[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 186 (Monday, September 28, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49401-49402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23372]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


``Pell Grants and the Payment of Unemployment Benefits to 
Individuals in Approved Training,'' Extension Without Change; OMB 
Control No. 1205-0473

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce

[[Page 49402]]

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 (PRA 
95) [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.
    In response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), 
the Employment and Training Administration is soliciting comments 
concerning state UI agencies' notifying UI beneficiaries that they may 
be able to obtain training using Pell Grants while continuing to 
collect UI and to give them information about how to apply. This notice 
utilizes standard clearance procedures in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR 1320.12. This information collection 
follows an emergency review that was conducted in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR 1320.13. The submission for 
OMB emergency review was approved on May 8, 2009. A copy of this 
Information Collection Request (ICR) can be obtained from the 
RegInfo.gov Web site at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee's section below on or before November 27, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to U.S. Department of Labor, 
Employment and Training Administration, Office of Employment Security, 
attn: Scott Gibbons, Room S-4231, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone number: 202-693-3008 (this is not a 
toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    To enable more individuals to obtain job training while receiving 
unemployment benefits, so they can develop their skills while the 
economy recovers, states are strongly encouraged to widen their 
definitions of the types of training and the conditions under which 
education or training are considered ``approved training'' for purposes 
of the state's UI law.
    States are also encouraged to notify unemployed individuals of 
their potential eligibility for Pell Grants and to assist individuals 
with applications. Pell Grants are awarded based on financial need and 
other factors. Many UI beneficiaries are potentially eligible for Pell 
Grants, and the Department of Education is currently undertaking a 
major effort to encourage student financial aid administrators to use 
the discretion available to them in determining if UI beneficiaries are 
eligible for Pell Grants. Through information dissemination, the 
Department of Labor is encouraging state UI agencies to notify UI 
beneficiaries that they may qualify for Pell Grants and to give them 
information about how to apply. States are strongly encouraged to 
determine if their approved training requirements are appropriate to 
the current economy. Post-secondary education and training are 
increasingly important for success in the job market. Periods of 
unemployment, particularly in the current economic climate, provide 
opportunities for laid-off workers to develop new skills, so that 
employers will benefit from a skilled workforce when the economy 
recovers. In particular, states are asked to consider approval of 
courses at community colleges with significant job skills components, 
courses leading to general equivalency degrees, courses in adult basic 
education, language courses, or other courses of study, including 
degree and certificate courses that are likely to increase the 
individual's long-term employability.

II. Review Focus

    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 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 
submissions of responses.

III. Current Actions

    Type of Review: Extension without changes.
    Title: Pell Grants and the Payment of Unemployment Benefits to 
Individuals in Approved Training.
    OMB Number: 1205-0473.
    Affected Public: State Workforce Agencies.
    Total Respondents: 53.
    Frequency of Collection: Once.
    Total Responses: 53.
    Average Time per Respondent: 40 hours.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2120.
    Total Annual Costs Burden: $0.
    Comments submitted in 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 This 23rd day of September, 2009.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-23372 Filed 9-25-09; 8:45 am]
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