Department of Labor April 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor, in collaboration with the Department of Education, announces that nine states are eligible to apply for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) (Pub. L. 105-220, 29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) incentive awards under the WIA Regulations.

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 Employment and Training Administration published a document in the Federal Register on April 20, 2007, announcing the availability of funds and solicitation for grant applications (SGA) for the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), under section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. This notice is an amendment to the SGA and it amends the Application and Submission Information section to correct the Funding Opportunity Number.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend OBM approval of the information collection requirements contained in its Noise Standard (29 CFR 1910.95). The information collection requirements specified in the Noise Standard protect employees from suffering material hearing impairment.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately $47 million in grant funds for YouthBuild Grants. YouthBuild Grants will be awarded through a competitive process. Grant funds will be used to provide disadvantaged youth with: The education and employment skills necessary to achieve economic self- sufficiency in occupations in high demand and postsecondary education and training opportunities; opportunities for meaningful work and service to their communities; and opportunities to develop employment and leadership skills and a commitment to community development among youth in low-income communities. As part of their programming, YouthBuild grantees will tap the energies and talents of disadvantaged youth to increase the supply of permanent affordable housing for homeless individuals and low-income families and to help youth develop the leadership, learning, and high-demand occupational skills needed to succeed in today's global economy. ETA hopes to serve approximately 2,900 youth participants during the first year of this initiative, with projects operating in approximately 90-100 communities across the country. Under this announcement, ETA will be awarding grants to organizations to oversee the provision of education and employment services to disadvantaged youth in their communities. This solicitation provides background information and describes the application submission requirements, outlines the process that eligible entities must use to apply for funds covered by this solicitation, and outlines the evaluation criteria used as a basis for selecting grantee.

The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), intends to obligate approximately U.S. $54 million to support cooperative agreement awards to organizations to address exploitive child labor internationally. ILAB intends to award, through a competitive and merit-based process, cooperative agreements to organizations to develop and implement formal, non-formal, and vocational education projects as a means to combat exploitive child labor in the following ten countries: (1) Democratic Republic of the Congo, (2) Uganda, (3) Togo, (4) Colombia, (5) Bolivia, (6) Dominican Republic, (7) Indonesia, (8) Morocco, (9) the Philippines, and (10) Cambodia. ILAB intends to fund projects that focus on innovative ways to provide educational services to children engaged, or at risk of engaging, in exploitive labor. The projects should address the gaps and challenges to basic education found in the countries mentioned above. ILAB also intends to award a cooperative agreement to an organization(s) to conduct research on exploitive child labor and forced labor in the carpet sectors of Nepal, Pakistan, and India. ILAB intends to solicit cooperative agreement applications from qualified organizations (i.e., any commercial, international, educational, or non-profit organization capable of successfully developing and implementing child labor and/or research projects) to implement these projects. 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. Information on the specific sectors, geographical regions, and funding levels for the potential projects in the countries listed above will be addressed in a solicitation(s) for cooperative agreement applications to be published prior to September 30, 2007. Potential applicants should not submit inquiries to USDOL for further information on these award opportunities until after USDOL's publication of the solicitations. For a list of frequently asked questions on Solicitations for Cooperative Agreement Applications, please visit https://www.dol.gov/ILAB/faq/faq36.htm. USDOL intends to hold a bidders' meeting on June 14, 2007, to answer questions potential applicants may have on this Solicitation for Cooperative Agreement process. Please see below for more information on the bidders' meeting.

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 Standards Administration is soliciting comments concerning the proposed collection: Request for State or Federal Workers' Compensation Information (CM-905). A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addresses section of this Notice.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announces that OMB has extended its approval for a number of information collection requirements found in sections of 29 CFR parts 1910, 1915, 1917, 1918, 1926, and 1928; and for OSHA's Data Initiative. OSHA sought approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA-95), and, as required by that Act, is announcing the approval numbers and expiration dates for those requirements.

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. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments on a request to reinstate, without modification, collection of information on the ETA Form 9081, Attestations by Facilities Temporarily Employing H-1C Nonimmigrant Aliens as Registered Nurses. Reinstatement of this collection is necessary to support implementation of the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999, which was reauthorized by the Congress on December 20, 2006.

This notice updates procedures for State Workforce Agencies and ETA National Processing Centers to process H-2B labor certification applications in non-agricultural occupations.

The U.S. Department of Labor (the Department or DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Office of Workforce Investment (OWI), Division of Adult Services (DAS), announces a grant competition for operating the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), under section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), 29 U.S.C. 2912. All applicants for grant funds should read this notice in its entirety. Under WIA section 167 (a) the Secretary must award grants or contracts on a competitive basis to eligible entities for the purposes of carrying out the activities authorized under section 167. Under this solicitation, DAS anticipates that approximately $74,302,000, allotted among state service areas, will be available for grant awards for the NFJP.