Take Action! Weigh in on Federal Surveys and Forms 2025-07-28
by Meghan Maury
Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.
Note: The Take Action tab of DataIndex.us provides information about even more surveys, forms, evaluations, and records notices than are listed in your weekly newsletter.
Data Collection Requirements (Regulation)
Recission of Final Rule: Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States. DOL is proposing to rescind provisions of regulations that provide protections for temporary foreign (H-2A visa) agricultural workers. The provisions DOL is proposing to rescind include enhanced information collection requirements that would have allowed DOL to gain a more accurate and detailed understanding of the scope and structure of the employer's agricultural operation and thereby assist the Department in program administration and enforcement, including in determinations of whether an employer has demonstrated a bona fide temporary or seasonal need, or, conversely, whether an employer has, through multiple related entities, sought to obtain year-round H-2A labor. In support of the recission, DOL suggests that the information collection requirement "presents legal risks and places extensive burdens on filers while providing limited utility in the stated goals, such as single employer test determinations."
Comments due Sept. 2.
Forms
Complaint Involving Employment Discrimination by a Federal Contractor or Subcontractor. Because EO 11246, which prohibited Federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and national origin was revoked, OFCCP is revising its discrimination complaint forms to remove references to discrimination on these bases. Of note, because there is no opportunity for public feedback on Executive Orders, this is the only conduit for public comment to weigh in on the impact of that Executive Order.
Comments due Sept. 5.
Income Driven Repayment Plan Request. This form is used by student loan borrowers to enroll, recertify, or change their IDR plan. Pursuant to an injunction issued in Feb 2025, the form is being updated to remove the SAVE plan as an option for borrowers and to remove components that apply to the other IDR plans such as reverting the definition of family size to the pre-July 1, 2024, definition for all IDR plans and removing references to interest subsidies during repayment. Additional updates to improve clarity and the borrower experience have also been made.
Comments due July 30.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Value Analysis. This form will be used to collect information from electricity producers in order to provide those producers with an emissions value that a qualifying facility may use to petition the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a Provisional Emissions Rate (PER) and claim the section 45Y or 48E tax credits.
Comments due August 7.
Notice of Appeal From a Decision of an Immigration Judge. This form collects information necessary for the Board to process an appeal of an Immigration Judge decision, such as the Respondent's/Applicant's name and registration number (A-number), the mailing addresses for parties and the attorney or representative of record, the basis for the appeal, and proof of service of the notice of appeal. EOIR is revising this form to implement several changes; from the listing the changes appear to be innocuous.
Comments due Sept. 2.
Application for Permanent Employment Certification, and Appendices. These forms are used by employers to certify that to certify that foreign workers seeking to enter the United States for the purpose of performing skilled or unskilled labor will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers “able, willing, qualified, and available” to perform such labor. The listing indicates that no changes are being made to this set of forms.
Comments due Sept. 5.
Surveys
Suicide Prevention 2.0 Program-Community Opinion Survey. This survey will collect baseline data on the knowledge and attitudes of adults living in specified communities about Veterans, Veteran suicide, and resources available to Veterans to reduce suicide, prior to the implementation of suicide prevention programs; collect follow-up data to assess whether knowledge and attitudes have changed over time; and determine whether the programs and policies implemented by a community resulted in positive change in knowledge and attitudes.
Comments due Sept. 2.
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). JOLTS collects data on job vacancies, labor hires, and labor separations. This survey helps people understand the complex relationship between job openings and unemployment, know which aggregate industries face the tightest labor markets, and provides clues about workers' views of the labor market or their success in finding better jobs. According to the listing, no major changes are being made to the forms, procedures, data collection methodology, or other aspects of the survey.
Comments due Sept. 5.
Evaluations and Demonstration Projects
Recompete Pilot Program Implementation. Recompete Pilot Program grantees will use these forms to submit information to EDA on topics like employment and wage outcomes for Recompete program participants, economic distress in service areas, effectiveness of workforce development programming, effectiveness of small business supports, and local economic development capacity.
Comments due July 30.
Supportive Housing & Individual Placement and Support (SHIPS) Study. The SHIPS study is a randomized controlled trial designed to determine whether participation in Individual Placement and Support (IPS) improves the employment, income, health, and self-sufficiency of people who are recently homeless and living in supportive housing. The SHIPS study will mark the first study testing the effectiveness of implementing IPS in a supportive housing program.
Comments due August 1.