§ 29.14 Derecognition of State Apprenticeship Agencies.

The recognition for Federal purposes of a State Apprenticeship Agency may be withdrawn for the failure to fulfill, or operate in conformity with, the requirements of this part and 29 CFR part 30. Derecognition proceedings for reasonable cause will be instituted in accordance with the following:

(a) Derecognition proceedings for failure to adopt or properly enforce a State Plan for Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship must be processed in accordance with the procedures prescribed in this part.

(b) For causes other than those under paragraph (a) of this section, the Office of Apprenticeship must notify the respondent and appropriate State sponsors in writing, by certified mail, with return receipt requested. The notice must set forth the following:

(1) That reasonable cause exists to believe that the respondent has failed to fulfill or operate in conformity with the requirements of this part;

(2) The specific areas of nonconformity;

(3) The needed remedial measures; and

(4) That the Office of Apprenticeship proposes to withdraw recognition for Federal purposes unless corrective action is taken, or a hearing request mailed, within 30 days of the receipt of the notice.

(c) If, within the 30-day period, the State Apprenticeship Agency:

(1) Acknowledges that the State is out of conformity, specifies its proposed remedial action and commits itself to remedying the identified deficiencies, the Office of Apprenticeship will suspend the derecognition process to allow a reasonable period of time for the State Apprenticeship Agency to implement its corrective action plan.

(i) If the Office of Apprenticeship determines that the State's corrective action has addressed the identified concerns, the Office of Apprenticeship must so notify the State and the derecognition proceedings shall be terminated.

(ii) If the Office of Apprenticeship determines that the State has not addressed or failed to remedy the identified concerns, the Administrator must notify the State, in writing, of its failure, specifying the reasons therefore, and offer the State an opportunity to request a hearing within 30 days.

(2) Fails to comply or to request a hearing, the Office of Apprenticeship shall decide whether recognition should be withdrawn. If the decision is in the affirmative, the Administrator must begin the process of transferring registrations in paragraph (d).

(3) Requests a hearing. The Administrator shall refer the matter to the Office of Administrative Law Judges. An Administrative Law Judge will convene a hearing in accordance with § 29.13(g) and submit proposed findings and a recommended decision to the Administrative Review Board. The Administrative Review Board must issue a decision in any case it accepts for review within 180 days of the close of the record. If a decision is not so issued, the Administrative Law Judge's decision constitutes final agency action.

(d) If the Administrative Review Board determines to withdraw recognition for Federal purposes or if the Office of Apprenticeship has decided that recognition should be withdrawn under paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the Administrator must:

(1) Notify the registration agency and the State sponsors of such withdrawal and effect public notice of such withdrawal.

(2) Notify the sponsors that, 30 days after the date of the order withdrawing recognition of the State's registration agency, the Department shall cease to recognize, for Federal purposes, each apprenticeship program registered with the State Apprenticeship Agency, unless within that time, the sponsor requests registration with the Office of Apprenticeship.

(e) In the event that a State Apprenticeship Agency is not recognized by the Office of Apprenticeship for Federal purposes or that such recognition has been withdrawn, or if no State Apprenticeship Agency exists, apprenticeship program sponsors may request registration with the Office of Apprenticeship in accordance with the following:

(1) The Office of Apprenticeship may grant the request for registration on an interim basis. Continued recognition will be contingent upon its finding that the State apprenticeship program is operating in accordance with the requirements of this part and of 29 CFR part 30.

(2) The Office of Apprenticeship must make a finding on this issue within 30 days of receipt of the request.

(3) If the finding is in the negative, the State sponsor must be notified in writing that the interim registration with the Office of Apprenticeship has been revoked and that the program will be deregistered unless the sponsor requests a hearing within 15 days of the receipt of the notice. If a hearing is requested, the matter will be forwarded to the Office of Administrative Law Judges for a hearing in accordance with § 29.10.

(4) If the finding is in the affirmative, the State sponsor must be notified in writing that the interim registration with the Office of Apprenticeship has been made permanent based upon compliance with the requirements of this part.

(f) If the sponsor fails to request registration with the Office of Apprenticeship, the written notice to such State sponsor must further advise the recipient that any actions or benefits applicable to recognition for Federal purposes are no longer available to the participants in its apprenticeship program as of the date 30 days after the date of the order withdrawing recognition.

(g) Such notice must also direct the State sponsor to notify, within 15 days, all its registered apprentices of the withdrawal of recognition for Federal purposes; the effective date thereof; and that such withdrawal removes the apprentice from coverage under any Federal provision applicable to their individual registration under a program recognized or registered by the Secretary of Labor for Federal purposes. Such notice must direct that all apprentices are referred to the Office of Apprenticeship for information about potential transfer to other registered apprenticeship programs.

(h) Where a State Apprenticeship Agency's recognition for Federal purposes has been withdrawn; the State must:

(1) Provide all apprenticeship program standards, apprenticeship agreements, completion records, cancellation and suspension records, Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance Review files and any other documents relating to the State's apprenticeship programs, to the Department; and

(2) Cooperate fully during a transition period.

(i) A State Apprenticeship Agency whose recognition has been withdrawn under this part may have its recognition reinstated upon presentation of adequate evidence that it has fulfilled the requirements established in §§ 29.13(i) and 29.14(g) and (h) and is operating in conformity with the requirements of this part.

[73 FR 64425, Oct. 29, 2008, as amended at 81 FR 92108, Dec. 19, 2016; 85 FR 13033, Mar. 6, 2020; 85 FR 14388, Mar. 11, 2020; 85 FR 30619, May 20, 2020; 87 FR 58287, Sept. 26, 2022]