4128 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 2021 / Notices 

Federal Information Relay Service at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

18See Attorney General Memorandum at 5a; 

Memorandum Opinion for the General Counsel, 

Office of Justice Programs, Re: Application of the 

Religious Freedom Restoration Act to the Award of 

a Grant Pursuant to the Juvenile Justice and 

Delinquency Prevention Act (June 26, 2007) 

available at www.justice.gov/olc/opinions.htm. 

19 494 U.S. 872, 878–79 (1990). 

20 42 U.S.C. 2000bb–1(a). 

21 Id. § 2000bb–1(b). 

22See id. § 2000bb–3. 

23See 42 U.S.C. 2000bb–2(4). 

24Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 

682, 724 (2014). 

25Attorney General Memorandum at 5a. 

26 Id. at 5a. 

27 Gonzales v. O Centro Espı ́rita Beneficente 

Unia ̃ o do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418, 431 (2006). 

Following the adoption of the 

Department’s regulations on equal treatment 

of faith-based organizations, questions from 

the public arose regarding whether the 

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) 

exempts recipients of Federal financial 

assistance from provisions of authorizing 

statutes and implementing regulations of 

programs that require all recipients of 

Federal financial assistance under those 

statutes or programs to agree not to consider 

religion when making employment decisions 

for positions connected with the Federallyfinanced program or activity. The 

Department of Labor has developed the 

exemption process described below to 

effectuate a controlling opinion and guidance 

of the U.S. Department of Justice concerning 

how RFRA applies to laws restricting 

recipients of Federal financial assistance 

from making employment decisions based on 

religion.18

b. RFRA Exemption Process 

In 1993, Congress enacted RFRA in 

response to the Supreme Court’s decision in 

Employment Division, Department of Human 

Resources of Oregon v. Smith, which held 

that a law that is religion-neutral and 

generally applicable need not be justified by 

a compelling governmental interest, even if 

such law incidentally affects religious 

practice.19 By enacting RFRA, Congress 

sought to ensure that the government justify 

substantial burdens on religious exercise. 

Under RFRA, ‘‘[g]overnment shall not 

substantially burden [an organization’s] 

exercise of religion even if the burden results 

from a rule of general applicability,’’ 20

unless the Government ‘‘demonstrates that 

application of the burden to the 

[organization]—(1) is in furtherance of a 

compelling governmental interest; and (2) is 

the least restrictive means of furthering that 

compelling governmental interest.’’ 21 RFRA 

thus mandates strict scrutiny of any federal 

law that substantially burdens the exercise of 

religion, even if the burden is incidental to 

the application of a religion-neutral rule. 

Congress expressly applied RFRA to all 

Federal law whether adopted before or after 

the enactment of RFRA; it therefore applies 

to all laws governing DOL programs.22

Under RFRA, the term ‘‘exercise of 

religion’’ does not require that a burdened 

religious practice be compelled by, or central 

to, an organization’s system of religious belief 

to be protected.23 Relatedly, RFRA does not 

permit the government to assess the 

reasonableness of a religious belief, including 

the adherent’s assessment of the religious 

connection between a belief asserted and 

what the government forbids, requires, or 

prevents.24 However, where a law enforced 

by DOL infringes on a religious practice that 

an organization itself regards as unimportant 

or inconsequential, no substantial burden has 

been imposed for purposes of RFRA.25

Where a law enforced by DOL prohibits 

religious discrimination in employment by 

recipients of DOL financial assistance, such 

prohibition will be displaced by RFRA and 

thus will not apply to a recipient with 

respect to employing individuals of a 

particular religious belief to perform work 

connected with carrying on the recipient’s 

activities, provided that (i) such recipient can 

demonstrate that its religious exercise would 

be substantially burdened by applying the 

religious non-discrimination requirement to 

its employment practices in the program or 

activity at issue, and (ii) DOL is unable to 

demonstrate that applying the nondiscrimination provision to this recipient 

both would further a compelling government 

interest and would be the least restrictive 

means of furthering that interest. 

Under RFRA, a law substantially burdens 

religious exercise if it ‘‘bans an aspect of the 

adherent’s religious observance or practice, 

compels an act inconsistent with that 

observance or practice, or substantially 

pressures the adherent to modify such 

observance or practice.’’ 26 And in identifying 

a compelling government interest, ‘‘broadly 

formulated interests justifying the general 

applicability of government mandates’’ are 

insufficient.27

Once selected as a grantee, a recipient that 

seeks an exemption from the application of 

a religious non-discrimination provision 

must submit a certification of its eligibility 

for an exemption to the Assistant Secretary 

or relevant Agency Head charged with 

issuing or administering the grant or his/her 

designee attesting that: (1) Receiving the 

grant is important to the recipient; (2) 

employing individuals of a particular religion 

is important to the religious identity, 

autonomy, or communal religious exercise of 

the recipient; and (3) conditioning receipt of 

the grant on compliance with the nondiscrimination provision substantially 

burdens its religious exercise. The Assistant 

Secretary or relevant Agency Head will 

approve exemptions, in consultation with the 

Office of the Solicitor, on a case-by-case 

basis, and no later than 14 calendar days 

from the date the certification was submitted, 

for recipients that make the above 

attestations, unless there is good reason to 

question the certification. If the Assistant 

Secretary or relevant Agency Head takes no 

action by the close of the 14 calendar day 

period, the certification will be deemed 

approved. 

