing date for the proposed amendment’s reopened comment period. SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 The public hearing transcript was posted to EBSA’s website on December 12, 2022, and the reopened comment period for the proposed amendment will close on January 6, 2023. ADDRESSES: Please submit all written comments to the Office of Exemption Determinations through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: EBSA–2022–0008. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Scott Hesse, Office of Exemption Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. Telephone: (202) 693–8546 (this is not a toll-free number). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department published a proposed amendment to prohibited transaction class exemption 84–14 (the Proposed QPAM Exemption Amendment) on July 27, 2022, with a 60-day comment period that was set to expire on September 26, 2022.1 After the publication of the Proposed QPAM Exemption Amendment, the Department received two letters requesting an extension of the comment period for at least an additional 60 days.2 After carefully considering the extension request, the Department extended the initial comment period for an additional 15 days until October 11, 2022 (for 75-day total initial comment period) in a Federal Register notice published on September 9, 2022.3 The Department received 31 comment letters. In the same September 9, 2022, Federal Register notice, the Department announced on its own motion that it would hold a virtual public hearing on November 17, 2022 (and if necessary, on November 18, 2022), to provide an opportunity for all interested parties to testify on material information and issues regarding the Proposed QPAM Amendment.4 The Department received 13 requests to testify at the hearing. The notice also indicated the Department would: (1) reopen the public comment period from the hearing date until approximately 14 days after the Department publishes the hearing transcript on EBSA’s website; and (2) publish a Federal Register notice announcing that it has posted the DATES: 1 87 FR 45204. Public Comment #1 from American Bankers Association et al. and Public Comment #2 from American Retirement Association. The extension requests can be accessed here: https://www.dol.gov/ sites/dolgov/files/EBSA/laws-and-regulations/rulesand-regulations/public-comments/1210-ZA07/. 3 87 FR 54715. 4 Id. 2 See E:\FR\FM\16DEN1.SGM 16DEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 241 / Friday, December 16, 2022 / Notices hearing transcript to EBSA’s website and the date the reopened comment period closes. The Department held the virtual public hearing on November 17, 2022, and reopened the comment period on the hearing date.5 The Department is hereby providing notice that it posted the hearing transcript to EBSA’s website on December 12, 2022, and determined that the reopened comment period will close on January 6, 2023. The hearing transcript may be accessed here: https:// www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-andregulations/rules-and-regulations/ public-comments/1210-ZA07. The Department encourages all interested parties to submit comments on the proposed amendment before the reopened comment period closes. All written comments should be identified by Z–RIN 1210 ZA07 and sent to the Office of Exemption Determinations through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: EBSA–2022–0008. Please follow the instructions for submitting comments. All comments on the proposed amendment and requests to testify at the hearing are available to the public without charge online at https:// www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: EBSA–2022–0008 and https:// www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-andregulations/rules-and-regulations/ public-comments/1210-ZA07. They also are available for public inspection in EBSA’s Public Disclosure Room, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N–1513, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210. Signed at Washington, DC, this 12th day of December 2022. Lisa M. Gomez, Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. [FR Doc. 2022–27334 Filed 12–15–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4510–29–P DEPARTMENT OF LABOR lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 Employment and Training Administration Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of Foreign Workers in Agriculture in the United States: Adverse Effect Wage Rate for Range Occupations in 2023 Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor. AGENCY: 5 The hearing did not continue on November 18, 2022, because the Department was able to schedule all witnesses that requested to testify on one day. VerDate Sep<11>2014 20:05 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 259001 ACTION: Notice. The Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor (DOL) is issuing this notice to announce the 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for the employment of temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers (H–2A workers) to perform herding or production of livestock on the range. AEWRs are the minimum wage rates DOL has determined must be offered and paid by employers to H–2A workers and workers in corresponding employment to help ensure the Department meets its statutory obligation to certify that the employment of H–2A foreign workers will not have an adverse effect on the agricultural wages of workers in the United States (U.S.) similarly employed will not be adversely affected. In this notice, DOL announces the annual update of the AEWR for workers engaged in the herding or production of livestock on the range, as required by the methodology previously established in 2015. DATES: The rate is effective January 1, 2023. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Pasternak, Administrator, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor, N–5311, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210, Telephone: (202) 693–8200 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with hearing or speech impairments may access the telephone number above via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1 (877) 889–5627 (TTY/ TDD). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security will not approve an employer’s petition for the admission of H–2A nonimmigrant temporary and seasonal agricultural workers in the U.S. unless the petitioner has received an H–2A labor certification from DOL. The H–2A labor certification provides that (1) there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, and qualified and who will be available at the time and place needed to perform the labor or services involved in the petition; and (2) the employment of the foreign worker(s) in such labor or services will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the U.S. similarly employed. See 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), 1184(c)(1), and 1188(a); 8 CFR 214.2(h)(5); 20 CFR 655.100. SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00085 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 77141 Adverse Effect Wage Rate for 2023 DOL’s H–2A regulations covering the herding or production of livestock on the range, published in the Federal Register as the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H–2A Foreign Workers in the Herding or Production of Livestock on the Range in the United States, 80 FR 62958 (Oct. 16, 2015), provide that employers must offer, advertise in recruitment, and pay each worker employed under 20 CFR 655.200 through 655.235 a wage that is at least the highest of (1) the monthly AEWR, (2) the agreed-upon collective bargaining wage, or (3) the applicable minimum wage imposed by Federal or State law or judicial action. See 20 CFR 655.210(g); 655.211(a)(1). Further, when the monthly AEWR is adjusted during a work contract and is higher than both the agreed-upon collective bargaining wage and the applicable minimum wage imposed by Federal or State law or judicial action in effect at the time the work is performed, the employer must pay that adjusted monthly AEWR upon publication by DOL in the Federal Register. See 20 CFR 655.211(a)(2). As provided in 20 CFR 655.211(c)(2), the monthly AEWR for range occupations in all States for a calendar year is based on the monthly AEWR for the previous calendar year ($1,807.23), adjusted by the Employment Cost Index (ECI) for wages and salaries published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the preceding annual period. The 12-month change in the ECI for wages and salaries of private industry workers between September 2021 and September 2022 was 5.2 percent, resulting in a monthly AEWR for range occupations in effect for 2023 of $1,901.21.1 The national monthly AEWR rate for all range occupations in the H–2A program in 2023 is calculated by multiplying the monthly AEWR for calendar year 2022 by the October 2022 ECI adjustment ($1,807.23 × 1.052 = $1,901.21) or $1,901.21. Accordingly, any employer certified or seeking certification for range workers must pay each worker a wage that is at least the highest of the 1 The regulation at 20 CFR 655.211(c)(2) states that the monthly AEWR is calculated based on the ECI for wages and salaries ‘‘for the preceding October–October period.’’ This regulatory language was intended to identify the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) October publication of ECI for wages and salaries, which presents data for the September to September period. Accordingly, the most recent 12-month change in the ECI for private sector workers published on October 28, 2022, by BLS was used for establishing the monthly AEWR under the regulations. See https://www.bls.gov/ news.release/archives/eci_10282022.pdf. The ECI for private sector workers was used rather than the ECI for all civilian workers given the characteristics of the H–2A herder workforce. E:\FR\FM\16DEN1.SGM 16DEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 241 (Friday, December 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77140-77141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27334]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration

