[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 167 (Tuesday, September 2, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42322-42323]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16771]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
20 CFR Parts 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670,
671, and 672
[Docket No. ETA-2025-0001]
RIN 1205-AC26
Rescission of Workforce Investment Act Regulations
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of effective date.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the
Department of Labor (Department) is confirming the effective date of
September 2, 2025, for the direct final rule that was published in the
Federal Register on July 1, 2025. This direct final rule removes the
regulations that implemented and governed the Title I Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) programs at the national, State, and local levels
and provided program requirements applicable to all WIA formula and
competitive funds. Title I of WIA was repealed by Congress with the
enactment of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) on
June 22, 2014, and all remaining grant funding under WIA Title I has
been closed out by the Department. Accordingly, these regulations are
no longer necessary, and the Department is removing the regulations
from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for programs that are no
longer operative.
DATES: Effective date: The effective date of September 2, 2025, for the
direct final rule published July 1, 2025, (90 FR 27992), is confirmed.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID ETA-2025-0001 when contacting the
Department about the availability of information for this action. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this action by
visiting https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID ETA-2025-
0001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Luke Murren, Acting 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). For people
with a hearing or speech disability who need assistance using the
telephone system, please dial
[[Page 42323]]
711 to access telecommunications relay services.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 1, 2025, (90 FR 27992), the
Department published a direct final rule removing its regulations in
parts 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670, 671, and
672 of title 20 of the CFR programs that are no longer operative. In
the direct final rule, the Department stated that, if no significant
adverse comments were received, then the direct final rule would become
effective on September 2, 2025. Comments from the public were due on
July 31, 2025, and were posted publicly in Docket ID ETA-2025-0001 on
www.regulations.gov.
The Department received one comment opposed to the removal of the
WIA regulations, but the comment did not meet the criteria to be
considered a significant adverse comment to the removal of these
regulations. The commenter argued for retaining the WIA regulations in
the CFR, largely for historical purposes and preserving access to the
regulations. Users can access the Workforce Investment Act final rule
at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2000-08-11/pdf/00-19985.pdf.
The final rule was published on August 11, 2000 (65 FR 49294) in the
Federal Register, and previous editions of the Federal Register are
available online at the www.federalregister.gov website.
Additionally, the CFR is the codification of the general and
permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments
and agencies of the Federal Government. The Electronic Code of Federal
Regulations (eCFR) is a point-in-time system that allows users to
browse the CFR as it existed at any point in time since January 2017.
The www.ecfr.gov website allows users to view parts after they have
been removed from the CFR by viewing a point in time in the eCFR prior
to the parts' removal. Paper copies of the CFR are also available for
purchase through the Government Publication Office bookstore.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ CFR Title 20 Pts. 657-END, https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/cfr-title-20-pts-657-end-code-federal-regulations-2024.
Accessed July 31, 2025.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parties who are interested in the history of regulations have
several ways to access these changes over time. As noted in the
Rescission of Workforce Investment Act Regulations; direct final rule
(DFR) (herein, Rescission DFR), WIA was repealed by WIOA. In the Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking for the WIOA regulations (80 FR 20690), the
Department discussed the major changes in the WIOA regulations from the
WIA regulations in III. B. of the background section. The public was
invited to comment on the proposed WIOA regulations during a 60-day
comment period. To assist the public with understanding the changes
from WIA to WIOA, the WIOA final rule (81 FR 56072) contained a
crosswalk of WIA and WIOA regulations by subject matter in Table 1,
allowing users to clearly see which part of the WIOA regulations
correspond with which part of the WIA regulations.
As the WIOA final rule is contained in the Federal Register, the
regulatory history of WIA and WIOA is already preserved. The CFR is not
the appropriate venue for maintaining outdated regulations for a
repealed law. The commenter suggested that these regulations must be
preserved in the CFR for oversight, program equity, and accountability,
but did not state why the current CFR is the appropriate venue for
maintaining regulations that are no longer in effect. As noted above,
the foundation for the current WIOA regulations is well captured in
other documents, including the WIOA final rule.
The commenter stated that WIA continues to have bearing on
litigation, audits, performance monitoring, and congressional
oversight, but did not specify any current litigation, audits,
performance monitoring, or congressional oversight that references the
WIA regulations. The Department is unaware of any instance in which the
WIA regulations are currently applicable. Finally, the commenter
discussed the need for the public to be able to comment on the
rescission of the WIA regulations. In addition to the 60-day comment
period in 2015 associated with the promulgation of the WIOA
regulations, the Rescission DFR provided 30-days for the public to
provide substantive, significant adverse comments in opposition to the
removal of the WIA regulations. This commenter availed themselves of
the opportunity to comment during the open comment period to provide
input on the rescission.
A significant adverse comment \2\ is one which explains why the
rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's
underlying premise or approach, or why it would be ineffective or
unacceptable without a change. This comment is not a significant
adverse comment as it does not indicate a reason why removing these
regulations from the CFR would be inappropriate or how removal would
have consequences for the administration of Departmental programs.
Therefore, the direct final rule will become effective as scheduled.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Administrative Conference of the United States, ``Procedures
for Noncontroversial and Expedited Rulemaking'', Recommendation by
the Committee on Regulation, January 15, 1995. Accessed on August 1,
2025, at: https://www.acus.gov/document/procedures-noncontroversial-and-expedited-rulemaking.
Susan Frazier,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2025-16771 Filed 8-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P