View Rule

On June 29, 2015, the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-27) was signed into law. Title IV reauthorizes the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers program through 2021; and it is known as the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015 (TAARA 2015). The regulations governing the TAA program have not been updated since 1994. Since that time, five major reauthorizations have occurred. In addition, a recent reauthorization and reform of the workforce development system, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) (Pub. L. 113-128), reaffirms the TAA program as a mandatory partner program in the one-stop delivery system. All five major TAA reauthorizations were implemented through the use of Operating Instructions issued via Training and Employment Guidance Letters (TEGLs). As a result, the cooperating state agencies must use a combination of outdated regulations and a patchwork of administrative guidance to operate the program.  Issuing updated regulations will simplify and provide clarity for state operation of the TAA program. Unlike TEGLs, an update to the TAA regulations will provide a legally binding set of rules to guide the worker group certification process at the Federal level, the individual benefit and training authorization process at the state level, and also provide Federal and state courts with the Department's authoritative interpretation of the TAARA 2015. Through the NPRM, the Department seeks to modernize the TAA program and consolidate all applicable program regulations into a single section of the Code of Federal Regulations.  The Department will undertake both regulatory and deregulatory actions, eliminating 20 CFR 617 and 29 CFR 90 and including all program regulations in 20 CFR 618.  In addition, the Department will review questions of policy and application to determine whether one aspect of the mandated use of state employees to administer adjustment assistance provisions, specifically the delivery of TAA employment and case management services, is appropriate.