[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45403-45406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18497]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
20 CFR Part 686
[DOL Docket No. ETA-2019-0006]
RIN 1205-AB96
Procurement Roles and Responsibilities for Job Corps Contracts
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Direct final rule; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In this direct final rule (DFR), the Department of Labor
(Department) makes two procedural changes to its Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Job Corps regulations to enable the
Secretary to delegate procurement authority as it relates to the
development and issuance of requests for proposals for the operation of
Job Corps centers, outreach and admissions, career transitional
services, and other operational support services. The Department is
taking this procedural action to align regulatory provisions with the
relevant WIOA statutory language and to provide greater flexibility for
internal operations and management of the Job Corps program.
DATES: This DFR will become effective on October 28, 2019 unless
significant adverse comment is submitted (transmitted, postmarked, or
delivered) by September 30, 2019. If DOL receives significant adverse
comment, the Agency will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal
Register informing the public that this DFR will not take effect (see
Section III, Direct Final Rulemaking,'' for more details on this
process). Comments to this DFR and other information must be submitted
(transmitted, postmarked, or delivered) by September 30, 2019. All
submissions must bear a postmark or provide other evidence of the
submission date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Regulatory
Information Number (RIN) 1205-AB96, by one of the following methods:
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
website instructions for submitting comments.
Mail and Hand Delivery/Courier: Written comments, disk, and CD-ROM
submissions may be mailed to Heidi Casta, Deputy Administrator, Office
of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5641, Washington, DC 20210.
Instructions: Label all submissions with ``RIN 1205-AB96.''
Please submit your comments by only one method. Please be advised
that the Department will post all comments received that relate to this
DFR on http://www.regulations.gov without making any change to the
comments or redacting any information. The http://www.regulations.gov
website is the Federal e-rulemaking portal, and all comments posted
there are available and accessible to the public. Therefore, the
Department recommends that commenters remove personal information such
as Social Security Numbers, personal addresses, telephone numbers, and
email addresses included in their comments, as such information
[[Page 45404]]
may become easily available to the public via the http://www.regulations.gov website. It is the responsibility of the commenter
to safeguard personal information.
Also, please note that, due to security concerns, postal mail
delivery in Washington, DC may be delayed. Therefore, the Department
encourages the public to submit comments on http://www.regulations.gov.
Docket: All comments on this DFR will be available on the http://www.regulations.gov website, and can be found using RIN 1205-AB96. The
Department also will make all the comments it receives available for
public inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the
above address. If you need assistance to review the comments, the
Department will provide appropriate aids, such as readers or print
magnifiers. The Department will make copies of this DFR available, upon
request, in large print and electronic file on computer disk. To
schedule an appointment to review the comments and/or obtain the DFR in
an alternative format, contact the Office of Policy Development and
Research at (202) 693-3700 (this is not a toll-free number). You may
also contact this office at the address listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heidi Casta, Deputy Administrator,
Office of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Labor,
200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5641, Washington, DC 20210;
telephone (202) 693-3700 (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 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department is amending two provisions of 20 CFR part 686, which
implements subtitle C of title I of WIOA. Through these amendments, the
Department is aligning these regulatory provisions with the language in
WIOA by broadening the authority to issue contract solicitations from
the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to the Secretary of
Labor. The Department is making this procedural change to the WIOA
regulation to provide greater flexibility in the management and
operation of the Job Corps program by allowing the Secretary of Labor
to designate the component of the Department that is authorized to
issue requests for proposals (RFPs) for the operation of Job Corps
centers, outreach and admissions, career transitional services, and
other operational support services. This change will provide the
Department with the flexibility to more efficiently manage the Job
Corps procurement process, which will in turn allow greater economies
of scale and operational efficiencies. This rule is consistent with the
President's Management Agenda Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) Goal Number
5--Sharing Quality Services. The Department is implementing this CAP,
in part, via the Department's Enterprise-Wide Shared Services
Initiatives whose primary goals are as follows:
1. Improve human resources efficiency, effectiveness, and
accountability;
2. Provide modern technology solutions that empower the DOL mission
and serve the American public through collaboration and innovation;
3. Maximize DOL's federal buying power through effective
procurement management; and
4. Safeguard fiscal integrity, and promote the effective and
efficient use of resources.
This rule will assist the Department's implementation of its
Enterprise-Wide Shared Services Initiative.
This rule is not an Executive Order 13771 regulatory action because
this rule is not significant under Executive Order 12866.
