Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2018 / Notices 67359 

green.gregory.b@dol.gov, subject line 

‘‘January 2019 ACVETEO Meeting.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Gregory Green, Designated Federal 

Official for the ACVETEO, (202) 693– 

4734. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

ACVETEO is a Congressionally 

mandated advisory committee 

authorized under Title 38, U.S. Code, 

Section 4110 and subject to the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 

2, as amended. The ACVETEO is 

responsible for: Assessing employment 

and training needs of veterans; 

determining the extent to which the 

programs and activities of the U.S. 

Department of Labor meet these needs; 

assisting to conduct outreach to 

employers seeking to hire veterans; 

making recommendations to the 

Secretary, through the Assistant 

Secretary for VETS, with respect to 

outreach activities and employment and 

training needs of veterans; and carrying 

out such other activities necessary to 

make required reports and 

recommendations. The ACVETEO meets 

at least quarterly. 

Agenda 

9:00 a.m. Welcome and remarks, Sam 

Shellenberger, Deputy Assistant 

Secretary, Veterans’ Employment 

and Training Service 

9:05 a.m. Administrative Business, 

Gregory Green, Designated Federal 

Official 

9:10 a.m. Discussion and review of the 

Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Report, 

Eric Eversole, ACVETEO Chairman 

11:10 a.m. Break 

11:20 p.m. Veterans’ Employment and 

Training Service plan to answer the 

Fiscal Year 2018 Report 

Recommendations, Gregory Green, 

Designated Federal Official 

12:00 p.m. Lunch 

1:00 p.m. Veterans’ Employment and 

Training Service year in review 

2:00 p.m. Break 

2:15 p.m. Public Forum, Gregory 

Green, Designated Federal Official 

3:00 p.m. Adjourn 

Signed in Washington, DC, this 19th day of 

December 2018. 

Sam Shellenberger, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Veterans’ 

Employment and Training Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–28321 Filed 12–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–79–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission for OMB 

Review; Comment Request; The Study 

of the Great Recession and the 

Unemployment Insurance (UI) System 

in the 21st Century, New Collection 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Policy, Chief Evaluation 

Office, Department of Labor. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor 

(DOL), as part of its continuing effort to 

reduce paperwork and respondent 

burden, conducts a preclearance 

consultation program to provide the 

general 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 

(PRA95). This program helps to ensure 

that required 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, 

DOL is soliciting comments concerning 

the collection of information for the 

Study of the Great Recession and the 

Unemployment Insurance (UI) System 

in the 21st Century. A copy of the 

proposed Information Collection 

Request (ICR) can be obtained by 

contacting the office listed below in the 

addressee section of this notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office listed in the 

addressee section below on or before 

February 26, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either one of the following methods: 

Email: ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov; 

Mail or Courier: Jennifer Daley, Chief 

Evaluation Office, OASP, U.S. 

Department of Labor, Room S–2312, 200 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20210. Instructions: Please submit 

one copy of your comments by only one 

method. All submissions received must 

include the agency name and OMB 

Control Number identified for this 

information collection. Comments, 

including any personal information 

provided, become a matter of public 

record. They will also be summarized 

and/or included in the request for OMB 

approval of the information collection 

request. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Daley by email at Chief

EvaluationOffice@dol.gov or by phone 

at (202) 693–5913. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background: The Chief Evaluation 

Office (CEO) is sponsoring a study on 

lessons learned regarding the 

Unemployment Insurance (UI) system in 

response to the Great Recession that 

began in 2007, the economic recovery 

that followed the Great Recession, and 

issues relevant to future UI policy and 

future economic downturns. 

The main goal of the study is to 

identify, analyze, and report on the 

problems that state UI programs faced 

during the Great Recession and how 

they responded to those challenges, and 

lessons learned. The study will focus on 

the challenges and adjustments states 

made with respect to staffing, data, 

administrative processes and 

procedures, trigger mechanisms, and 

trust funds. It will also highlight 

structural issues that predate the Great 

Recession and lessons learned from the 

recession so that state UI programs are 

better prepared for future recessions and 

a changing labor market. 

This Federal Register Notice provides 

the opportunity to comment on the 

proposed data collection instruments 

that will be used in the study: a survey 

of UI directors in all 50 states and the 

District of Columbia, and semistructured interviews. 

1. Online survey. The online survey of 

state UI directors will collect 

information on challenges faced by the 

states during the Great Recession, as 

well as the current state of 

administrative, financial, and 

programmatic features (if not available 

in other sources of reported data) that 

have been identified in previous 

research as presenting challenges to 

states during the previous recession. 

