[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 74 (Thursday, April 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19028-19032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-9520]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Section 167, the National 
Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), and Housing Assistance Grants

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Department of 
Labor.

ACTION: Notice of formula allocations for the Program Year (PY) 2003 
National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), and for the Housing Assistance 
Grants; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Under section 182(d) of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 
1998, ETA is publishing the PY 2003 allocations for the NFJP authorized 
under section 167 of the WIA, and for the housing assistance grants 
authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003 (Pub. L. 
108-7). The NFJP program allocations are distributed to the states by a 
formula that estimates, by state, the relative demand for NFJP 
services. The housing assistance allocations are distributed among the 
12 agricultural regions established for the National Agricultural 
Worker Survey (NAWS). The allocations in this notice apply to the 
Program Year (PY) beginning July 1, 2003.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 31, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Ms. Alina M. Walker, Acting 
Chief, Division of Seasonal Farmworker Programs, Room C-5325, 
Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. The e-mail address is 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Alina M. Walker, Acting Chief, 
Division of Seasonal Farmworker Programs, Room C-5325, Employment and 
Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. The telephone number is (202) 693-
2706. (This is not a toll-free number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    I. Background. On May 19, 1999, we published a notice of formula 
allocations with a new formula for allocating funds available for the 
NFJP (formerly referred to as the section 402 Migrant and Seasonal 
Farmworker (MSFW) Program) in the Federal Register at 64 FR 27390 (May 
19, 1999). The notice explained how the new formula achieved its 
purpose of distributing funds geographically by state service area on 
the basis of each area's relative share of farmworkers who are eligible 
for enrollment in the NFJP. The new formula consists of a rational 
combination of multiple data sets that were selected to yield the 
relative share distribution of eligible farmworkers. The combined-data 
formula is substantially more relevant to the purpose of aligning the 
allocations with the eligible population than the allocations 
determined by the prior formula.
    As stated in our notice of May 19, 1999, PY 2003 is the first year 
the allocation formula is scheduled to be applied without adjustment 
for the hold-harmless provisions described in section IV of the notice. 
However, as explained in section III of this notice, the Consolidated 
Appropriations Resolution, 2003 (Pub. L. 108-7) requires that no area 
receive less than 85% of its 1998 level. Section III also explains the 
methodology used for PY 2003 to allocate all funds under the formula 
that are not required to satisfy the 85% requirement. This methodology 
produces a more equitable result than the one applied for each of the 4 
years of the hold-harmless phase. The methodology under the hold-
harmless phase funded all states at their required minimum level before 
allocating the remaining funds in accordance with the formula. One 
result of this change is that the Rhode Island area is allocated its 
full share in PY 2003.
    II. Limitations on Uses of Section 167 Funds. In appropriating the 
funds for PY 2003, Congress provided in its Consolidated Appropriations 
Resolution, 2003 (Pub. L. 108-7) as follows: ``That, notwithstanding 
any other provision of law or related regulation, $77,836,000 shall be 
for carrying out section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, 
including $72,686,000 for formula grants, $4,640,000 for migrant and 
seasonal housing, and $510,000 for other discretionary purposes * * *. 
'' The Conference Agreement includes a 0.65 percent across-the-board 
rescission to discretionary budgetary resources provided in divisions A 
through K of this Act, as well as to any previously enacted fiscal year 
2003 advanced appropriations. A total of $72,213,541 for formula 
grants, and $4,609,840 for housing assistance, is allocated as a result 
of applying this requirement.
    III. PY 2003 Allocation Formula. The first step of the formula for 
PY 2003 distributes the total formula funds of $72,213,541 based on the 
same relative share of eligible farmworkers derived from the combined 
datasets described above, which is unchanged from PY 2002. Congress, 
furthermore, in its Appropriations Conference Report 108-010, provided 
that those states impacted by formula reductions from the prior year 
would receive no less than 85 percent of their comparable 1998 
allocation levels. Consequently, the amount for each State calculated 
in step one was compared to an amount equal to 85 percent of each 
State's PY 1998 allocation. If the 1998 comparison level was higher for 
a State, that amount was assigned to that State. All such States' 
assigned 1998 comparison levels were added and these States were 
removed from the remaining calculations. For the remaining States whose 
formula amounts were higher, their formula amounts were added and the 
total was compared to the total amount of remaining funds. Since there 
were less funds remaining available, each remaining State's formula 
amount was reduced by the same proportion the total remaining available 
funds bore to the total remaining States' formula amounts. This reduced 
distribution was again tested against the 1998 comparison level and the 
above process was repeated until there were no remaining States being 
assigned the 1998 comparison level. Each State's final allocation was 
either the assigned 1998 comparison level or the final proportionally 
reduced formula amount.
    IV. State Combinations: We anticipate a single plan of service for 
operating the PY 2003 NFJP in the jurisdiction comprised of Delaware 
and Maryland and the jurisdiction comprised of Rhode Island and 
Connecticut.
    V. Housing Assistance Allocations: The funds available for new 
grants to provide housing assistance to eligible farmworkers in PY 2003 
will be awarded to applicants selected under the competition for the 
housing assistance grants. This notice provides information on how ETA 
will be guided in the geographic distribution of the housing assistance 
funds.
    The Department is relying on the allocation formula to distribute 
the housing assistance funds among 12 agricultural regions. The 
arrangement of the regions is the one used by the Department in its 
application of the data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey 
(NAWS) to the allocation formula. These regions are identical to the 
regions established for the NAWS with the exception that the NAWS 
recognizes Oklahoma as one of the Southern Plains states. The 12 
regions established for these allocation objectives are as follows:

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    Delta/South East: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
    North East 1: Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode 
Island, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
    Appalachia: Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and 
Virginia.
    Mountain 3: Arizona and New Mexico.
    Northeast 2: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
    Lake District: Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
    Pacific Southwest: California.
    Florida Peninsula: Florida.
    Southern Plains: Texas.
    Mountain 1 & 2: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.
    Corn Belt/Northern Plains: Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 
Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and South Dakota.
    Pacific Northwest: Oregon and Washington.
    PY 2003 Allocations: The first table in the attachment provides the 
allocations for the NFJP in PY 2003. NFJP grantees will use these 
figures in preparing the PY 2003 grant plans. The result of the 
regional allocation of the housing assistance funds is provided in the 
second table, entitled ``Worker Housing Assistance PY 2003/Regional 
Allocations''.

    Signed in Washington, DC, this 11th day of April, 2003.
Emily Stover DeRocco,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
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[FR Doc. 03-9520 Filed 4-16-03; 8:45 am]
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