[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 175 (Friday, September 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55946-55947]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23115]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[OMB No. 1205-0371]


Comment Request for Information Collection for the Work 
Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Program: Extension With Non-Substantive 
Revisions

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.

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 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 (ETA) is 
soliciting comments concerning the collection of data for the WOTC 
program. OMB approval for the information collection forms expires 
November 30, 2011.
    A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be 
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section 
of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee's section below on or before November 8, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Kimberly Vitelli, Room C-4510, 
Employment and Training Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone No: 202-693-3045 (this is not a toll-
free number). Fax: 202-693-3015. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Data on the WOTC program is collected by the state workforce 
agencies (SWAs) using ETA Form 9058--Report 1, ``Certification Workload 
and Characteristics of Certified Individuals, Work Opportunity Tax 
Credit'' and provided to the Office of Workforce Investment, 
Washington, DC, through ETA's regional offices. (1) ETA Form 9058--
Report 1 is a quarterly management report divided into two parts. Part 
I collects ``Certification Workload'' data and part II. collects 
``Characteristics of Certified Individuals.'' The SWAs submit this 
report using the Internet-based Tax Credit Reporting System of the 
Enterprise Business Services System (EBSS). The data obtained from this 
report and from the other four administrative and processing forms (ETA 
Forms 9061-9063 and 9065) are

[[Page 55947]]

used for WOTC national office program performance management and 
outcome reporting. (2) The ``Individual Characteristics Form--Work 
Opportunity Tax Credit'' (ICF), ETA Form 9061 is a form required to be 
used, without modification, by all employers or their representatives. 
The purpose of the ICF is to expedite certification processing by 
enabling the individual for whom a certification is requested to be 
identified with a specific target group and to match the ICF with IRS 
form 8850. (3) The ``Conditional Certification--Work Opportunity Tax 
Credit,'' ETA Form 9062 is a required form that must be used, without 
modification, by all SWAs, participating agencies and programs to which 
the SWAs may delegate responsibility for Conditional Certification 
authority. The Conditional Certification form establishes that the 
named individual has been tentatively determined eligible as a member 
of the WOTC targeted group indicated, and therefore hiring this person 
may lead to an employer Certification under the WOTC program. (4) The 
``Employer Certification--Work Opportunity Tax Credit,'' ETA Form 9063 
is an optional form. The form provides the employer with a record of 
the results of the SWA's eligibility determination on the employer's 
certification request. In accordance with Public Law 104-188, this form 
can only be issued by a State Employment Security Agency (now SWA) 
created under the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, as amended, or a 
Designated Local Agency (DLA). SWAs that opt to design and use a state-
specific employer certification form must ensure the state-specific 
form contains all of the information that appears on the optional ETA 
form. This form can only be issued by the SWA or DLA. (5) The ``Agency 
Declaration of Verification Results--Work Opportunity Tax Credit,'' ETA 
Form 9065 is an optional ETA form for internal SWA use in recording the 
results of verification activities conducted by the SWA. If the SWA 
elects to use an alternative form to record verification results, the 
alternative form must contain ALL of the information that appears in 
the optional form.
    The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 
111-5), created the following two target groups: (1) Unemployed 
Veterans and (2) Disconnected Youth. The legislative authority for 
these two groups expired on December 31, 2010. Current revisions to the 
reporting and administrative/processing forms include removal of the 
two expired ARRA groups and related instructions.

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 Request, Without Substantive Revisions, 
of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Title: Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program.
    OMB Number: 1205-0371.
    Affected Public: State Workforce Agencies; the business sector and 
the target group members.
    Form(s): ETA Form 9058; ETA Forms 9061-9063; and 9065.
    Annual Frequency: ETA Form 9058, quarterly; ETA Forms 9061-9063 and 
9065, on occasion.
    Estimated Time per Respondent:

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                                                                                      Average
          Requirement                Total          Frequency         Annual       response time   Annual burden
                                  respondents                        response        in hours          hours
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Form 9058--Report 1...........              52  Quarterly.......             208            1.00             208
Employer/Job-seeker Complete           990,000  On occasion.....         990,000             .33         326,700
 Form 9061.
Form 9061 processed by SWAs...              52  On occasion.....         990,000             .33         326,700
Form 9062.....................              52  On occasion.....              40             .33              13
Form 9063.....................              52  On occasion.....         440,000             .33         145,200
Form 9065.....................              52  Quarterly.......             208            1.00             208
Record Keeping................              52  Annually........              52             931          48,412
States' Plans.................              52  Annually--Per                 52            8.00             416
                                                 Year.
States' Modified Plans........              52  Annually--Per                 52            1.00              52
                                                 Year.
                               ----------------                  ----------------                ---------------
    Total.....................         990,416  ................       2,420,612  ..............         847,909
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    Total Burden Hours: 847,909.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): 0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): 0.
    Total Annual Burden Cost for Respondents: 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.

    Signed at Washington, DC, the 31st day of August 2011.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-23115 Filed 9-8-11; 8:45 am]
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