Department of Labor – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is announcing that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the revised information collection requirements contained in the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) (29 CFR parts 1910, 1915, and 1926) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA-95). The OMB control number is 1218-0072.

Pursuant to Section 10 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (Pub. L. 92-463; 5 U.S.C. APP. 1), notice is hereby given to announce an open virtual meeting of the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA) on November 14-15, 2012, which can be accessed from the Office of Apprenticeship's (OA) homepage: https:// www.doleta.gov/oa/. The ACA is a discretionary committee established by the Secretary of Labor, in accordance with FACA, as amended 5 U.S.C., App. 2, and its implementing regulations (41 CFR 101-6 and 102-3). All meetings of the ACA are open to the public. A virtual meeting of the ACA provides a cost savings to the government while still offering a venue that allows for public participation and transparency, as required by FACA.

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 continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to assure 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 is soliciting comments concerning the extension of the information collection for 30 CFR 77.1713. OMB last approved this information collection request (ICR) on February 1, 2010.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 an announcement of the 2012 LLSIL (Vol. 77, No. 60, page 18865, see https://www.gpo.gov/ fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-03-28/pdf/2012-7377.pdf). The announcement included a reassignment of the Virgin Islands (VI) to the South jurisdiction. This correction returns the VI to the Northeast region, and is retroactive to March 28, 2012. No other corrections are made, and the remainder of the LLSIL tables published on March 28, 2012 remain the same.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``National Medical Support Notice Part B,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sponsored information collection request (ICR) revision titled, ``Data Sharing Agreement Program,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements specified in the Hexavalent Chromium Standards for General Industry (29 CFR 1910.1026), Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915.1026), and Construction (29 CFR 1926.1126).

The Department of Labor (Department) is delaying the effective date of the Wage Methodology for the Temporary Non-agricultural Employment H-2B Program final rule, in response to recently enacted legislation that prohibits any funds from being used to implement the Wage Rule for the first 6 months of fiscal year (FY) 2013. The Wage Rule revised the methodology by which the Department calculates the prevailing wages to be paid to H-2B workers and United States (U.S.) workers recruited in connection with a temporary labor certification for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2B status.

Announcement regarding a change in eligibility for Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants in New York in the Emergency Unemployment Compensation 2008 (EUC08) Program and the Federal-State Extended Benefits (EB) Program. The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) produces trigger notices indicating which states qualify for both EB and EUC08 benefits, and provides the beginning and ending dates of payable periods for each qualifying state. The trigger notices covering state eligibility for these programs can be found at: https://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims_arch.asp. The following changes have occurred since the publication of the last notice regarding this state's EB and EUC08 trigger status: Based on data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on May 18, 2012, New York no longer met one of the criteria to remain ``on'' in EB, i.e., having their current three month average, seasonally adjusted total unemployment rate be at least 110 percent of one of the rates from a comparable period in one of the three prior years. This triggered New York ``off'' in the EB Program and the end of the payable period was the week ending June 10, 2012. New York has served the full 13 week ``off'' period on September 9, 2012. Given that the trigger rate in New York is currently at 8.9 percent, one look-back is at 110 percent, and the 13 week mandatory ``off'' period has concluded, New York meets the criteria to resume a High Unemployment Period in the EB Program. This payable period started with the week beginning September 10, 2012, and the maximum potential entitlement for the EB Program in New York is 20 weeks. In New York, where weeks end on a Sunday, a 13 week mandatory ``on'' period began for Tier 4 of the EUC08 Program on June 4, 2012. This mandatory 13-week ``on'' period concluded on September 2, 2012. Because the current trigger rate for New York is 8.9 percent, below the 9.0 percent threshold to remain on in Tier 4, New York has triggered ``off'' Tier 4 of the EUC08 Program and concluded an eligibility period in Tier 4 on September 2, 2012. Claimants in New York exhausting Tier 3 after September 2, 2012, can no longer establish Tier 4 eligibility.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is soliciting comments concerning the proposed extension of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the Solicitation of Nominations for the Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor information collection request (ICR), as part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is announcing the implementation of electronic filing for the submission of nonimmigrant temporary labor certification applications under the H-2A and H-2B visa programs through the Department of Labor's (Department) iCERT Visa Portal System (iCERT System) at https://icert.doleta.gov. This new electronic filing capacity will enhance the accessibility and quality of labor certification services, reduce the data collection and reporting burden on small employers, facilitate more streamlined business processes, and establish greater transparency in the Department's decisions. Employers or their authorized representatives will be able to submit H-2B applications electronically beginning on October 15, 2012, and H-2A applications beginning on December 10, 2012. In order to make this transition as smooth as possible, the Department will hold four webinar training sessions (two for filing in the H-2B program and two for filing in the H-2A program) to orient program users to electronic filing through the iCERT System. These sessions will be announced on the OFLC's Web site (https://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta. gov/) once dates are finalized. Employers or their authorized representatives choosing not to use this new filing option must continue to file their H-2A and H-2B applications with the Department using the traditional paper-based filing method.

The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the 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 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps 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, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection process for data on UI Title XII advances and voluntary repayments, which expires 11/30/2012.