[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 126 (Friday, June 28, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33659-33660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16056]
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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
29 CFR Part 1602
Elementary-Secondary Staff Information Report EEO-5
AGENCY: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This final rule is based on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(``NPRM'') published on December 8, 1995. It amends the school filing
requirement in subpart M of 29 CFR Part 1602, by discontinuing the EEO-
5 report (EEOC Form 168B) for individual schools and annexes. The
Commission takes this action in order to reduce the reporting burden on
respondents and to streamline the collection of information required
for enforcement purposes while maintaining sufficient data to meet the
Commission's program needs. The recordkeeping requirements in Subpart L
of 29 CFR Part 1602 are unchanged.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 29, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joachim Neckere, Director, Program Research and Surveys Division, at
(202) 663-4958 (voice) or (202) 663-7063 (TDD) (these are not toll free
numbers).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(c), requires
employers to make and keep records relevant to a determination of
whether unlawful employment practices have been or are being committed
and to make reports therefrom as required by the Commission.
Accordingly, the Commission has issued regulations setting forth the
reporting requirements for various kinds of employers. Elementary and
secondary public school systems and districts have been required to
submit EEO-5 reports to the Commission since 1974 (biennially in even
numbered years since 1982). Two types of EEO-5 reports have been used:
EEOC Form 168A, covering the entire public school system or district;
and EEOC Form 168B, covering each individual school and annex within
the system or district. On October 5, 1995, the Commission voted to
discontinue the EEO-5 report (EEOC Form 168B) for individual schools
and annexes. Starting with the 1996 survey year, public school systems
and districts will be required to file only EEO-5 reports (EEOC Form
168A) covering the entire school system or district.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the current
EEO-5 collection of information, OMB Control Number 3046-0003, expired
on January 31, 1996. In order to comply with the new information
collection clearance procedures that OMB has instituted pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3502(1), and set forth at 29
CFR Parts 1320.8, .9, and .11, the Commission solicited public comment
in the Federal Register on December 8, 1995, concerning the proposed
change in the EEO-5 collection and the Commission's request for an
extension of OMB's approval of the collection. The Commission received
three public comments in response to the NPRM. Each comment recommended
that the Commission not implement the proposed rule and continue to
collect information for individual schools and annexes. We point out
that even though the data for individual schools and annexes will not
be submitted on survey forms, schools still will be required to keep
the same records that they formerly kept at the local level to complete
the EEO-5 as a part of the recordkeeping requirements contained in
Subpart L of 29 CFR Part 1602. Thus, the information will be available
upon request. The Commission has determined that this change not only
will substantially reduce reporting burden without reducing overall
employment coverage or the number of responding school systems and
districts, but that it will be more cost effective for the Commission
to request the individual school data when necessary for enforcement
purposes than to continue with the current collection.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
This amendment will result in substantially reduced expenses and
reporting burdens for public school systems and districts. The
Commission also has determined that the elimination of reporting
requirements for individual schools and annexes will not adversely
affect the utility of the information being collected. Thus, the
Commission certifies pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Sec. 605(b), enacted by the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, Public Law No. 96-354, that the amendment
will not result in significant impact on small employers or other
entities because it involves elimination of reporting requirements, and
that a regulatory flexibility analysis therefore is not required. The
Commission hereby publishes this final rule for public information. The
rule appears below.
List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 1602
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
[[Page 33660]]
Dated: June 17, 1996.
For the Commission,
Gilbert F. Casellas,
Chairman.
Accordingly, 29 CFR Part 1602 is amended as follows:
PART 1602--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 1602 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8, 2000e-12, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.;
42 U.S.C. 12117.
Sec. 1602.41 Requirement for filing and preserving copy of report.
2. Section 1602.41 is amended as follows:
(a) In the introductory text, in the first sentence, delete the
phrase ``and individual schools within such systems or district''.
(b) In the concluding text, in the first sentence, delete the
phrase, '', or the individual school which is the subject of the report
where more convenient,''.
3. Section 1602.43 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1602.43 Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts'
failure to file report.
Any school system or district failing or refusing to file report
EEO-5 when required to do so may be compelled to file by order of a
U.S. district court, upon application of the Commission or the Attorney
General.
4. Section 1602.44 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1602.44 School systems' or districts' exemption from reporting
requirements.
If it is claimed that the preparation or filing of the report would
create undue hardship, the school system or district may apply to the
Commission for an exemption from the requirements set forth in this
part by submitting to the Commission or its delegate a specific
proposal for an alternative reporting system prior to the date on which
the report is due.
[FR Doc. 96-16056 Filed 6-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M
