[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 229 (Friday, November 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66884-66885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29665]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Average time
        Form/activity               Total          Frequency           Total       per response       Burden
                                 respondents                         responses        (hours)         (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ETA-232......................             600  Annually.........             600              11            6600

[[Page 66885]]

 
ETA-232-A....................          38,805  Annually.........          38,805           \1/4\           9,701
                              -----------------
    Totals...................  ..............  .................          39,405  ..............          16,301
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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