Department of Labor April 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden conducts a pre-clearance 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 Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden conducts a pre-clearance 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)(c)(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.

This notice announces a change in benefit period eligibility under the EB program for Arkansas.

This document is a request for comments regarding issues under the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) invite public comments in advance of future rulemaking.

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 notice is a summary of petitions for modification filed by the parties listed below to modify the application of existing mandatory safety standards published in Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes to withdraw a rule published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2009, pertaining to the filing by labor organizations of the Form LM-2, an annual financial report required by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended (LMRDA). On February 3, 2009, the Department's Employment Standards Administration (ESA) Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) published a request for comments about issues of law and policy raised by this rule (74 FR 5899), consistent with directions from the new Administration to review all regulations that had not yet become effective. On February 20, 2009, the Department of Labor postponed the effective date of this rule until April 21, 2009, to allow additional time for the Department to review comments received pursuant to the earlier notice, which were due by March 5, 2009, and to permit labor unions to delay development and implementation of costly changes to their accounting and recordkeeping systems and procedures pending this review. A further extension of the rule's effective date and an extension of the rule's applicability date were proposed on March 19, 2009, and the effective date is delayed until October 19, 2009 in a document published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. Upon consideration of the comments received on questions of law and policy raised by the January 21 rule, the Department proposes its withdrawal, because the rule was issued without an adequate review of the Department's experience under the relatively recent revisions to Form LM-2 in 2003 and because the comments indicate that the Department may have underestimated the increased burden that would be placed on reporting labor organizations by the January 21 rule. Finally, the Department has concluded, based on the comments received, that the provisions related to the revocation of a small union's authorization to file a simpler form because it has been delinquent or deficient in filing that form are not based upon realistic assessments of such a union's ability to file the more complex form and are unlikely to achieve the intended goals of greater transparency and disclosure.