II. Consideration of Comments
ETA will consider comment on issues related to this action. If ETA
receives no significant adverse comments, ETA will publish a Federal
Register document confirming the effective date of the DFR and
withdrawing the companion Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Such
confirmation may include minor stylistic or technical changes to the
DFR. For the purpose of judicial review, ETA views the date of
confirmation of the effective date of the DFR as the date of
promulgation.
III. Direct Final Rulemaking
In direct final rulemaking, an agency publishes a DFR in the
Federal Register, with a statement that the rule will go into effect
unless the agency receives significant adverse comment within a
specified period. The agency may publish an identical concurrent NPRM.
If the agency receives no significant adverse comment in response to
the DFR, the rule goes into effect. ETA plans to confirm the effective
date of a DFR through a separate Federal Register document. If the
agency receives a significant adverse comment, the agency will withdraw
the DFR and treats such comment as a response to the NPRM. An agency
typically uses direct final rulemaking when an agency anticipates that
a rule will not be controversial.
For purposes of this DFR, a significant adverse comment is one that
explains why the amendments to the regulatory provisions identified
below would be inappropriate. In determining whether a comment
necessitates withdrawal of the DFR, ETA will consider whether the
comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a substantive
response. ETA will not consider a comment recommending an additional
amendment to this regulation to be a significant adverse comment unless
the comment states why the DFR would be ineffective without the
addition.
In addition to publishing this DFR, ETA is publishing a companion
NPRM in the Federal Register. The comment period for the NPRM runs
concurrently with that of the DFR. ETA will treat comments received on
the companion NPRM as comments also regarding the DFR. Similarly, ETA
will consider comments submitted to the DFR as comment to the companion
NPRM. Therefore, if ETA receives a significant adverse comment on
either the DFR or the NPRM, it will withdraw this DFR and proceed with
the companion NPRM. In the event ETA withdraws the DFR because of
significant adverse comment, ETA will consider all timely comments
received in response to the DFR when it continues with the NPRM. After
carefully considering all comments to the DFR and the NPRM, ETA will
decide whether to publish a new final rule.
ETA determined that the subject of this rulemaking is suitable for
direct final rulemaking. This amendment is procedural in nature and
does not impact the operation of Job Corps centers, the operational
support services, or the delivery of career transitional services and
other operation, the process by which offerors respond to
solicitations, the substance of their responses, or the criteria upon
which the solicitation will be evaluated. Finally, the revisions would
not impose any new costs or burdens. For these reasons, ETA does not
anticipate objections from the public to this rulemaking action.
IV. Discussion of Changes
Sec. 147(a) of WIOA authorizes the Secretary of Labor to enter into
agreements with eligible entities to operate Job Corps centers and to
provide activities to a Job Corps center. Two provisions in the
regulation implementing subtitle C of Title I of
[[Page 45405]]
WIOA implement section 147(a). 20 CFR 686.310(a) broadly states that
the Secretary selects eligible entities to operate contract centers on
a competitive basis in accordance with applicable statutes and
regulations and 20 CFR 686.340(a) states that the Secretary selects
eligible entities to provide outreach and admission, career transition,
and operational support services on a competitive basis in accordance
with applicable statutes and regulations. However, both provisions also
specifically require ETA to develop and issue RFPs for these Job Corps
contracts. These provisions are narrower than section 147(a) and
constrain the Department's authority to assign the authority to develop
and issue RFPs to whichever component of the agency it determines
appropriate.
This DFR amends Sec. Sec. 686.310(a) and 686.340(a) by replacing
``ETA'' with ``the Secretary.'' Through this DFR, the Department is
aligning the text of Sec. Sec. 686.310(a) and 686.340(a) with the
statutory language in section 147(a) of WIOA and eliminating the
inconsistency between the regulation and the statute. This change also
affords the Department greater flexibility to manage and oversee the
Job Corps procurement process in a manner that it determines
appropriate, which in turn will aid in the implementation of the
Department's Enterprise-Wide Shared Services Initiative described
above.
V. Rulemaking Analyses and Notices
Executive Orders 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review), 13563
(Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review), and 13771 (Reducing
Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs)
Executive Order 12866 requires that regulatory agencies assess both
the costs and benefits of significant regulatory actions. Under the
Executive Order, a ``significant regulatory action'' is one meeting any
of a number of specified conditions, including the following: Having an
annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; creating a
serious inconsistency or interfering with an action of another agency;
materially altering the budgetary impact of entitlements or the rights
of entitlement recipients, or raising novel legal or policy issues. The
Department has determined that this DFR is not a ``significant''
regulatory action and a cost-benefit and economic analysis is not
required. This regulation merely makes a procedural change to allow
flexibility to manage and oversee the Job Corps procurement process in
a manner that the Department determines appropriate. This rule is not
an Executive Order 13771 regulatory action because this rule is not
significant under Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13563 directs agencies to assess all costs and
benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is
necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits
(including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety
effects, distributive impacts, and equity). Executive Order 13563
emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits,
reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting flexibility to
minimize burden.
