[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 228 (Monday, November 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62603-62604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-28447]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Comment Request for Information Collection for the National 
Agricultural Workers Survey, OMB Control No. 1205-0453; Extension With 
Revisions

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

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 Employment and Training Administration is soliciting 
comments concerning the continued collection of data about hired farm 
workers via the National Agricultural Workers Survey. Office of 
Management and Budget authorization for the current questionnaire will 
expire on March 31, 2010.
    A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be 
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section 
of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee's section below on or before January 29, 2010.

ADDRESSEE: Submit written comments to Mr. Daniel Carroll, Room N-5641, 
Employment and Training Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone number: 202-693-2795 (this is not a 
toll-free number). Fax: 202-693-2766. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Department of Labor 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 employment, demographic, 
and health characteristics of hired crop farm workers. It is the only 
national-level data source for this information.
    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.
    The NAWS samples hired crop farm workers in three cycles each year 
to capture the seasonality of agricultural employment. Workers are 
randomly sampled at their work sites. Depending on the information 
needs and resources of the various Federal agencies that use NAWS data, 
between 1,500 and 4,000 workers are interviewed each year.
    The primary NAWS questionnaire routinely provides a standard set of 
information on the employment, demographic, and health characteristics 
of hired crop workers. When new information is required, Federal 
agencies add supplemental collection instruments to the NAWS.

Changes to the Primary Questionnaire

    In fiscal years 2005 through 2009, the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) added four questions to the primary instrument that were 
administered to all respondents who reported having mixed, loaded, or 
applied pesticides in the previous twelve months. The questions 
solicited: (1) The type of material(s) the respondent handled, (2) the 
last time each material was handled, (3) the crop the respondent was 
working on when last handling each material, and (4) the number of days 
the material was handled. These four questions have been removed from 
the questionnaire. The EPA will analyze the data and determine if the 
questions need to be revised and reinserted in the future.

[[Page 62604]]

II. Review Focus

    The Department of Labor is particularly interested in comments 
which:
    * 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 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.

III. Current Actions

    Type of Review: Extension with Changes.
    Title: National Agricultural Workers Survey.
    OMB Number: 1205-0453.
    Affected Public: Individuals, Farms.
    Form(s): Primary Questionnaire; Injury Supplement.
    Total Respondents: 2,003.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Total Responses: 2,003.
    Average Time per Response: 48.7 minutes.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,625.
    Total Burden Cost for Respondents: $0.
    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 17, 2009.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-28447 Filed 11-27-09; 8:45 am]
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