Department of Labor July 23, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor (Department) is proposing to delay indefinitely the effective date of the Wage Methodology for the Temporary Non-agricultural Employment H-2B Program final rule (2011 Wage Rule), in order to comply with recurrent legislation that prohibits the Department from using any funds to implement it, and to permit time for consideration of public comments sought in conjunction with an interim final rule published April 24, 2013, 78 FR 24047. The 2011 Wage Rule revised the methodology by which the Department calculates the prevailing wages to be paid to H-2B workers and United States workers recruited in connection with a temporary labor certification for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2B status. The 2011 Wage Rule was originally scheduled to become effective on January 1, 2012, and the effective date has been extended a number of times, most recently to October 1, 2013.\1\ The Department is now proposing to delay the effective date of the 2011 Wage Rule until such time as Congress no longer prohibits the Department from implementing the 2011 Wage Rule.

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 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the proposed revision of the Annual Refiling Survey (ARS). A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual listed below in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

This final determination is the fourth revision of the list required by Executive Order 13126 (``Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor''), in accordance with the ``Procedural Guidelines for the Maintenance of the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor Under 48 CFR Subpart 22.15 and E.O. 13126.'' This notice revises the list by adding six products, identified by their countries of origin, Cattle from South Sudan, Dried Fish from Bangladesh, Fish from Ghana, Garments from Vietnam, and Gold and Wolframite from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that the Departments of Labor, State and Homeland Security have a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, produced or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. Under a final rule of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Councils, published January 18, 2001, which also implements Executive Order 13126, federal contractors who supply products which appear on this list are required to certify, among other things, that they have made a good faith effort to determine whether forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, produce or manufacture the item.

The Department of Justice is publishing its spring 2013 regulatory agenda pursuant to Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' 58 FR 51735, and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. sections 601 to 612 (1988).