Employment and Training Administration December 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 224(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (``Trade Act'') requires the United States Department of Labor (``Department'') to publish in the Federal Register a summary of each report that it submits to the President under section 224(a) of the Trade Act. Set forth below is a summary of the report that the Department submitted to the President on December 19, 2017, on investigation No. TA-201-76, Large Residential Washers. The Department conducted the investigation under section 224(a) following notification by the International Trade Commission (``Commission''), as required by section 202(a)(3) of the Trade Act that a petition was filed alleging that LRWs are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) is issuing this notice to announce the 2018 Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for the employment of temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers (H-2A workers) to perform herding or production of livestock on the range. AEWRs are the minimum wage rates the Department has determined must be offered and paid by employers to H-2A workers and workers in corresponding employment so that the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers will not be adversely affected. In this notice, the Department announces the annual update of the AEWR for workers engaged in the herding or production of livestock on the range, as required by the methodology established in the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Foreign Workers in the Herding or Production of Livestock on the Range in the United States, 80 FR 62958, 63067-63068 (Oct. 16, 2015); 20 CFR 655.211.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) is issuing this notice to announce the 2018 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for the employment of temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers (H-2A workers) to perform agricultural labor or services other than the herding or production of livestock on the range. AEWRs are the minimum wage rates the Department has determined must be offered and paid by employers to H-2A workers and workers in corresponding employment for a particular occupation and area so that the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers will not be adversely affected. In this notice, the Department announces the annual update of the AEWRs.

Pursuant to Section 308 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA), which amends section 15 of the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, notice is hereby given that the WIAC will meet January 11, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The meeting will take place virtually at https:// meet617368056.adobeconnect.com/wiac/ or call 1-800-201-5203 and use conference code 333372. The WIAC was established in accordance with provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended and will act in accordance with the applicable provisions of FACA and its implementing regulation. The meeting will be open to the public.

The Department of Labor (DOL or Department), ETA, Office of Job Corps, is issuing a draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) regarding the proposed rehabilitation or replacement of buildings at the Gulfport Job Corps Center (JCC) in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Sections 3302(c)(2)(A) and 3302(d)(3) of the FUTA provide that employers in a State that has an outstanding balance of advances under Title XII of the Social Security Act at the beginning of January 1 of two or more consecutive years are subject to a reduction in credits otherwise available against the FUTA tax for the calendar year in which the most recent such January 1 occurs, if a balance of advances remains at the beginning of November 10 of that year. Further, section 3302(c)(2)(C) of FUTA provides for an additional credit reduction for a year if a State has outstanding advances on five or more consecutive January firsts and has a balance at the beginning of November 10 for such years. Section 3302(c)(2)(C) also provides for waiver of this additional credit reduction and substitution of the credit reduction provided in section 3302(c)(2)(B) if a state meets certain conditions. California and Virgin Islands were potentially liable for the additional credit reduction and applied for a waiver of the 2017 additional credit reduction under section 3302 (c)(2)(C) of FUTA. It has been determined that each one met all of the criteria of that section necessary to qualify for the waiver of the additional credit reduction. Further, the additional credit reduction of section 3302(c)(2)(B) is zero for California and Virgin Islands for 2017. Therefore, employers in California and Virgin Islands will have no additional credit reduction applied for calendar year 2017. As a result of having passed eight consecutive January 1's with an outstanding Title XII advances and not having repaid the balance as of November 10, 2017, both California and Virgin Islands are subject to a FUTA credit reduction of 2.1 percent.