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[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 250 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76861-76862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31029]

[[Page 76861]]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

20 CFR Parts 626, 627, 628, 631, 632, 633, 634, 636, 637, and 638

RIN 1205-AB68

Removal of Job Training Partnership Act Implementing Regulations

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the 
Department of Labor (Department) is removing the regulations at 20 CFR 
parts 626, 627, 628, 631, 632, 633, 634, 636, 637, and 638, which 
implemented the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA or the Act). These 
regulations were designed to improve the employment status of 
disadvantaged youth, adults, dislocated workers, and other individuals 
facing barriers to employment. In 1998, Congress passed the Workforce 
Investment Act (WIA), which required the Secretary of Labor to 
transition any authority under the JTPA to the system created by WIA. 
Therefore, the Department is taking this action to remove regulations 
for a program that is no longer operative.

DATES: This Direct Final Rule is effective April 1, 2013 without 
further action, unless significant adverse comment is received by 
January 30, 2013. If significant adverse comment is received, the 
Department of Labor will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the 
Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1205-AB68, by one 
of the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
Web site instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail and hand delivery/courier: Written comments, disk, and CD-ROM 
submissions may be mailed to Michael S. Jones, Acting Administrator, 
Office of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Labor, 
200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room N-5641, Washington, DC 20210.
    Instructions: Label all submissions with ``RIN 1205-AB68.''
    Please submit your comments by only one method. Please be advised 
that the Department will post all comments on this Direct Final Rule on 
http://www.regulations.gov without making any change to the comments or 
redacting any information. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 
the Federal e-rulemaking portal and all comments posted there are 
available and accessible to the public. Therefore, the Department 
recommends that commenters remove personal information such as Social 
Security Numbers, personal addresses, telephone numbers, and email 
addresses included in their comments as such information may become 
easily available to the public via the http://www.regulations.gov Web 
site. It is the responsibility of the commenter to safeguard their 
personal information.
    Also, please note that due to security concerns, postal mail 
delivery in Washington, DC may be delayed. Therefore, the Department 
encourages the public to submit comments on http://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: All comments on this Direct Final Rule will be available on 
the http://www.regulations.gov Web site, posted without change, and can 
be found using RIN 1205-AB68. The Department also will make all the 
comments it receives available for public inspection by appointment 
during normal business hours at the above address. If you need 
assistance to review the comments, the Department will provide you with 
appropriate aids such as readers or print magnifiers. The Department 
will make copies of the rule available, upon request, in large print 
and electronic file on computer disk. To schedule an appointment to 
review the comments and/or obtain the rule in an alternative format, 
contact the Office of Policy Development and Research at (202) 693-3700 
(this is not a toll-free number). You may also contact this office at 
the address listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael S. Jones, Acting 
Administrator, Office of Policy Development and Research, Employment 
and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-5641, 200 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-3700 
(this is not a toll-free number). This notice is available through the 
printed Federal Register, and electronically at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Direct Final Rule Procedure

    Since removal of the Job Training Partnership Act implementing 
regulations is not controversial, and the authorizing legislation for 
these regulations has been repealed, these regulations govern a program 
that is no longer in operation. The Department therefore has determined 
that good cause exists to remove these regulations using a Direct Final 
Rule. No significant adverse comments are anticipated. All interested 
parties should comment at this time because we will not initiate an 
additional comment period.
    If significant adverse comments are received, we will publish a 
timely notice in the Federal Register withdrawing this Direct Final 
Rule. For purposes of withdrawing this Direct Final Rule, a significant 
adverse comment is one that explains: (1) why the Direct Final Rule is 
inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or 
approach; or (2) why the Direct Final Rule will be ineffective or 
unacceptable without a change. In determining whether a significant 
adverse comment necessitates withdrawal of this Direct Final Rule, we 
will consider whether the comment raises an issue serious enough to 
warrant a substantive response through the notice and comment process.

II. Background

    Through this Direct Final Rule, the Department is removing and 
reserving the JTPA regulations at 20 CFR parts 626, 627, 628, 631, 632, 
633, 634, 636, 637, and 638, which were designed to improve the 
employment status of disadvantaged young adults, dislocated workers, 
and individuals facing barriers to employment. These regulations have 
been superseded by the regulations promulgated under the Workforce 
Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), 29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.
    The statutory purpose of the JTPA was to establish programs that 
prepared disadvantaged youth and adults who faced serious barriers to 
employment for participation in the labor force by providing job 
training and other services that would result in increased employment 
and earnings, increased educational and occupational skills, and 
decreased welfare dependency. See 20 CFR part 626. To carry out this 
purpose, the Department published regulations that implemented adult 
and youth training programs, summer youth employment and training 
programs, provided employment and training assistance for dislocated 
workers, and authorized programs for other individuals facing barriers 
to employment. See 20 CFR parts 628, 631. The JTPA regulations also 
established corrective action and sanctions for instances of 
noncompliance, provided procedures for hearings, and established 
standards and expectations for the programs authorized under the Act. 
See 20 CFR part 627.

[[Page 76862]]

    On August 7, 1998, Congress passed WIA. Under WIA, which superseded 
the JTPA, Congress required the Secretary of Labor to develop and 
publish interim final regulations (IFR) to implement this transition no 
later than 180 days after WIA's enactment date. See 20 U.S.C. 
9276(c)(1). The Department published the WIA IFR on April 15, 1999. See 
64 FR 18662. In that IFR, the Department explicitly provided for the 
phased transition of the JTPA programs to WIA, to be fully completed by 
July 1, 2000. See 64 FR 18662, 18663 (Apr. 15, 1999). The final rule 
implementing WIA was published on August 11, 2000. See 65 FR 49293 
(Aug. 11, 2000).
    Initially, although the JTPA authorizing legislation was repealed, 
the Department retained the JTPA regulations in the Code of Federal 
Regulations for grant closeout and auditing purposes. However, now that 
the JTPA programs have been transitioned to WIA for over a decade, the 
Department finds no reason to retain the JTPA regulations. Furthermore, 
the Department has previously removed several other JTPA regulatory 
provisions. Parts 629 and 630 were removed at 57 FR 62004 (Dec. 29, 
1992). Part 635 was re-designated as 20 CFR part 1005 at 54 FR 39352 
(Sept. 26, 1989), and the Department later removed part 1005 at 59 FR 
26601 (May 23, 1994). Finally, the Department notes that it re-
designated part 684 as part 638 at 55 FR 12992 (Apr. 6, 1990). Those 
JTPA regulatory provisions that remain are subject to this removal 
notice.

List of Subjects

20 CFR Parts 626, 627, 628, 631 and 637

    Accounting, Administrative practice and procedure, Disaster 
assistance, Grant programs--Labor, Manpower training programs, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Youth.

20 CFR Part 632

    Administrative practice and procedure, Fraud, Grant programs--
Indians, Grant programs--labor, Hawaiian Natives, Manpower training 
programs, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements Youth.

20 CFR Part 633

    Grant programs--labor, Manpower training programs, Migrant labor, 
Recording and record keeping requirements.

20 CFR Part 634

    Grant Programs--labor, Manpower training programs, Statistics.

20 CFR Part 636

    Administrative practice and procedure, Grant programs--labor, 
Manpower training programs.

20 CFR Part 638

    Grant programs--labor, Job Corps, Lobbying, Manpower training 
programs, Recording and record keeping requirements, Youth.
    Accordingly, under the authority of the Workforce Investment Act of 
1998 (WIA), 29 U.S.C. 9276(a), and for the reasons discussed in the 
preamble, the Department amends 20 CFR Chapter V by removing Parts 626, 
627, 628, 631, 632, 633, 634, 636, 637, and 638 as follows:

PART 626--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
1. Remove and reserve part 626, consisting of Sec. Sec.  626.1 through 
626.5.

PART 627--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
2. Remove and reserve part 627, consisting of Sec. Sec.  627.100 
through 627.906.

PART 628--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
3. Remove and reserve part 628, consisting of Sec. Sec.  628.100 
through 628.804.

PART 631--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
4. Remove and reserve part 631, consisting of Sec. Sec.  631.1 through 
631.87.

PART 632--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
5. Remove and reserve part 632, consisting of Sec. Sec.  632.1 through 
632.263.

PART 633--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
6. Remove and reserve part 633, consisting of Sec. Sec.  633.102 
through 633.322.

PART 634--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
7. Remove and reserve part 634, consisting of Sec. Sec.  634.1 through 
634.5.

PART 636--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
8. Remove and reserve part 636, consisting of Sec. Sec.  636.1 through 
636.11.

PART 637--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
9. Remove and reserve part 637, consisting of Sec. Sec.  637.100 
through 637.310.

PART 638--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
10. Remove and reserve part 638, consisting of Sec. Sec.  638.100 
through 638.815.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 18th day of December, 2012.
Jane Oates
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-31029 Filed 12-28-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P
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