Employment and Training Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA), is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled ``Application for Permanent Employment Certification.'' 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 Department of Labor (DOL or Department), as part of its effort to streamline information collection, clarify statutory and regulatory requirements, and provide greater transparency and oversight in the H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 nonimmigrant visa application processes, 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. 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 extension of the approval for the information collection, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 1205-0310, containing Form ETA-9035Labor Condition Application for Nonimmigrant Workers; Form ETA-9035ELabor Condition Application for Nonimmigrants Workers (electronic version); Form ETA-9035CPGeneral Instructions for the 9035 & 9035E; Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Form WH-4Nonimmigrant Worker Information Form; and other H-1B related information collection and retention requirements, which expire May 31, 2018. A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section of this notice. The Form ETA-9035/9035E must be used by employers seeking to employ a foreign worker in a specialty occupation or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability under the H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 nonimmigrant visa classifications. The Form ETA-9035/9035E must be certified by the DOL before the Department of Homeland Security's United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may approve a petition authorizing admission of a foreign worker under the visa classification. The Form WH-4 is used to request that DOL's Wage and Hour Division initiate an investigation related to alleged violations of H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 program requirements.

The Department of Labor published a document in the Federal Register of July 25, 2017 (82 FR 34553), concerning requests for nominations for the task force on apprenticeship expansion. The document contained an incorrect email address in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

The Secretary of Labor invites interested persons to submit nominations for individuals to serve on the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion (hereinafter ``the Task Force'' or ``the panel''), a non-discretionary federal advisory committee authorized pursuant to section 8 of Executive Order 13801, entitled ``Expanding Apprenticeships in America'' (hereinafter ``the Executive Order''), which was issued on June 15, 2017 (82 FR 28229) and which directed the Secretary of Labor to establish and chair such a panel in the Department of Labor.

This notice announces allotments for PY 2017 for WIOA Title I Youth, Adult and Dislocated Worker Activities programs; final allotments for Employment Service (ES) activities under the Wagner- Peyser Act for PY 2017 and the allotments of Workforce Information Grants to States for PY 2017. WIOA allotments for States and the State final allotments for the Wagner-Peyser Act are based on formulas defined in their respective statutes. WIOA requires allotments for the Outlying Areas to be competitively based rather than based on a formula determined by the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) as occurred under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). For PY 2017, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 waives the competition requirement, and the Secretary is using the discretionary formula rationale and methodology for allocating PY 2017 funds for the Outlying Areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the United States Virgin Islands) that was published in the Federal Register at 65 FR 8236 (Feb. 17, 2000). WIOA specifically included the Republic of Palau as an Outlying Area, except during any period for which the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education determine that a Compact of Free Association is in effect and contains provisions for training and education assistance prohibiting the assistance provided under WIOA; no such determinations prohibiting assistance have been made. The formula that the Department of Labor (Department) used for PY 2017 is the same formula used in PY 2016 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), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Unemployment Insurance (UI) State Quality Service Plan (SQSP) Planning and Reporting Guidelines.'' 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 Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``ETA 902 Disaster Unemployment Assistance Activities.'' This comment request is part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires the U.S. Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to update and publish the LLSIL tables annually, for uses described in the law (including determining eligibility for youth). WIOA defines the term ``low income individual'' as one who qualifies under various criteria, including an individual in a family with total family income for a six-month period that does not exceed the higher level of the poverty line or 70 percent of the LLSIL. This issuance provides the Secretary's annual LLSIL for 2017 and references the current 2017 Health and Human Services ``Poverty Guidelines.''

Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress has passed, and the President has signed a public law disapproving the Employment and Training Administration's (ETA's) final rule establishing appropriate occupations for State drug testing of unemployment compensation claimants. ETA published the final rule on August 1, 2016, and the rule became effective on September 30, 2016. Because the public law invalidates the rule, ETA is hereby removing it from the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor is issuing this Notice to announce: (1) The allowable charges for 2017 that employers seeking H-2A workers in occupations other than range herding may charge their workers when the employer provides three meals a day, and (2) the maximum travel subsistence meal reimbursement that a worker with receipts may claim in 2017 under the H-2A and H-2B programs. The Notice also includes a reminder regarding employers' obligations with respect to overnight lodging costs as part of required subsistence.

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.

The Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Reemployment of UI Benefit Recipients.'' 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 Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Petition for Classifying Labor Surplus Areas.'' 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 Web site address for the upcoming WIAC meeting scheduled for February 8, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), has changed. The original Federal Register Notice announcing this virtual meeting was published December 27, 2016. The initial Web address for this meeting must be changed, but the phone numbers, participant codes, and agenda for this meeting remain the same. The new Web site address is: https://coffeyconsultingllc.adobeconnect.com/wiac080217/. The conference phone line and conference code remain the same, 866-530-3818 and conference code 2956449540, as does the agenda. The meeting will be open to the public.

This notice is to announce that the Department of Labor (DOL)'s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will no longer publish Notices of Funding Opportunities in the Federal Register. ETA will continue to post the full texts of all ETA's Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) at the government-wide Internet site, https:// www.grants.gov, in accordance with the policy directive issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). An applicant for funding may access the full FOA associated with a synopsis posted at https:// www.grants.gov by following the universal resource locator (URL) link included in the synopsis, or by visiting ETA's Web site at https:// www.doleta.gov.

The Secretary of Labor has determined that the renewal of the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship is necessary and in the public interest. The Department of Labor intends to renew the ACA Charter with revisions. The revisions are not intended to change the purpose or the Committee's original intent. The revisions are a routine updating of the Charter to ensure closer alignment with the Department's current apprenticeship expansion goals.

Pursuant to Section 10 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), notice is hereby given to announce an open meeting of the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA) on Wednesday, January 18, 2017. All meetings of the ACA are open to the public.