Department of Labor 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 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 its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the Information

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of $34 million for grants to serve high schools that have been designated as persistently dangerous by State Educational Agencies for the 2008-2009 school year under section 9532 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The goal of these grants is to reduce violence within these schools through a combination of mentoring, education, employment, case management, and violence prevention strategies. These grants will be awarded to fund projects in schools not currently receiving a DOL grant for these purposes through a competitive process open both to school districts which include persistently dangerous high schools and to community-based organizations (CBOs) in partnership with these school districts. High schools which have been designated as persistently dangerous this school year and which are not currently receiving a Department of Labor (Department or DOL) grant under this initiative are located in the school districts of Baltimore City, Plainfield (New Jersey), New York City, Schenectady (New York), Salem- Keiser (Oregon), Philadelphia, and Puerto Rico. These schools are listed in Section VIIIA below. School districts and CBOs must submit a separate application for each high school that they propose serving, but may submit as many applications as they have eligible schools. Applications submitted by school districts must include plans to have one or more CBOs as sub-grantees/contractors to operate at a minimum the mentoring component. These proposed CBO sub-grantees/contractors do not need to be listed in the application, as the Department strongly encourages the use of competition in selecting sub-grantees and contractors either before or after grant award. Applications submitted by CBOs must have a school district identified as a partner, with a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the school district included in the application. To be eligible to apply for these grants as a CBO, organizations must be not-for-profit entities and can operate either nationally or locally.

The DOL, ETA, Office of Workforce Investment, Division of Adult Services, announces a grant competition for operating the NFJP, under section 167 of the WIA, 29 U.S.C. 2912 in certain specified service delivery areas. The WIA generally requires the DOL to conduct a grants competition every two years to select entities to operate the NFJP. DOL is exercising its option under WIA sec. 167 (c)(4)(B) to waive competition for the biannual grant competition scheduled for PY 2009 for those grantees determined to have performed successfully as described in TEGL 25-08.

This document contains a notice of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of a proposed exemption 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).

The Employment and Training Administration published a document in the Federal Register on June 24, 2009, announcing the availability of funds and solicitation for grant applications (SGA) for State Energy Sector Partnership (SESP) and Training Grants to be awarded through a competitive process. This notice is the first amendment to the SGA and clarifies items related to: (1) Updated Attachment 1Counties Impacted by Automotive-Related Restructuring; (2) the number of parts to the technical proposal (Section IV: Application and Submission Information, Part 2 Technical Proposal); (3) the number of sub criteria to the Strategy and Project Work Plan criteria in Section V.A.3); (4) participants eligible to receive training (Section III.D.1); and, (5) Section B on Green Industries and Occupations (Supplementary Information). The document is hereby amended.

The Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department) announces the availability of approximately $220 million in grant funds authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act) for projects that provide training and placement services to help workers pursue careers within the industries described in the Background section, Part B of this SGA. The purpose of the high growth and emerging industries grants funded through this SGA is to teach workers the necessary skills for, and help them pursue careers in, health care and other high growth and emerging industry sectors. Eligible applicants include public entities and private nonprofit organizations. Additional specific eligibility guidance is included in Section III.A, ``Eligible Applicants and Required Partnerships.'' ETA intends to fund 45-65 grants ranging from approximately $2 to $5 million.

The Employment and Training Administration published a document in the Federal Register on June 24, 2009, announcing the availability of funds and solicitation for grant applications (SGA) for State Labor Market Information Improvement Grants to be awarded through a competitive process. This amendment to the SGA clarifies items related to: (1) Strategies and Approaches (Section I.B.3.ii); (2) Evaluation Criteria, Deliverables (Section V.A.4.iii); (3) the number of applications from a Single State (Section III.A); and (4) Section B on Green Industries and Occupations (Supplementary Information). The changes in items 1 and 2 below were made in order to make the terminology for certificates or degrees match existing ETA definitions. The changes in items 3 and 4 below are to provide further clarification on number of applications per Single State and targeted industries. The document is hereby amended.

The Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) was established under Section 7 of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970 to advise the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health on issues relating to occupational safety and health in the maritime industries. The purpose of this Federal Register notice is to announce the Committee and workgroup meetings scheduled for September 1-2, 2009.

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.