Employment and Training Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-220), the Secretary of Labor annually determines the Lower Living Standard Income level (LLSIL) for uses described in the law. WIA defines the term ``Low Income Individual'' as one who qualifies under various criteria, including an individual who received 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 2011 and references the current 2011 Health and Human Services ``Poverty Guidelines.''

The Department of Labor (the Department or DOL) proposes to amend its regulations governing the certification of the employment of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal non-agricultural employment and the enforcement of the obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers. This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) proposes to revise and solicits comments on the process by which employers obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2B status. The Department also proposes to create new regulations to provide for increased worker protections for both U.S. and foreign workers and enhanced enforcement under the H-2B program.

The U.S. Department of Labor (the Department or DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Office of Workforce Investment (OWI), Division of Adult Services (DAS), announces a grant competition for operating the Housing Assistance portion of the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), under section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), 29 U.S.C. 2912. Section 167(a) of WIA requires the Secretary to conduct a grants competition every two years for the purpose of carrying out the activities authorized under section 167. Although housing assistance is identified in WIA as one of the allowable activities under NFJP, Congressional appropriations language directs the Department to make available a specific amount of the funds appropriated for the NFJP for migrant and seasonal farmworkers housing assistance grants, and requires that no less than 70 percent of the specified amount must be used for permanent housing activities. We are conducting this competition before the passage of the Department of Labor's Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriation in anticipation of the appropriation of funds for Program Year (PY) 2011 NFJP housing assistance grants, but we will not obligate any funds for PY 2011 grants unless and until they are appropriated. The FY 2011 appropriation request for this program is $5,700,000. The complete SGA and any subsequent SGA amendments are described in further detail on ETA's Web site at https://www.doleta.gov/grants or on https://www.grants.gov. The Web sites provide application information, eligibility requirements, review and selection procedures and other program requirements governing this solicitation.

Announcement regarding the Virgin Islands triggering ``off'' Tier Three of Emergency Unemployment Compensation 2008 (EUC08). Public Law 111-312 extended provisions in Public Law 111-92 which amended prior laws to create a Third and Fourth Tier of benefits within the EUC08 program for qualified unemployed workers claiming benefits in high unemployment states. The Department of Labor produces a trigger notice indicating which states qualify for EUC08 benefits within Tiers Three and Four and provides the beginning and ending dates of payable periods for each qualifying state. The trigger notice covering state eligibility for the EUC08 program can be found at: https:// ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/claimsarch.asp. Based on data published January 25, 2011, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the following trigger change has occurred for the Virgin Islands' EUC08 program: The seasonally-adjusted total unemployment rate for the 3- month period ending December 2010 for the Virgin Islands fell below the 6.0% threshold to remain ``on'' Tier Three of the EUC08 program. The payable period for the Virgin Islands in Tier Three of the EUC08 program concluded February 26, 2011. As a result, the maximum potential entitlement of 47 weeks will decrease to a maximum potential entitlement of 34 weeks in the EUC08 program.

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 (PRA) [44 U.S.C. 3505(c)(2)(A)]. The 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 the collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The proposed information collection is for an evaluation of the YPDP. The YPDP is sponsored by ETA to test innovative strategies that can improve the skills and education of young parents and, ultimately their employment and earnings.