[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 250 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76861-76862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31029]
[[Page 76861]]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
20 CFR Parts 626, 627, 628, 631, 632, 633, 634, 636, 637, and 638
RIN 1205-AB68
Removal of Job Training Partnership Act Implementing Regulations
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the
Department of Labor (Department) is removing the regulations at 20 CFR
parts 626, 627, 628, 631, 632, 633, 634, 636, 637, and 638, which
implemented the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA or the Act). These
regulations were designed to improve the employment status of
disadvantaged youth, adults, dislocated workers, and other individuals
facing barriers to employment. In 1998, Congress passed the Workforce
Investment Act (WIA), which required the Secretary of Labor to
transition any authority under the JTPA to the system created by WIA.
Therefore, the Department is taking this action to remove regulations
for a program that is no longer operative.
DATES: This Direct Final Rule is effective April 1, 2013 without
further action, unless significant adverse comment is received by
January 30, 2013. If significant adverse comment is received, the
Department of Labor will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the
Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1205-AB68, by one
of the following methods:
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
Web site instructions for submitting comments.
Mail and hand delivery/courier: Written comments, disk, and CD-ROM
submissions may be mailed to Michael S. Jones, Acting Administrator,
Office of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Labor,
200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room N-5641, Washington, DC 20210.
Instructions: Label all submissions with ``RIN 1205-AB68.''
Please submit your comments by only one method. Please be advised
that the Department will post all comments on this Direct Final Rule on
http://www.regulations.gov without making any change to the comments or
redacting any information. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is
the Federal e-rulemaking portal and all comments posted there are
available and accessible to the public. Therefore, the Department
recommends that commenters remove personal information such as Social
Security Numbers, personal addresses, telephone numbers, and email
addresses included in their comments as such information may become
easily available to the public via the http://www.regulations.gov Web
site. It is the responsibility of the commenter to safeguard their
personal information.
Also, please note that due to security concerns, postal mail
delivery in Washington, DC may be delayed. Therefore, the Department
encourages the public to submit comments on http://www.regulations.gov.
Docket: All comments on this Direct Final Rule will be available on
the http://www.regulations.gov Web site, posted without change, and can
be found using RIN 1205-AB68. The Department also will make all the
comments it receives available for public inspection by appointment
during normal business hours at the above address. If you need
assistance to review the comments, the Department will provide you with
appropriate aids such as readers or print magnifiers. The Department
will make copies of the rule available, upon request, in large print
and electronic file on computer disk. To schedule an appointment to
review the comments and/or obtain the rule in an alternative format,
contact the Office of Policy Development and Research at (202) 693-3700
(this is not a toll-free number). You may also contact this office at
the address listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael S. Jones, Acting
Administrator, Office of Policy Development and Research, Employment
and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-5641, 200
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-3700
(this is not a toll-free number). This notice is available through the
printed Federal Register, and electronically at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Direct Final Rule Procedure
Since removal of the Job Training Partnership Act implementing
regulations is not controversial, and the authorizing legislation for
these regulations has been repealed, these regulations govern a program
that is no longer in operation. The Department therefore has determined
that good cause exists to remove these regulations using a Direct Final
Rule. No significant adverse comments are anticipated. All interested
parties should comment at this time because we will not initiate an
additional comment period.
If significant adverse comments are received, we will publish a
timely notice in the Federal Register withdrawing this Direct Final
Rule. For purposes of withdrawing this Direct Final Rule, a significant
adverse comment is one that explains: (1) why the Direct Final Rule is
inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or
approach; or (2) why the Direct Final Rule will be ineffective or
unacceptable without a change. In determining whether a significant
adverse comment necessitates withdrawal of this Direct Final Rule, we
will consider whether the comment raises an issue serious enough to
warrant a substantive response through the notice and comment process.
II. Background
Through this Direct Final Rule, the Department is removing and
reserving the JTPA regulations at 20 CFR parts 626, 627, 628, 631, 632,
633, 634, 636, 637, and 638, which were designed to improve the
employment status of disadvantaged young adults, dislocated workers,
and individuals facing barriers to employment. These regulations have
been superseded by the regulations promulgated under the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), 29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.
