Army Department 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) publishes this final rule to implement Executive Order 13665 (also referred to as ``the Order,'' infra) issued on April 8, 2014 to prohibit Federal contractors from discriminating against, in any manner, employees and job applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their own compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants. Executive Order 13665 amends Executive Order 11246, which prohibits employment discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, by revising the mandatory equal opportunity clauses that are included in Federal contracts and subcontracts, and federally assisted construction contracts, and creating contractor defenses. This final rule defines key terms used in Executive Order 13665 and adopts other key provisions in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). The final rule also adds a section to the implementing regulations for Executive Order 11246. This section not only describes potential defenses for contractors but also requires contractors to notify employees and job applicants of the nondiscrimination protection created by section 2(b) of Executive Order 13665 using existing methods of communicating to applicants and employees. The implementing regulations for Executive Order 11246 set forth the basic equal employment opportunity requirements that apply to Federal contractors and subcontractors.

This document contains a temporary exemption issued by the Department of Labor (the Department). The exemption permits certain entities with specified relationships to Deutsche Bank to continue to rely upon the relief provided by Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 84-14, for a period of nine months, following the criminal conviction of Deutsche Securities Korea Co. (Deutsche Securities Korea Co. or DSK) for spot/futures-linked market price manipulation.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements contained in the Lead in Construction Standard (29 CFR 1926.62).

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is proposing to require underground coal mine operators to equip coal hauling machines and scoops with proximity detection systems. Miners working near these machines face pinning, crushing, and striking hazards that result in accidents involving life threatening injuries and death. The proposal would strengthen protections for miners by reducing the potential for pinning, crushing, or striking accidents in underground coal mines. MSHA is also interested in the application of these proposed requirements to underground metal and nonmetal mines.

The Department of Labor (Department or DOL), ETA as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation to provide the public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on the proposed collection of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)] (PRA). The PRA helps ensure that respondents can provide requested data in the desired format with minimal reporting burden (time and financial resources), collection instruments are clearly understood and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the Department is soliciting comments concerning the collection of data for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Workforce Performance Accountability, Information, and Reporting System (OMB Control No. 1205-3NEW). The following programs will be required to report through this system: WIOA Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth, Wagner Peyser Employment Service, National Farmworker Jobs, Trade Adjustment Assistance, YouthBuild, Indian and Native American, and the Jobs for Veterans' State Grants. Requiring all of these programs to use a standard set of data elements, definitions, and specifications at all levels of the workforce system helps improve the quality of the performance information that is received by DOL. While H1-B grants and the Reintegration of Ex-Offenders program are not authorized under WIOA, these programs will be utilizing the data element definitions and reporting templates proposed in this Information Collection Request (ICR). The accuracy, reliability, and comparability of program reports submitted by states and grantees using Federal funds are fundamental elements of good public administration, and are necessary tools for maintaining and demonstrating system integrity. This new ICR is expected to take the place of several currently existing ICRs, including: 1205-0420 Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Management Information and Reporting System, 1205-0240 Wagner Peyser Labor Exchange Reporting System, 1205-0464 YouthBuild Reporting System, 1205-0422 Reporting and Performance Standards for WIA Indian and Native American Programs, 1205-0425 Reporting and Performance Standards System for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Programs Under Title I, Section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act, and the 1205-0392 Trade Act Participant Report. These ICRs will be rescinded once the last reporting requirements for WIA reporting are satisfied. As such, DOL will request to remove those from active status once the separate reporting requirements are no longer needed.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the information collection request (ICR) proposal titled, ``Survey of Working Women,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Settlement Agreements Between a Plan and a Party in Interest,'' 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 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the 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 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps 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, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection of data about Expenditures and Financial Adjustments of Federal Funds for Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees and Ex-Servicemembers.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Marine Terminal Operations and Longshoring Standards'' 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 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Labor, 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) [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 Workers' Compensation Programs is soliciting comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB approval of the information collection: Request for Employment Information (CA-1027). A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addresses section of this Notice.

In this notice, OSHA grants a permanent variance to Impregilo Healy Parsons Joint Venture from the provisions of OSHA standards that regulate work in compressed-air environments at 29 CFR 1926.803.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements specified in the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Standard (29 CFR 1910.120).

