[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 153 (Friday, August 8, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47364-47365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20243]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

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 preclearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections 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. 
Currently, the Office of the Secretary is soliciting comments 
concerning the proposed collection: National Agricultural Workers 
Survey. A copy of the proposed information collection request can be 
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the ADDRESSES section 
of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section below on or before October 7, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Daniel Carroll, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Ave., NW., Room S-2312, Washington, DC 20210, telephone 
(202) 693-5077, fax (202) 693-5961, e-mail [email protected]. 
Please use only one method of transmission for comments (mail, fax, or 
e-mail).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background: The Department of Labor

[[Page 47365]]

(DOL) has been continually surveying hired farm workers since 1988 via 
the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS). The survey's primary 
focus is to describe the demographic and employment characteristics of 
hired crop farm workers at the national level. To date, over 36,000 
farm workers have been interviewed.
    The NAWS provides an understanding of the manpower resources 
available to U.S. agriculture, and both public and private service 
programs use the data for planning, implementing, and evaluating farm 
worker programs. It is the only national data source on the demographic 
and employment characteristics of hired crop farm workers.
    The NAWS samples crop farm workers in three cycles each year to 
capture the seasonality of agricultural employment. Workers are located 
and sampled at their work sites. During the initial contact, 
arrangements are made to interview the respondent at home or at another 
convenient location. Currently, approximately 4,000 interviews are 
obtained each year.
    The NAWS presently includes a primary questionnaire and four 
supplements (youth, parent, injury, and health). Beginning with the 
October 2003 interview cycle, the Department proposes to discontinue 
the youth, parent and occupational health supplements.
    The youth and parent supplements were implemented in fiscal year 
2000 as part of the Department's Child Labor Initiative. They were 
designed to collect information on the demographic and employment 
conditions of youth farm workers and on the barriers to education 
experienced by the children of farm workers.
    Having collected four years of data under this initiative, the 
Department will evaluate the effectiveness of these instruments and 
methodology for obtaining information on youth crop workers. The 
Department therefore proposes to discontinue the youth and parent 
supplements at this time.
    The occupational health supplement was designed to assess the 
health status of hired crop farm workers. Funded by the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH), the supplement was implemented in fiscal 
year 1999 to satisfy research priorities emanating from the 
Agricultural Occupational Safety and Health Initiative. CDC/NIOSH is 
proposing to exclude the occupational health supplement in fiscal year 
2004. This would provide an opportunity for NIOSH to more thoroughly 
examine previously collected data and to evaluate the need for updating 
or modifying the supplement for future inclusion.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments regarding the 
ongoing primary questionnaire and occupational injury supplement, and 
the discontinuance of the youth, parent and occupational health 
supplements. The questionnaires are described below.

The NAWS Primary Questionnaire (ongoing)

    The primary instrument is administered to crop agricultural workers 
14 years and older. It contains a household grid, where the education 
level and migration history of each member of the respondent's 
household is recorded, and an employment grid, where a full year of 
employment and geographic movement of the respondent is detailed. It 
also contains sections on income, assets, legal status, use of public 
services, and experience working with and training on the safe use of 
pesticides.
    The employment grid includes the task and crop for agricultural 
jobs, type and amount of non-agricultural work, periods of unemployment 
and time spent outside the U.S., and the respondent's location for 
every week of the year preceding the interview. For the respondent's 
current job, the NAWS collects information on wages and payment method 
(piece or hourly), health insurance, workers' compensation and 
unemployment insurance, housing arrangements, and other benefits and 
working conditions.
    The demographic information collected include age, gender, place of 
birth, marital status, language ability, education and training, and 
family history working in U.S. agriculture.

The Occupational Injury Supplement (ongoing)

    This CDC/NIOSH-sponsored supplement has been in place since fiscal 
year 1999. It is administered to all NAWS respondents who had a 
qualifying occupational injury in U.S. agriculture in the 12-month 
period before the date of interview. For each qualifying injury, the 
respondent is asked how, when and where the injury occurred, the body 
part(s) injured, where medical treatment was received, how the 
treatment was paid for, and the number of days the respondent couldn't 
work or worked at a reduced activity level.

The Youth Supplement (To Be Discontinued)

    This supplement contains additional labor and education components 
and is administered to NAWS respondents ages 14 to 18.
    The labor component solicits the respondent's age when he/she first 
went to an agricultural field in the U.S. (for any reason), and the age 
when he/she first worked or assisted a relative in a field. The method 
of payment, if any, for the first working or helping experience in the 
field is also recorded. This supplement also asks the youth respondent 
about any implements and equipment used while doing farm work.
    The education component solicits school and attendance information 
for the 12-month period preceding the date of interview. For those 
youth who did not attend any school in the previous 12 months, the 
following information is obtained: the date of last attendance, type 
and location of school, reasons for no longer attending, and 
educational aspirations in the U.S.

The Parent Supplement (To Be Discontinued)

    Type of Review: Revision.
    Agency: Office of the Secretary.
    Title: National Agricultural Workers Survey.
    OMB Number: 1225-0044.
    Affected Public: Farm workers and farm employers.
    Total Respondents: 5,500 (4,000 farm workers will receive an 
interview and 1,500 employers will be briefly interviewed to ascertain 
the location of the potential worker respondents).
    Time per Response: 20 minutes for employers; 60 minutes for 
workers.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4,536 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): $0.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice 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: August 5, 2003.
Roland G. Droitsch,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy.
[FR Doc. 03-20243 Filed 8-7-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-23-P