Proposed Collection; Comment Request

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 98 (Friday, May 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27814-27815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12912]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, DOL.

ACTION: Notice.

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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 (ETA) is 
soliciting comments concerning the proposed revision of the ETA 2112 
report: Financial Transaction Summary.
    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.
    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 responses 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.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section below on or before July 20, 1999.

ADDRESSES: James E. Herbert, Unemployment Insurance Service, Employment 
and Training Administration, Department of Labor, Room C-4514, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210; 202-219-5653 x 380 (this 
is not a toll-free number); jherbert@doleta.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The ETA 2112 Report, OMB No. 1205-0154, collects, in summary form, 
totals of all financial transactions affecting the status of each 
State's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) for the month 
reported. The transactions include receipts, disbursements, 
adjustments, and fund balances. The ETA uses report data to monitor UTF 
funds flows, to identify excessive drawdowns from the UTF, which may 
cause loss of interest to the UTF, and to record transaction 
information in the Unemployment Insurance Database and the UTF 
subsidiary to the Departmental General Ledger. The transaction 
information is used to compile the annual departmental consolidated 
financial statements. ETA also uses information on the ETA 2112 for 
research and actuarial projects: generating statistics on the UI 
program, projecting benefit financing requirements, and analyzing the 
solvency of the UTF. That information is used by States, other Federal 
Agencies, and research groups to manage and analyze UTF activities. 
Additionally, the ETA uses ETA 2112 information for reviewing proposed 
State and Federal UI laws, especially pertaining to benefit financing 
issues, and to monitor State activities conducted under Title IX of the 
Social Security Act (Reed Act).
    It is necessary to revise the ETA 2112 format and instructions to 
accommodate the reporting of the following changes:
    •  States may now make reimbursements of Combined Wage Claims 
(CWC) through the Unemployment Trust Fund Accounting Systems (UTFAS), 
replacing the old system of issuing a check directly to the State 
billing for reimbursement.
    •  States may transfer to the Internal Revenue Service the 
amounts withheld for Federal income tax purposes from benefit payments 
directly through the UTFAS.
    •  In FY 1999 there was a distribution of Reed Act money 
under section 903 of the Social Security Act. This was the first 
distribution since FY 1958. The existing ETA 2112, developed long after 
that distribution, does not provide report cells for new distributions.
    Because of these events, the ETA has decided to rewrite the ETA 
2112 to include new cells in the report, and to revise reporting 
instructions accordingly.

II. Current Actions

    This action is required to update the ETA 2112 to capture 
information on financial transactions not available in

[[Page 27815]]

the current configuration, specifically automated CWC reimbursements, 
the transfer of withholding amounts to the IRS, and new Reed Act 
distributions. The first two items are currently reported on the ETA 
2112 in the general ``Comments'' section.
    The revision to the ETA 2112 will provide a separate line for 
specific reporting.
    The Reed Act revision will provide a separate line to report Reed 
Act activity beyond amounts amortized with Title III administrative 
grant funds.
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Agency: Employment and Training Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Activity, OMB Number: 
1205-0154.
    Affected Public: State government (State Employment Security 
Agencies).
    Total Respondents: 50 States, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and the 
Virgin Islands.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    Total Responses: 636.
    Average Time per Response: 1 hour.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 636.
    Total Burden Cost: 636  x  $26.10 = $16,600.
    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: May 17, 1999.
Grace A. Kilbane,
Director, Unemployment Insurance Service.
[FR Doc. 99-12912 Filed 5-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M