Department of Labor November 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this notice, OSHA grants a permanent variance to Traylor- Sundt Joint Venture (SUNDTJV) related to work in compressed-air environments.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is correcting a notice that appeared in the Federal Register on October 17, 2023. DOL is correcting an error in the estimated burden hours, estimated number of respondents and the estimated number of responses. This is an Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is issuing a final rule that requires States to use State merit staff to provide Wagner-Peyser Act Employment Service (ES) services. In the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), the Department proposed that this requirement would apply to all States. However, the Department recognizes three States that have been approved by the Department to administer ES services using alternative staffing models for decades and is allowing only these three States to continue using the alternative staffing models. The requirement to use State merit staff to provide all ES services applies to all other States, including those States that implemented staffing flexibility under the 2020 Final Rule. The Department additionally is revising the ES regulations to strengthen the provision of services to migrant or seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) and to enhance the protections afforded by the Monitor Advocate System and the Employment Service and Employment-Related Law Complaint System (Complaint System). States have 24 months to comply with this final rule.

In this notice, OSHA announces the application of NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Operations Contract (NOC or ``the applicants'') for a permanent variance and interim order from a provision of the OSHA standard that regulates commercial diving operations, presents the agency's preliminary finding on NOC's application, and announces the granting of an interim order. NOC is a team of contractors consisting of Vertex TTS, Oceaneering International Inc. (Oll), Bastion Technologies Inc., Rothe Enterprises, Rothe Development, International Preparedness Associates Inc. (IPA), MRI, and EPro. NOC's variance request is based on the conditions specified in the alternate standard that OSHA granted to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on June 30, 2021. OSHA invites the public to submit comments on the variance application to assist the agency in determining whether to grant the applicants a permanent variance based on the conditions specified in this notice.

DHS, in consultation with DOL, is exercising time-limited Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 authority and increasing the total number of noncitizens who may receive an H-2B nonimmigrant visa by up to 64,716 for the entirety of FY 2024. These supplemental visas will be distributed in several allocations. 20,000 visas made available in this rule will be reserved for nationals of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, or Costa Rica. All visas will be available only to businesses that are suffering or will suffer impending irreparable harm, as attested by the employer. In addition, DHS is again providing temporary portability flexibility.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), notice is hereby given of the next meeting of the Native American Employment and Training Council (Council), as constituted under WIOA.

Notice is hereby given that the Workforce Information Advisory Council (WIAC or Advisory Council) will meet virtually December 4, 2023. Information for public attendance at the virtual meeting will be posted at www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa/wiac/meetings several days prior to the meeting date. The meeting will be open to the public.

This notice amends a petition for modification published in the Federal Register on October 19, 2023, for Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC, CR 725 East, Francisco, Indiana 47699.

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

This document contains a notice of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of a proposed amendment to class prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02, which provides relief for certain compensation received by investment advice fiduciaries. The proposed amendment would affect participants and beneficiaries of Plans, IRA owners, and fiduciaries with respect to such Plans and IRAs.

This document sets forth proposed rules related to certain provisions of the No Surprises Act regarding the Federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) process, which was established as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). These proposed rules would set forth new requirements relating to the disclosure of information that group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage must include along with the initial payment or notice of denial of payment for certain items and services subject to the surprise billing protections in the No Surprises Act. These proposed rules would also require plans and issuers to communicate information by using claim adjustment reason codes (CARCs) and remittance advice remark codes (RARCs), as specified in guidance, when providing any paper or electronic remittance advice to an entity that does not have a contractual relationship with the plan or issuer. This document also proposes to amend certain requirements related to the open negotiation period preceding the Federal IDR process, the initiation of the Federal IDR process, the Federal IDR dispute eligibility review, and the payment and collection of administrative fees and certified IDR entity fees. This document also proposes to define bundled payment arrangements, amend requirements related to batched items and services, and amend the rules for extensions of timeframes due to extenuating circumstances. Additionally, this document proposes to require plans and issuers to register in the Federal IDR portal. In accordance with Federal law, a summary of these rules may be found at https://www.regulations.gov/.

This document contains a notice of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of a proposed amendment to Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 84-24, an exemption 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 amendment would affect participants and beneficiaries of plans, Individual Retirement Account (IRA) owners, and certain fiduciaries of plans and IRAs.

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. 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 extension without change of a currently approved collection for the ``Producer Price Index'' 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.