Department of Labor April 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 30 CFR part 44, govern the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for modification. This notice is a summary of petitions for modification submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the parties listed below.

In accordance with Section 743 of Division C of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-117), the Department of Labor (DOL) is publishing this notice to advise the public of the availability of its FY 2014 Service Contract Inventory. This inventory provides information on service contract actions over $25,000 made in FY 2014. The information is organized by function to show how contracted resources are distributed throughout the agency. The inventory has been developed in accordance with guidance issued on November 5, 2010, by the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP). OFPP's guidance is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/procurement /memo/ service-contract-inventories-guidance-11052010.pdf. The Department of Labor has posted its inventory and a summary of the inventory on the agency's Web site at the following link: https://www.dol.gov/dol/ aboutdol/main.htm#inventory.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB approval of the information collection requirement contained in the Standard on Reports of Injuries to Employees Operating Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 1910.217(g)).

In accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), and after consultation with the General Services Administration, the Secretary of Labor is renewing the charter for the Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. The Committee will better enable OSHA to perform its duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (the OSH Act) of 1970. The Committee is diverse and balanced, both in terms of segments of the maritime industry represented, (e.g., shipyard employment, longshoring, commercial fishing, and marine terminal industries), and in the views and interests represented by the members.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are issuing final regulations governing certification of the employment of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal non- agricultural employment. This final rule sets forth how DOL provides the consultation that DHS has determined is necessary to adjudicate H- 2B visa petitions by setting the methodology by which DOL calculates the prevailing wages to be paid to H-2B workers and U.S. workers recruited in connection with applications for temporary labor certification. Specifically, for the purposes of an H-2B temporary labor certification, this final rule establishes that, in the absence of a wage set in a valid and controlling collective bargaining agreement, the prevailing wage will be the mean wage for the occupation in the pertinent geographic area derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics survey, unless the H-2B employer meets the conditions for requesting that the prevailing wage be based on an employer-provided survey. Any such survey submitted must meet the new methodological criteria established in this final rule in order to be used to establish the prevailing wage. The final rule does not permit use of the wage determinations issued under the Service Contract Act or the Davis Bacon Act as sources to set the prevailing wage in the H-2B temporary labor certification context. DHS and DOL are issuing this final rule together because DHS, as the Executive Branch agency charged with administering the H-2B program, has determined that the most effective implementation of the statutory H-2B labor protections requires that DHS consult with DOL for its advice about matters with which DOL has expertise, including questions about the methodology for setting the prevailing wage in the H-2B program. DHS (and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Justice, which was charged with administration of the H-2B program prior to enactment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002) has long recognized that DOL is the appropriate agency with which to consult regarding the availability of U.S. workers and for assuring that wages and working conditions of U.S. workers are not adversely affected by the use of H-2B workers. This rule also adopts, without change, certain revisions made to DHS's H-2B regulations, to clarify that DHS is the Executive Branch agency charged with making determinations regarding eligibility for H-2B classifications, after consulting with DOL for its advice about matters with which DOL has expertise, including questions related to the methodology for setting the prevailing wage in the H-2B program. Finally, DHS and DOL are issuing, simultaneously with this rule, a companion H-2B rule governing the certification of the employment of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal non-agricultural employment and the enforcement of the obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements specified in the 13 Carcinogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1003).

The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the 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 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps 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, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection of data about Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) activities, expiring October 31, 2015.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its request for an extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements associated with its regulations and program regarding State Plans for the development and enforcement of state occupational safety and health standards (29 CFR parts 1902, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956).

This document contains a notice of pendency before the Department of Labor of proposed amendments to Prohibited Transaction Exemptions (PTEs) 86-128 and 75-1, exemptions from certain prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). The ERISA and Code provisions at issue generally prohibit fiduciaries with respect to employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) from engaging in self-dealing in connection with transactions involving plans and IRAs. The exemptions allow fiduciaries to receive compensation in connection with certain securities transactions entered into by plans and IRAs. The proposed amendments would increase the safeguards of the exemptions. This document also contains a notice of pendency before the Department of the proposed revocation of PTE 86-128 with respect to transactions involving investment advice fiduciaries and IRAs, and of PTE 75-1, Part II(2), and PTE 75-1, Parts I(b) and I(c), as duplicative in light of existing or newly proposed relief. The amendments and revocations would affect participants and beneficiaries of plans, IRA owners and certain fiduciaries of plans and IRAs.

