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addressing the three requirements in turn, then the overall definition of premium pay and, finally, <br />program structure. <br />Eligible Workers <br />The ARPA defines "eligible workers" as "those workers needed to maintain continuity of <br />operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors and additional sectors as each... <br />[government] may designate as critical to protect the health and wellbeing of [its] residents." The <br />interim final rule supplemented this definition by identifying a list of "essential critical <br />infrastructure sectors" whose workers are eligible workers, based on the list of sectors in the <br />HEROES Act, a bill introduced in the House of Representatives in 2020 that would have <br />provided premium pay to essential workers.262 In addition to the critical infrastructure sectors <br />defined in the interim final rule, the chief executive (or equivalent) of a recipient government <br />may designate additional non-public263 sectors as critical so long as doing so is necessary to <br />protecting the health and wellbeing of the residents of such jurisdiction. <br />Public Comment: Treasury received multiple comments on the definition of "eligible <br />worker" included in the interim final rule. Many commenters agreed with the definition of <br />eligible worker adopted by Treasury. Other commenters sought clarification about or changes to <br />the definition of eligible worker, including the definition of eligible sectors, the inclusion of <br />government workers in the definition of eligible workers, and the process for designating <br />additional non-public sectors as eligible. <br />262 See H.R. 6800, 116th Cong. (2020). <br />263 Note that the sectors defined in the interim final rule already include all state, local, and Tribal government <br />employees. <br />221 <br />