2. Semi-structured interviews. The 

State UI staff, including UI directors, 

financial staff, Chief of Benefits staff, 

appeals staff, benefits determination 

staff, Human Resources (HR) staff, and 

Information Technology (IT) staff, in 

approximately 6 states will be 

interviewed during site visits. The semistructured interviews will gather 

detailed information on challenges and 

lessons learned from a range of 

perspectives and will include 

respondents who were and were not 

working in UI agencies at the time of the 

Great Recession. 

II. Desired Focus of Comments: 

Currently, DOL is soliciting comments 

concerning the above data collection for 

the Study of the Great Recession and the 

Unemployment Insurance (UI) System 

in the 21st Century. DOL is particularly 

interested in comments that do the 

following: 

Æ Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 


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67360 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2018 / Notices 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency related to UI 

program oversight, including whether 

the information will have practical 

utility; 

Æ Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the ICR burden to 

survey and interview respondents, 

including the validity of the study 

approach and assumptions; 

Æ Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

Æ Minimize the burden of the 

information collection on respondents, 

including the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology (e.g., permitting electronic 

submission of responses). 

III. Current Actions: At this time, DOL 

is requesting clearance for the survey 

instrument and semi-structured 

interview protocols. 

Type of review: New information 

collection request. 

OMB Control Number: 1290–0NEW. 

Affected Public: Individuals working 

in state UI agencies. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this request will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval; they will also become a matter 

of public record. 

ESTIMATED ANNUAL BURDEN HOURS

Information collection instrument Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses 

per 

respondent 

Total number 

of responses 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(hours) 

Estimated 

burden 

(hours) 

Survey— State UI Director .................................................. 17 1 17 0.75 13 

Interview Protocol—UI Directors .......................................... 6 1 6 1 6 

Interview Protocol—Financial Staff ...................................... 6 1 6 1 6 

Interview Protocol—Chief of Benefits .................................. 6 1 6 1 6 

Interview Protocol—Appeals Staff ....................................... 6 1 6 1 6 

Interview Protocol—Benefits Determination Staff ................ 6 1 6 1 6 

Interview Protocol—HR Staff ............................................... 6 1 6 1 6 

Interview Protocol—IT Staff ................................................. 6 1 6 1 6 

Total .............................................................................. 59 ........................ 59 ........................ 55 

Molly Irwin, 

Chief Evaluation Officer, U.S. Department of 

Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2018–28310 Filed 12–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–HX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Information Collection Activities; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

Department of Labor. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as 

part of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork and respondent burden, 

conducts a pre-clearance consultation 

program to provide the general 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. This 

program helps to 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. The Bureau of Labor 

Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments 

concerning the proposed reinstatement 

with change of the ‘‘Quick Business 

Survey Operations Test.’’ A copy of the 

proposed information collection request 

(ICR) can be obtained by contacting the 

individual listed below in the Addresses 

section of this notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office listed in the 

Addresses section of this notice on or 

before February 26, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Carol 

Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, Division 

of Management Systems, Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 2 

Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, 

DC 20212. Written comments also may 

be transmitted by fax to 202–691–5111 

(this is not a toll free number). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, at 

202–691–7628 (this is not a toll free 

number). (See ADDRESSES section.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

intends to conduct a second operations 

test for a Quick Business Survey (QBS). 

The BLS will build on the results of a 

prior test to further evaluate QBS survey 

processes and operations in a possible 

production environment. If successful, a 

QBS would permit BLS to collect 

information about the U.S. economy 

more efficiently than is currently 

possible. In addition, it would allow 

data users to be able to understand the 

impact of specific events on the 

economy in a timely manner that would 

be relevant to data users. 

As with the first operations test, the 

BLS will test using the Annual Refiling 

Survey (ARS) as a platform for 

conducting the QBS. Each year, the 

Quarterly Census of Employment and 

Wages (QCEW) Program conducts the 

ARS by reaching out to approximately 

1.2 million establishments requesting 

verification of their main business 

activity, and their mailing and physical 

location addresses. The fully web-based 

ARS provides a low-cost platform for 

conducting the QBS. The QBSs 

accompanying the ARS would have 

little data collection overhead, 

leveraging the address refinement, 

printing, and mailing efforts that are 

undertaken as part of the production 

ARS. Respondents already logged into 

the ARS secure website could be 

directed to a QBS and asked to answer 

a limited number of additional survey 

questions after completing the ARS. 

II. Current Action 

Office of Management and Budget 

clearance is being sought for a 

reinstatement with change of the Quick 

Business Survey (QBS) Operations Test 

in order to conduct a second test. 

A QBS would allow BLS to leverage 

the multitude of information already 

known about the sample units to allow 


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