Employment and Training Administration March 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces a change in benefit period eligibility under the EB program for South Carolina. The following change has occurred since the publication of the last notice regarding the State's EB status: The 13-week insured unemployment rate (IUR) for South Carolina for the week ending February 21, 2009, rose above 5.0 percent and exceeded 120 percent of the corresponding average rate in the two prior years. Therefore, beginning the week of March 8, 2009, eligible unemployed workers will be able to collect up to an additional 13 weeks of UI benefits.

This Notice announces States' allotments for The Department of Labor (DOL or Department) for training and employment services as specified in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) for activities under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA)Workforce Investment Act Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth Activities Program Allotments; Wagner-Peyser Act Allotments, and Reemployment Service (RES) Allotments. The funds for the allotments announced in this TEGL are part of the funds appropriated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5 (the Recovery Act), signed into law February 17, 2009. The WIA allotments for States and the final allotments for the Wagner-Peyser Act are based on formulas defined in their respective statutes. The WIA allotments for the outlying areas are based on a formula determined by the Secretary. As required by WIA section 182(d), on February 17, 2000, a Notice of the discretionary formula for allocating PY 2000 funds for the outlying areas (American Samoa, Guam, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Northern Marianas, Palau, and the Virgin Islands) was published in the Federal Register at 65 FR 8236 (February 17, 2000). The rationale for the formula and methodology was fully explained in the February 17, 2000, Federal Register Notice. The formula for PY 2008 is the same as used for PY 2000 and is described in the section on Youth Activities program allotments. Comments are invited on the formula used to allot funds to the outlying areas.

The Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) proposes to suspend for 9 months the H-2A regulations published on December 18, 2008, which became effective on January 17, 2009, that amended the rules governing the certification for temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers in agricultural occupations on a temporary or seasonal basis, and the enforcement of contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers. A suspension would provide the Department with an opportunity to review and reconsider the new requirements in light of issues that have arisen since the publication of the H-2A Final Rule, while minimizing the disruption to the Department, State Workforce Agencies (SWAs), employers, and workers. To avoid the regulatory vacuum that would result from a suspension, the Department proposes to reinstate on an interim basis the rules that were in place on January 16, 2009, the day before the revised rules became effective, by reprinting those previous regulations.