Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 177 / Thursday, September 16, 2021 / Notices 51683 

standards, required by MSHA 

regulations and State regulatory 

agencies having jurisdiction over the 

plugging site will be followed to provide 

the upmost protection to the miners 

involved in the process. 

(21) All miners involved in the 

plugging or re-plugging operations will 

be trained on the contents of the 

Decision and Order prior to starting the 

process, and a copy of the Decision and 

Order will be posted at the well site 

until the plugging or re-plugging has 

been completed. 

(22) Mechanical bridge plugs should 

incorporate the best available 

technologies that are either required or 

recognized by the State regulatory 

agency and/or oil and gas industry. 

(23) Within 30 days after the Decision 

and Order becomes final, the operator 

shall submit proposed revisions for its 

approved 30 CFR part 48 training plan 

to the District Manager. These proposed 

revisions shall include initial and 

refresher training on compliance with 

the terms and conditions stated in the 

Decision and Order. The operator shall 

provide all miners involved in well 

intersection with training on the 

requirements of the Decision and Order 

prior to mining within 150 feet of the 

next well intended to be mined through. 

(24) The responsible person required 

under 30 CFR 75.1501 Emergency 

Evacuations is responsible for well 

intersection emergencies. The well 

intersection procedures should be 

reviewed by the responsible person 

prior to any planned intersection. 

(25) Within 30 days after the Decision 

and Order becomes final, the operator 

shall submit proposed revisions for its 

approved mine emergency evacuation 

and firefighting program of instruction 

required under 30 CFR 75.1502. The 

operator will revise the program of 

instruction to include the hazards and 

evacuation procedures to be used for 

well intersections. All underground 

miners will be trained in this revised 

plan within 30 days of submittal. The 

procedure as specified in 30 CFR 48.3 

for approval of proposed revisions to 

already approved training plans shall 

apply. 

The petitioner asserts that the 

alternate method proposed will at all 

times guarantee no less than the same 

measure of protection afforded the 

miners under the mandatory standard. 

Jessica Senk, 

Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, 

and Variances. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19992 Filed 9–15–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4520–43–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Wage and Hour Division 

Minimum Wage for Federal Contracts 

Covered by Executive Order 13658, 

Notice of Rate Change in Effect as of 

January 1, 2022 

AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, 

Department of Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Wage and Hour Division 

(WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor 

(the Department) is issuing this notice to 

announce the applicable minimum 

wage rate for workers performing work 

on or in connection with federal 

contracts covered by Executive Order 

13658, Establishing a Minimum Wage 

for Contractors (the Executive Order or 

the Order), beginning January 1, 2022. 

Beginning on that date, the Executive 

Order 13658 minimum wage rate that 

generally must be paid to workers 

performing work on or in connection 

with covered contracts will increase to 

$11.25 per hour, while the required 

minimum cash wage that generally must 

be paid to tipped employees performing 

work on or in connection with covered 

contracts will increase to $7.90 per 

hour. Covered contracts that are entered 

into on or after January 30, 2022, or that 

are renewed or extended (pursuant to an 

option or otherwise) on or after January 

30, 2022, will be generally subject to a 

higher $15.00 minimum wage rate 

established by Executive Order 14026 of 

April 27, 2021, Increasing the Minimum 

Wage for Federal Contractors. 

DATES: These new Executive Order 

13658 rates shall take effect on January 

1, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy DeBisschop, Director, Division of 

Regulations, Legislation, and 

Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, 

U.S. Department of Labor, Room S– 

3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 

693–0406 (this is not a toll-free 

number). Copies of this notice may be 

obtained in alternative formats (Large 

Print, Braille, Audio Tape, or Disc), 

upon request, by calling (202) 693–0023 

(not a toll-free number). TTY/TTD 

callers may dial toll-free (877) 889–5627 

to obtain information or request 

materials in alternative formats. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Executive Order 13658 Background 

and Requirements for Determining 

Annual Increases to the Minimum 

Wage Rate 

Executive Order 13658 was signed on 

February 12, 2014, and raised the hourly 

minimum wage for workers performing 

work on or in connection with covered 

federal contracts to $10.10 per hour, 

beginning January 1, 2015, with annual 

adjustments thereafter in an amount 

determined by the Secretary pursuant to 

the Order. See 79 FR 9851. The 

Executive Order directed the Secretary 

to issue regulations to implement the 

Order’s requirements. See 79 FR 9852. 