The statutory purpose of the JTPA was to establish programs that
prepared disadvantaged youth and adults who faced serious barriers to
employment for participation in the labor force by providing job
training and other services that would result in increased employment
and earnings, increased educational and occupational skills, and
decreased welfare dependency. See 20 CFR part 626. To carry out this
purpose, the Department published regulations that implemented adult
and youth training programs, summer youth employment and training
programs, provided employment and training assistance for dislocated
workers, and authorized programs for other individuals facing barriers
to employment. See 20 CFR parts 628, 631. The JTPA regulations also
established corrective action and sanctions for instances of
noncompliance, provided procedures for hearings, and established
standards and expectations for the programs authorized under the Act.
See 20 CFR part 627.
[[Page 76862]]
On August 7, 1998, Congress passed WIA. Under WIA, which superseded
the JTPA, Congress required the Secretary of Labor to develop and
publish interim final regulations (IFR) to implement this transition no
later than 180 days after WIA's enactment date. See 20 U.S.C.
9276(c)(1). The Department published the WIA IFR on April 15, 1999. See
64 FR 18662. In that IFR, the Department explicitly provided for the
phased transition of the JTPA programs to WIA, to be fully completed by
July 1, 2000. See 64 FR 18662, 18663 (Apr. 15, 1999). The final rule
implementing WIA was published on August 11, 2000. See 65 FR 49293
(Aug. 11, 2000).
Initially, although the JTPA authorizing legislation was repealed,
the Department retained the JTPA regulations in the Code of Federal
Regulations for grant closeout and auditing purposes. However, now that
the JTPA programs have been transitioned to WIA for over a decade, the
Department finds no reason to retain the JTPA regulations. Furthermore,
the Department has previously removed several other JTPA regulatory
provisions. Parts 629 and 630 were removed at 57 FR 62004 (Dec. 29,
1992). Part 635 was re-designated as 20 CFR part 1005 at 54 FR 39352
(Sept. 26, 1989), and the Department later removed part 1005 at 59 FR
26601 (May 23, 1994). Finally, the Department notes that it re-
designated part 684 as part 638 at 55 FR 12992 (Apr. 6, 1990). Those
JTPA regulatory provisions that remain are subject to this removal
notice.
List of Subjects
20 CFR Parts 626, 627, 628, 631 and 637
Accounting, Administrative practice and procedure, Disaster
assistance, Grant programs--Labor, Manpower training programs,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Youth.
20 CFR Part 632
Administrative practice and procedure, Fraud, Grant programs--
Indians, Grant programs--labor, Hawaiian Natives, Manpower training
programs, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements Youth.
20 CFR Part 633
Grant programs--labor, Manpower training programs, Migrant labor,
Recording and record keeping requirements.
20 CFR Part 634
Grant Programs--labor, Manpower training programs, Statistics.
20 CFR Part 636
Administrative practice and procedure, Grant programs--labor,
Manpower training programs.
20 CFR Part 638
Grant programs--labor, Job Corps, Lobbying, Manpower training
programs, Recording and record keeping requirements, Youth.
Accordingly, under the authority of the Workforce Investment Act of
1998 (WIA), 29 U.S.C. 9276(a), and for the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the Department amends 20 CFR Chapter V by removing Parts 626,
627, 628, 631, 632, 633, 634, 636, 637, and 638 as follows:
PART 626--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
1. Remove and reserve part 626, consisting of Sec. Sec. 626.1 through
626.5.
PART 627--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
2. Remove and reserve part 627, consisting of Sec. Sec. 627.100
through 627.906.
PART 628--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
3. Remove and reserve part 628, consisting of Sec. Sec. 628.100
through 628.804.
PART 631--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
4. Remove and reserve part 631, consisting of Sec. Sec. 631.1 through
631.87.
PART 632--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
5. Remove and reserve part 632, consisting of Sec. Sec. 632.1 through
632.263.
PART 633--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
6. Remove and reserve part 633, consisting of Sec. Sec. 633.102
through 633.322.
PART 634--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
7. Remove and reserve part 634, consisting of Sec. Sec. 634.1 through
634.5.
PART 636--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
8. Remove and reserve part 636, consisting of Sec. Sec. 636.1 through
636.11.
PART 637--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
9. Remove and reserve part 637, consisting of Sec. Sec. 637.100
through 637.310.
PART 638--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]
0
10. Remove and reserve part 638, consisting of Sec. Sec. 638.100
through 638.815.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 18th day of December, 2012.
Jane Oates
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-31029 Filed 12-28-12; 8:45 am]
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