The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) published a notice of proposed rulemaking and companion direct final rule in the Federal Register on March 12, 2015, broadening the acceptable methods by which claimants, employers, and insurers can communicate with OWCP and each other regarding claims arising under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and its extensions. The comment period closed on May 11, 2015. OWCP did not receive significant adverse comment and therefore the direct final rule took effect on June 10, 2015. For these reasons, OWCP is withdrawing the notice of proposed rulemaking.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Cadmium in General Industry Standard,'' 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 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

This document primarily proposes to amend OSHA regulations to remove the detailed descriptions of State plan coverage, purely historical data, and other unnecessarily codified information. In addition, this document proposes to move most of the general provisions of subpart A of part 1952 into part 1902, where the general regulations on State plan criteria are found. It also proposes to amend several other OSHA regulations to delete references to part 1952, which would no longer apply. The purpose of these proposed revisions is to eliminate the unnecessary codification of material in the Code of Federal Regulations and save the time and funds currently expended in publicizing State plan revisions. The proposed streamlining of OSHA State plan regulations would not change the areas of coverage or any other substantive components of any State plan. It also does not affect the rights and responsibilities of the State plans, or any employers or employees, except to eliminate the burden on State plan designees to keep paper copies of approved State plans and plan supplements in an office, and to submit multiple copies of proposed State plan documents to OSHA. This document also contains a request for comments for an Information Collection Request (ICR) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), which covers all collection of information requirements in OSHA State plan regulations.

On June 29, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015 (TAARA 2015), title IV of the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, Public Law 114-27. In accordance with Section 405(a) of TAARA 2015, which amended the Trade Act of 1974, Public Law 93-618 (``the Trade Act''), the Director of the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance, Employment and Training Administration (OTAA) has taken the following action for petitions that were filed with the Secretary of Labor under section 221(a) of the Trade Act on or after January 1, 2014, and before June 29, 2015, and are identified in the Appendices to this notice. OTAA has reopened investigations of petitions identified in Appendix A to reconsider all negative determinations on petitions filed on or after January 1, 2014, and before June 29, 2015, and will further investigate those petitions to determine whether the workers are eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under the provisions of section 222 of the Trade Act in effect on June 29, 2015, which were in effect before January 1, 2014. If eligible under these requirements, OTAA will certify the group of workers as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under title II of the Trade Act, as amended by TAARA 2015. OTAA also is continuing to investigate those petitions identified in Appendix B for which no determination was issued before June 29, 2015, to determine whether the workers are eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under the provisions of section 222 of the Trade Act in effect on June 29, 2015, which were in effect before January 1, 2014. If eligible under these requirements, OTAA will certify the group of workers as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under title II of the Trade Act. Further, worker groups that did not submit petitions between January 1, 2014 and June 29, 2015, but wish to be considered under the group eligibility for workers based on the 2015 Program may file a new petition within 90 days of enactment of the new 2015 law which was signed by President Barak Obama on June 29, 2015. This would include service sector workers as well as worker groups whose jobs are adversely affected by trade from countries that are not parties to Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the United States, including China and India. While all petitions filed on and after June 29, 2015, will be investigated under the 2015 Program worker group eligibility criteria, the TAARA 2015 provides that for petitions filed by MIDNIGHT (12:00 AM EASTERN TIME), SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2015, that are certified, the certification will cover all members of the worker group who are separated or threatened with separations during the period beginning January 1, 2014, instead of a beginning date of no more than one year before the date of the petition, and generally ending two years after the date of certification. Each of those certifications will describe the worker group and specify the January 1, 2014, beginning date and the ending dates of the certification period.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Cadmium in Construction Standard,'' 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 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Notification of Methane Detected in Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mine Atmospheres,'' 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 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the 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 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps 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, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection of data for the administration of the UCX program, the current expiration date is June 31, 2016

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Roof Control Plans for Underground Coal Mines,'' 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 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and 30 CFR part 44 govern the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for modification. This Federal Register Notice notifies the public that MSHA has investigated and issued a final decision on certain mine operator petitions to modify a safety standard.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Temporary Labor Camps Standard,'' 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 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.