Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services Activity and Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services Outcomes

ACTION:

Notice of availability; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Employment and Training Administration (ETA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES:

The OMB will consider all written comments that the agency receives on or before January 11, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

Comments are invited on: (1) whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Department, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) if the information will be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (4) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (5) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mara Blumenthal by telephone at 202-693-8538, or by email at DOL_PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) program, mandated by the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1993, Public Law 103-152, identifies and ranks unemployment insurance (UI) claimants by their potential for exhausting benefits before returning to work and refers these claimants to appropriate reemployment services. WPRS is a required UI activity that each state may operate as a standalone program or integrated within the state's Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program, which is a voluntary reemployment program authorized by section 306 of the Social Security Act (SSA). Specifically, states participating in the RESEA program may opt to integrate WPRS into the RESEA participant selection process. States that fully integrate WPRS into their RESEA program and provide RESEA services statewide are exempt from WPRS reporting because WPRS activities are fully reflected in RESEA quarterly reports. For additional substantive information about this ICR, see the related notice published in the Federal Register on May 27, 2022 (87 FR 32188).

This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and the public is generally not required to respond to an information collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid OMB Control Number. See5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.

DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.

Agency: DOL-ETA.

Title of Collection: Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services Activity and Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services Outcomes.

OMB Control Number: 1205-0353.

Affected Public: State, local, and Tribal governments.

Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 105,220.

Total Estimated Number of Responses: 205,383.

Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 273,037 hours.

Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D).)