This rule makes only a procedural change to allow flexibility to
manage and oversee the Job Corps procurement process in a manner that
the Department determines appropriate; thus this rule is not expected
to have any regulatory impacts.
Regulatory Flexibility Act/Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), at 5 U.S.C. 603(a), requires
agencies to prepare and make available for public comment an initial
regulatory flexibility analysis, which describes the impact of the DFR
on small entities. Section 605 of the RFA allows an agency to certify a
rule, in lieu of preparing an analysis, if the DFR is not expected to
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. This DFR does not affect small entities as defined in the
RFA. Therefore, the DFR will not have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of these small entities. Therefore, the Department
certifies that the DFR will not have a significant economic impacts on
a substantial number of small entities.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)) requires
that the Department consider the impact of paperwork and other
information collection burdens imposed on the public. The Department
has determined that this rule does not alter any information collection
burdens.
Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)
Section 6 of E.O. 13132 requires Federal agencies to consult with
State entities when a regulation or policy may have a substantial
direct effect on the States, the relationship between the National
Government and the States, or the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government, within the
meaning of the E.O. Section 3(b) of the E.O. further provides that
Federal agencies must implement regulations that have a substantial
direct effect only if statutory authority permits the regulation and it
is of national significance.
This DFR does not have a substantial direct effect on the States,
the relationship between the National Government and the States, or the
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of
Government, within the meaning of the E.O. This DFR merely makes a
procedural change for internal Departmental operations and management
for Job Corps procurement.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
This regulatory action has been reviewed in accordance with the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (the Reform Act). Under the Reform
Act, a Federal agency must determine whether a regulation proposes a
Federal mandate that would result in the increased expenditures by
State, local, or tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the
private sector, of $100 million or more in any single year. This DFR
merely makes an administrative change to the name of the Departmental
entity authorized for Job Corps procurement responsibilities. The
requirements of Title II of the Act, therefore, do not apply, and the
Department has not prepared a statement under the Act.
Executive Order 13175 (Indian Tribal Governments)
The Department has reviewed the DFR under the terms of E.O. 13175
and DOL's Tribal Consultation Policy, and have concluded that the
changes to regulatory text which are the focus of the DFR would not
have tribal implications, as these changes do not have substantial
direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, the relationship between
the Federal government and Indian tribes, nor the distribution of power
and responsibilities between the Federal government and Indian tribes.
Therefore, no consultations with tribal governments, officials, or
other tribal institutions were necessary.
List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 686
Employment, Grant programs--labor, Job Corps.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Department amends 20
CFR part 686 as follows:
[[Page 45406]]
PART 686--THE JOBS CORPS UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION
AND OPPORTUNITY ACT
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1. The authority citation for part 686 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Sec. 147, Pub. L. 113-128, 128 Stat. 1425 (Jul. 22,
2014).
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2. Amend Sec. 686.310 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 686.310 How are entities selected to receive funding to operate
centers?
(a) The Secretary selects eligible entities to operate contract
centers on a competitive basis in accordance with applicable statutes
and regulations. In selecting an entity, the Secretary issues requests
for proposals (RFPs) for the operation of all contract centers
according to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR chapter 1) and
Department of Labor Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR chapter 29). The
Secretary develops RFPs for center operators in consultation with the
Governor, the center workforce council (if established), and the Local
WDB for the workforce development area in which the center is located.
* * * * *
0
3. Amend Sec. 686.340 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 686.340 How are entities selected to receive funding to provide
outreach and admission, career transition and other operations support
services?
(a) The Secretary selects eligible entities to provide outreach and
admission, career transition, and operational services on a competitive
basis in accordance with applicable statutes and regulations. In
selecting an entity, the Secretary issues requests for proposals (RFP)
for operational support services according to the Federal Acquisition
Regulation (48 CFR chapter 1) and Department of Labor Acquisition
Regulation (48 CFR chapter 29). The Secretary develops RFPs for
operational support services in consultation with the Governor, the
center workforce council (if established), and the Local WDB for the
workforce development area in which the center is located.
* * * * *
John P. Pallasch,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2019-18497 Filed 8-28-19; 8:45 am]
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