Department of Labor November 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), intends to obligate up to approximately U.S. $3.5 million through a Cooperative Agreement to organization(s) to improve access to and quality of education programs as a means to combat exploitive child labor in Angola. The project(s) funded under this award should address gaps and challenges to basic education found in Angola. ILAB intends to solicit cooperative agreement applications through a limited competition of organizations qualified to implement a project that focuses on innovative ways to provide educational services to children engaged, or at risk of engaging, in exploitive labor in Angola. Qualified organizations include any commercial, international, educational, or non-profit organization that is capable of successfully developing and implementing education projects in Angola and that meets the following criteriaqualified organizations must have (1) an established presence in Angola (i.e., one or more offices and employees) and be legally recognized and permitted to operate by the Government of Angola, and (2) direct and current experience implementing technical cooperation programs for children-in-need in Angola that aim to combat exploitive child labor and/or promote educational and training opportunities for children-in-need who are under the age of 18 years. Among the organizations deemed eligible based on this criteria are the Christian Children's Fund, Save the ChildrenUK, and World Vision. Other organizations wishing to be considered under this limited competition must submit to USDOL, at the contact address provided below and within 10 working days of this announcement, a formal request for funding consideration, providing verifiable evidence that the aforementioned criteria are met. Such requests will be evaluated by USDOL, which will add any additional organizations found eligible to the list of those organizations to be considered under this limited competition. This limited competition involves the re-granting of funds remaining from SGA 05-05 for ``Combating Exploitive Child Labor through Education in Angola,'' published in the Federal Register on May 27, 2005. Please refer to https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/grants/main.htm for examples of previous notices of availability of funds and solicitations for cooperative agreement applications. Further information on the specific sectors, geographical regions, and funding levels for the potential project(s) in Angola, as well as the selection criteria to be used, will be addressed in the solicitation for cooperative agreement applications that will be made available to those organizations found to be eligible for consideration under the limited competition. For a list of frequently asked questions on Child Labor Education Initiative Solicitations for Cooperative Agreement Applications, please visit https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/faq/faq36.htm. Key Dates: Organizationsother than those specifically referenced by name in this Notice of Intentwishing to be considered under this limited competition must submit to USDOL, at the contact address provided below, a formal request within 10 working days of the date of this announcement. A specific solicitation for cooperative agreement applications will be provided to those organizations deemed eligible for the limited competition within 20 working days of this announcement. The solicitation will remain open for at least 30 calendar days. To Request Consideration Under This Limited Competition or For Further Information Contact: Ms. Lisa Harvey. E-mail address: harvey.lisa@dol.gov. All formal requests for consideration and other inquiries should make reference to the USDOL Child Labor Education InitiativeSolicitations for Cooperative Agreement Applications. Background Information: Since 1995, USDOL has supported a worldwide technical assistance program implemented by the International Labor Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC). ILAB has also supported the efforts of other organizations involved in efforts to combat child labor internationally through the promotion of educational opportunities for children-in-need. In total, ILAB has provided over U.S. $530 million to ILO-IPEC and other organizations for international technical assistance to combat abusive child labor around the world. USDOL's Child Labor Education Initiative seeks to nurture the development, health, safety, and enhanced future employability of children around the world by increasing access to basic education for children removed from child labor or at risk of entering it. Eliminating child labor depends, in part, on improving access to, quality of, and relevance of educational and training opportunities for children less than 18 years of age. Without improving such opportunities, children withdrawn from exploitive forms of labor may not have viable alternatives to child labor and may be more likely to return to such work or resort to other hazardous means of subsistence. In addition to increasing access to education and eliminating exploitive child labor through direct withdrawal and prevention services to children, the Child Labor Education Initiative has the following four strategic goals: 1. Raise awareness of the importance of education for all children and mobilize a wide array of actors to improve and expand education infrastructures; 2. Strengthen formal and transitional education systems that encourage working children and those at risk of working to attend school; 3. Strengthen national institutions and policies on education and child labor; and 4. Ensure the long-term sustainability of these efforts. When working to increase access to quality basic education, USDOL strives to complement existing efforts to eradicate the worst forms of child labor, to build on the achievements of and lessons learned from these efforts, to expand impact and build synergies among actors, and to avoid duplication of resources and efforts.

This document contains exemptions issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). A notice was published in the Federal Register of the pendency before the Department of a proposal to grant such exemption. The notice set forth a summary of facts and representations contained in the application for exemption and referred interested persons to the application for a complete statement of the facts and representations. The application has been available for public inspection at the Department in Washington, DC. The notice also invited interested persons to submit comments on the requested exemption to the Department. In addition the notice stated that any interested person might submit a written request that a public hearing be held (where appropriate). The applicant has represented that it has complied with the requirements of the notification to interested persons. No requests for a hearing were received by the Department. Public comments were received by the Department as described in the granted exemption. The notice of proposed exemption was issued and the exemption is being granted solely by the Department because, effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996), transferred the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of the type proposed to the Secretary of Labor.

The purpose of this notice is to announce the annual list of labor surplus areas for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is providing notice to all of its employees, former employees, and applicants for employment about the rights and remedies that are available to them under Federal antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws. This notice fulfills DOL's notification obligations under the Notification and Federal Employees Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act (NO FEAR Act), as implemented by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations.

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 Employment and Training Administration is soliciting comments concerning the proposed extension of the data collection for the Workforce Investment Act: National Emergency Grant (NEG) AssistanceApplication and Reporting Procedures (1205-0439, expires January 31, 2007). 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 or at this Web site: https:// www.doleta.gov/OMBCN/OMBControlNumber.cfm.

The Employment and Training Administration interprets Federal law requirements pertaining to the Federal-State unemployment compensation (UC) program. Section 303(a)(1), Social Security Act, as implemented at 20 CFR part 603 (71 FR 56830), generally requires States to maintain the confidentiality of UC information. Section 603.9 of 20 CFR requires States and State UC agencies to assure that recipients of confidential UC information have certain safeguards in place before any confidential information may be disclosed. Section 603.9(d) provides that States are not required to apply these safeguard and security arrangements to a Federal agency which the Department of Labor (Department) has determined, by notice published in the Federal Register, to have in place safeguards adequate to satisfy the requirements of Sec. 603.9. The Department has determined that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has in place such safeguards for purposes of tax administration, including administration of the Federal unemployment tax and the Health Coverage Tax Credit. Specifically, Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code and IRS regulations on the confidentiality of tax return information (26 CFR 301.6103(a)-1 et seq.) are sufficient to protect the confidentiality of information consistent with the Department's regulation. The Department has also determined that wage and claim information disclosed to the Department of Health and Human Services for purposes of the National Directory of New Hires is protected by a ``security plan'' which provides safeguards adequate to meet the requirements of the Department's regulation. Further, laws governing information in the National Directory of New Hires impose strict controls on redisclosure and disposal of information. See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. 653(i), (j), (l), and (m). This notice is published to inform the public of the Department's determination with respect to these agencies.