Assignment of President’s Reporting Function Contained Within
Section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641(c))
[02/16/2006]
Volume 71, Number 32, Page 8314-8315
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment Standards Administration
Assignment of President's Reporting Function Contained Within
Section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641(c))
February 10, 2006.
AGENCY: Employment Standards Administration; Department of Labor.
SUMMARY: The President has assigned to the Secretary of Labor the
function of the President contained within section 401(c) of the
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)), to provide the specified
final report to the Congress in relation to Proclamation 7959 of
November 3, 2005. Proclamation 7959 revoked Proclamation 7924 that was
issued September 8, 2005, and which suspended the provisions of the
Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 3141-3148) relating to prevailing-wage
determinations by the Secretary of Labor within specified geographic
areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.
DATES: Effective Date: February 16, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William W. Gross, Director, Office of
Wage Determinations, Wage and Hour Division, Employment Standards
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3028, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, telephone (202) 693-0569. This is
not a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 8, 2005, pursuant to authority
given to him in 40 U.S.C. 3147 to ``suspend the provisions of this
subchapter during a national emergency,'' President George W. Bush
issued Proclamation 7924 (70 FR 54227, September 13, 2005) suspending
Subchapter IV of Chapter 31 of Title 40, United States Code, within a
limited geographical area, as specified in the Proclamation, in
response to the national emergency caused by Hurricane Katrina. The
Proclamation suspended as to all contracts, as described in 40 U.S.C.
3142(a), entered on or after the date of the Proclamation the
provisions of that Subchapter, commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act,
in the specified jurisdictions, and the provisions of ``any Executive
Order, proclamation, rule, regulation, or other directive providing for
the payment of wages, which provisions are dependent upon
determinations by the Secretary of Labor under section 3142 of title
40, United States Code,'' until otherwise provided. On November 3,
2005, pursuant to authority vested in him by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States, including 50 U.S.C. 1622 (the National
Emergencies Act), the President issued Proclamation 7959 (70 FR 67899,
November 8, 2005) revoking Proclamation 7924 ``as to all contracts for
which bids are opened or negotiations concluded on or after November 8,
2005.''
On February 3, 2006, by a Memorandum for the Secretary of Labor,
the President stated as follows:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution
and laws of the United States, including section 301 of title 3,
United States Code, I hereby assign to you the function of the
President contained within section 401(c) of the National
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)), to provide the specified final
report to the Congress in relation to Proclamation 7959 of November
3, 2005.
This function may be further delegated to the Deputy Secretary of
Labor. The Memorandum further authorized and directed the Secretary to
publish the final report in the Federal Register. Therefore, notice of
this assignment of the National Emergencies reporting function in
relation to Proclamation 7959 is hereby being published in the Federal
Register.
Signed at Washington, DC this 9th day of February, 2006.
Victoria A. Lipnic,
Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 9th day of February, 2006.
Alfred B. Robinson, Jr.,
Acting Wage and Hour Administrator.
Final Report on the National Emergency With Respect to the Suspension
of Davis-Bacon Act Requirements in a Limited Geographical Area in
Response to Hurricane Katrina
I hereby report to the Congress on final developments concerning
the suspension of Davis-Bacon Act requirements in response to the
national emergency caused by Hurricane Katrina, that was declared in
Proclamation 7924 of September 8, 2005. This report is submitted
pursuant to section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50
U.S.C. 1641(c) (``NEA'').
1. On November 3, 2005, the President issued Proclamation 7959
revoking Proclamation 7924 as of November 8, 2005. Copies of the
Proclamations are attached.
2. Proclamation 7924 was issued in response to the devastation
caused by Hurricane Katrina and invoked the power given to the
President in 40 U.S.C. 3147 ``to suspend the provisions of
subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, 40
U.S.C. 3141-3148 during a national emergency.'' Subchapter IV of
chapter 31 of title 40 (``subchapter IV'') provides that federal
contracts in excess of $2000 for ``construction, alteration, or
repair, including painting and decorating, of public buildings and
public works'' must contain ``a provision stating the minimum wages
to be paid various classes of laborers and mechanics,'' id. Sec.
3142(a), and also provides that the minimum wages must be based on
the prevailing wages ``in the civil subdivision of the State in
which the work is to be performed,'' as determined by the Secretary
of Labor, id. Sec. 3142(b). The Proclamation suspended, as to all
contracts entered on or after September 8, 2005, subchapter IV and
provisions in other acts dependent upon wage determinations by the
Secretary of Labor under that subchapter, that were to be performed
in specified jurisdictions in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and
Mississippi.
3. As a result of the Proclamation, during the period September
8, 2005 through
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November 8, 2005, when the revocation of Proclamation went into
effect (see Proclamation 7959), the Federal Government, through the
Secretary of Labor, incurred modest expenses issuing internal and
public guidance documents explaining the effect of suspending
subchapter IV. Expenses were also incurred in preparing the
revocation of the Proclamation. The expenses incurred by the Federal
Government that are directly attributable to the exercise of powers
and authorities conferred by the declaration of a national emergency
with respect to Hurricane Katrina, as they relate to the two-month
suspension of subchapter IV's wage-determination provisions in the
specified jurisdictions, are reported to be about $30,000, which
represent wage and salary costs for Federal personnel. Personnel
costs were largely centered in the Department of Labor (particularly
in the Office of the Wage-Hour Administrator and the Office of the
Solicitor).
4. Because the proclamation and revocation occurred within this
reporting period, I am submitting this report pursuant to section
401(c) of the NEA as the final report to the Congress on the total
expenses incurred by the Federal Government that are directly
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by
the declaration of a national emergency with respect to Hurricane
Katrina, as they related to the suspension of subchapter IV's wage-
determination provisions in the specified jurisdictions.
Dated: February 6, 2006.
Department of Labor.
Steven J. Law,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 06-1466 Filed 2-15-06; 8:45 am]
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