[Federal Register: October 24, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 206)]
[Notices]
[Page 61015-61016]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24oc03-121]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Proposed Information Collection Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations: Quick Turnaround Surveys of WIA
ACTION: Notice.
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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 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 the collection requirements on
respondents can be properly assessed.
DATES: Submit comments on or before December 23, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Charlotte Schifferes, Employment and
Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Room N-5637, Washington, DC 20210; (202) 693-3655 (this is not a toll-free number); e-mail: schifferes.charlotte@dol.gov; fax:
(202) 693-2766 (this is not a toll-free number).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charlotte Schifferes, Employment and
Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Room N-5637, Washington, DC 20210; (202) 693-3655 (this is not a toll-free number); e-mail: schifferes.charlotte@dol.gov; fax:
(202) 693-2766 (this is not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting
comments regarding an extension of a current Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) clearance for a series of quick turnaround surveys in
which data will be collected from state workforce agencies and local
workforce investment areas. The surveys will focus on issues relating
to the governance, administration, funding, service design, and
delivery structure of workforce programs authorized by the Workforce
Investment Act (WIA). Enacted in 1998, WIA sought to redesign the
workforce development system by linking over a dozen separately funded
Federal programs and streamlining services, and establishing new
accountability requirements. WIA is set to expire in September 2003 and
Congress is now considering reauthorizing and amending the legislation.
ETA is currently is the process of developing a quick turnaround
survey on services and outreach to businesses, under the current OMB
clearance. Other surveys are also under consideration at this time.
The agency has a continuing need for information on WIA operations
and is seeking an extension of the clearance for conducting a series of
eight (8) to twenty (20) separate surveys over the next three years.
Each survey will be relatively short (10-30 questions) and, depending
on the nature of the survey, may be administered to state workforce
agencies, local workforce boards, One-Stop Centers, employment service
offices, or other local-area WIA partners. Each survey will be designed
on an ad hoc basis and will focus on emerging topics of pressing policy
interest. Each survey will either cover the universe of respondents
(for state level information) or a properly drawn random sample (for
local level information). Examples of broad topic areas include:
[sbull] Local management information system developments
[sbull] New processes and procedures
[sbull] Services to different target groups
[sbull] Integration and coordination with other programs
[sbull] Local workforce investment board membership and training
Quick turnaround surveys are needed for a number of reasons. The
most pressing concerns the need to understand key operational issues in
light of challenges deriving from the Administration's policy
priorities and from the coming reauthorization of WIA and of other
partner programs. Timely information, that identifies the scope and
magnitude of various practices or problems, is needed for ETA to
fulfill its obligations to develop high quality policy, administrative
guidance, regulations, and technical assistance.
The data that will be requested in the quick turnaround surveys is
not otherwise available. Other research and evaluation efforts,
including case studies or long-range evaluations, either cover only a
limited number of sites or take many years for data to be gathered and
analyzed. Administrative information and data are too limited: The
five-year Workforce Investment Plans, developed by states and local
areas, are too general in nature to meet ETA's specific informational
needs and are updated infrequently. Quarterly or annual data reporting
by states and local areas do not provide information on key operational
practices and issues. Thus, ETA has no alternative mechanism for
collecting information that both identifies the scope and magnitude of
emerging WIA implementation issues and provides the information on a
quick turnaround basis.
ETA will make every effort to coordinate the quick turnaround
surveys with other research it is conducting, in order to ease the
burden on local and state respondents, to avoid duplication, and to
explore fully how interim data and information from each study can be
used to inform the other studies. Information from the quick response
surveys will complement but not duplicate other ETA reporting
requirements or evaluation studies.
II. Desired Focus of Comments
Currently, ETA is soliciting comments, concerning the proposed
extension of the Quick Turnaround Surveys of WIA, that:
(a) 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;
(b) 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;
(c) enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(d) 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.
[[Page 61016]]
A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be
obtained by contacting the office listed above in the addressee section
of this notice.
III. Current Actions
Type of Review: Extension.
Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
Title: Quick Turnaround Surveys of WIA.
OMB Number: 1205-0436.
Affected Public: State and local workforce agencies and workforce
investment boards, and WIA partner program agencies at the state and
local levels.
Total Respondents: Varies by survey, from 54 to 250 respondents per
survey, for up to 20 surveys. See Summary Burden chart below:
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Estimated
Sample Number of Average time per question Aggregate burden hours per number of Total annual
size questions survey surveys burden hours
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Lower-Bound............................ 54 10 1 minutes.................. 9 hours................... 8 72
Upper-Bound............................ 250 30 3 minutes.................. 375 hours................. 20 7,500
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Total Burden Cost for capital and startup: $0.
Total Burden Cost for operation and maintenance: $0.
Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the
information collection request; they will also become a matter of
public record.
Dated: October 20, 2003.
Emily Stover DeRocco,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-26888 Filed 10-23-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P