Department of Labor – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Investment Manager Electronic Registration,'' 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 Employment and Training Administration (ETA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Benefits Rights and Experience Report'' 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's (DOL's), Employment Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning the information collection request (ICR) titled ``Student Experiences Assessment of Job Corps Centers.'' 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 Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA), Public Law 115-123 (2018), established permanent authorization for the RESEA program by enacting section 306 of title III, (SSA). This notice announces the formula to allocate base funds for the RESEA program, as provided under Section 306(f)(1), SSA, 42 U.S.C. 506(f)(1). On April 4, 2019, ETA published a notice in the Federal Register (84 FR 13319) requesting public comment concerning the development of a proposed formula that ETA will use to distribute funding to States for RESEA. The notice presented a description of a proposed allocation formula and public comments were requested. The comment period closed on May 6, 2019. This notice summarizes and responds to the comments received and publishes the final allocation formula that will take effect in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021.

This notice is a summary of petitions for modification submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the parties listed below.

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance 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. Currently, the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs is soliciting comments concerning the proposed collection: Attorney Fee Approval Request (LS-4), Application for Special Fund Relief (LS-5), Commutation Application (LS-6), Request for Intervention (LS-7), Settlement Approval Request 8(i) (LS-8) and Stipulation Approval Request (LS-9). A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the address section of this Notice.

This notice is a summary of petition for modification submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the parties listed below.

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.