[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2161-2162]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-785]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Proposed Information Collection Request; Submitted for Public 
Comment and Recommendations

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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: [email protected] 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]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      FY 2004         FY 2005         FY 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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
 0043) @ 30 minutes per grantee per quarter.....................
 Grantee Final Project Report burden hours @ 40 hours per                     80           1,520             520
 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
 @ $15.57 per hour (see Note 4).................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P