[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 104 (Thursday, May 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32460-32461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-12851]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Comment Request for Information Collection for ETA Form 232, 
Domestic Agricultural In-Season Wage Report and ETA Form 232-A, Wage 
Survey Interview Record, Extension with Revisions

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a 
preclearance consultation program 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 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps 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, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection of 
data about ETA Form 232, Domestic Agricultural In-Season Wage Report 
and ETA Form 232-A, Wage Survey Interview Record, OMB Control No. 1205-
0017, both of which expire July 31, 2013. These forms are used by the 
State Workforce Agencies to collect wage information from agricultural 
employers.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the

[[Page 32461]]

addresses section below on or before July 29, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to William L. Carlson, Ph.D., 
Administrator, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, Room C-4312, 
Employment & Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone number: 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). Fax: 202-693-2768. Email: [email protected] 
subject line: ETA-232/232-A. A copy of the proposed information 
collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the office 
listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The information collection is required by the Wagner-Peyser Act, 
codified at 20 CFR part 653, which covers the requirements for the 
acceptance and handling of intrastate and interstate job clearance 
orders seeking workers to perform agricultural or food processing work 
on a less than year-round basis. Section 653.501 states, in pertinent 
part, that employers must assure that the ``wages and working 
conditions are not less than the prevailing wages and working 
conditions among similarly employed agricultural workers in the area of 
intended employment or the applicable Federal or State minimum wage, 
whichever is higher.''
    The collection is also required by regulations for the temporary 
employment of alien agricultural workers in the United States (20 CFR, 
part 655, subpart B) promulgated under section 218 of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (INA) as amended, which require employers to pay 
the workers at least the adverse effect wage rate in effect at the time 
the work is performed, the prevailing hourly wage rate, the agreed upon 
collective bargaining wage or the legal federal or State minimum wage 
rate, whichever is highest unless special procedures apply to the 
occupation. See 20 CFR 655.120(a).
    The vehicle for establishing the prevailing wage rate is ETA Form 
232, The Domestic Agricultural In-Season Wage Report. This Report 
contains the prevailing wage finding based on data collected by the 
States from employers in a specific crop area using the ETA Form 232-A, 
Wage Survey Interview Record.
    In addition, the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) collect 
information from agricultural employers to determine prevailing, 
normal, accepted or common employment practices for a specific 
occupational classification. The burden information for these 
prevailing practice determinations is currently accounted for in OMB 
Control Number 1205-0457, in which the SWAs report their overall 
activities to ETA for grant making purposes. However, ETA believes that 
the work required to determine the prevailing practice in an area of 
employment most logically correlates to the process used to determine 
the prevailing wages in an area of employment. Therefore, the 
Department is proposing to move that burden from OMB Control Number 
1205-0457 to OMB Control Number 1205-0017 and has accounted for the 
burden in this collection.

II. Review Focus

    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

    In order to meet its statutory responsibilities under the INA, the 
Department needs to extend an existing collection of information 
pertaining to wage rates for various crop activities.
    Type of Review: Revision
    Title: Domestic Agricultural In-Season Wage Report and Wage Survey 
Interview Record
    OMB Number: 1205-0017 and 1205-0457.
    Affected Public: Private sector business or other for-profits and 
farms; and State, local, or tribal Governments.
    Form(s): ETA-232 and ETA-232-A
    Total Annual Respondents: 24,662
    Annual Frequency: 129
    Total Annual Responses: 27,658
    Average Time per Response: 35 minutes
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 16,227
    Total Annual Burden Cost for Respondents: 0
    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.

    Dated: Signed in Washington, DC, on this 23rd day of May, 2013.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2013-12851 Filed 5-29-13; 8:45 am]
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