[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18267-18268]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-7288]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Comment Request for Extension of Information Collection With 
Revisions: Foreign Labor Certification Quarterly Activity Report

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: 60-Day notice of information collection under review: ETA Form 
9127, Foreign Labor Certification Quarterly Activity Report; OMB 
Control Number 1205-0457.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a 
pre-clearance consultation to provide the 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 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). The Department undertakes 
this consultation 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. Through this notice, the Employment and Training 
Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning the revision of 
the approved information collection, Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) Control Number 1205-0457, containing ETA Form 9127--Foreign Labor 
Certification Quarterly Activity Report and instructions. The ETA Form 
9127 solicits information from State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) who are 
recipients of foreign labor certification grants about program-related 
activities performed by SWA staff in accordance with the specific 
fiscal year annual plans. This information collection is set to expire 
on May 31, 2012.

DATES: Please submit written comments to the office listed in the 
addresses section below on or before May 29, 2012.

ADDRESSES: William L. Carlson, Ph.D., Administrator, Office of Foreign 
Labor Certification, U.S. Department of Labor, Room C-4312, 200 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20210. Comments may also be 
submitted by fax at (202) 693-2768; or by email to 
[email protected], subject line: Revised ETA Form 9127.
    A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be 
obtained by contacting the office listed above by phone at (202) 693-
3010 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with hearing or 
speech impairments may access the telephone number above via TTY by 
calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-877-889-
5627 (TTY/TDD) or by sending an email to [email protected], 
subject line: ETA Form 9127 ICR copy.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Under the foreign labor certification programs administered by ETA, 
SWAs are funded through annual reimbursable grants to conduct certain 
activities which support the processing of applications for temporary 
labor certification filed by United States (U.S.) employers seeking to 
hire foreign workers in the H-2B or H-2A visa categories to perform 
agricultural or nonagricultural services or labor. These activities 
include reviewing and transmitting through the intrastate and 
interstate job clearance systems job orders submitted by employers to 
recruit U.S. workers, conducting H-2A prevailing wage and prevailing 
practice surveys, and performing H-2A related housing inspections of 
facilities offered to agricultural workers.
    The information pertaining to the performance of these functions by 
the SWAs is currently collected on the OMB approved ETA Form 9127 and 
is used by Department staff to monitor foreign labor certification 
activities performed by SWAs. The Department is seeking to revise the 
current information collection related to the ETA Form 9127 to cover 
information collected by SWAs to determine prevailing, normal, accepted 
or common employment practices for a specific occupational 
classification by either formally surveying employers' prevailing 
practices or by conducting ``ad hoc'' surveys. 20 CFR part 655, Subpart 
B. The SWA survey information is used by the Department to ensure that 
an H-2A employer's job qualifications and requirements are consistent 
with the normal and accepted job qualifications required by employers 
who do not use H-2A workers in same or comparable occupations and 
crops, and that the H-2A employer's employment practices reflect the 
prevailing employment practices in the area of intended employment.
    This extension of the ETA Form 9127 also includes revisions to SWA 
reporting requirements which correspond to recent changes in the 
distribution of foreign labor certification activities between ETA and 
SWAs.
    Upon the approval of the extension and revisions of this currently 
approved information collection, the Department will continue to use 
the data collected to: (1) Monitor the number of job orders processed; 
and (2) Track the number of agricultural prevailing wage and practice 
surveys conducted and housing inspections made. This information is 
used for formulating budget estimates for both State and Federal 
workloads, and for monitoring a State's

[[Page 18268]]

performance against the grants and State annual plans.

II. Review Process

    The Department 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: Revision of a Currently Approved Information 
Collection.
    Title: Foreign Labor Certification Quarterly Activity Report.
    OMB Number: 1205-0457.
    Affected Public: State, local or tribal governments and private 
sector--business or other for-profits.
    Form(s): ETA Form 9127; Employment Practice Surveys.
    Total Annual Respondents: 11,054.
    Annual Frequency: Quarterly (ETA Form 9127); Annual and Ad Hoc 
(Employment Practice Surveys).
    Total Annual Responses: 11,216.
    Average Time per Response: 2 hours (ETA Form 9127); 30 minutes 
(Employment Practice Surveys).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 432 hours (ETA Form 9127); 
5,738 hours (Employment Practice Surveys).
    Total Annual Burden Cost for Respondents: $12,960 (ETA Form 9127); 
$172,125 (Employment Practice Surveys).
    Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be 
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the ICR; 
they will also become a matter of public record.

    Signed in Washington, DC, this 21st day of March 2012.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-7288 Filed 3-26-12; 8:45 am]
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