Department of Labor September 26, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this final rule, the Department of Labor (the Department) implements Executive Order (E.O.) 13838, issued on May 25, 2018. E.O. 13838 exempts certain contracts with the Federal Government from the requirements of E.O. 13658. In particular, the E.O. exempts contracts in connection with both seasonal recreational services and also seasonal recreational equipment rental when such services and equipment are offered to the general public on Federal lands. E.O. 13838 amends E.O. 13658 by inserting two sentences into that order and also directs executive departments and agencies to promptly implement the exemption. In order to carry out that directive, this rule inserts the same two sentences into the Department's regulations.

The U.S. Department of Labor proposes to remove regulations for an inoperative program while continuing to require non- discrimination and equal-employment opportunity under its programs. The Department is undergoing a process of identifying regulations that are ``outdated'' and ``unnecessary.'' The regulations to be rescinded by the proposed rule are ``outdated'' because they administer a program that no longer exists. And they are ``unnecessary'' because they currently serve no purpose, as their existence or non-existence has no impact on the Department's enforcement of non-discrimination standards under its existing programs. In particular, the Department proposes to rescind its regulations implementing Section 167 of the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982, as amended (JTPA). Section 167 contained the nondiscrimination and equal-opportunity provisions of the JTPA. In 1998, Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which repealed the JTPA and required the Secretary of Labor to transition any authority under the JTPA to the system that WIA created. WIA, in turn, was subsequently altered by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). In sum, the proposed rule removes regulations for an inoperative program, but has no impact on existing non-discrimination rules.