[Federal Register: January 14, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 9)]
[Notices]
[Page 2161-2162]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14ja04-97]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Proposed Information Collection Request; Submitted for Public
Comment and Recommendations
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 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 collection of data from organizations
that have been awarded H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants by the
Employment and Training Administration.
DATES: Submit written comments on or before March 15, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Mindy Feldbaum, Federal Program Officer,
Office of Workforce Investment, Employment and Training Administration,
United States Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW., Room
N4665, Washington DC 20210, telephone 202-693-3382 (this is not a toll-
free number), Internet address: feldbaum.mindy@dol.gov and fax: 202-
693-2982.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The DOL/ETA intends to use the requested data and information to
monitor adherence to the grant award agreement provisions, assess
progress of the grantees in meeting program goals and objectives and
amass data sufficient to analyze outcomes and the overall effectiveness
of the H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants program as required by the
American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (AC-
21) and 29 CFR 95.51. The information and data will also be used to
respond to inquiries regarding the H-1B Grants program that come from
the Executive branch, Congress, the General Accounting Office, the
media and others. To date, the DOL/ETA has awarded 129 grants under the
H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants program.
II. Desired Focus of Comments
The Department of Labor is particularly interested in comments
which:
[sbull] Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proposed performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
[sbull] 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;
[sbull] Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
[sbull] 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.
A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) may be
obtained by contacting the office listed in the Addressee section of
this notice.
III. Current Actions
Type of Review: Existing collection in use without an OMB control
number.
Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
Title: H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants Program Reporting
Requirements.
Recordkeeping: H-1B Technical Skills Training Grantees are required
to retain records in accordance with their respective grant award
agreements.
Affected Public: Organizations awarded grants under ETA's H-1B
Technical Skills Training Grants Program.
Form: The proposed collection of information will use ETA's Web-
based Enterprise Information Management System (EIMS) to collect
quarterly requested information. The final report will be submitted in
hard copy. The information to be collected is shown on the ICR.
Total Respondents: Organizations that have received H-1B grant
awards under the provisions of the American Competitiveness in the
Twenty-first Century Act (AC-21) are the respondents. To date, 86
awards have been made under AC-21.
[[Page 2162]]
Frequency: Quarterly, for the progress report; once upon project
completion for the final project report.
Total Responses: Estimated at between 332 and 484 reports annually
(number of respondents multiplied by the number of reports submitted
annually).
Average time per response: 12 hours for the quarterly report; 40
hours for the one-time final report.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: see Burden Table below.
Burden Hour Table for H-1B.--Technical Skills Training Grant Program Information Collection Request
[DOL/ETA Reporting Burden for H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant Performance Reporting]
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FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006
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Number of Performance reports per grantee per quarter.......... 1 1 1
Number of Performance reports per grantee per year............. 2 4 4
Average number of hours required for Performance reporting per 12 12 12
grantee per quarter per report (see Note 1)....................
Average number of hours required for Performance reporting per 24 48 48
grantee per year...............................................
Number of grantees submitting Performance reports (See Note 2). 93 121 83
Average number of hours required for reporting burden per year. 2,232 5,808 3,984
SF269 Financial Status Report burden hours (OMB Control 0348- 186 242 166
grantee (see Note 3) times of grants ending in each
year...........................................................
TOTAL BURDEN HOURS............................................. 2,498 7,570 4,670
Total Performance reporting, SF269 and Final Report burden cost $38,893.86 $117,864.90 $72,711.90
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Notes:
1. The estimate of hourly reporting burden per quarter for each grantee includes the time spent by the grantee
to collect necessary information and to enter the information into ETA's EIMS.
2. Number of grantees varies during the course of the year. Some grants are completed and others will start
during any given year. However, each grantee will be required to submit one progress report per quarter. The
total number of reports submitted during a year thus varies depending on the number of operational grants in a
particular year.
3. A final report is required once from each grantee. On average, the final report burden is estimated at 40
hours, including gathering of project statistics from existing data sources and writing and editing the
report.
4. The total burden cost was based upon the median hourly wage for an Administrative Assistant/Executive
Assistant using data for year 2001 (latest year for which data are available) from DOL's O*Net system.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be submitted
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget
approval of the information collection request; they will become a part
of the public record.
Dated: January 7, 2004.
Emily Stover DeRocco,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training, Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 04-785 Filed 1-13-04; 8:45 am]
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