[Application No. D-12022]
Z-RIN 1210 ZA07


Posting of Hearing Transcript Regarding Proposed Amendment to 
Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 (the QPAM Exemption) and 
Closing of Reopened Comment Period

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of hearing transcript posting and closing of the 
reopened comment period.

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

SUMMARY: As discussed in the DATES section below, the Department of 
Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is announcing 
that it has posted the transcript on its website of the virtual public 
hearing regarding the proposed amendment to prohibited transaction 
class exemption 84-14 (the QPAM Exemption) and determined the closing 
date for the proposed amendment's reopened comment period.

DATES: The public hearing transcript was posted to EBSA's website on 
December 12, 2022, and the reopened comment period for the proposed 
amendment will close on January 6, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please submit all written comments to the Office of 
Exemption Determinations through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: EBSA-2022-0008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Scott Hesse, Office of Exemption 
Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor. Telephone: (202) 693-8546 (this is not a toll-free 
number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department published a proposed 
amendment to prohibited transaction class exemption 84-14 (the Proposed 
QPAM Exemption Amendment) on July 27, 2022, with a 60-day comment 
period that was set to expire on September 26, 2022.\1\ After the 
publication of the Proposed QPAM Exemption Amendment, the Department 
received two letters requesting an extension of the comment period for 
at least an additional 60 days.\2\ After carefully considering the 
extension request, the Department extended the initial comment period 
for an additional 15 days until October 11, 2022 (for 75-day total 
initial comment period) in a Federal Register notice published on 
September 9, 2022.\3\ The Department received 31 comment letters.
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    \1\ 87 FR 45204.
    \2\ See Public Comment #1 from American Bankers Association et 
al. and Public Comment #2 from American Retirement Association. The 
extension requests can be accessed here: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/EBSA/laws-and-regulations/rules-and-regulations/public-comments/1210-ZA07/.
    \3\ 87 FR 54715.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the same September 9, 2022, Federal Register notice, the 
Department announced on its own motion that it would hold a virtual 
public hearing on November 17, 2022 (and if necessary, on November 18, 
2022), to provide an opportunity for all interested parties to testify 
on material information and issues regarding the Proposed QPAM 
Amendment.\4\ The Department received 13 requests to testify at the 
hearing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The notice also indicated the Department would: (1) reopen the 
public comment period from the hearing date until approximately 14 days 
after the Department publishes the hearing transcript on EBSA's 
website; and (2) publish a Federal Register notice announcing that it 
has posted the

[[Page 77141]]

hearing transcript to EBSA's website and the date the reopened comment 
period closes.
    The Department held the virtual public hearing on November 17, 
2022, and reopened the comment period on the hearing date.\5\ The 
Department is hereby providing notice that it posted the hearing 
transcript to EBSA's website on December 12, 2022, and determined that 
the reopened comment period will close on January 6, 2023. The hearing 
transcript may be accessed here: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-and-regulations/rules-and-regulations/public-comments/1210-ZA07.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ The hearing did not continue on November 18, 2022, because 
the Department was able to schedule all witnesses that requested to 
testify on one day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department encourages all interested parties to submit comments 
on the proposed amendment before the reopened comment period closes. 
All written comments should be identified by Z-RIN 1210 ZA07 and sent 
to the Office of Exemption Determinations through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: 
EBSA-2022-0008. Please follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    All comments on the proposed amendment and requests to testify at 
the hearing are available to the public without charge online at 
https://www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: EBSA-2022-0008 and 
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-and-regulations/rules-and-regulations/public-comments/1210-ZA07. They also are available for 
public inspection in EBSA's Public Disclosure Room, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Room N-1513, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 12th day of December 2022.
Lisa M. Gomez,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-27334 Filed 12-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P

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