[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 206 (Friday, October 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61015-61016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-26888]


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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: [email protected]; 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: [email protected]; 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