Accordingly, after engaging in noticeand-comment rulemaking, the 

Department published a Final Rule on 

October 7, 2014 to implement the 

Executive Order. See 79 FR 60634. The 

final regulations, set forth at 29 CFR part 

10, established standards and 

procedures for implementing and 

enforcing the minimum wage 

protections of the Order. 

Executive Order 13658 and its 

implementing regulations require the 

Secretary to determine the applicable 

minimum wage rate for workers 

performing work on or in connection 

with covered contracts on an annual 

basis, beginning January 1, 2016. See 79 

FR 9851; 29 CFR 10.1(a)(2), 10.5(a)(2), 

10.12(a). Sections 2(a) and (b) of the 

Order establish the methodology that 

the Secretary must use to determine the 

annual inflation-based increases to the 

minimum wage rate. See 79 FR 9851. 

These provisions, which are 

implemented in 29 CFR 10.5(b)(2), 

explain that the applicable minimum 

wage determined by the Secretary for 

each calendar year shall be: 

• Not less than the amount in effect 

on the date of such determination; 

• Increased from such amount by the 

annual percentage increase in the 

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage 

Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI–W) 

(United States city average, all items, 

not seasonally adjusted), or its successor 

publication, as determined by the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS); and 

• Rounded to the nearest multiple of 

$0.05. 

Section 2(b) of Executive Order 13658 

further provides that, in calculating the 

annual percentage increase in the CPI– 

W for purposes of determining the new 

minimum wage rate, the Secretary shall 

compare such CPI–W for the most 

recent month, quarter, or year available 

(as selected by the Secretary prior to the 

first year for which a minimum wage is 

in effect) with the CPI–W for the same 

month in the preceding year, the same 

quarter in the preceding year, or the 

preceding year, respectively. See 79 FR 

9851. To calculate the annual 

percentage increase in the CPI–W, the 

Department elected in its Final Rule 

implementing the Executive Order to 

compare such CPI–W for the most 

recent year available with the CPI–W for 

51684 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 177 / Thursday, September 16, 2021 / Notices 

1WDOL.gov moved to https://alpha.sam.gov/ 

content/wage-determinations. This website is the 

authoritative and single location for obtaining 

appropriate Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon 

Act wage determinations for each official contract 

action. 

the preceding year. See 29 CFR 

10.5(b)(2)(iii). In its Final Rule, the 

Department explained that it decided to 

compare the CPI–W for the most recent 

year available (instead of using the most 

recent month or quarter, as allowed by 

the Order) with the CPI–W for the 

preceding year, ‘‘to minimize the impact 

of seasonal fluctuations on the 

Executive Order minimum wage rate.’’ 

79 FR 60666. 

Once a determination has been made 

with respect to the new minimum wage 

rate, Executive Order 13658 and its 

implementing regulations require the 

Secretary to notify the public of the 

applicable minimum wage rate on an 

annual basis at least 90 days before any 

new minimum wage takes effect. See 79 

FR 9851; 29 CFR 10.5(a)(2), 10.12(c)(1). 

The regulations explain that the 

Administrator of the Department’s Wage 

and Hour Division (the Administrator) 

will publish an annual notice in the 

Federal Register stating the applicable 

minimum wage rate at least 90 days 

before any new minimum wage takes 

effect. See 29 CFR 10.12(c)(2)(i). 

