[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8314-8315]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1466]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment Standards Administration


Assignment of President's Reporting Function Contained Within 
Section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641(c))

February 10, 2006.
AGENCY: Employment Standards Administration; Department of Labor.

SUMMARY: The President has assigned to the Secretary of Labor the 
function of the President contained within section 401(c) of the 
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)), to provide the specified 
final report to the Congress in relation to Proclamation 7959 of 
November 3, 2005. Proclamation 7959 revoked Proclamation 7924 that was 
issued September 8, 2005, and which suspended the provisions of the 
Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 3141-3148) relating to prevailing-wage 
determinations by the Secretary of Labor within specified geographic 
areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

DATES: Effective Date: February 16, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William W. Gross, Director, Office of 
Wage Determinations, Wage and Hour Division, Employment Standards 
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3028, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, telephone (202) 693-0569. This is 
not a toll-free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 8, 2005, pursuant to authority 
given to him in 40 U.S.C. 3147 to ``suspend the provisions of this 
subchapter during a national emergency,'' President George W. Bush 
issued Proclamation 7924 (70 FR 54227, September 13, 2005) suspending 
Subchapter IV of Chapter 31 of Title 40, United States Code, within a 
limited geographical area, as specified in the Proclamation, in 
response to the national emergency caused by Hurricane Katrina. The 
Proclamation suspended as to all contracts, as described in 40 U.S.C. 
3142(a), entered on or after the date of the Proclamation the 
provisions of that Subchapter, commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act, 
in the specified jurisdictions, and the provisions of ``any Executive 
Order, proclamation, rule, regulation, or other directive providing for 
the payment of wages, which provisions are dependent upon 
determinations by the Secretary of Labor under section 3142 of title 
40, United States Code,'' until otherwise provided. On November 3, 
2005, pursuant to authority vested in him by the Constitution and the 
laws of the United States, including 50 U.S.C. 1622 (the National 
Emergencies Act), the President issued Proclamation 7959 (70 FR 67899, 
November 8, 2005) revoking Proclamation 7924 ``as to all contracts for 
which bids are opened or negotiations concluded on or after November 8, 
2005.''
    On February 3, 2006, by a Memorandum for the Secretary of Labor, 
the President stated as follows:

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution 
and laws of the United States, including section 301 of title 3, 
United States Code, I hereby assign to you the function of the 
President contained within section 401(c) of the National 
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)), to provide the specified final 
report to the Congress in relation to Proclamation 7959 of November 
3, 2005.

    This function may be further delegated to the Deputy Secretary of 
Labor. The Memorandum further authorized and directed the Secretary to 
publish the final report in the Federal Register. Therefore, notice of 
this assignment of the National Emergencies reporting function in 
relation to Proclamation 7959 is hereby being published in the Federal 
Register.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 9th day of February, 2006.
Victoria A. Lipnic,
Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards.
    Signed at Washington, DC, this 9th day of February, 2006.
Alfred B. Robinson, Jr.,
Acting Wage and Hour Administrator.

Final Report on the National Emergency With Respect to the Suspension 
of Davis-Bacon Act Requirements in a Limited Geographical Area in 
Response to Hurricane Katrina

    I hereby report to the Congress on final developments concerning 
the suspension of Davis-Bacon Act requirements in response to the 
national emergency caused by Hurricane Katrina, that was declared in 
Proclamation 7924 of September 8, 2005. This report is submitted 
pursuant to section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 
U.S.C. 1641(c) (``NEA'').
    1. On November 3, 2005, the President issued Proclamation 7959 
revoking Proclamation 7924 as of November 8, 2005. Copies of the 
Proclamations are attached.
    2. Proclamation 7924 was issued in response to the devastation 
caused by Hurricane Katrina and invoked the power given to the 
President in 40 U.S.C. 3147 ``to suspend the provisions of 
subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, 40 
U.S.C. 3141-3148 during a national emergency.'' Subchapter IV of 
chapter 31 of title 40 (``subchapter IV'') provides that federal 
contracts in excess of $2000 for ``construction, alteration, or 
repair, including painting and decorating, of public buildings and 
public works'' must contain ``a provision stating the minimum wages 
to be paid various classes of laborers and mechanics,'' id. Sec.  
3142(a), and also provides that the minimum wages must be based on 
the prevailing wages ``in the civil subdivision of the State in 
which the work is to be performed,'' as determined by the Secretary 
of Labor, id. Sec.  3142(b). The Proclamation suspended, as to all 
contracts entered on or after September 8, 2005, subchapter IV and 
provisions in other acts dependent upon wage determinations by the 
Secretary of Labor under that subchapter, that were to be performed 
in specified jurisdictions in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and 
Mississippi.
    3. As a result of the Proclamation, during the period September 
8, 2005 through

[[Page 8315]]

November 8, 2005, when the revocation of Proclamation went into 
effect (see Proclamation 7959), the Federal Government, through the 
Secretary of Labor, incurred modest expenses issuing internal and 
public guidance documents explaining the effect of suspending 
subchapter IV. Expenses were also incurred in preparing the 
revocation of the Proclamation. The expenses incurred by the Federal 
Government that are directly attributable to the exercise of powers 
and authorities conferred by the declaration of a national emergency 
with respect to Hurricane Katrina, as they relate to the two-month 
suspension of subchapter IV's wage-determination provisions in the 
specified jurisdictions, are reported to be about $30,000, which 
represent wage and salary costs for Federal personnel. Personnel 
costs were largely centered in the Department of Labor (particularly 
in the Office of the Wage-Hour Administrator and the Office of the 
Solicitor).
    4. Because the proclamation and revocation occurred within this 
reporting period, I am submitting this report pursuant to section 
401(c) of the NEA as the final report to the Congress on the total 
expenses incurred by the Federal Government that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by 
the declaration of a national emergency with respect to Hurricane 
Katrina, as they related to the suspension of subchapter IV's wage-
determination provisions in the specified jurisdictions.

    Dated: February 6, 2006.
    Department of Labor.

Steven J. Law,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 06-1466 Filed 2-15-06; 8:45 am]
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