[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8585-8586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02531]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Comment Request for Information Collection for Veterans 
Retraining Assistance Program Participant (VRAP) Outreach Reporting, 
New Collection

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.
    Currently, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection of 
data about ``Veterans Retraining Assistance Program Participant 
Outreach Reporting'' which is a request for a new data collection from 
State Workforce Agencies, collected on a quarterly basis. This 
information collection will be used to ensure that VRAP participants 
are offered employment services after they complete the program as 
required in the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section below on or before April 8, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Andrew Ridgeway, Office of 
Workforce Investment, Room S-4203, Employment and Training 
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone number: 202-693-3536 (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). Fax: 
202-693-3817. Email: [email protected]. A copy of the proposed 
information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the 
office listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The ETA seeks approval for the collection of quarterly outreach 
reports from the State Workforce Agencies (SWA) on the Veterans 
Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP), which is part of the VOW to Hire 
Heroes Act of 2011 (Pub. L. 112-56). VRAP is a new training program for 
eligible veterans, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 
The program requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to offer employment 
placement services to each veteran who participated in the VRAP within 
30 days of their completion or termination. The Department of Veterans 
Affairs, in collaboration with the DOL, is required to submit a report 
to Congress by July 1, 2014, on the outcomes of the program. The 
statutorily required report must include the total number of eligible 
veterans who participated, the associates degrees or certificates 
awarded (or other similar evidence of the completion of the program of 
education or training earned), and data related to the employment 
status of eligible veterans who participated in the program. The 
program was authorized to enroll up to 45,000 veterans in Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2012, from July 1, 2012 through September 30, 2012, and up to 
54,000 additional veterans from October 1, 2012, through October 1, 
2013, with all training to conclude no later than March 31, 2014.
    The VRAP provides up to 12 months of full-time retraining 
assistance (currently $1,564 per month) in a ``high demand'' occupation 
to eligible veterans at a VA approved community college or technical 
school. The VRAP provides the benefit to veterans who fulfill the 
following eligibility criteria: As of date of application, is at least 
35 years old and less than 60; discharged from active duty under 
conditions other than dishonorable; is unemployed as of date of 
application; is not eligible to receive other educational assistance 
from the VA; is not in receipt of compensation for a service-connected 
disability rated totally disabling by reason of unemployability; was 
not and is not enrolled in any Federal or state job training program 
within the previous 180 days; and, the application must be submitted 
not later than October 1, 2013.
    Once the veteran has terminated or completed the VRAP, the VA is 
transmitting a secure participant report to DOL so that employment 
services can be offered to the participant and program outcomes can be 
reported. DOL will transmit a report to each state on VRAP participants 
within that state who

[[Page 8586]]

terminated or completed VRAP. DOL will transmit each state's file on a 
weekly basis using a secure File Transfer Protocol (sFTP) site. Each 
state will be able to access only its file so that it can disseminate 
the participant information securely to the appropriate American Job 
Center staff in the participant's local area enabling the American Job 
Center to offer employment services to the veteran.
    In order for DOL to ensure employment services are being offered 
and outcomes are being tracked for all participants, ETA is proposing 
to collect quarterly reports from the states, with a 45-day reporting 
period following each quarter, on the outreach offered to VRAP 
participants. In order to reduce the amount of participant information 
being transferred, ETA is proposing to add two data fields to the 
participant report it sends to the states. The report will be in 
Microsoft Excel format and will include a ``unique identifier'' field 
(not personally identifiable information), assigned by ETA and an 
``Employment Assistance'' field which will be blank. The collection 
instrument is included as an attachment in the Information Collection 
Request package. The ``Employment Assistance'' field will be completed 
by the state workforce agencies tracking the outreach offered to each 
VRAP participant. ETA is seeking approval from OMB to collect from each 
state the ``unique identifier'' field and the ``Employment Assistance'' 
field on a quarterly basis.
    This information collection is subject to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (PRA). A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a 
collection of information, and the public is generally not required to 
respond to an information collection, unless it is approved by the OMB 
under the PRA and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In 
addition, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall 
generally be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection 
of information if the collection of information does not display a 
valid OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.

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: New Collection.
    Title: Veterans Retraining Assistance Program Participant Outreach 
Reporting.
    OMB Number: 1205--NEW.
    Affected Public: State Workforce Agency staff and American Job 
Center staff.
    Form(s): Participant Dissemination Form and Quarterly Report Form.
    Total Annual Burden Cost for Respondents: $440,948 (See Supporting 
Statement for Calculation).

 
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                                                                                   Average time
    Data collection activity         Number of       Frequency         Total       per response    Burden hours
                                    respondents                      responses       (minutes
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Participant Contact List                      54              52           2,808              60           2,808
 Dissemination..................
Contacting VRAP Participant.....          44,500               1          44,500              10           7,417
Quarterly Report Preparation....              54               4             216              90             324
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    Total.......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............          10,549
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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 29th day of January 
2013.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2013-02531 Filed 2-5-13; 8:45 am]
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