29 U.S.C. § 3249 — Secretarial administrative authorities and

Page 943 TITLE 29—LABOR § 3249 Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the first day of the first full pro- gram year after July 22, 2014 (July 1, 2015), see section 506 of Pub. L. 113–128, set out as a note under section 3101 of this title. § 3249. Secretarial administrative authorities and responsibilities (a) In general In accordance with chapter 5 of title 5, the Secretary may prescribe rules and regulations to carry out this subchapter, only to the extent necessary to administer and ensure compliance with the requirements of this subchapter. Such rules and regulations may include provisions making adjustments authorized by section 6504 of title 31. All such rules and regulations shall be published in the Federal Register at least 30 days prior to their effective dates. Copies of each such rule or regulation shall be trans- mitted to the appropriate committees of Con- gress on the date of such publication and shall contain, with respect to each material provision of such rule or regulation, a citation to the par- ticular substantive section of law that is the basis for the provision. (b) Acquisition of certain property and services The Secretary is authorized, in carrying out this subchapter, to accept, purchase, or lease in the name of the Department of Labor, and em- ploy or dispose of in furtherance of the purposes of this subchapter, any money or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, re- ceived by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise, and to accept voluntary and uncompensated services notwithstanding the provisions of section 1342 of title 31. (c) Authority to enter into certain agreements and to make certain expenditures The Secretary may make such grants, enter into such contracts or agreements, establish such procedures, and make such payments, in installments and in advance or by way of reim- bursement, or otherwise allocate or expend such funds under this subchapter, as may be nec- essary to carry out this subchapter, including making expenditures for construction, repairs, and capital improvements, and including mak- ing necessary adjustments in payments on ac- count of over-payments or underpayments. (d) Annual report The Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen- sions of the Senate an annual report regarding the programs and activities funded under this subchapter. The Secretary shall include in such report— (1) a summary of the achievements, failures, and challenges of the programs and activities in meeting the objectives of this subchapter; (2) a summary of major findings from re- search, evaluations, pilot projects, and experi- ments conducted under this subchapter in the fiscal year prior to the submission of the re- port; (3) recommendations for modifications in the programs and activities based on analysis of such findings; and (4) such other recommendations for legisla- tive or administrative action as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (e) Utilization of services and facilities The Secretary is authorized, in carrying out this subchapter, under the same procedures as are applicable under subsection (c) or to the ex- tent permitted by law other than this sub- chapter, to accept and use the services and fa- cilities of departments, agencies, and establish- ments of the United States. The Secretary is also authorized, in carrying out this subchapter, to accept and use the services and facilities of the agencies of any State or political subdivi- sion of a State, with the consent of the State or political subdivision. (f) Obligational authority Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, the Secretary shall have no author- ity to enter into contracts, grant agreements, or other financial assistance agreements under this subchapter, except to such extent and in such amounts as are provided in advance in appro- priations Acts. (g) Program year (1) In general (A) Program year Except as provided in subparagraph (B), appropriations for any fiscal year for pro- grams and activities funded under this sub- chapter shall be available for obligation only on the basis of a program year. The program year shall begin on July 1 in the fiscal year for which the appropriation is made. (B) Youth workforce investment activities The Secretary may make available for ob- ligation, beginning April 1 of any fiscal year, funds appropriated for such fiscal year to carry out youth workforce investment ac- tivities under part B and activities under section 3226 of this title. (2) Availability (A) In general Funds obligated for any program year for a program or activity funded under part B may be expended by each State receiving such funds during that program year and the 2 succeeding program years. Funds received by local areas from States under part B dur- ing a program year may be expended during that program year and the succeeding pro- gram year. (B) Certain national activities (i) In general Funds obligated for any program year for any program or activity carried out under section 3224 of this title shall remain available until expended. (ii) Incremental funding basis A contract or arrangement entered into under the authority of subsection (a) or (b) of section 3224 of this title (relating to Page 944 TITLE 29—LABOR § 3249 evaluations, research projects, studies and reports, and multistate projects), includ- ing a long-term, nonseverable services con- tract, may be funded on an incremental basis with annual appropriations or other available funds. (C) Special rule No amount of the funds obligated for a program year for a program or activity fund- ed under this subchapter shall be deobligated on account of a rate of expendi- ture that is consistent with a State plan, an operating plan described in section 3201 of this title, or a plan, grant agreement, con- tract, application, or other agreement de- scribed in part D, as appropriate. (D) Funds for pay-for-performance contract strategies Funds used to carry out pay-for-perform- ance contract strategies by local areas shall remain available until expended. (h) Enforcement of Military Selective Service Act The Secretary shall ensure that each indi- vidual participating in any program or activity established under this subchapter, or receiving any assistance or benefit under this subchapter, has not violated section 3 of the Military Selec- tive Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 453) [now 50 U.S.C. 3802] by not presenting and submitting to registration as required pursuant to such sec- tion. The Director of the Selective Service Sys- tem shall cooperate with the Secretary to en- able the Secretary to carry out this subsection. (i) Waivers (1) Special rule regarding designated areas A State that has enacted, not later than De- cember 31, 1997, a State law providing for the designation of service delivery areas for the delivery of workforce investment activities, may use such areas as local areas under this subchapter, notwithstanding section 3121 of this title. (2) Special rule regarding sanctions A State that has enacted, not later than De- cember 31, 1997, a State law providing for the sanctioning of such service delivery areas for failure to meet performance accountability measures for workforce investment activities, may use the State law to sanction local areas for failure to meet State performance account- ability measures under this subchapter. (3) General waivers of statutory or regulatory requirements (A) General authority Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may waive for a State, or a local area in a State, pursuant to a request submitted by the Governor of the State (in consultation with appropriate local elected officials) with a plan that meets the require- ments of subparagraph (B)— (i) any of the statutory or regulatory re- quirements of part A, part B, or this part (except for requirements relating to wage and labor standards, including non- displacement protections, worker rights, participation and protection of workers and participants, grievance procedures and judicial review, nondiscrimination, alloca- tion of funds to local areas, eligibility of providers or participants, the establish- ment and functions of local areas and local boards, the funding of infrastructure costs for one-stop centers, and procedures for re- view and approval of plans, and other re- quirements relating to the basic purposes of this subchapter); and (ii) any of the statutory or regulatory re- quirements of sections 49g through 49i of this title (excluding requirements relating to the provision of services to unemploy- ment insurance claimants and veterans, and requirements relating to universal ac- cess to basic labor exchange services with- out cost to jobseekers). (B) Requests A Governor requesting a waiver under sub- paragraph (A) shall submit a plan to the Secretary to improve the statewide work- force development system that— (i) identifies the statutory or regulatory requirements that are requested to be waived and the goals that the State or local area in the State, as appropriate, in- tends to achieve as a result of the waiver; (ii) describes the actions that the State or local area, as appropriate, has under- taken to remove State or local statutory or regulatory barriers; (iii) describes the goals of the waiver and the expected programmatic outcomes if the request is granted; (iv) describes the individuals impacted by the waiver; and (v) describes the process used to monitor the progress in implementing such a waiv- er, and the process by which notice and, in the case of a waiver for a local area, an op- portunity to comment on such request has been provided to the local board for the local area for which the waiver is re- quested. (C) Conditions Not later than 90 days after the date of the original submission of a request for a waiver under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall provide a waiver under this subsection if and only to the extent that— (i) the Secretary determines that the re- quirements requested to be waived impede the ability of the State or local area, as appropriate, to implement the plan de- scribed in subparagraph (B); and (ii) the State has executed a memo- randum of understanding with the Sec- retary requiring such State to meet, or en- sure that the local area for which the waiver is requested meets, agreed-upon outcomes and to implement other appro- priate measures to ensure accountability. (D) Expedited determination regarding pro- vision of waivers If the Secretary has approved a waiver of statutory or regulatory requirements for a State or local area pursuant to this sub- Page 945 TITLE 29—LABOR § 3250 section, the Secretary shall expedite the de- termination regarding the provision of that waiver, for another State or local area if such waiver is in accordance with the ap- proved State or local plan, as appropriate. (Pub. L. 113–128, title I, § 189, July 22, 2014, 128 Stat. 1599.