[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 151 (Monday, August 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40661-40662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-19793]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Experience Rating Report; Comment Request

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 revision and extension of the ETA 204, 
Experience Rating Report. A copy of the proposed information collection 
request (ICR) 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 section below on or before October 4, 1996.
    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 assumption 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 application of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submissions of responses.

ADDRESSES: Michael Miller, Unemployment Insurance Service, Employment 
and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S4231, 200 
Constitution Ave, N.W., Washington, DC, 20210; telephone number (202) 
219-5309; fax (202) 219-8506 (these are not toll-free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The data submitted annually on the ETA 204 report enables the 
Employment and Training Administration to project revenues for the 
Unemployment Insurance program on a State by State basis and to measure 
the variations in assigned contribution rates which result from 
different experience rating systems. Used in conjunction with other 
data, the ETA 204 assists in determining the effects of certain factors 
(e.g., seasonably, stabilization, expansion, or contraction in 
employment, etc.) on the employment experience of various groups of 
employers. The data also provide an early signal for potential solvency 
problems, are useful in analyzing factors which give rise to these 
potential problems, and permit an evaluation of the effectiveness of 
the various approaches available to correct the detected problems. 
Further, the data are the basis for determining the Experience Rating 
Index; the index allows for the evaluation of the extent to which UI 
benefits in States are effectively charged, noncharged, and 
ineffectively charged.

II. Current Actions

    The change being proposed in this request for extension will alter 
Section C of the report, All Taxable Subject Accounts, Selected Data by 
Experience Factor, standardizing it with a uniform format for all 
States. The change will require that States report the distribution of 
their employers according to fixed, standardized, experience factor 
intervals. Presently, States are allowed wide discretion in setting 
these intervals when submitting Section C. Informal queries of State 
personnel have indicated that, since Section C is presently tabulated 
electronically, the programming required to conform to standardized 
experience factor intervals would consist of modifications to software 
already in use. This change will allow

[[Page 40662]]

States to submit Section C electronically (Sections A and B are 
currently reported electronically), enable efficient manipulation of 
the data, and improve the accuracy of the Experience Rating Index.
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
    Title: Experience Rating Report.
    OMB Number: 1205-0164.
    Affected Public: State Governments.
    Agency Number: ETA 204.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Total Response: 53.
    Average Time per Response: 15 min.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 14.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): It is estimated that startup 
programming will take 40 hours per State or 2,120 hours or $41,870.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): $277.
    Comments submitted to 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: July 30, 1996.
Mary Ann Wyrsch,
Director, Unemployment Insurance Service, Employment and Training 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-19793 Filed 8-2-96; 8:45 am]
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