Waiver Plan Submission

Development of Waiver Request. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Regional Offices and the National Office are available to provide guidance and assistance to the States as they are developing their waiver requests and answer questions about ETA waiver policy. Upon completion of the Waiver Plan, the Governor will submit one copy of Plan to the appropriate Regional Administrator, along with the Plan in electronic form in order to reduce paperwork and to facilitate the processing of the State's request.

Minimum Requirements. WIA requires the Secretary to make a determination of how a State's request to waive certain statutory and regulatory requirements would remove impediments and improve the State's or local area's ability to achieve its goals. It also requires the State to include a summary description of the programmatic or administrative goals to be achieved in order to overcome the barrier.

The Governor must provide at least the minimum information identified at WIA section 189(i)(4)(B), and set forth at 20 CFR 661.420(c) of the implementing regulations, in order for the Secretary to make an informed decision on whether to approve the requested waiver(s). Where documentation (e.g., statistical information, reports, focus groups, customer surveys) is available, it should be provided to corroborate the statements made in the waiver request. In the absence of such data, the State is expected to provide a substantive discussion and examples of barriers and proposed solutions which support the proposed removal of the requirements.

Public Comment Process. The State waiver plan must provide notice and an opportunity to comment to any Local Board affected by a waiver request, and must ensure meaningful public comment on the waiver requests, including comment by business and organized labor. We expect that the State will involve these groups, as well as local public officials, community-based organizations and other stakeholders, in the process of developing the waiver plan. The proposed waiver plan must be made reasonably available to the general public through such means as public hearings and local news media. Copies of all comments received on the requested waivers should be forwarded to the appropriate Regional Office with the waiver plan.