49402 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 186 / Monday, September 28, 2009 / Notices 

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 (PRA 

95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. 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. 

In response to the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the 

Employment and Training 

Administration is soliciting comments 

concerning state UI agencies’ notifying 

UI beneficiaries that they may be able to 

obtain training using Pell Grants while 

continuing to collect UI and to give 

them information about how to apply. 

This notice utilizes standard clearance 

procedures in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 

CFR 1320.12. This information 

collection follows an emergency review 

that was conducted in accordance with 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

and 5 CFR 1320.13. The submission for 

OMB emergency review was approved 

on May 8, 2009. A copy of this 

Information Collection Request (ICR) 

can be obtained from the RegInfo.gov 

Web site at http://www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office listed in the 

addressee’s section below on or before 

November 27, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

to U.S. Department of Labor, 

Employment and Training 

Administration, Office of Employment 

Security, attn: Scott Gibbons, Room S– 

4231, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, 

Washington, DC 20210. Telephone 

number: 202–693–3008 (this is not a 

toll-free number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

To enable more individuals to obtain 

job training while receiving 

unemployment benefits, so they can 

develop their skills while the economy 

recovers, states are strongly encouraged 

to widen their definitions of the types 

of training and the conditions under 

which education or training are 

considered ‘‘approved training’’ for 

purposes of the state’s UI law. 

States are also encouraged to notify 

unemployed individuals of their 

potential eligibility for Pell Grants and 

to assist individuals with applications. 

Pell Grants are awarded based on 

financial need and other factors. Many 

UI beneficiaries are potentially eligible 

for Pell Grants, and the Department of 

Education is currently undertaking a 

major effort to encourage student 

financial aid administrators to use the 

discretion available to them in 

determining if UI beneficiaries are 

eligible for Pell Grants. Through 

information dissemination, the 

Department of Labor is encouraging 

state UI agencies to notify UI 

beneficiaries that they may qualify for 

Pell Grants and to give them 

information about how to apply. States 

are strongly encouraged to determine if 

their approved training requirements are 

appropriate to the current economy. 

Post-secondary education and training 

are increasingly important for success in 

the job market. Periods of 

unemployment, particularly in the 

current economic climate, provide 

opportunities for laid-off workers to 

develop new skills, so that employers 

will benefit from a skilled workforce 

when the economy recovers. In 

particular, states are asked to consider 

approval of courses at community 

colleges with significant job skills 

components, courses leading to general 

equivalency degrees, courses in adult 

basic education, language courses, or 

other courses of study, including degree 

and certificate courses that are likely to 

increase the individual’s long-term 

employability. 

II. Review Focus 

The Department of Labor is 

particularly interested in comments 

which: 

* 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; 

* 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, 

e.g., permitting electronic submissions 

of responses. 

III. Current Actions 

Type of Review: Extension without 

changes. 

Title: Pell Grants and the Payment of 

Unemployment Benefits to Individuals 

in Approved Training. 

OMB Number: 1205–0473. 

Affected Public: State Workforce 

Agencies. 

Total Respondents: 53. 

Frequency of Collection: Once. 

Total Responses: 53. 

Average Time per Respondent: 40 

hours. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2120. 

Total Annual Costs Burden: $0. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this comment request will be 

summarized and/or included in the 

request for Office of Management and 

Budget approval of the information 

collection request; they will also 

become a matter of public record. 

Dated This 23rd day of September, 2009. 

Jane Oates, 

Assistant Secretary, Employment and 

Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–23372 Filed 9–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Notice of a Change in Status of an 

Extended Benefit (EB) Period for 

Alabama. 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

change in benefit period eligibility 

under the EB program for Alabama. 

The following change has occurred 

since the publication of the last notice 

regarding Alabama’s EB status: 

• Alabama has enacted a retroactive 

TUR trigger for their EB program. 

Alabama would have triggered on with 

the release of state total unemployment 

rates (TURs) for January 2009, released 

by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on 

March 11, 2009. This means their 

current EB period began March 29, 

2009. In addition, the three month 

average seasonally adjusted TUR rose 

above the 8.0 percent threshold for a 

High Unemployment Period (HUP) with 

the release of March TURs on April 17, 

2009. As a result, a HUP in the EB 

program began in Alabama on May 3. 

Eligible claimants will be able to receive 

up to 20 weeks of additional benefits. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 186 / Monday, September 28, 2009 / Notices 49403 

Information for Claimants 

The duration of benefits payable in 

the EB Program, and the terms and 

conditions on which they are payable, 

are governed by the Federal-State 

Extended Unemployment Compensation 

Act of 1970, as amended, and the 

operating instructions issued to the 

states by the U.S. Department of Labor. 

In the case of a state beginning a HUP 

period, the State Workforce Agency will 

furnish a written notice of potential 

entitlement to each individual who may 

be eligible for increased benefits due to 

the HUP (20 CFR 615.13 (c) (1)). 

Persons who wish to inquire about 

their rights under the program should 

contact their State Workforce Agency. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Gibbons, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Employment and Training 

Administration, Office of Workforce 

Security, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Frances Perkins Bldg. Room S–4231, 

Washington, DC 20210, telephone 

number (202) 693–3008 (this is not a 

toll-free number) or by e-mail: 

gibbons.scott@dol.gov. 

Signed in Washington, DC, this 23rd day 

of September, 2009. 

Jane Oates, 

Assistant Secretary, Employment and 

Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–23353 Filed 9–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FW–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Notice of a Change in Status of an 

Extended Benefit (EB) Period for West 

Virginia. 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

change in benefit period eligibility 

under the EB program for West Virginia. 

The following change has occurred 

since the publication of the last notice 

regarding West Virginia’s EB status: 

• West Virginia has enacted a 

retroactive TUR trigger for their EB 

program. West Virginia would have 

triggered on with the release of state 

total unemployment rates (TURs) for 

April 2009, released by the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics on May 22, 2009. This 

means their current EB period began 

June 7, 2009. In addition, the three 

month average seasonally adjusted TUR 

rose above the 8.0 percent threshold for 

a High Unemployment Period (HUP) 

with the release of June TURs on July 

17, 2009. As a result, a HUP in the EB 

program began in West Virginia on 

August 2. Eligible claimants will be able 

to receive up to 20 weeks of additional 

benefits. 

Information for Claimants 

The duration of benefits payable in 

the EB Program, and the terms and 

conditions on which they are payable, 

are governed by the Federal-State 

Extended Unemployment Compensation 

Act of 1970, as amended, and the 

operating instructions issued to the 

states by the U.S. Department of Labor. 

In the case of a state beginning a HUP 

period, the State Workforce Agency will 

furnish a written notice of potential 

entitlement to each individual who may 

be eligible for increased benefits due to 

the HUP (20 CFR 615.13 (c) (1)). 

Persons who wish to inquire about 

their rights under the program should 

contact their State Workforce Agency. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Gibbons, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Employment and Training 

Administration, Office of Workforce 

Security, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Frances Perkins Bldg. Room S–4231, 

Washington, DC 20210, telephone 

number (202) 693–3008 (this is not a 

toll-free number) or by email: 

gibbons.scott@dol.gov. 

Signed in Washington, DC, this 23rd day 

of September, 2009. 

Jane Oates, 

Assistant Secretary, 

Employment and Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–23355 Filed 9–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FW–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Notice of a Change in Status of an 

Extended Benefit (EB) Period for Idaho 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

change in benefit period eligibility 

under the EB program for Idaho. 

The following change has occurred 

since the publication of the last notice 

regarding Idaho’s EB status: 

• Idaho has modified its law by 

adding a total unemployment rate (TUR) 

trigger. As a result, Idaho triggered ‘‘on’’ 

to a high unemployment period (HUP) 

for weeks of unemployment beginning 

September 6, 2009, and eligible 

unemployed workers will be able to 

collect up to an additional 20 weeks of 

unemployment insurance benefits. 

Information for Claimants 

The duration of benefits payable in 

the EB program, and the terms and 

conditions on which they are payable, 

are governed by the Federal-State 

Extended Unemployment Compensation 

Act of 1970, as amended, and the 

operating instructions issued to the 

states by the U.S. Department of Labor. 

In the case of a state beginning a HUP, 

the State Workforce Agency will furnish 

a written notice of potential entitlement 

to each individual who has exhausted 

all rights to regular benefits and is 

potentially eligible for EB (20 CFR 

615.13(c)(1)). Persons who believe they 

may be entitled to EB or who wish to 

inquire about their rights under the 

program should contact their State 

Workforce Agency. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Gibbons, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Employment and Training 

Administration, Office of Workforce 

Security, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Frances Perkins Bldg. Room S–4231, 

Washington, DC 20210, telephone 

number (202) 693–3008 (this is not a 

toll-free number) or by e-mail: 

gibbons.scott@dol.gov. 

Signed in Washington, DC, this 23rd day 

of September, 2009. 

Jane Oates, 

Assistant Secretary, Employment and 

Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–23354 Filed 9–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FW–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Announcement Regarding States 

Triggering ‘‘on’’ to the second-tier of 

Emergency Unemployment 

Compensation 2008 (EUC08) 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Announcement regarding the 

Virgin Islands triggering ‘‘on’’ to the 

second-tier of Emergency 

Unemployment Compensation (EUC08). 

Public law 110–449 created a secondtier of benefits within the EUC08 

program for qualified unemployed 

workers claiming benefits in high 

unemployment states. The Department 

of Labor produces a trigger notice 

indicating which states qualify for this 

second-tier of EUC08 benefits and 

provides the beginning and ending dates 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES