[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 201 (Friday, October 16, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65693-65694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21308]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

20 CFR Part 645


Welfare-to-Work Grants

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the 
Department of Labor (the Department) is removing the regulations which 
implement and govern the Welfare-to-Work (WtW) programs conducted at 
the state and local area levels and provide program requirements 
applicable to all WtW formula and competitive funds under the Social 
Security Act (SSA). Congressional authorization for this program has 
expired, and all remaining grant funding was rescinded by the 
Department in 2004. Accordingly, these regulations are no longer 
necessary. This technical amendment is a ministerial action to remove 
obsolete regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations.

DATES: This final rule is effective October 16, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heidi M. Casta, Acting 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: The Department is removing the regulations 
at 20 CFR part 645, which implement and govern the WtW programs 
authorized under Title IV, part A of the SSA, 42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
    On August 5, 1997, the President signed the Balanced Budget Act of 
1997 (Pub. L. 105-33). This legislation amended certain provisions of 
the SSA concerning the Temporary Assistance

[[Page 65694]]

for Needy Families (TANF) program. The legislation authorized the 
Secretary of Labor to provide WtW grants to states and local 
communities to assist hard-to-employ TANF welfare recipients in moving 
into unsubsidized jobs and economic self-sufficiency. The funds 
distributed through the WtW grant program were designed to assist 
states and Private Industry Councils in meeting their welfare reform 
objectives by providing additional resources targeted to hard-to-employ 
welfare recipients residing in high poverty areas within the state.
    In November 1997, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 603(a)(5)(C)(ix), the 
Department issued an interim final rule providing a framework for the 
administration of the WtW program in coordination with the TANF program 
administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.\1\ Public 
comments were received in response to the interim final rule, which 
were taken into consideration in drafting the final rule. The final 
rule was published in 2001, alongside a second interim final rule that 
contained additional changes in response to the 1999 amendments to the 
statute.\2\ The Department solicited and received comments on the 
second interim final rule.\3\ These rules were codified at 20 CFR part 
645.
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    \1\ See 62 FR 61588 (Nov. 18, 1997).
    \2\ See 66 FR 2690 (Jan. 11, 2001).
    \3\ See 66 FR 9763 (Feb. 12, 2001).
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    In 2004, Congressional authorization for the WtW program expired 
and all formula grant funds appropriated under the WtW provisions of 
the SSA that were unexpended by the states were rescinded.\4\ Any 
remaining active participants in the WtW program were transitioned into 
similarly-targeted programs under the Workforce Investment Act, which 
was later replaced by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.\5\ 
The Department is therefore undertaking this ministerial action to 
remove the regulations governing the former WtW program from the Code 
of Federal Regulations as they are obsolete. This technical amendment 
to the CFR affects no rights or obligations and poses no costs.
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    \4\ See Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 2004, Public Law 
108-199, 105, 118 Stat. 226, 235 (2004); Training and Employment 
Guidance Letter No. 19-03 (Feb. 27, 2004).
    \5\ See id.; Public Law 113-128, 128 Stat. 1425 (2014).
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Procedural and Other Matters

    Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(3)(B), provides that when an agency for good cause finds that 
notice and public procedures are impracticable, unnecessary or contrary 
to the public interest, the agency may issue a rule without providing 
notice and an opportunity for public comment. The purpose of this 
action is to remove regulations implementing the WtW grant provisions 
of Title IV, Part A of the SSA, which are no longer necessary as all 
WtW grant funds have been expended or rescinded, all grants have been 
closed out, and the program is no longer in operation. Accordingly, for 
good cause, the Department has determined that public notice-and-
comment procedures are unnecessary. For the same reasons, the 
Department finds good cause to forgo delay of the effective date under 
section 553(d)(3) of the Administrative Procedure Act and to make this 
final rule effective immediately upon publication.
    The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of 
Management and Budget has determined that this final rule is not a 
significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866, and is 
therefore not subject to Executive Order 13771, entitled Reducing 
Regulations and Controlling Regulatory Costs. Additionally, no analysis 
is required under the Regulatory Flexibility Act \6\ or Sections 202 
and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1999,\7\ because, for 
the reasons discussed above, the Department is not required to engage 
in notice and comment under the Administrative Procedure Act. This 
final rule does not have significant Federalism implications under 
Executive Order 13132. The final rule is not subject to the 
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), because it does not contain a collection of information 
as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3).
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    \6\ See 5 U.S.C. 601(2) (limiting ``rules'' under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act, to rules for which a general notice of proposed 
rulemaking is published).
    \7\ Public Law 104-4.
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    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., generally 
provides that before certain actions may take effect, the agency 
promulgating the action must submit a report, including a copy of the 
action, to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of 
the United States. This final action is administrative and only removes 
obsolete regulations from the CFR. Accordingly, the Department has 
determined that good cause exists, and that this technical amendment is 
not subject to the timing requirements of the Congressional Review Act.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 645

    Administrative practice and procedure, Employment, Grant programs-
labor.


0
For the reasons stated in the preamble, under the authority of 42 
U.S.C. 603(a)(5)(C)(ix), the Department amends 20 CFR chapter V by 
removing part 645.

John Pallasch,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2020-21308 Filed 10-15-20; 8:45 am]
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