Department of Labor July 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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). 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 ``Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.'' 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.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) revision titled, ``Required Elements for Submission of the Unified or Combined State Plan and Plan Modifications under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

This document contains a final regulation under title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that expands access to affordable quality retirement saving options by clarifying the circumstances under which an employer group or association or a professional employer organization (PEO) may sponsor a multiple employer workplace retirement plan under title I of ERISA (as opposed to providing an arrangement that constitutes multiple separate retirement plans). The final regulation does this by clarifying that employer groups or associations and PEOs can, when satisfying certain criteria, constitute ``employers'' within the meaning of ERISA for purposes of establishing or maintaining an individual account ``employee pension benefit plan'' within the meaning of ERISA. As an ``employer,'' a group or association, as well as a PEO, can sponsor a defined contribution retirement plan for its members (collectively referred to as ``multiple employer plans'' or ``MEPs'' unless otherwise specified). Thus, different businesses may join a MEP, either through a group or association or through a PEO. The final regulation also permits certain working owners without employees to participate in a MEP sponsored by an employer group or association. The final rule primarily affects groups or associations of employers, PEOs, plan participants, and plan beneficiaries. It does not affect whether groups, associations, or PEOs assume joint-employment relationships with member-employers or client employers. But it may affect banks, insurance companies, securities broker-dealers, record keepers, and other commercial enterprises that provide retirement-plan products and services to ERISA plans and plan sponsors.

This document contains exemptions issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) 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). This notice includes the following: 2019-03, The Les Schwab Tire Centers, D-11924; 2019-04, Principal Life Insurance Company and its Affiliates, D-11947; 2019-05, Seventy Seven Energy Inc. Retirement & Savings Plan, D-11918; 2019-06, Tidewater Savings and Retirement Plan, D-11940.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Surface Coal Mines Daily Inspection; Certified Person; Reports of Inspection,'' 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). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Mine Rescue Teams, Arrangements for Emergency Medical Assistance, and Arrangements for Transportation for Injured Persons,'' 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). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM) is withdrawing the proposed rule to rescind its regulations implementing Section 167 of the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982, as amended (JTPA). On September 26, 2018, OASAM simultaneously published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking and a direct final rule to rescind its regulations implementing Section 167 of the JTPA. The comment period for the proposed rule and the direct final rule ended on October 26, 2018, and no adverse comments were received on either rule. The direct final rule is effective November 26, 2018.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Gamma Radiation Surveys,'' 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). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

This document announces Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the information collection requirements in the Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation as revised by the Tracking of Injuries and Illnesses final rule. OSHA sought OMB approval of these requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), and, as required by that Act, is announcing the approval for these requirements. The OMB approval number is 1218-0176.

The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) proposes to amend its regulations regarding the certification of temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers employed in temporary or seasonal agricultural employment and the enforcement of the contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers. This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) streamlines the process by which the Department reviews employers' applications for temporary agricultural labor certifications to use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2A status. Amendments to the current regulations focus on modernizing the H-2A program and eliminating inefficiencies. The Department also proposes to amend the regulations for enforcement of contractual obligations for temporary foreign agricultural workers and the Wagner- Peyser Act regulations to provide consistency with revisions to H-2A program regulations governing the temporary agricultural labor certification process.

OSHA solicits public comments concerning the proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements contained in the Walking and Working Surfaces Standard for General Industry.

In this notice, OSHA announces the application of TUV SUD America, Inc., for expansion of the scope of recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) and presents the agency's preliminary finding to grant the application.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sponsored information collection request (ICR) revision titled, ``Consumer Expenditure Surveys: Quarterly Interview and Diary,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Labor's (DOL's) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed revision to the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Financial Report Form ETA-9130.'' This comment request is part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).

This document contains notice of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of a proposed temporary five-year individual 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). If this proposed exemption is granted, certain entities with specified relationships to CSAG will not be precluded from relying on the exemptive relief provided by Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84- 14.

