[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 135 (Thursday, July 15, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42459-42460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16058]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Proposed Information Collection Request Submitted for Public 
Comment and Recommendations Unemployment Insurance (UI) Data Validation 
(DV) Program

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden, the Department of Labor (Department) 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 the 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.
    The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting 
comments concerning the proposed reauthorization of its authority to 
collect information on the accuracy of State UI required reports 
produced by the UI DV program. ETA is seeking Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval under the PRA95 to extend for three years 
authority to collect this information that expires on December 31, 
2004.

DATES: Submit comments on or before September 13, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to Burman Skrable, Office of Workforce 
Security, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Room S-4522, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, 
telephone: 202-693-3197 (this is not a toll-free number), fax: 202-693-
3975, e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Burman Skrable, Office of Workforce 
Security, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Room S-4522, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, 
telephone: 202-693-3197 (this is not a toll-free number); fax: 202-693-
3975; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 303(a)(6) of the Social Security Act specifies that the 
Secretary of Labor will not certify State UI programs to receive 
administrative grants unless the State's law includes provisions for--

making of such reports * * * as the Secretary of Labor may from time 
to time require, and compliance with such provisions as the 
Secretary may from time to time find necessary to assure the 
correctness and verification of such reports.

    The Department considers data validation one of those ``provisions 
* * * necessary to assure the correctness and verification'' of the 
reports it requires.
    The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) requires 
Federal agencies to develop annual and strategic performance plans that 
establish performance goals, have concrete indicators of the extent 
that goals are achieved, and set performance targets. Each year, the 
agency is to issue a report that ``evaluate[s] the performance plan for 
the current fiscal year relative to the performance achieved toward the 
performance goals in the fiscal year covered by the report.'' Section 
1116 (d)(2) of OMB Circular A-11, which implements the GPRA process, 
cites the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 to emphasize the need for 
data validation by requiring that the agency's annual performance 
report ``contain an assessment of the completeness and reliability of 
the performance data included in it [that] * * * describes any material 
inadequacies in the completeness and reliability of the data.'' (OMB 
Circular

[[Page 42460]]

A-11, Section 230.2 (f)). The President's Management Agenda to improve 
the management and performance of the Federal government has emphasized 
the importance of complete information for program monitoring and 
improving program results.
    In 2002, the Department required states to implement a UI DV 
program with a target of completing installation of the program by July 
31, 2003, and submitting summary validation reports by September 30, 
2003. The UI DV system is an extension of the Workload Validation (WV) 
program that all State Employment Security Agencies were required to 
operate between the mid-1970s and 2000. The WV program checked the 
validity of 29 report elements on four required UI reports, because 
they are combined into the ``workload items'' used apportion each 
State's share of funds appropriated for the administration of the UI 
program. The UI DV program employs a refined and automated version of 
WV's basic validation approach to review 1275 elements reported on 12 
benefits reports and one tax report. The Department uses many of these 
elements for key performance measures as well as for the original 
workload items.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    Currently, the Department is soliciting comments concerning the 
extension of the UI DV Program 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 assumptions 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 through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    A copy of the proposed information collection request can be 
obtained by contacting the office listed above in the addressee section 
of this notice.

III. Current Actions

    The validation process assesses the validity (accuracy) of the 
counts of transactions or measurements of status as follows. In the 
validation process, guided by a detailed handbook, the state first 
constructs extract files containing all pertinent individual 
transactions for the desired report period to be validated. Each 
transaction contains the necessary characteristics or dimensions that 
enable it to be summed into an independent recount of what the state 
has already reported. Standardized software edits the extract file, 
e.g., to remove duplicate transactions, then aggregates the 
transactions to produce an independent reconstruction or ``validation 
count'' of the reported figure. The reported count is considered valid 
by this ``quantity'' validation test if it is within 2% of 
the validation count (1% for a GPRA related element). The 
software also draws samples of most transaction types from the extract 
files; guided by a state-specific handbook, the validators review these 
against documentation in the state's management information system to 
determine whether the transactions in the extract file are supported by 
system documentation and thus that the validation count can be trusted 
as accurate. The extract files are considered to pass this ``quality'' 
review if random samples indicate they contain no more than 5% 
reporting errors.
    During FY 2005 and beyond, all states will be required to conduct a 
complete validation every three years. There are two exceptions to this 
rule: (1) groups of reported counts that are summed for purposes of 
making a Pass/Fail determination and do not pass validation by being 
within 2% of the reconstructed counts (1% in 
the case of report elements used to calculate GPRA measures) must be 
revalidated within one year; the same is true for random samples that 
show that the underlying population from which they are drawn contains 
more than 5% of its transactions in error; and (2) all samples and 
counts used for GPRA measures must be validated annually regardless of 
whether they pass validity standards or not.
    Type of Review: Extension.
    Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
    Title: Unemployment Insurance Data Validation Program (ETA Handbook 
361).
    OMB Number: 1205-0431.
    Record Keeping: States are required to retain validation results 
and supporting documentation for three years to support an audit.
    Affected Public: State Workforce Agencies (SWAs).
    Frequency: Annual.
    Total Respondents: 53 SWAs.
    Total Responses: 53 per year.
    Estimated Time Per Response: SWA staff--550 hours.
    Total Burden Hours: 29,150 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): N/A.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): $946,792.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice 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: July 8, 2004, in Washington, DC.
Cheryl Atkinson,
Administrator, Office of Workforce Security.
[FR Doc. 04-16058 Filed 7-14-04; 8:45 am]
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