[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 156 (Monday, August 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48171-48172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19703]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Comment Request for Information Collection for State 
Administration of Applications and Grants for the Self-Employment 
Assistance (SEA) Program, Extension Without Revisions

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a 
preclearance consultation program to provide the 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 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps 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.
    ETA is soliciting comments concerning the continuation of the 
collection of data for state administration of applications and grants 
for SEA beyond the current expiration date of 11/30/2012.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addresses section below on or before October 12, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Scott Gibbons, Office of 
Unemployment Insurance, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. 
Telephone number: 202-693-3008 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Individuals with hearing or speech impairments may access the telephone 
number above via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay 
Service at 1-877-889-5627 (TTY/TDD). Email: [email protected]. A 
copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be 
obtained by contacting Mr. Gibbons.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On February 22, 2012, the President signed into law the Middle 
Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act (MCTRJC) of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-
96). In recognition of the importance of supporting entrepreneurship, 
Subtitle E of Public Law 112-96 (hereinafter referred to as Subtitle E) 
amended the Federal Unemployment Compensation (UC) Act to extend the 
SEA program to the long-term unemployed who are receiving benefits 
under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) and Extended 
Benefits (EB) programs. This is a further expansion of the SEA program, 
which began in 1993.
    Prior to the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
(NAFTA) Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182) in 1993, withdrawals for 
the purpose of paying self-employment allowances would have been 
prohibited as the ``withdrawal standard'' of Section 3304(a)(4) of the 
Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and Section 303(a)(5), Social 
Security Act (SSA), limits withdrawals (with specified exceptions not 
relevant here) from a state's unemployment fund to payments of 
``compensation.'' The term ``compensation'' is defined in Section 
3306(h), FUTA, as ``cash benefits payable to individuals with respect 
to their unemployment.'' Because payment must be made with respect to 
``unemployment,'' the withdrawal standard prohibits states from using 
unemployment funds to help

[[Page 48172]]

individuals establish themselves in self-employment. After NAFTA was 
enacted, states had the option of operating, for a five-year period, an 
SEA program permitting certain individuals to receive payments from the 
state's unemployment fund in lieu of regular compensation to help them 
establish businesses to become self-employed. Subsequently, on October 
28, 1998, the Noncitizen Benefit Clarification and Other Technical 
Amendments Act of 1998, (Pub. L. 105-306) permanently authorized the 
SEA program. Participation in the state SEA programs under NAFTA (as 
amended by Pub. L. 105-306) was voluntary by both the state and the 
unemployed individual. Individuals were encouraged to become reemployed 
by starting their own businesses while collecting a self-employment 
allowance in lieu of regular UC, and to support continued economic 
growth through developing businesses. Over the last 15 years, small 
businesses have created two out of every three jobs, and over half of 
all working Americans own or work in a small business.
    SEA provides unemployed individuals, volunteering to enter the SEA 
program, financial support while they access the resources, 
information, and training they need to get a business established. 
Individuals enrolled in an SEA program receive a weekly allowance in 
the same amount as the individual's regular UC weekly benefit amount 
would have been. The definition of an SEA program under section 
3306(t), FUTA requires an individual to be:
    a. Eligible to receive regular UC under the state's law, except 
that the individuals are not required to meet the state's requirements 
related to:
     Availability for work;
     Active work search;
     Refusal to accept work; and
     Disqualifying income with respect to income earned from 
self-employment;
    b. Identified under a state worker profiling system as likely to 
exhaust regular UC;
    c. Participating in self-employment activities including 
entrepreneurial training, business counseling, and technical assistance 
that are approved by the state UC agency; and
    d. Actively engaged on a full-time basis in activities (which may 
include training) relating to the establishment of a business and 
becoming self-employed.
    Section 3306(t), FUTA, also provides that the aggregate number of 
individuals receiving SEA allowances may at no time exceed five percent 
of the number of individuals receiving regular UC. In addition, the SEA 
program may not result in any cost to the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) 
in excess of the cost that would be incurred by the state and charged 
to the UTF had the individual(s) not participated in the SEA program. 
The ``regular'' SEA program remains unchanged except that Publuc Law 
112-96 has created a requirement for additional reporting requirements.

II. Review Focus

    The Department 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: State Administration of Applications and Grants for the 
Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) Program.
    OMB Number: 1205-0496.
    Affected Public: State Workforce Agencies.
    Form(s): Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 20-12.
    Total Annual Burden Cost for Respondents: There are no burden 
costs.

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                                                 Hours per      Annualized      Annualized     Annualized value
  Category and instruments      Respondents      response        responses         hours      of respondent time
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Grant Application:                        26             125               1           3,250         $133,217.50
 Attachments III, IV........
Review of Operating                       26              10               1             260           10,657.40
 Instructions...............
Review of Model Language....              26              10               1             260           10,657.40
Quarterly Monitoring                      26              40             104           4,160          170,518.40
 Instrument.................
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    Unduplicated Totals.....              26  ..............  ..............           7,930          325,051.70
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    Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be 
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the ICR; 
they will also become a matter of public record.

    Dated: Signed in Washington, DC, on this 6th day of August, 
2012.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2012-19703 Filed 8-10-12; 8:45 am]
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