Recipients exempted from the religious 

non-discrimination requirements at issue 

will not be exempted or excused, by virtue 

of that particular exemption, from complying 

with other requirements contained in the law 

or regulation at issue. In addition, any 

exemption may be voided at any time by the 

Assistant Secretary or relevant Agency Head 

charged with issuing or administering the 

grant or his/her designee, in consultation 

with the Office of the Solicitor of the U.S. 

Department of Labor, upon a determination 

that the certification was untruthful or a 

material change in circumstances indicates 

that reassessment of the exemption is in 

order. Following such determination, the 

Assistant Secretary or relevant Agency Head, 

or his/her designee will notify the recipient 

of the invalidation, the reasons for the 

invalidation, and the name, title, telephone 

number and/or email address of the person 

to contact for further information. 

Signed at Washington, DC, this 12th day of 

January, 2021. 

Bryan Slater, 

Assistant Secretary for Administration and 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2021–00853 Filed 1–14–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Office of the Secretary 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission for OMB 

Review; Comment Request; 

Unemployment Insurance State Quality 

Service Plan Planning and Reporting 

Guidelines 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor 

(DOL) is submitting this ETA-sponsored 

information collection request (ICR) to 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review and approval in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public 

comments on the ICR are invited. 

DATES: The OMB will consider all 

written comments that agency receives 

on or before February 16, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether 

the collection of information is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the Department, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; (2) if the 

information will be processed and used 

in a timely manner; (3) the accuracy of 

the agency’s estimates of the burden and 

cost of the collection of information, 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 2021 / Notices 4129 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (4) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility and 

clarity of the information collection; and 

(5) ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mara Blumenthal by telephone at 202– 

693–8538, or by email at DOL_PRA_

PUBLIC@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The State 

Quality Service Plan (SQSP) represents 

an approach to the unemployment 

insurance (UI) performance 

management and planning process that 

allows for an exchange of information 

between the federal and state partners to 

enhance the ability of the program to 

reflect their joint commitment to 

performance excellence and clientcentered services. As part of UI 

Performs, a comprehensive performance 

management system for the UI program, 

the SQSP is the principal vehicle that 

the state UI programs use to plan, record 

and manage improvement efforts. For 

additional substantive information 

about this ICR, see the related notice 

published in the Federal Register on 

April 29, 2020 (85 FR 23865). 

This information collection is subject 

to the PRA. A Federal agency generally 

cannot conduct or sponsor a collection 

of information, and the public is 

generally not required to respond to an 

information collection, unless the OMB 

approves it and displays a currently 

valid OMB Control Number. In addition, 

notwithstanding any other provisions of 

law, no person shall generally be subject 

to penalty for failing to comply with a 

collection of information that does not 

display a valid OMB Control Number. 

See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6. 

DOL seeks PRA authorization for this 

information collection for three (3) 

years. OMB authorization for an ICR 

cannot be for more than three (3) years 

without renewal. The DOL notes that 

information collection requirements 

submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs 

receive a month-to-month extension 

while they undergo review. 

Agency: DOL–ETA. 

Title of Collection: Unemployment 

Insurance State Quality Service Plan 

Planning and Reporting Guidelines. 

OMB Control Number: 1205–0132. 

Affected Public: State, Local, and 

Tribal Governments. 

Total Estimated Number of 

Respondents: 53. 

Total Estimated Number of 

Responses: 1,166. 

Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 

3,975 hours. 

Total Estimated Annual Other Costs 

Burden: $0. 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D). 

Dated: December 29, 2020. 

Mara Blumenthal, 

Senior PRA Analyst. 

[FR Doc. 2021–00768 Filed 1–14–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 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 

of the ‘‘Current Population Survey (CPS) 

Disability Supplement.’’ A copy of the 

proposed information collection request 

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 March 16, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Erin 

Good, 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 email to BLS_PRA_

Public@bls.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin 

Good, BLS Clearance Officer, at 202– 

691–7628 (this is not a toll free number). 

(See ADDRESSES section.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The July 2021 CPS Disability 

Supplement will be conducted at the 

request of the Department of Labor’s 

Chief Evaluation Office. The Disability 

Supplement will provide information 

on the low labor force participation 

rates for people with disabilities; the use 

of and satisfaction with programs that 

prepare people with disabilities for 

employment; the work history, barriers 

to employment, and workplace 

accommodations reported by persons 

with a disability; and the effect of 

financial assistance programs on the 

likelihood of working. Since the 

supplement was last collected in 2019, 

work patterns have changed, policies 

have changed, and assistive 

technologies have advanced due to the 

coronavirus (COVID–19) pandemic. 

Having updated information will be 

valuable in determining how 

employment barriers have changed for 

people with disabilities. 

Because the Disability Supplement is 

part of the CPS, the same detailed 

demographic information collected in 

the CPS will be available about 

respondents to the supplement. Thus, 

comparisons will be possible across 

respondent characteristics, including 

sex, race, ethnicity, age, and educational 

attainment. It will also be possible to 

create estimates for those who are 

employed, unemployed, and not in the 

labor force. Because the CPS is a rich 

source of information on the 

employment status of the population, it 

will be possible to examine in detail the 

nature of various employment and 

unemployment situations. 

II. Current Action 

Office of Management and Budget 

clearance is being sought for the CPS 

Disability Supplement. These data are 

necessary to provide information about 

the labor market challenges facing 

persons with a disability and will 

contribute to improvements in policies 

and programs designed to assist these 

individuals. 

III. Desired Focus of Comments 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is 

particularly interested in comments 

that: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility. 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used.