[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 7, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 68387-68388] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-31686] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration Proposed Collection; Comment Request action: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- summary: 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) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. 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 Employment and Training Administration is soliciting comments concerning the proposed new collection of information on employers' use and assessment of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit. A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section of this notice. DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the addressee's section below on or before February 7, 2000. addresses: George Shephard, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-4466, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210, or phone 202-219-9092, ext. 139 (this is not a toll-free number), or e-mail [email protected], or fax 202-208-5844 (this is not a toll-free fax number). supplementary information: I. Background The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) was created in 1996 and the Welfare-to-Work (WtW) Tax Credit in 1997. The WOTC was designed to promote the hiring of individuals from certain target groups who consistently have had a particularly high unemployment rate, and the WtW Tax Credit to promote the hiring of long-term welfare assistance recipients. Both are meant to appeal to a wide range of employers and to impose a minimal burden upon participating employers. The Employment and Training Administration has the authority and responsibility for managing, providing oversight of, and issuing basic operating guidelines for the tax credit programs. Through the use of a contractor, WESTAT, ETA is examining employers' use and their assessment of the tax credit programs. This research will be in the form of 16 in-depth interviews with as many businesses. A synthesis report will be produced which focuses on quantitative workforce profiles of employers' use of the tax credits; employers' innovative practices and how they use the tax credits and the returns they receive; case histories of individual employees who have been hired under the tax credits; and discussion of the availability of data should a larger scale impact study of the tax credits be considered for the future. Sixteen case study reports will also result. The study will answer key questions about the relatively-new tax credit programs for which no systematically-collected data currently exist, e.g., what are the main purposes and reasons for businesses to use the tax credits? Answers will be used in efforts to increase employer use of tax credits and to improve program operations. II. Review Focus The Department of Labor is particularly interested in comments which:evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses. III. Current Actions As part of a study which will examine employer's use and assessment of the WOTC and WtW Tax Credit, employers who utilize one or both of the tax credits will be interviewed for the purpose of obtaining contextual, qualitative and quantitative information about their experience. Each interview will be guided by a protocol that contains both closed-ended and open-ended questions and a data summary. Type of Review: New. Agency: Employment and Training Administration. Title: Collection of information on employers' use and assessment of the WOTC and the WtW tax credit. OMB Number: 1205-ONEW. Affected Public: Businesses who use the WOTC and/or WtW tax credits. Cite/Reference/Form/etc: Information will be collected by on-site interview through use of an interview protocol. Total Respondents: 16. Frequency: One time. Total Responses: 16. Average Time per Response: 4 hours. Estimated Total Burden Hours: 64 hours. Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): Not applicable. [[Page 68388]] Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): $1,280. Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also become a matter of public record. Dated: November 26, 1999. Grace A. Kilbane, Administrator, Office of Workforce Security. [FR Doc. 99-31686 Filed 12-6-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4510-30-M