[Federal Register: November 28, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 229)]
[Notices]
[Page 66884-66885]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28no03-116]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Proposed Information Collection Request; Submitted for Public
Comment and Recommendations; Form ETA-232. The Domestic Agricultural
In-Season Wage Report, and Form ETA-232-A, Wage Survey Interview Record
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden conducts a pre-clearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on the proposed and/or continuing
collection of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format,
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.
DATES: Submit comments on or before January 27, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to John R. Beverly, III, Administrator, Office
of National Programs, Employment and Training Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, Room C-4318, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210-0001, 202-693-3010 (this is not a toll-free
number), fax 202-693-2769.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Carlson, Chief, Division of
Foreign Labor Certification, Employment and Training Administration,
U.S. Department of Labor, Room C-4318, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210-0001, 202-693-3010 (this is not a toll-free
number), fax 202-693-2769.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended, provides that the Office of
National Programs shall assist the State public employment services
throughout the country in promoting uniformity in its administrative
and statistical procedures, furnishing and publishing information as to
opportunities for employment and other information of value in the
operation of its system, and maintaining a system for clearing labor
between the States.
Pursuant to the Wagner-Peyser Act, the U.S. Department of Labor has
established regulations at 20 CFR 653.500 covering the processing of
agricultural intrastate and interstate job orders. Section 563.501
provides that the wage offered by employers must not be less than the
prevailing wage or the applicable Federal or State minimum wage;
whichever is higher. Also, the regulations for the temporary employment
of alien agricultural and logging workers in the United States, 20 CFR
part 655, subparts B and C, for the H-2A program, under the Immigration
Reform and Control Act of 1986, requires farmers and other agricultural
employers to pay workers the adverse effect wage rate, the prevailing
wage rate, or the legal Federal or State minimum wage rate; whichever
is highest.
The prevailing wage rate is used to implement these regulations
covering intrastate and interstate recruitment of farmworkers. The
vehicle for establishing the prevailing wage rate is Form ETA-232, The
Domestic Agricultural In-Season Wage Report, and Form ETA-232-A, Wage
Survey Interview Record. The ETA-232 Report contains the prevailing
wage finding based on survey data collected from employers and reported
by the States on Form ETA-232-A.
II. Desired Focus of Comments
Currently, the Employment and Training Administration is soliciting
comments concerning the proposed request to extend the expiration date
of the collection request to:
*Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
*Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
*Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected; and
*Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who
are required to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be
obtained by contacting the office listed above in the addressee section
of this notice.
III. Current Actions
Activity covered by regulations at 20 CFR 653.500 and 20 CFR part
655, subparts B and C, particularly the H-2A program, continues to
expand, further increasing the need for accurate and timely wage
information on which to base prevailing agricultural wage
determinations. There is no similar wage information which is available
or can be used for these determinations which apply to a specific crop
of livestock activity, in a specific agricultural wage reporting area
for a specific period of time during the peak harvest season.
Type of Review: Extension.
Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
Title: Domestic Agricultural In-Season Wage Report, Form ETA-232
and Wage Survey Interview Record, Form ETA-232-A.
OMB Number: 1205-0017.
Cite/Reference/Form/etc: ETA-232 and ETA 232-A, See below.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 16,301.
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Average time
Form/activity Total Frequency Total per response Burden
respondents responses (hours) (hours)
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ETA-232...................... 600 Annually......... 600 11 6600
[[Page 66885]]
ETA-232-A.................... 38,805 Annually......... 38,805 \1/4\ 9,701
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Totals................... .............. ................. 39,405 .............. 16,301
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Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): 0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining):
Business: The salary range of representatives of business
respondents (employees of small family owned farms up through large
agribusiness farms) can be from the minimum wage to several hundred
thousand dollars for a CEO. Therefore, the hourly salaries of
individuals participating in the wage survey ranges from $5.15 to $300
or more per hour.
State Government: Average cost of the State agencies conducting the
Agricultural Wage Surveys range from $1,500 to $6,000 per survey,
depending upon the complexity of the crop or livestock activity to be
surveyed, including considerations such as size of the employer and
worker universe, and the geographic expanse of the wage reporting
areas.
Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be
summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and
Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also
become a matter of public record.
Dated: November 20, 2003.
Emily Stover DeRocco,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-29665 Filed 11-26-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P