36726 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Notices

Dated: June 2, 2000.

Morris L. Thigpen,

Director, National Institute of Corrections.

[FR Doc. 00–14671 Filed 6–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–36–M

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training

Administration

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, 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) [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. Currently, the

Employment and Training

Administration is soliciting comments

concerning the proposed revision/

extension for collection of the ETA 227

Report, Overpayment Detection and

Recovery Activities. A copy of the

proposed information collection request

(ICR) can be obtained by contacting the

office listed below in the ADDRESSES

section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted to the office listed in the

addressee’s section below on or before

August 8, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

to the Employment and Training

Administration, Office of Workforce

Security, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,

Room S4231, Washington, DC 20010,

Attention: Bob Whiting. Telephone

number: 202–219–5340, ext. 182 (this is

not a toll-free number). Fax: 202–219–

8506. E-mail: rwhiting@doleta.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Section 303(a)(1) of the Social

Security Act requires a State’s

Unemployment Insurance (UI) law to

include provisions for:

‘‘Such methods of administration * * * as

are found by the Secretary of Labor to be

reasonably calculated to insure full payment

of unemployment compensation when due

* * *’’

Section 303(a)(5) of the Social

Security Act further requires a State’s UI

law to include provisions for:

‘‘Expenditure of all money withdrawn from

an unemployment fund of such State, in the

payment of unemployment compensation

* * *’’

Section 3304(a)(4) of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954 provides that:

‘‘all money withdrawn from the

unemployment fund of the State shall be

used solely in the payment of unemployment

compensation * * *’’

The Secretary of Labor has interpreted

the above sections of Federal law in

Section 7511, Part V, ES Manual to

further require a State’s UI law to

include provisions for such methods of

administration as are, within reason,

calculated (1) to detect benefits paid

through error by the State Employment

Security Agency (SESA) or through

willful misrepresentation or error by the

claimant or others, (2) to deter claimants

from obtaining benefits through willful

misrepresentation, and (3) to recover

benefits overpaid. The ETA 227 is used

to determine whether SESAs meet these

requirements of the Secretary of Labor’s

interpretation of the Federal laws.

The ETA–227 contains data on the

number and amounts of fraud and

nonfraud overpayments established, the

methods by which overpayments were

detected, the amounts and methods by

which overpayments were collected, the

amounts of overpayments waived and

written off, the accounts receivable for

overpayments outstanding, and data on

criminal/civil actions. These data are

gathered by 53 SESAs and reported to

the Department of Labor following the

end of each calendar quarter. The

overall effectiveness of SESAs’ UI

integrity efforts can be determined by

examining and analyzing the data.

These data are also used by SESAs as a

management tool for effective UI

program administration.

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: The

UI program pays approximately $20

billion in benefits annually. Although

the overpayment rate is relatively low

(less than one percent), high amounts of

money are involved, and it is in the

national interest to maintain the

program’s integrity. Therefore, we are

proposing to extend the authorization to

continue collecting data to measure the

effectiveness of benefit payment

controls in the SESAs. Several

modifications have been made to the

report format to improve the

effectiveness of the collection vehicle,

including additions and deletions of

data cells:

Additions

• Overpayments established

involving multi-claimant fraud schemes.

• Totals for controllable and

uncontrollable under Section B,

‘‘Overpayments Established—Methods

of Detection’’.

• Overpayments detected through the

‘‘new hire’’ system.

• Overpayments detected by ‘‘special

projects’’ (new methodologies).

• Overpayments Recovered—Total.

• Overpayments recovered by offset

of state income tax refunds.

• Overpayments recovered by other

states.

• Penalty and interest collected for

Federal programs.

• Overpayments collected for other

states.

Deletions

• All columns in the section titled

‘‘Reconciliation of Overpayment

Activities’’ that pertain to the number of

cases. (Only dollar amounts will be

reported in the future.)

• The following under-utilized lines

in the section titled ‘‘Detection

Activities’: verification of low earnings;

verification of return to work; quality

control.

• The following lines also in the

‘‘Detection’’ section because states

cannot exercise control over their

incidence, and gathering data is of less

value than that of other activities which

have been added: employer protest of

charges; tips and leads; other

noncontrollable activities.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Notices 36727

• Cells identifying nonfraud fictitious

employer schemes.

Other Modifications

• The order of sections B and C have

been reversed so that ‘‘Overpayments

Established—Methods of Detection’’

precedes ‘‘Recovery/Reconciliation’’.

• In Section A ‘‘Overpayments

Established—Causes’’, the line for

administrative penalty has been

removed from under the subheading

‘‘Nonfraud’’ so that it stands alone.

• In Section B ‘‘Overpayments

Established—Methods of Detection’’, the

lines have been reordered so all

controllable methods are grouped under

the appropriate heading.

• In Section C ‘‘Recovery/

Reconciliation’’, the line formerly

identified as ‘‘Allowance for Doubtful

Accounts’’ has been redefined, and data

will be reported as ‘‘Receivables

Removed at End of Report Period’’.

