Department of Labor 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor, announces the availability of approximately $30 million for grants to serve male and female ex-offenders enrolled in work release programs (WRPs) as authorized by the Workforce Investment Act and the Second Chance Act of 2007. This Training to Work 2-Adult Reentry SGA provides the opportunity for organizations to develop and implement career pathway programs in demand sectors and occupations for individuals who are at least 18 years old and who are enrolled in WRPs. Career pathways are frameworks that help to define and map out a sequence of education, training and workforce skills training resulting in skilled workers that meets employers' needs. Career pathways are an approach to linking and coordinating education and training services in ways that enable individuals to attain such credentials, and ultimately, employment. Successful applicants will: (1) Establish a committed Career Pathways Collaborative led by the grantee that will be a non-profit organization such as a faith-based or community-based organization, and include representatives from the workforce system, WRP, and employers and/or industry associations. The collaborative will create a career pathway(s) program that defines each organizations' specific roles and responsibilities including the identification of a career pathway(s) in demand sector(s) within its community, and (2) provide an integrated set of critical participant-level services such as case management and skills training that enable participants to get on the career pathway(s) and advance along those pathways as they acquire additional skills. The complete SGA and any subsequent SGA amendments in connection with this solicitation are described in further detail on ETA's Web site at https://www.doleta.gov/grants/ or on https://www.grants.gov. The Web sites provide application information, eligibility requirements, review and selection procedures, and other program requirements governing this solicitation.

In this notice, OSHA announces the Intertek Testing Services NA, Inc. (ITSNA), application containing a request for renewal of recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) under 29 CFR 1910.7.

In this notice, OSHA announces Communication Certification Laboratory's (CCL) application containing a request for renewal of recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) under 29 CFR 1910.7.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), announces the availability of approximately $73 million for YouthBuild grants. YouthBuild grants will be awarded through a competitive process. Under this SGA, DOL will award grants to organizations to oversee the provision of education, occupational skills training, and employment services to disadvantaged youth in their communities while performing meaningful work and service to their communities. Based on our estimate of FY 2014 funding, DOL hopes to serve approximately 4,950 participants during the grant period of performance, with approximately 75 projects awarded across the country. The complete SGA and any subsequent SGA amendments in connection with this solicitation are described in further detail on ETA's Web site at https://www.doleta.gov/grants/ or on https://www.grants.gov. The Web sites provide application information, eligibility requirements, review and selection procedures, and other program requirements governing this solicitation.

These proposed regulations would clarify the maximum allowed length of any reasonable and bona fide employment-based orientation period, consistent with the 90-day waiting period limitation set forth in section 2708 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act), as amended, and incorporated into the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code.

The Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) is publishing this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to propose revisions to the regulations implementing the reporting requirements under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended, (``VEVRAA''). VEVRAA requires Federal contractors and subcontractors to annually report on the total number of their employees who belong to the categories of veterans protected under the Act, and the total number of those employees who were hired during the period covered by the report. The NPRM proposes rescinding the regulations which prescribe the reporting requirements applicable to Government contracts and subcontracts entered into before December 1, 2003, because VETS believes the regulations have become obsolete. In addition, the NPRM proposes revisions to the regulations which prescribe the reporting requirements applicable to Government contracts and subcontracts of $100,000 or more entered into or modified on or after December 1, 2003. The NPRM proposes revising the annual report prescribed by the regulations to require contractors and subcontractors to report the specified information for protected veterans in the aggregate rather than for each of the categories of veterans protected under the statute. The NPRM also proposes renaming the annual report prescribed by the regulations the Federal Contractor Veterans' Employment Report VETS-4212 (``VETS-4212 Report''). Further, the NPRM proposes to revise regulations that address the definitions of terms used in the regulations, the text of the reporting requirements clause included in Government contracts and subcontracts, and the methods of filing the annual report on veterans' employment. VETS proposes that contractors begin complying with the reporting requirements in the revised regulations one year after the effective date of the final rule.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements contained in the regulation on Recordkeeping and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (29 CFR part 1904).

The Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, published a document in the Federal Register on February 5, 2014 seeking comments on its information collection and revised complaint form. This form, ``Complaint Form CC-4, Complaint of Employment Discrimination by Federal Government Contractors or Subcontractors,'' is OMB control number 1250-0002. Under the heading ``Improved Information Technology'' in column 3 on page 6926 the incorrect statement ``The CC-4 is available on the Internet for downloading or electronic submission at https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/ compliance/pdf/English.pdf.'' is corrected to read ``The current OMB approved CC-4 is available on the Internet for downloading or electronic submission at https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/pdf/ English.pdf.'' The first page of the proposed information collection on page 6929 of the Federal Register failed to display information in three fields located in the left-hand column, the third block of the right-hand column and the bottom section of the form. The questions and information included in these fields is posted below in a reformatted version of the form originally published on February 5, 2014.

The Department of Labor's (Department's) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) issues this final rule to designate in regulation data exchange standards, developed in consultation with an interagency work group established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for Unemployment Insurance (UI) administration, as required by amendments to Title IX of the Social Security Act (SSA) made by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (the Act). These regulations establish data exchange standards for three categories of information: real-time applications on the Interstate Connection Network (ICON); the State Information Data Exchange System (SIDES); and implementation of the standards identified for ICON and SIDES in major Information Technology (IT) modernization projects to upgrade UI Benefits and Tax systems by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) using Federal funds.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements specified in its Standard on Powered Platforms for Building Maintenance (29 CFR 1910.66).

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a document in the Federal Register on January 24, 2014 (79 FR 4180), soliciting public comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements specified in the OSHA-7 Form. The document contained an incorrect docket number. This notice corrects the docket number.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the information collection request (ICR) proposal titled, ``National Longitudinal Study of Unemployment Insurance Recipients,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Overhead and Gantry Cranes Standard,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use, without change, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

On August 9, 2010, OSHA issued a final standard establishing requirements for cranes and derricks used in construction work. The standard requires employers to ensure that crane operators are certified by November 10, 2014. Until that date, employers also have added duties under the standard to ensure that crane operators are trained and competent to operate the crane safely. The Agency is proposing to extend the deadline for operator certification by three years to November 10, 2017, and to extend the existing employer duties for the same period.

Pursuant to Section 10 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. 2 Sec. 10), notice is hereby given to announce a public meeting of the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA) on March 3-5, 2014. The ACA is a discretionary committee established by the Secretary of Labor, in accordance with FACA, as amended in 5 U.S.C. App. 2, and its implementing regulations (41 CFR 101-6 and 102-3). All meetings of the ACA are open to the public.

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) produces trigger notices indicating which states qualify for EUC08 benefits, and provides the beginning and ending dates of payable periods for each qualifying state. The trigger notices covering state eligibility for this program can be found at: https://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims arch.asp. The following changes have occurred since the publication of the last notice regarding states EUC08 trigger status: Alaska triggers ``on'' to Tier 3 of EUC08 effective 12/8/ 2013. Alaska's 13-week insured unemployment rate for the week ending November 23, 2013, was 4.06%, exceeding the 4.0% trigger rate threshold necessary to trigger ``on'' Tier 3 of EUC08. The week beginning December 8, 2013, was the first week in which EUC08 claimants in Alaska who had exhausted Tier 2, and were otherwise eligible, could establish Tier 3 eligibility.

On April 12, 2013, the Acting Secretary of Labor announced, the reestablishment of the Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH). On January 16, 2014, he selected 15 members and a Special Agency Liaison to serve on the Committee. The Committee is diverse and balanced, both in terms of segments of the maritime industry represented (e.g., shipyard employment, longshoring, and marine terminal industries), and in the views and interests represented by the members. The MACOSH charter was signed on May 6, 2013, and will expire after two years on May 6, 2015.

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 collection of data about Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) [SGA/DFA PY-11-05] grant program.