Additionally, the regulations state that 

the Administrator will provide notice of 

the Executive Order minimum wage rate 

on Wage Determinations OnLine 

(WDOL), http://www.wdol.gov, or any 

successor site; 1 on all wage 

determinations issued under the DavisBacon Act (DBA), 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq., 

and the Service Contract Act (SCA), 41 

U.S.C. 6701 et seq.; and by other means 

the Administrator deems appropriate. 

See 29 CFR 10.12(c)(2)(ii)–(iv). 

Section 3 of Executive Order 13658 

requires contractors to pay tipped 

employees covered by the Order 

performing on or in connection with 

covered contracts an hourly cash wage 

of at least $4.90, beginning on January 

1, 2015, provided the employees receive 

sufficient tips to equal the Executive 

Order minimum wage rate under section 

2 of the Order when combined with the 

cash wage. See 79 FR 9851–52; 29 CFR 

10.28(a). The Order further provides 

that, in each succeeding year, beginning 

January 1, 2016, the required cash wage 

must increase by $0.95 (or a lesser 

amount if necessary) until it reaches 70 

percent of the Executive Order 

minimum wage. Id. For subsequent 

years, the cash wage for tipped 

employees will be 70 percent of the 

Executive Order minimum wage 

rounded to the nearest $0.05. Id. When 

a contractor is using a tip credit to meet 

a portion of its wage obligations under 

the Executive Order, the amount of tips 

received by the employee must equal at 

least the difference between the cash 

wage paid and the Executive Order 

minimum wage; if the employee does 

not receive sufficient tips, the contractor 

must increase the cash wage paid so that 

the cash wage in combination with the 

tips received equals the Executive Order 

minimum wage. Id. 

The Executive Order 13658 minimum 

wage and the cash wage required for 

tipped employees are currently $10.95 

and $7.65 per hour, respectively. The 

Department announced these rates on 

August 31, 2020, 85 FR 53850, and the 

rates took effect on January 1, 2021. 

II. Effect of Executive Order 14026 

On April 27, 2021, President Joseph 

R. Biden, Jr. signed Executive Order 

14026, Increasing the Minimum Wage 

for Federal Contractors. 86 FR 22835. 

Beginning January 30, 2022, Executive 

Order 14026 establishes a $15.00 hourly 

minimum wage for the same types of 

contracts with the Federal Government 

that are covered by Executive Order 

13658. However, Executive Order 14026 

only applies to contracts with the 

Federal Government that are entered 

into on or after January 30, 2022, or that 

are renewed or extended (pursuant to an 

exercised option or otherwise) on or 

after January 30, 2022. For some amount 

of time, the Department therefore 

anticipates that there will be some 

existing contracts with the Federal 

Government that do not qualify as a 

covered ‘‘new contract’’ for purposes of 

Executive Order 14026 and thus will 

remain subject to the minimum wage 

requirements of Executive Order 13658. 

The Department anticipates that, in 

the relatively near future, essentially all 

covered contracts with the Federal 

Government will qualify as ‘‘new’’ 

contracts under Executive Order 14026 

and be subject to its higher minimum 

wage rate. Until such time, however, 

Executive Order 13658 and its 

regulations at 29 CFR part 10 must 

remain in place. The Department will 

continue announcing annual updates to 

Executive Order 13658’s minimum wage 

rates for existing contracts still covered 

by Executive Order 13658. 

III. The 2022 Executive Order 13658 

Minimum Wage Rate 

Using the methodology set forth in 

Executive Order 13658 and summarized 

above, the Department must first 

determine the annual percentage 

increase in the CPI–W (United States 

city average, all items, not seasonally 

adjusted), as published by BLS, to 

determine the new Executive Order 

13658 minimum wage rate. In 

calculating the annual percentage 

increase in the CPI–W, the Department 

must compare the CPI–W for the most 

recent year available with the CPI–W for 

the preceding year. The Department 

therefore compares the percentage 

change in the CPI–W between the most 

recent year (i.e., the most recent four 

quarters) and the prior year (i.e., the four 

quarters preceding the most recent 

year). The Department then increases 

the current Executive Order minimum 

wage rate by the resulting annual 

percentage change and rounds to the 

nearest multiple of $0.05. 

In order to determine the Executive 

Order 13658 minimum wage rate 

beginning January 1, 2022, the 

Department therefore calculated the 

CPI–W for the most recent year by 

averaging the CPI–W for the four most 

recent quarters, which consist of the 

first two quarters of 2021 and the last 

two quarters of 2020 (i.e., July 2020 

through June 2021). The Department 

then compared that data to the average 

CPI–W for the preceding year, which 

consists of the first two quarters of 2020 

and the last two quarters of 2019 (i.e., 

July 2019 through June 2020). Based on 

this methodology, the Department 

determined that the annual percentage 

increase in the CPI–W (United States 

city average, all items, not seasonally 

adjusted) was 2.567 percent. The 

Department then applied that annual 

percentage increase of 2.567 percent to 

the current Executive Order hourly 

minimum wage rate of $10.95, which 

resulted in a wage rate of $11.231 

(($10.95 × 0.02567) + $10.95); however, 

pursuant to the Executive Order, that 

rate must be rounded to the nearest 

multiple of $0.05. 

The new Executive Order 13658 

minimum wage rate that must generally 

be paid to workers performing on or in 

connection with covered contracts 

beginning January 1, 2022 is therefore 

$11.25 per hour. 

IV. The 2022 Executive Order 13658 

Minimum Cash Wage for Tipped 

Employees 

As noted above, section 3 of Executive 

Order 13658 provides a methodology to 

determine the amount of the minimum 

hourly cash wage that must be paid to 

tipped employees performing on or in 

connection with covered contracts. 

Because the cash wage for tipped 

employees reached 70 percent of the 

Executive Order 13658 minimum wage 

beginning on January 1, 2018 (i.e., $7.25 

per hour compared to $10.35 per hour), 

future updates to the cash wage for 

tipped employees must continue to set 

the rate at 70 percent of the full 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 177 / Thursday, September 16, 2021 / Notices 51685 

1Under section 4041A(f)(2) of ERISA, PBGC may 

prescribe reporting requirements for terminated 

multiemployer pension plans, which PBGC 

considers appropriate to protect the interests of 

plan participants and beneficiaries or to prevent 

unreasonable loss to the corporation. 

2Under section 4261(b)(1) of ERISA, PBGC 

provides financial assistance under such conditions 

as the corporation determines are equitable and are 

appropriate to prevent unreasonable loss to the 

corporation with respect to the plan. 

3Section 4008 of ERISA requires the corporation, 

as soon as practicable after the close of each fiscal 

year, to transmit a report to the President and the 

Congress, including financial statements setting 

forth the finances of the corporation at the end of 

the fiscal year and the result of its operations 

(including the source and application of its funds) 

for the fiscal year. 

Executive Order 13658 minimum wage. 

Seventy percent of the new Executive 

Order 13658 minimum wage rate of 

$11.25 is $7.875. Because the Executive 

Order provides that the rate must be 

rounded to the nearest $0.05, the new 

minimum hourly cash wage for tipped 

workers performing on or in connection 

with covered contracts beginning 

January 1, 2022 is therefore $7.90 per 

hour. 

V. Appendix 

The Appendix to this notice provides 

a comprehensive chart of the CPI–W 

data published by BLS that the 

Department used to calculate the new 

Executive Order 13658 minimum wage 

rate based on the methodology 

explained herein. 

Dated: September 9, 2021. 

Jessica Looman, 

Acting Administrator, Wage and Hour 

Division. 

Appendix: Data Used To Determine 

Executive Order 13658 Minimum Wage 

Rate Effective January 1, 2022 

Data Source: Consumer Price Index for 

Urban wage Earners and Clerical Workers 

(CPI–W) (United States city average, all 

items, not seasonally adjusted). 

Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Annual 

average 

2019Q3 to 2020Q2 250.236 250.112 250.251 250.894 250.644 250.452 251.361 251.935 251.375 249.515 249.521 251.054 250.6125 

2020Q3 to 2021Q2 252.636 253.597 254.004 254.076 253.826 254.081 255.296 256.843 258.935 261.237 263.612 266.412 257.0463 

Annual Percentage Increase .. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. 2.567% 

[FR Doc. 2021–19995 Filed 9–15–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–27–P 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

Submission of Information Collection 

for OMB Review; Comment Request; 

Survey of Multiemployer Pension Plan 

Withdrawal Liability Information 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice of request for extension 

of OMB approval of information 

collection. 

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation (PBGC) is requesting that 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) extend approval under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, of a survey of 

terminated and insolvent multiemployer 

pension plans to obtain withdrawal 

liability information. PBGC needs the 

withdrawal liability information to 

estimate its multiemployer program 

liabilities for purposes of its financial 

statements. This notice informs the 

public of PBGC’s request and solicits 

public comment on the collection of 

information. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before October 18, 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. 

A copy of the request will be posted 

on PBGC’s website at www.pbgc.gov/ 

prac/laws-and-regulation/federalregister-notices-open-for-comment. It 

may also be obtained without charge by 

writing to the Disclosure Division of the 

Office of the General Counsel of PBGC, 

1200 K Street NW, Washington, DC 

20005–4026; or, calling 202–229–4040 

during normal business hours (TTY 

users may call the Federal Relay Service 

toll-free at 800–877–8339 and ask to be 

connected to 202–229–4040). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Hilary Duke (duke.hilary@pbgc.gov), 

Assistant General Counsel for 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of the General 

Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation, 1200 K Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20005–4026, 202–229– 

3839. (TTY users may call the Federal 

relay service toll-free at 1–800–877– 

8339 and ask to be connected to 202– 

229–3839.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When a 

contributing employer withdraws from 

an underfunded multiemployer pension 

plan, the plan sponsor assesses 

withdrawal liability against the 

employer. The plan sponsor is required 

to determine and collect withdrawal 

liability in accordance with section 

4219 of the Employee Retirement 

Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). 

The plan sponsor assesses withdrawal 

liability by issuing a notice to an 

employer, including the amount of the 

employer’s liability and a schedule of 

payments. PBGC’s regulation on Notice, 

Collection, and Redetermination of 

Withdrawal Liability (29 CFR part 4219) 

requires the plan sponsor to file with 

PBGC a certification that notices have 

been provided to employers. 

PBGC collects information about 

withdrawal liability that is owed by 

withdrawn employers of terminated 1

and insolvent 2 multiemployer pension 

plans. PBGC distributes annual surveys 

that newly insolvent plans receiving 

financial assistance and newly 

terminated plans not yet receiving 

financial assistance are required to 

complete and return to PBGC. Smaller 

plans with less than 500 participants are 

not required to complete the survey. 

PBGC needs the information from the 

survey about withdrawal liability 

payments and settlements, and whether 

employers have withdrawn from the 

plan but have not yet been assessed 

withdrawal liability, to estimate with 

more precision PBGC’s multiemployer 

program liabilities for purposes of its 

financial statements.3 PBGC also uses 

the information for its Multiemployer 

Pension Insurance Modelling System 

assumptions on collection of 

withdrawal liability. Information 

provided to PBGC is confidential to the 

extent provided in the Freedom of 

Information Act and the Privacy Act. 

The existing collection of information 

was approved under OMB control 

number 1212–0071 (expires November 

30, 2021). On June 23, 2021, PBGC 

published in the Federal Register (at 86