Type of Review: Revision.

Agency: Employment and Training

Administration.

Title: Overpayment Detection and

Recovery Activities.

OMB Number: 1205–0173.

Agency Number: ETA–227.

Record keeping: State agencies are

required to maintain all documentation

supporting the information reported on

the ETA–227 for three years following

the end of each report period.

Affected Public: State Government.

Cite/Reference/Form/etc: Form.

Total Respondents: 53 State agencies.

Frequency: Quarterly.

Total Responses: 212.

Average Time per Response: 14 hours.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2968.

Total Burden Cost (operating/

maintaining): Estimated at $76,396

which is allowable cost under the

administrative grants awarded to States

by the Federal government.

Additionally, there will be a one time

cost of reprogramming the State systems

at the cost of $20,758 (annualized).

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: June 5, 2000.

Grace A. Kilbane,

Administrator, Office of Workforce Security.

[FR Doc. 00–14682 Filed 6–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–30–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment Standards

Administration, Wage and Hour

Division

Minimum Wages for Federal and

Federally Assisted Construction;

General Wage Determination Decisions

General wage determination decisions

of the Secretary of Labor are issued in

accordance with applicable law and are

based on the information obtained by

the Department of Labor from its study

of local wage conditions and data made

available from other sources. They

specify the basic hourly wage rates and

fringe benefits which are determined to

be prevailing for the described classes of

laborers and mechanics employed on

construction projects of a similar

character and in the localities specified

therein.

The determinations in these decisions

of prevailing rates and fringe benefits

have been made in accordance with 29

CFR Part 1, by authority of the Secretary

of Labor pursuant to the provisions of

the Davis-Bacon Act of March 3, 1931,

as amended (46 Stat. 1494, as amended,

40 U.S.C. 276a) and of other Federal

statutes referred to in 29 CFR Part 1,

Appendix, as well as such additional

statutes as may from time to time be

enacted containing provisions for the

payment of wages determined to be

prevailing by the Secretary of Labor in

accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act.

The prevailing rates and fringe benefits

determined in these decisions shall, in

accordance with the provisions of the

foregoing statutes, constitute the

minimum wages payable on Federal and

federally assisted construction projects

to laborers and mechanics of the

specified classes engaged on contract

work of the character and in the

localities described therein.

Good cause is hereby found for not

utilizing notice and public comment

procedures thereon prior to the issuance

of these determinations as prescribed in

5 U.S.C. 553 and not providing for delay

in the effective date as prescribed in that

section, because the necessity to issue

current construction industry wage

determinations frequently and in large

volume causes procedures to be

impractical and contrary to the public

interest.

General wage determination

decisions, and modifications and

supersedes decisions thereto, contain no

expiration dates and are effective for

their date of notice in the Federal

Register, or on the date written notice

is received by the agency, whichever is

earlier. These decisions are to be used

in accordance with the provisions of 29

CFR Parts 1 and 5. Accordingly, the

applicable decisions, together with any

modifications issued, must be made a

part of every contract for performance of

the described work within the

geographic area indicated as required by

an applicable Federal prevailing wage

law and 29 CFR Part 5. The wage rates

and fringe benefits, notice of which is

published herein, and which are

contained in the Government Printing

Office (GPO) document entitled

‘‘General Wage Determinations Issued

Under The Davis-Bacon And Related

Acts,’’ shall be the minimum paid by

contractors and subcontractors to

laborers and mechanics.

Any person, organization, or

governmental agency having an interest

in the rates determined as prevailing is

encouraged to submit wage rate and

fringe benefit information for

consideration by the Department.

Further information and selfexplanatory forms for the purpose of

submitting this data may be obtained by

writing to the U.S. Department of Labor,

Employment Standards Administration,

Wage and Hour Division, Division of

Wage Determinations, 200 Constitution

Avenue, NW, Room S–3014,

Washington, DC 20210.

Modifications to General Wage

Determination Decisions

The number of decisions listed in the

Government Printing Office document

entitled ‘‘General Wage Determinations

Issued Under the Davis-Bacon and

related Acts’’ being modified are listed

by Volume and State. Dates of

publication in the Federal Register are

in parentheses following the decisions

being modified.

Volume I

None

Volume II

Maryland

MD000008 (Feb. 11, 2000)

MD000021 (Feb. 11, 2000)

MD000039 (Feb. 11, 2000)

MD000042 (Feb. 11, 2000)

Pennsylvania

PA000005 (Feb. 11, 2000)

PA000006 (Feb. 11, 2000)

PA000014 (Feb. 11, 2000)

PA000025 (Feb. 11, 2000)

PA000026 (Feb. 11, 2000)

Virginia

VA000014 (Feb. 11, 2000)

VA000044 (Feb. 11, 2000)

VA000059 (Feb. 11, 2000)

VA000067 (Feb. 11, 2000)

Volume III

None

Volume IV

None