1528 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2021 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission for OMB 

Review; Comment Request, Job Corps 

Evidence Building Portfolio, 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 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 

is properly assessed. Currently, the 

Department of Labor is soliciting 

comments concerning the collection of 

data about the Job Corps Evidence 

Building Portfolio. 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 

March 9, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either one of the following methods: 

Email: ChiefEvaluationOffice@

dol.gov; Mail or Courier: Jessica 

Lohmann, 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 above 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: 

Jessica Lohmann by email at 

ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov or by 

phone at (202)693–5087. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) of 

the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) 

intends to design and conduct an 

evaluation to assess the implementation 

and outcomes of three Job Corps 

demonstration pilots. The goals of the 

implementation and outcomes 

evaluation are to understand who the 

pilots enroll, what services they 

provide, how these services are 

implemented, and how the pilots 

compare with traditional Job Corps. The 

evaluation will also assess outcomes of 

participants in the demonstration pilots, 

as well as identify any best practices. 

The project also includes impact 

feasibility assessments of each of the 

demonstration pilots to assess the 

potential for conducting an impact 

evaluation of the pilot’s effectiveness or 

similar future pilots. This Federal 

Register Notice provides the 

opportunity to comment on proposed 

data collection instruments that will be 

used in the implementation and impact 

feasibility evaluation: Semi-structured 

program staff and stakeholder interview 

topic guide, participant interview or 

focus group topic guide, program survey 

of Job Corps centers and demonstration 

pilot grantees, and impact feasibility 

topic guide. 

1. Semi-structured interviews with 

program staff and staff from selected 

community partner organizations topic 

guide. Interviews will be conducted 

over the phone or video or during inperson site visits in 2022. Each of the 

pilot demonstration projects draw on a 

range of staff and partners that deliver 

services; thus, interviews may include 

pilot staff, partner staff, employers, and 

training and education providers. We 

estimate that approximately 175 

interviews will be conducted across all 

pilots. We will also observe program 

activities, either in person or virtually 

via phone or video, to help us describe 

key program components and 

participant engagement. The 

observations will not involve additional 

burden. 

2. Participant interviews or focus 

group topic guide. We will also 

interview demonstration pilot 

participants through one-on-one 

interviews or focus groups. Focus 

groups or interviews will be conducted 

with approximately 25 interviewees to 

175 interviewees across all pilots. These 

interviews or focus groups may be 

conducted in person, online, or over the 

phone. 

3. Program survey of Job Corps centers 

and demonstration pilot grantees. The 

project will field a program survey to 

each of the Job Corps centers and 

demonstration pilots to gather 

information about program 

implementation, service offerings, and 

staffing. The survey will be fielded to 

131 Job Corps centers, and up to 30 pilot 

demonstration sites in spring 2022. 

4. Impact feasibility assessment 

interviews with demonstration pilot staff 

topic guide. In addition to the 

implementation and outcome study, the 

evaluation will gather information from 

select grantee staff about topics related 

to feasibility of conducting an impact 

study of the demonstration pilot. The 

team will conduct phone, video or in 

person interviews with grantee staff 

who are involved in management, 

enrollment, and program services in fall 

2021/winter 2022. The project will 

conduct 25 interviews across the three 

pilots. 

II. Desired Focus of Comments 

Currently, the Department of Labor is 

soliciting comments concerning the 

above data collection for the Job Corps 

Evidence Building Project. DOL is 

particularly interested in comments that 

do the following: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance functions of 

the agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

• evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s burden estimate of the 

proposed information collection, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions; 

• 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— 

for example, permitting electronic 

submissions of responses. 

III. Current Actions 

At this time, the Department of Labor 

is requesting clearance for the semistructured program and partner staff 

topic guide, participant interview and 

focus group topic guide, grantee 

program survey, and impact feasibility 

study topic guide. 

Type of Review: New information 

collection request. 

OMB Control Number: 1290–0NEW. 

Affected Public: Job Corp centers and 

demonstration pilots, partners and 

participants. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this request will be summarized and-or 

included in the request for Office of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2021 / Notices 1529 

Management and Budget approval of the information collection request; they will 

also become a matter of public record. 

ESTIMATED ANNUAL BURDEN HOURS

Type of Instrument 

(form-activity) 

Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Total 

number of 

responses 

Average 

burden time 

per response 

(hours) 

Estimated 

burden 

hours 

Semi-structured interview with staff, 

partners, and stakeholders topic 

guide ................................................... 175 1 175 1.5 262.5 

Participant interview or focus group protocol .................................................... 175 1 175 1.5 262.5 

Program survey of JC Centers and pilots ...................................................... 161 1 161 2 322 

Impact feasibility topic guide .................. 30 1 30 1.5 45 

Total ................................................ 541 .............................. 541 .............................. 892 

Christina Yancey, 

Chief Evaluation Officer, U.S. Department of 

Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2021–00078 Filed 1–7–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–HX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Office of Workers’ Compensation 

Programs 

[Docket No. WCPO–2020–0002] 

Guidance on Black Lung Benefits Act 

Self-Insurance 

AGENCY: Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Programs, Labor. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Programs (OWCP) is 

announcing publication of a preliminary 

program bulletin titled ‘‘DCMWC SelfInsurance Process Guidelines’’ 

describing the agency’s updated process 

for evaluating self-insurance 

applications under the Black Lung 

Benefits Act (BLBA). The BLBA requires 

coal mine operators to secure the 

payment of benefits by either 

purchasing commercial insurance or 

obtaining the Department’s 

authorization to self-insure those 

liabilities. Authorization to self-insure 

may be granted or denied at the 

Department’s discretion. OWCP is 

making the programmatic changes and 

preliminary bulletin available for public 

comment pursuant to the Department of 

Labor’s PRO Good Guidance Rule. 

DATES: The Department invites written 

comments on the self-insurance 

program and the bulletin from 

interested parties. Written comments 

must be received by February 8, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments electronically by the 

following method: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions on the website for 

submitting comments. 

Instructions. Include the docket 

number WCPO–2020–0002 in your 

comments. All comments received will 

be posted without change to http://

www.regulations.gov. Please do not 

include any personally identifiable or 

confidential business information you 

do not want publicly disclosed. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Chance, Director, Division of 

Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation, 

Office of Workers’ Compensation 

Programs, U.S. Department of Labor, 

200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N– 

3464, Washington, DC 20210. 

Telephone: 1–800–347–2502. This is a 

toll-free number. TTY/TDD callers may 

dial toll-free 1–800–877–8339 for 

further information. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Overview 

The BLBA provides benefits to coal 

miners who are totally disabled by 

pneumoconiosis (commonly known as 

black lung disease) and to certain of 

their survivors. The BLBA requires coal 

mine operators to secure the payment of 

benefits by either purchasing 

commercial insurance or obtaining the 

Department’s authorization to selfinsure those liabilities. 30 U.S.C. 933(a). 

Authorization to self-insure may be 

granted or denied at the Department’s 

discretion. 20 CFR 726.101(a). When a 

self-insurer is unable (or unwilling) to 

meet its payment obligations, the Black 

Lung Disability Trust Fund (Trust Fund) 

makes those payments. Although the 

Trust Fund acts as a backstop, Congress 

intended ‘‘to ensure that individual coal 

operators rather than the trust fund bear 

the liability for [black lung] claims 

arising out of such operators’ mines to 

the maximum extent feasible.’’ See Old 

Ben Coal Co. v. Luker, 826 F.2d 688, 693 

(7th Cir. 1987) (quoting S. Rep. No. 209, 

95th Cong., 1st Sess. 9 (1977), reprinted 

in House Comm. on Educ. and Labor, 

96th Cong., Black Lung Benefits Reform 

Act and Black Lung Benefits Revenue 

Act of 1977, 612 (Comm. Print 1979)); 

20 CFR 725.1(e). To help ensure that 

self-insured operators’ liabilities do not 

fall on the Trust Fund, OWCP created 

new forms CM–2017, CM–2017a, and 

CM–2017b and now seeks to update its 

process for evaluating the information 

collected through those forms to 

determine whether a coal mine operator 

should be allowed to self-insure and to 

determine the security amount each 

operator must provide to guarantee 

payment of current and future 

liabilities. OWCP has set forth the 

updated process in its preliminary 

bulletin titled ‘‘DCMWC Self-Insurance 

Process Guidelines.’’ OWCP now seeks 

public comment on the bulletin and the 

process discussed in the bulletin. 

II. Bulletin Publication 

Out of an abundance of caution, 

OWCP is requesting comments on the 

bulletin and its underlying 

programmatic changes, in line with the 

requirements of the Department’s PRO 

Good Guidance Rule, see 29 CFR part 

89, and also because OWCP believes the 

public’s input on the self-insurance 

process could be very helpful to the 

program’s administration. OWCP’s 

request for comments is also consistent 

with the openness and transparency 

goals of the Department’s guidance 

regulations; E.O. 13891, 84 FR 55235 

(Oct. 15, 2019); and OMB’s Final 

Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance 

Practices, 72 FR 3432 (Jan. 25, 2007). 


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