Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2017 / Notices 45895 

pay. The proposed Consent Decree also 

requires the City to cooperate with EPA 

and any parties performing cleanup 

work at the Site and to assist with 

implementing any necessary land use 

restrictions. 

The publication of this notice opens 

a period for public comment on the 

Consent Decree. Comments should be 

addressed to the Assistant Attorney 

General, Environment and Natural 

Resources Division, and should refer to 

United States v. City of Cass Lake, D.J. 

Ref. No. 90–11–3–06790/3. All 

comments must be submitted no later 

than thirty (30) days after the 

publication date of this notice. 

Comments may be submitted either by 

email or by mail: 

To submit 

comments: Send them to: 

By email ....... pubcomment-ees.enrd@

usdoj.gov. 

By mail ......... Assistant Attorney General, 

U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. 

Box 7611, Washington, DC 

20044–7611. 

During the public comment period, 

the Consent Decree may be examined 

and downloaded at this Justice 

Department Web site: https://

www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. 

We will provide a paper copy of the 

Consent Decree upon written request 

and payment of reproduction costs. 

Please mail your request and payment 

to: Consent Decree Library, U.S. DOJ— 

ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 

20044–7611. 

Please enclose a check or money order 

for $17.75 (25 cents per page 

reproduction cost) payable to the United 

States Treasury. For a paper copy 

without the exhibits and signature 

pages, the cost is $8.00. 

Randall M. Stone, 

Acting Assistant Section Chief, 

Environmental Enforcement Section, 

Environment and Natural Resources Division. 

[FR Doc. 2017–21040 Filed 9–29–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Labor Surplus Area Classification 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is 

to announce the annual list of labor 

surplus areas for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. 

DATES: The annual list of labor surplus 

areas is effective October 1, 2017, for all 

states, the District of Columbia, and 

Puerto Rico. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Samuel Wright, Office of Workforce 

Investment, Employment and Training 

Administration, 200 Constitution 

Avenue NW., Room C–4514, 

Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: 

(202) 693–2870 (This is not a toll-free 

number) or email wright.samuel.e@

dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department of Labor’s regulations 

implementing Executive Orders 12073 

and 10582 are set forth at 20 CFR part 

654, subpart A. These regulations 

require the Employment and Training 

Administration (ETA) to classify 

jurisdictions as labor surplus areas 

pursuant to the criteria specified in the 

regulations, and to publish annually a 

list of labor surplus areas. Pursuant to 

those regulations, ETA is hereby 

publishing the annual list of labor 

surplus areas. 

In addition, the regulations provide 

exceptional circumstance criteria for 

classifying labor surplus areas when 

catastrophic events, such as natural 

disasters, plant closings, and contract 

cancellations are expected to have a 

long-term impact on labor market area 

conditions, discounting temporary or 

seasonal factors. 

Eligible Labor Surplus Areas 

A Labor Surplus Area (LSA) is a civil 

jurisdiction that has a civilian average 

annual unemployment rate during the 

previous two calendar years of 20 

percent or more above the average 

annual civilian unemployment rate for 

all states during the same 24-month 

reference period. ETA uses only official 

unemployment estimates provided by 

the Bureau of Labor Statistics in making 

these classifications. The average 

unemployment rate for all states 

includes data for the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico. LSA classification criteria 

stipulate a civil jurisdiction must have 

a ‘‘floor unemployment rate’’ of 6.0% or 

higher to be classified a LSA. Any civil 

jurisdiction that has a ‘‘ceiling 

unemployment rate’’ of 10% or higher is 

classified a LSA. 

