[Federal Register: February 3, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 21)]
[Rules and Regulations]               
[Page 5899-5900]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03fe09-2]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment Standards Administration

29 CFR Parts 403 and 408

RIN 1215-AB62

 
Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports

AGENCY: Office of Labor-Management Standards, Employment Standards 
Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of proposed extension of effective date; request for 
public comment on legal and policy questions relating to the final 
rule.

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SUMMARY: Consistent with the memorandum of January 20, 2009, from the 
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory 
Review'' and the memorandum of January 21, 2009, from the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), entitled ``Implementation of 
Memorandum Concerning Regulatory Review,'' this document seeks public 
comment on a proposal to delay for 60 days the effective date of the 
final rule, Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports, published in 
the Federal Register on January 21, 2009. The rule revised Form LM-2 
and established a procedure whereby the Department may revoke, when 
warranted, the authorization to file the simplified report Form LM-3. 
This document proposes to extend the effective date until April 21, 
2009. The Department seeks comments on whether or not it should delay 
the effective date of the final rule in order to provide an opportunity 
for further review and consideration of the questions of law and policy 
raised by it. For that reason, the Department also seeks comments 
generally on the rule, including comments on the merits of rescinding 
or retaining the rule.

DATES: Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports, published in the 
Federal Register on January 21, 2009 (74 FR 3677), is to take effect on

[[Page 5900]]

February 20, 2009. The comment period for the extension of the 
effective date of the final rule will close on February 13, 2009. The 
comment period for providing comment on legal and policy questions 
relating to the rule itself will close on March 5, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1215-AB62, only 
by the following methods:
    Internet--Federal eRulemaking Portal. Electronic comments may be 
submitted through http://www.regulations.gov. To locate the proposed 
rule, use key words such as ``Labor-Management Standards'' or ``Labor 
Organization Annual Financial Reports'' to search documents accepting 
comments. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Please be 
advised that comments received will be posted without change to http://
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
    Delivery: Comments should be sent to: Denise M. Boucher, Director 
of the Office of Policy, Reports and Disclosure, Office of Labor-
Management Standards, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Room N-5609, Washington, DC 20210. Because of security 
precautions the Department continues to experience delays in U.S. mail 
delivery. You should take this into consideration when preparing to 
meet the deadline for submitting comments.
    The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) recommends that you 
confirm receipt of your delivered comments by contacting (202) 693-0123 
(this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with hearing impairments 
may call (800) 877-8339 (TTY/TDD). Only those comments submitted 
through http://www.regulations.gov, hand-delivered, or mailed will be 
accepted. Comments will be available for public inspection at http://
www.regulations.gov and during normal business hours at the above 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise M. Boucher, Director, Office of 
Policy, Reports and Disclosure, Office of Labor-Management Standards, 
Employment Standards Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-5609, Washington, DC 20210, (202) 693-
0123 (this is not a toll-free number), (800) 877-8339 (TTY/TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department has determined that the rule 
involves matters of law and policy that should be addressed by the new 
Administration before the rule takes effect and is first applied to 
labor organizations. The Department has chosen to seek public comments 
now, rather than permit the rule to go into effect, due to the front 
end burdens associated with the rule. Without this proposal to delay 
the effective date, affected labor organizations likely will undertake 
much effort and expense in changing their recordkeeping systems to meet 
the changes required by the rule. If a decision is made to propose 
changes and such changes are ultimately effectuated, these expenses 
will have been incurred unnecessarily. The tasks undertaken will have 
to be repeated, and costs duplicated, to comply with any further 
revisions to the rule. Additionally, the Department itself will incur 
significant start up costs in revising its electronic software to make 
the changes required by the rule; costs that will have to be duplicated 
if changes are later proposed and effectuated in a final rule. 
Furthermore, unless the Department now proposes to delay the effective 
date of the rule, the Department will have to begin answering questions 
and providing compliance assistance about how the final rule is to be 
implemented, guidance that will only confuse labor organizations if new 
guidance about a revised rule has to be provided in the near future. 
For the foregoing reasons, the Department has determined to propose 
delay of the effective date of the final rule and, by doing so, alert 
affected labor organizations that it may be advisable for them to delay 
preparations and financial commitments associated with the changes 
required by the final rule until a decision is made regarding the 
effective date of the final rule. The Department proposes the delay of 
the effective date to provide an opportunity for further review and 
consideration of the questions of law and policy raised by it. For that 
reason, the Department also seeks comments generally on the rule, 
including comments on the merits of rescinding or retaining the rule.

    Dated: January 29, 2009.
Andrew D. Auerbach,
Deputy Director, Office of Labor-Management Standards.
[FR Doc. E9-2223 Filed 1-29-09; 4:15 pm]

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