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the first day of the first full pro- gram year after July 22, 2014 (July 1, 2015), see section 506 of Pub. L. 113–128, set out as a note under section 3101 of this title. § 3250. Workforce flexibility plans (a) Plans A State may submit to the Secretary, and the Secretary may approve, a workforce flexibility plan under which the State is authorized to waive, in accordance with the plan— (1) any of the statutory or regulatory re- quirements applicable under this subchapter to local areas, pursuant to applications for such waivers from the local areas, except for requirements relating to the basic purposes of this subchapter, wage and labor standards, grievance procedures and judicial review, non- discrimination, eligibility of participants, al- location of funds to local areas, establishment and functions of local areas and local boards, procedures for review and approval of local plans, and worker rights, participation, and protection; (2) any of the statutory or regulatory re- quirements applicable under sections 49g through 49i of this title to the State (exclud- ing requirements relating to the provision of services to unemployment insurance claim- ants and veterans, and requirements relating to universal access to basic labor exchange services without cost to jobseekers); and (3) any of the statutory or regulatory re- quirements applicable under the Older Ameri- cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) to State agencies on aging with respect to activities carried out using funds allotted under section 506(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3056d(b)), except for requirements relating to the basic pur- poses of such Act, wage and labor standards, eligibility of participants in the activities, and standards for grant agreements. (b) Content of plans A workforce flexibility plan implemented by a State under subsection (a) shall include descrip- tions of— (1)(A) the process by which local areas in the State may submit and obtain approval by the State of applications for waivers of require- ments applicable under this subchapter; and (B) the requirements described in subpara- graph (A) that are likely to be waived by the State under the plan; (2) the requirements applicable under sec- tions 49g through 49i of this title that are pro- posed to be waived, if any; (3) the requirements applicable under the Older Americans Act of 1965 [42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.] that are proposed to be waived, if any; (4) the outcomes to be achieved by the waiv- ers described in paragraphs (1) through (3); and (5) other measures to be taken to ensure ap- propriate accountability for Federal funds in connection with the waivers. (c) Periods The Secretary may approve a workforce flexi- bility plan for a period of not more than 5 years. (d) Opportunity for public comments Prior to submitting a workforce flexibility plan to the Secretary for approval, the State shall provide to all interested parties and to the general public adequate notice of and a reason- able opportunity for comment on the waiver re- quests proposed to be implemented pursuant to such plan. (Pub. L. 113–128, title I, § 190, July 22, 2014, 128 Stat. 1602.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Older Americans Act of 1965, referred to in sub- secs. (a)(3) and (b)(3), is Pub. L. 89–73, July 14, 1965, 79 Stat. 218, which is classified generally to chapter 35 (§ 3001 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Wel- fare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 3001 of Title 42 and Tables. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the first day of the first full pro- gram year after July 22, 2014 (July 1, 2015), see section 506 of Pub. L. 113–128, set out as a note under section 3101 of this title. WORKFORCE FLEXIBILITY PARTNERSHIP DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM Pub. L. 105–78, title I, Nov. 13, 1997, 111 Stat. 1469, pro- vided in part: ‘‘That the Secretary of Labor shall estab- lish a workforce flexibility (work-flex) partnership demonstration program under which the Secretary shall authorize not more than six States, of which at least three States shall each have populations not in excess of 3,500,000, with a preference given to those States that have been designated Ed-Flex Partnership States under section 311(e) of Public Law 103–227 [former 20 U.S.C. 5891(e)], to waive any statutory or regulatory requirement applicable to service delivery areas or substate areas within the State under titles I–III of the Job Training Partnership Act [former 29 U.S.C. 1511 et seq., 1601 et seq., 1651 et seq.] (except for requirements relating to wage and labor standards, grievance procedures and judicial review, non- discrimination, allotment of funds, and eligibility), and any of the statutory or regulatory requirements of sec- tions 8–10 of the Wagner-Peyser Act [29 U.S.C. 49g–49i] (except for requirements relating to the provision of services to unemployment insurance claimants and veterans, and to universal access to basic labor ex- change services without cost to job seekers), for a dura- tion not to exceed the waiver period authorized under section 311(e) of Public Law 103–227, pursuant to a plan submitted by such States and approved by the Sec- retary for the provision of workforce employment and training activities in the States, which includes a de- scription of the process by which service delivery areas and substate areas may apply for and have waivers ap- proved by the State, the requirements of the Wagner- Peyser Act [29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.] to be waived, the out- comes to be achieved and other measures to be taken to ensure appropriate accountability for Federal funds.’’