Civil jurisdictions are defined as 

follows: 

1. A city of at least 25,000 population 

on the basis of the most recently 

available estimates from the Bureau of 

the Census; or 

2. A town or township in the States 

of Michigan, New Jersey, New York, or 

Pennsylvania of 25,000 or more 

population and which possess powers 

and functions similar to those of cities; 

or 

3. All counties, except for those 

counties which contain any type of civil 

jurisdictions defined in ‘‘1’’ or ‘‘2’’ 

above; or 

4. A ‘‘balance of county’’ consisting of 

a county less any component cities and 

townships identified in ‘‘1’’ or ‘‘2’’ 

above; or 

5. A county equivalent which is a 

town in the States of Connecticut, 

Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, or a 

municipio in the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico. 

Procedures for Classifying Labor 

Surplus Areas 

The Department of Labor (DOL) issues 

the LSA list on a fiscal year basis. The 

list becomes effective each October 1, 

and remains in effect through the 

following September 30. The reference 

period used in preparing the current list 

was January 2014 through December 

2016. The national average 

unemployment rate (including Puerto 

Rico) during this period is rounded to 

5.12 percent. Twenty percent higher 

than the national unemployment rate 

during this period is rounded to 6.14 

percent but 6.1453 percent (since 5 is 

the 3rd place behind the decimal) will 

be used for the unemployment 

qualifying rate. Therefore, areas 

included on the FY 2018 LSA list had 

an unemployment rate for the reference 

period of 6.1453 percent or higher. To 

ensure that all areas classified as labor 

surplus meet the requirements, when a 

city is part of a county and meets the 

unemployment qualifier as a LSA, that 

city is identified in the LSA list, the 

balance of county, not the entire county, 

will be identified as a LSA if the balance 

of county also meets the LSA 

unemployment criteria. The FY 2018 

LSA list, statistical data on the current 

and some previous year’s LSAs are 

available at ETA’s LSA Web site http:// 

www.doleta.gov/programs/lsa.cfm. 

Petition for Exceptional Circumstance 

Consideration 

The classification procedures also 

provide criteria for the designation of 

LSAs under exceptional circumstances 

criteria. These procedures permit the 

regular classification criteria to be 

waived when an area experiences a 

significant increase in unemployment 

which is not temporary or seasonal and 

which was not reflected in the data for 

the 2-year reference period. Under the 

program’s exceptional circumstance 

procedures, LSA classifications can be 

made for civil jurisdictions, 

Metropolitan Statistical Areas or 

Combined Statistical Areas, as defined 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
45896 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2017 / Notices 

by the U.S. Office of Management and 

Budget. In order for an area to be 

classified as a LSA under the 

exceptional circumstance criteria, the 

state workforce agency must submit a 

petition requesting such classification to 

the Department of Labor’s ETA. The 

current criteria for an exceptional 

circumstance classification are, 

(1) an area’s unemployment rate is at 

least 6.1453 percent for each of the three 

most recent months; 

(2) a projected unemployment rate of 

at least 6.1453 percent for each of the 

next 12 months; and 

(3) documentation that the 

exceptional circumstance event has 

occurred. The state workforce agency 

may file petitions on behalf of civil 

jurisdictions, Metropolitan Statistical 

Areas, or Micropolitan Statistical Areas. 

The addresses of state workforce 

agencies are available on the ETA Web 

site at: http://www.doleta.gov/programs/ 

lsa.cfm. State Workforce Agencies may 

submit petitions in electronic format to 

wright.samuel.e@dol.gov, or in hard 

copy to the U.S. Department of Labor, 

Employment and Training 

Administration, Office of Workforce 

Investment, 200 Constitution Avenue 

NW., Room C–4514, Washington, DC 

20210, Attention Samuel Wright. Data 

collection for the petition is approved 

under OMB 1205–0207, expiration date 

March 31, 2018. 

Signed at Washington, DC 

Byron Zuidema, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment 

and Training. 

[FR Doc. 2017–20977 Filed 9–29–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Office of the Secretary 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission for OMB 

Review; Comment Request; 

‘‘Suspension of Pension Benefits 

Pursuant to Regulations 29 CFR 

2530.203–3’’ 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: On September 30, 2017, the 

Department of Labor (DOL) will submit 

the Employee Benefits Security 

Administration (EBSA) sponsored 

information collection request (ICR) 

titled, ‘‘Suspension of Pension Benefits 

Pursuant to Regulations 29 CFR 

2530.203–3,’’ to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and approval for continued use, 

without change, in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA). Public comments on the ICR are 

invited. 

DATES: The OMB will consider all 

written comments that agency receives 

on or before November 1, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR with 

applicable supporting documentation; 

including a description of the likely 

respondents, proposed frequency of 

response, and estimated total burden 

may be obtained free of charge from the 

RegInfo.gov Web site at http://

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAView

ICR?ref_nbr=201707-1210-002 or by 

contacting Michel Smyth by telephone 

at 202–693–4129, TTY 202–693–8064, 

(these are not toll-free numbers) or by 

email at DOL_PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov. 

Submit comments about this request 

by mail to the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk 

Officer for DOL–EBSA, Office of 

Management and Budget, Room 10235, 

725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 

20503; by Fax: 202–395–5806 (this is 

not a toll-free number); or by email: 

OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov. 

Commenters are encouraged, but not 

required, to send a courtesy copy of any 

comments by mail or courier to the U.S. 

Department of Labor—OASAM, Office 

of the Chief Information Officer, Attn: 

Departmental Information Compliance 

Management Program, Room N1301, 

200 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20210; or by email: 

DOL_PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michel Smyth by telephone at 202–693– 

4129, TTY 202–693–8064, (these are not 

toll-free numbers) or by email at DOL_

PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This ICR 

seeks to extend PRA authority for the 

Suspension of Pension Benefits 

Pursuant to Regulations 29 CFR 

2530.203–3 information collection. 

Employee Retirement Income Security 

Act (ERISA) section 203(a)(3)(B), 29 

U.S.C. 1103(a)(3)(B), and its 

implementing regulations govern the 

circumstances under which a pension 

plan may suspend pension benefit 

payments to a retiree who returns to 

work or of a participant who continues 

to work beyond normal retirement age. 

In order for a plan to suspend benefits, 

it must notify the affected retiree or 

participant during the first calendar 

month or payroll period in which the 

plan withholds payment that benefits 

are suspended. The notice must include 

the specific reasons for such 

suspension, a general description of the 

plan provisions authorizing the 

suspension, a copy of the relevant plan 

provisions, and a statement indicating 

where the applicable regulations may be 

found, i.e., 29 CFR 2530.203–3. The 

suspension notification must also 

inform the retiree or participant of the 

plan’s procedure for affording a review 

of the suspension of benefits. ERISA 

section 203 authorizes this information 

collection. See 29 U.S.C. 1103. 

This information collection is subject 

to the PRA. A Federal agency generally 

cannot conduct or sponsor a collection 

of information, and the public is 

generally not required to respond to an 

information collection, unless it is 

approved by the OMB under the PRA 

and displays a currently valid OMB 

Control Number. In addition, 

notwithstanding any other provisions of 

law, no person shall generally be subject 

to penalty for failing to comply with a 

collection of information that does not 

display a valid Control Number. See 5 

CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6. The DOL 

obtains OMB approval for this 

information collection under Control 

Number 1210–0048. 

The DOL seeks to extend PRA 

authorization for this information 

collection for three (3) more years, 

without any change to existing 

requirements. The DOL notes that 

existing information collection 

requirements submitted to the OMB 

receive a month-to-month extension 

while they undergo review. For 

additional substantive information 

about this ICR, see the related notice 

published in the Federal Register on 

May 22, 2017 (82 FR 23303). 

Interested parties are encouraged to 

send comments to the OMB, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs at 

the address shown in the ADDRESSES

section within thirty (30) days of 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register. In order to help ensure 

appropriate consideration, comments 

should mention OMB Control Number 

1210–0048. The OMB is particularly 

interested in comments that: 

• 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 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES