Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 59 / Monday, March 30, 2009 / Notices 14159 

Comments and questions about the ICR 

listed below should be received by 

March 30, 2009. 

The OMB 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. 

Agency: Employment and Training 

Administration. 

Title of Collection: State/Local 

Consultations on Readiness for 

Implementing the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). 

OMB Control Number: Pending. 

Frequency of Collection: One time 

collection. 

Affected Public: State Workforce 

Agencies and Local Areas designated 

under the Workforce Investment Act. 

Estimated Time per Respondent: 45 

minutes. 

Total Estimated Number of 

Respondents: 78. 

Total Estimated Annual Burden 

Hours: 59 hours. 

Total Estimated Annual Costs Burden: 

$0. 

Description: The American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 

outlines the public workforce system’s 

important role in helping workers 

prepare for and find employment, and 

providing work experience for youth. 

The Act contains many provisions for 

ensuring a successful implementation of 

effective workforce interventions. To 

ensure success, Federal, State and local 

workforce systems must be guided by 

four overriding principles: (1) 

Transparency and accountability in the 

use of funds; (2) timely spending of the 

funds and implementation of quality 

activities; (3) expanded workforce 

system capacity and service levels; and, 

(4) increased training leading to 

increased employment opportunities. 

The first step in the process is to 

accurately assess workforce system 

readiness across key administrative and 

program areas and to identify Technical 

Assistance (TA) needs. To do this, ETA 

Regional Offices will conduct an 

assessment of states and many local 

areas, compile those assessment 

responses, and provide 

recommendations on technical 

assistance actions ETA should take to 

support state and local implementation 

of the ARRA. 

Why Are We Requesting Emergency 

Processing? 

If DOL were to comply with standard 

PRA clearance procedures, it would not 

be able to properly comply with the 

ARRA-mandated requirement to assess 

and mitigate risk associated with the 

allocation of ARRA funds. The 

Department will take all necessary steps 

in consulting with state workforce 

agencies to minimize the burden of 

collecting the readiness information. 

Darrin A. King, 

Departmental Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–6968 Filed 3–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Information Collection Extension 

Request for the Impact Evaluation of 

the Trade Adjustment Act Program 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Labor. 

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 [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 collection of 

data for the Impact Evaluation of the 

Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. 

A copy of the proposed Information 

Collection Request can be obtained by 

contacting the office listed below in the 

addressee section of this notice or by 

accessing: http://www.doleta.gov/ 

OMBCN/OMBControlNumber.cfm. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office listed in the 

addressee section below on or before 

May 29, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

to Charlotte Schifferes, Room N–5641, 

Employment and Training 

Administration, 200 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. 

Telephone number: 202–693–3655 (this 

is not a toll-free number). Fax: 202–693– 

2766. E-mail: 

schifferes.charlotte@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Employment and Training 

Administration is soliciting comments 

regarding an extension of an approved 

Information Collection Request (ICR) for 

the Impact Evaluation of the Trade 

Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program. 

The ICR was approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) in a 

Notice of Action (NOA) (ICR Reference 

Number 200606–1205–009) on 

November 15, 2006. The NOA identified 

November 30, 2009 as the expiration 

date for the ICR. An extension of the ICR 

is now needed in order to complete data 

collection activities for the impact 

analysis and process study of the TAA 

evaluation. 

The TAA program provides training, 

income support, and other 

reemployment and supportive services 

to workers who lose their jobs or have 

their work hours or salary reduced 

because of increased imports or shifts in 

production to foreign countries. The 

evaluation is intended to generate 

information that will be useful in 

developing administrative guidance, 

technical assistance, and legislative or 

budgetary proposals. 

The evaluation will estimate impacts 

of the TAA program on the employment 

and earnings of participants by 

comparing the outcomes of TAA 

participants to statistically matched 

comparison groups of Unemployment 

Insurance (UI) recipients. This quasiexperimental approach requires 

extensive information on demographic 

and personal characteristics as well as 

on programmatic experiences of both 

TAA participants and comparison group 

members. Such information will be 

gleaned from state TAA and UI 

administrative records and from 

baseline and follow-up surveys of 

individuals in the treatment and 

comparison groups. 

The process study undertaken as part 

of the evaluation is designed to 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
14160 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 59 / Monday, March 30, 2009 / Notices 

understand how various program and 

administrative practices affect TAA 

performance, including the types of 

collaboration and administrative 

arrangements through which TAA 

operates in the One-Stop Career Center 

system under the Workforce Investment 

Act (WIA). 

An extension of the ICR is needed in 

order to obtain follow-up data on 

employment and earnings outcomes. In 

order to complete the study prior to the 

expiration date of funds for the 

evaluation, only a single follow-up 

survey will be conducted in 2010, as 

approved by OMB (in an NOA, ICR 

Reference Number 2008–12–1205–001, 

dated December 17, 2008) in lieu of the 

two follow-up surveys as originally 

planned. The burden for this data 

collection will therefore be lower than 

proposed under the first ICR, even 

though the sample has been slightly 

expanded in order to assure a sufficient 

number of responses, due to lower-thananticipated response rates for different 

subgroups. 

Below is table which shows the 

burden for different respondents. 

RESPONDENT HOURS BURDEN FOR THE TAA EVALUATION

Activity Total 

respondents Frequency 

Average 

minutes per 

response 

Burden hours 

Burden Under the Proposed Extension (November 2009 to Project Completion) 

Impact Analysis: 

State Administrative Data .......................................................................... 26 Once ............ 480 208 

25–Month Follow-up Survey ...................................................................... 3,540 One time ...... 30 1,770 

Process Analysis: 

Administration of Site Visit Protocols 

1. TAA Reauthorization ....................................................................... 180 One time ...... 100 300 

2. Promising Practices ........................................................................ 325 One time ...... 100 542 

Total Estimated Burden ............................................................... ........................ ...................... ........................ 9,236 

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 with 

revisions. 

Title: Impact Evaluation of the Trade 

Adjustment Assistance Program. 

OMB Number: 1205–0460. 

Affected Public: Individuals in the 

TAA program or who applied for UI 

benefits, and State and local 

administrators in the UI and WIA 

programs. 

Form: Questionnaire and site visit 

protocols. 

Total Respondents: See table above. 

Frequency: Once. 

Total Responses: See table above. 

Average Time per Response: See table 

above. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: See 

table above. 

Total Burden Cost: $0. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this comment request will be 

summarized and/or included in the 

request for OMB approval of the 

information collection request; they will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Dated: March 23, 2009. 

Thomas M. Dowd, 

Administrator, Office of Policy Development 

and Research, Employment and Training 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–6970 Filed 3–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

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 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 

(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. The Bureau of Labor 

Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments 

concerning the proposed revision to the 

‘‘American Time Use Survey (ATUS).’’ 

A copy of the proposed information 

collection request (ICR) can be obtained 

by contacting the individuals 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 May 29, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Carol 

Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, Division 

of Management Systems, Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 2 

Massachusetts Avenue, NE., 

Washington, DC 20212, 202–691–7628. 

(This is not a toll free number.) 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, 

202–691–7628. (See ADDRESSES section.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The ATUS is the Nation’s first 

federally administered, continuous 

survey on time use in the United States. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES