[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 152 (Friday, August 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47525-47526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19385]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Workforce Information Advisory Council
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice of Establishment of the Workforce Information Advisory
Council and Solicitation of Nominations for Membership.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department) announces the
establishment of the Workforce Information Advisory Council (WIAC),
invites interested parties to submit nominations for individuals to
serve on the WIAC, and announces the procedures for those nominations.
DATES: Nominations for individuals to serve on the WIAC must be
submitted (postmarked, if sending by mail; submitted electronically; or
received, if hand delivered) by October 6, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit nominations and supporting materials
described in this Federal Register Notice by any one of the following
methods:
Electronically: Submit nominations, including attachments, by email
using the following address: [email protected] (use subject line
``Nomination--Workforce Information Advisory Council'').
Mail, express delivery, hand delivery, messenger, or courier
service: Submit one copy of the nominations and supporting materials to
the following address: Workforce Information Advisory Council
Nominations, Office of Workforce Investment, U.S. Department of Labor,
200 Constitution Ave. NW., Room C-4526, Washington, DC 20210.
Deliveries by hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service are
accepted by the Office of Workforce Investment during the hours of 9:00
a.m.-5:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, Monday through Friday. Due to
security-related procedures, submissions by regular mail may experience
significant delays.
Facsimile: The Department will not accept nominations submitted by
fax.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Vitelli, Division of National
Programs, Tools, and Technical Assistance, Office of Workforce
Investment (address above); (202) 693-3045; or use email address for
the WIAC, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background and Authority
Section 15 of the Wagner-Peyser Act, 29 U.S.C. 49l-2, as amended by
section 308 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014
(WIOA), Public Law #113-128 requires the Secretary of Labor (Secretary)
to establish the WIAC.
[[Page 47526]]
The statute, as amended, requires the Secretary, acting through the
Commissioner of Labor Statistics and the Assistant Secretary for
Employment and Training, to formally consult at least twice annually
with the WIAC to address: (1) Evaluation and improvement of the
nationwide workforce and labor market information system established by
the Wagner-Peyser Act, and of the statewide systems that comprise the
nationwide system, and (2) how the Department and the States will
cooperate in the management of those systems. The Secretary, acting
through the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Employment and
Training Administration (ETA), and in consultation with the WIAC and
appropriate Federal agencies, must also develop a 2-year plan for
management of the system, with subsequent updates every two years
thereafter. The statute generally prescribes how the plan is to be
developed and implemented, outlines the contents of the plan, and
requires the Secretary to submit the plan to designated authorizing
committees in the House and Senate.
By law, the Secretary must ``seek, review, and evaluate''
recommendations from the WIAC, and respond to the recommendations in
writing to the WIAC. The WIAC must make written recommendations to the
Secretary on the evaluation and improvement of the workforce and labor
market information system, including recommendations for the 2-year
plan. The 2-year plan, in turn, must describe WIAC recommendations and
the extent to which the plan incorporates them.
The Department anticipates that the WIAC will accomplish its
objectives by, for example: (1) Studying workforce and labor market
information issues; (2) seeking and sharing information on innovative
approaches, new technologies, and data to inform employment, skills
training, and workforce and economic development decision making and
policy; and (3) advising the Secretary on how the workforce and labor
market information system can best support workforce development,
planning, and program development.
II. Structure
The Wagner-Peyser Act at section 15(d)(2)(B), requires the WIAC to
have representative 14 members, appointed by the Secretary, consisting
of:
(i) Four members who are representatives of lead State agencies
with responsibility for workforce investment activities, or State
agencies described in Wagner-Peyser Act section 4 (agency designated or
authorized by Governor to cooperate with the Secretary), who have been
nominated by such agencies or by a national organization that
represents such agencies;
(ii) Four members who are representatives of the State workforce
and labor market information directors affiliated with the State
agencies responsible for the management and oversight of the workforce
and labor market information system as described in Wagner-Peyser Act
section 15(e)(2), who have been nominated by the directors;
(iii) One member who is a representative of providers of training
services under WIOA section 122 (Identification of Eligible Providers
of Training Services);
(iv) One member who is a representative of economic development
entities;
(v) One member who is a representative of businesses, who has been
nominated by national business organizations or trade associations;
(vi) One member who is a representative of labor organizations, who
has been nominated by a national labor federation;
(vii) One member who is a representative of local workforce
development boards, who has been nominated by a national organization
representing such boards; and
(viii) One member who is a representative of research entities that
use workforce and labor market information.
The Secretary must ensure that the membership of the WIAC is
geographically diverse, and that no two members appointed under clauses
(i), (ii), and (vii), above, represent the same State. Each member will
be appointed for a term of three years, except that the initial terms
for members may be one, two, or three years in order to establish a
rotation in which one-third of the members are selected each year. The
Secretary will not appoint a member for any more than two consecutive
terms. Any member whom the Secretary appoints to fill a vacancy
occurring before the expiration of the predecessor's term will be
appointed only for the remainder of that term. Members of the WIAC will
serve on a voluntary and generally uncompensated basis, but will be
reimbursed for travel expenses to attend WIAC meetings, including per
diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by the Federal travel
regulations.
III. Nominations Process
Of the seven types of members listed above and at section 15(d)(2),
the Secretary may consider all nominations for three types, but for the
other four, the Secretary may only appoint individuals nominated by
particular organizations. Type (i) requires nomination from ``lead
State agencies with responsibility for workforce investment
activities'' and type (ii) requires nomination from ``State workforce
and labor market information directors.'' Type (v) requires nomination
by national business organizations or trade associations and type (vi)
requires nomination by a national labor federation. But for types
(iii), (iv), and (vii), any interested person or organization may
nominate one or more qualified individuals for membership. If you would
like to nominate an individual or yourself for appointment to the WIAC,
please submit, to one of the addresses listed below, the following
information:
A copy of the nominee's biographical information and
resume;
A cover letter that provides your reason(s) for nominating
the individual, the constituency area that they represent (as outlined
above in the WIAC membership identification discussion), and their
particular expertise for contributing to the national policy discussion
on: (1) The evaluation and improvement of the nationwide workforce and
labor market information system and statewide systems that comprise the
nationwide system, and (2) how the Department and the States will
cooperate in the management of those systems, including programs that
produce employment-related statistics and State and local workforce and
labor market information; and
Contact information for the nominee (name, title, business
address, business phone, fax number, and business email address).
In addition, the cover letter must state that the nomination is
being made in response to this Federal Register Notice and that the
nominee (if nominating someone other than oneself) has agreed to be
nominated and is willing to serve on the WIAC.
Authority: Pursuant to the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, as
amended, 29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.; Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act, Pub. L. 113-128; Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5
U.S.C. App.
Portia Wu,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-19385 Filed 8-6-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P