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Department of Labor published a document in the Federal Register of June 28, 2019, inviting public comments on the Prohibited Transaction Exemption 1986- 128 For Securities Transactions Involving Employee Benefit Plans and Broker-Dealers Information Collection Request (84 FR 31109). The document contained an incorrect PTE reference.

This Notice announces allotments for Program Year (PY) 2019 for the WIOA Title I Section 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program, as required under Section 182(d) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. The Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019, enacted September 28, 2018, provides $82,447,000 for formula grants and another $5,922,000 for migrant and seasonal farmworker housing (of which not less than 70 percent shall be for permanent housing). Another $527,000 will be set aside for discretionary purposes. The formula was developed for the purpose of distributing funds geographically by State service area, on the basis of each State service area's relative share of persons eligible for the program. The formula's methodology was described in a notice published in the Federal Register on May 19, 1999 (64 FR 27390). That information is accessible at https://www.federalregister.gov/. Beginning with PY 2018, ETA incorporated two modifications to the allotment formula, with the goal of providing more accurate estimates of each State service area's relative share of persons eligible for the program. The formula also used updated data from each of the four data files serving as the basis of the formula since 1999. Based on the new estimates, the Department of Labor (DOL or Department) instituted a hold-harmless provision for PY 2018 and two following years. The hold- harmless provision is designed to provide a staged transition from old to new funding levels for State service areas and minimize the impact on those states incurring significant change.

In accordance with section 3687 of Public Law 106-398, which was added by section 3141(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2015, Executive Order 13699 (June 26, 2015), and the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. A. 2) and its implementing regulations issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), the Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health was established on July 2, 2015. The current Charter was signed on June 29, 2017 and expires on June 28, 2019. Pursuant to FACA, Section 14(b)(2), the Secretary of Labor has renewed the Charter for two years. The Charter renewal allows the Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health (Board) to continue its operations. The Board advises the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) with respect to: (1) The Site Exposure Matrices (SEM) of the Department of Labor; (2) medical guidance for claims examiners for claims with the EEOICPA program, with respect to the weighing of the medical evidence of claimants; (3) evidentiary requirements for claims under Part B of EEOICPA related to lung disease; and (4) the work of industrial hygienists and staff physicians and consulting physicians of the Department of Labor and reports of such hygienists and physicians to ensure quality, objectivity, and consistency. The Board, when necessary, coordinates exchanges of data and findings with the Department of Health and Human Services' Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. Membership of the Board currently consists of 12 members appointed by the Secretary (eleven sitting members and one replacement member pending), who also appointed a Chair. Public Law 106-398, Section 3687(a)(3). Pursuant to Section 3687(a)(2), membership is balanced and includes members from the scientific, medical and claimant communities. The members serve two-year terms. At the discretion of the Secretary, members may be appointed to successive terms or removed at any time. The Board meets no less than twice per year. The Board reports to the Secretary of Labor. As specified in Section 3687(i), the Board shall terminate ten (10) years after the date of the enactment of the NDAA, which was December 19, 2014. Thus, the Board shall terminate on December 19, 2024. Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice are available at https://www.regulations.gov. This notice, as well as news releases and other relevant information, are also available on the Advisory Board's web page at https://www.dol.gov/owcp/energy/regs/compliance/ AdvisoryBoard.htm.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is extending the comment period on the Request for Information on a Retrospective Study of Respirable Coal Mine Dust Rule. The comment period is extended until July 9, 2022. Pursuant to MSHA's ongoing study, this extension gives stakeholders additional time to provide input on developing the framework to assess the impact of the final rule, Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors and to provide MSHA information and data on engineering controls and best practices that lower miners' exposure to respirable coal mine dust.

The Department of Labor's (DOL's), Employment Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed revision for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Post Enrollment Data Collection for Job Corps Participants.'' This comment request is part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).

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 collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 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 Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is soliciting comments on the information collection for Cleanup Program for Accumulations of Coal and Float Coal Dusts, Loose Coal, and Other Combustibles.