This document contains a notice of pendency before the Department of Labor of a proposed amendment to PTE 75-1, Part V, a class exemption from certain prohibited transactions provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The provisions at issue generally prohibit fiduciaries of employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), from lending money or otherwise extending credit to the plans and IRAs and receiving compensation in return. PTE 75-1, Part V, permits the extension of credit to a plan or IRA by a broker-dealer in connection with the purchase or sale of securities; however, it does not permit the receipt of compensation for an extension of credit by broker-dealers that are fiduciaries with respect to the assets involved in the transaction. The amendment proposed in this notice would permit investment advice fiduciaries to receive compensation when they extend credit to plans and IRAs to avoid a failed securities transaction. The proposed amendment would affect participants and beneficiaries of plans, IRA owners, and fiduciaries with respect to such plans and IRAs.

This document contains a notice of pendency before the U.S. Department of Labor of a proposed exemption from certain prohibited transactions provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The provisions at issue generally prohibit fiduciaries with respect to employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) from engaging in self-dealing and receiving compensation from third parties in connection with transactions involving the plans and IRAs. The exemption proposed in this notice would allow entities such as broker- dealers and insurance agents that are fiduciaries by reason of the provision of investment advice to receive such compensation when plan participants and beneficiaries, IRA owners, and certain small plans purchase, hold or sell certain investment products in accordance with the fiduciaries' advice, under protective conditions to safeguard the interests of the plans, participants and beneficiaries, and IRA owners. The proposed exemption would affect participants and beneficiaries of plans, IRA owners and fiduciaries with respect to such plans and IRAs.

The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the 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 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps 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, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection of data about Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees which expires October 31, 2015.

The Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL) are proposing, through this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), to implement jointly-administered activities authorized by title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Through these regulations, the Departments propose to implement job training system reforms and strengthen the nation's workforce development system to put Americans back to work and make the United States more competitive in the 21st Century. This joint proposed rule provides guidance for State and local workforce development systems that increase the skill and credential attainment, employment, retention, and earnings of participants, especially those with significant barriers to employment, thereby improving the quality of the workforce, reducing welfare dependency, and enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of the nation. WIOA strengthened the alignment of the workforce development system's six core programs by imposing unified strategic planning requirements, common performance accountability measures, and requirements governing the one-stop delivery system. In so doing, WIOA placed heightened emphasis on coordination and collaboration at the Federal, State, and local levels to ensure a streamlined and coordinated service delivery system for job seekers, including those with disabilities, and employers. To that end, the Departments of Education and Labor propose to issue this joint NPRM to implement jointly-administered activities under title I of WIOA. These regulations lay the foundation, through coordination and collaboration at the Federal level, for implementing the vision and goals of WIOA. In addition to this joint NPRM, the Departments have proposed separate NPRMs to implement program-specific requirements of WIOA that fall under each Department's purview. The Department of Labor is proposing a NPRM governing program-specific requirements under titles I and III of WIOA. The Department of Education is proposing three NPRMs: one implementing program-specific requirements of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), as reauthorized by title II of WIOA; and two NPRMs implementing all program-specific requirements for all programs authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by title IV of WIOA. The Department-specific NPRMs have been simultaneously published in this issue of the Federal Register. Developing and issuing all five WIOA NPRMs in a coordinated manner reinforces WIOA's heightened emphasis on collaboration to ensure an integrated and seamless service delivery system for job seekers and employers.

OSHA is aware of employee safety risks in communication tower construction and maintenance activities and is requesting information from the public on these risks. This RFI requests information that will assist the Agency in determining what steps, if any, it can take to prevent injuries and fatalities during tower work.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately $10 million to award approximately eight grants of up to $1.2 million to State Workforce Agencies (SWA) for the Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI). The purpose of WDQI is to support the development and expansion of State workforce longitudinal administrative databases over a three-year grant period. Collecting longitudinal workforce and education data will provide a comprehensive picture of workers' earnings throughout their careers. Through analysis, these data will demonstrate the relationship between education and training programs, as well as the additional contribution of the provision of other employment services. These grants will help support the emphasis on accountability and transparency that is a key feature of the recently enacted WIOA and will be funded through section 171(c)(2) of WIA and section 169 of WIOA. These grants will also help support the implementation of WIOA by connecting the data infrastructure across programs, enabling states to meet the performance accountability requirements under WIOA. The complete FOA and any subsequent FOA 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.