[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 3, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5791-5792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02029]


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LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION


Request for Comments--Agricultural Worker Population Data for 
Basic Field--Migrant Grants

AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) provides special 
population grants to effectively and efficiently fund civil legal aid 
services to address the legal needs of agricultural workers and their 
dependents through grants entitled ``Basic Field--Migrant.'' The 
funding for these grants is based on data regarding the eligible client 
population to be served. LSC has obtained from the U.S. Department of 
Labor new data regarding this population that are more current than the 
data LSC has been using and that better reflect the population to be 
served. LSC seeks comments on a proposal to (1) use the new data for 
grants beginning in January 2016, (2) phase in the funding changes to 
provide intermediate funding halfway between the old and new levels for 
2016 and to fully implement the new levels for 2017, and (3) update the 
data every three years on the same cycle as LSC updates poverty 
population data from the U.S. Census Bureau for the distribution of 
LSC's Basic Field--General grants.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by March 20, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Written comments must be submitted to Mark Freedman, Senior 
Assistant General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K St. NW., 
Washington, DC 20007; 202-295-1623 (phone); 202-337-6519 (fax); 
[email protected]. Electronic submissions are preferred via email with 
attachments in Acrobat PDF format. Written comments sent to any other 
address or received after the end of the comment period may not be 
considered by LSC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Freedman, Senior Assistant 
General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K St. NW., 
Washington, DC 20007; 202-295-1623 (phone); 202-337-6519 (fax); 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Legal Services Corporation (``LSC'' or

[[Page 5792]]

``Corporation'') was established through the LSC Act ``for the purpose 
of providing financial support for legal assistance in noncriminal 
matters or proceedings to persons financially unable to afford such 
assistance.'' 42 U.S.C. 2996b(a). LSC performs this function primarily 
through distributing funding appropriated by Congress to independent 
civil legal aid programs providing legal services to low-income persons 
throughout the United States and its possessions and territories. 42 
U.S.C. 2996e(a)(1)(A). LSC designates geographic service areas and 
structures grants to support services to the entire eligible population 
in a service area or to a specified subpopulation of eligible clients. 
45 CFR 1634.2(c) & (d), 1634.3(b). LSC awards these grants through a 
competitive process. 45 CFR part 1634. Congress has mandated that LSC 
``insure that grants and contracts are made so as to provide the most 
economical and effective delivery of legal assistance to persons in 
both urban and rural areas.'' 42 U.S.C. 2996f(a)(3).
    Throughout the United States and U.S. territories, LSC provides 
Basic Field--General grants to support legal services for eligible 
clients. LSC provides funding for those grants on a per-capita basis 
using the poverty population as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau 
every three years. Pub. L. 104-134, tit. V, 501(a), 110 Stat. 1321, 
1321-50 (1996), as amended by Pub. L. 113-6, div. B, tit. IV, 127 Stat. 
198, 268 (2013) (LSC funding formula adopted in 1996, incorporated by 
reference in LSC's appropriations thereafter, and amended in 2013). 
Since its establishment in 1974, LSC has also provided subpopulation 
grants to support legal services for the needs of agricultural workers 
through Basic Field--Migrant grants under the authority of the LSC Act 
to structure grants for the most economic and effective delivery of 
legal assistance. 42 U.S.C. 2996f(a)(3). Congress amended the LSC Act 
in 1977 to require that LSC conduct a study of the special legal needs 
of various subpopulations, including migrant or seasonal farm workers, 
and develop and implement appropriate means of addressing those needs. 
42 U.S.C. 2996f(h). LSC's study, issued in 1979, concluded that 
specialized legal expertise and knowledge were needed to address the 
distinctive ``unmet special legal problems'' that migrant and seasonal 
farmworkers shared because of their status as farmworkers. Legal 
Services Corporation, Special Legal Problems and Problems of Access to 
Legal Services of Veterans, Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers, Native 
Americans, People, with Limited English-Speaking Ability, and 
Individuals in Sparsely Populated Areas, 1979.
    LSC provides funding for Basic Field--Migrant grants on a per-
capita basis by determining the size of the subpopulation and 
separating that population from the overall poverty population for the 
applicable geographic area or areas. LSC expects programs receiving 
these grants to serve the legal needs of a broad range of eligible 
agricultural workers and their dependents who have specialized legal 
needs that are most effectively and efficiently served through a 
dedicated grant program. LSC currently uses data regarding migrant and 
seasonal farmworkers, and their families, from the early 1990s, with 
some adjustments based on changes in the general poverty population. 
These data are no longer current and do not reflect the entire 
population served by these grants.
    The United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training 
Administration (ETA) collects data regarding agricultural workers for 
federal grants serving the needs of the American agricultural worker 
population. The U.S. Census Bureau does not maintain data regarding 
agricultural workers. LSC has contracted with ETA for more current data 
regarding the agricultural worker population served by these grants. 
ETA has provided LSC with these data, including state-by-state 
breakdowns. The changes in data will result in changes in funding 
levels for these grants. A description of these data and their 
development is available at: http://www.lsc.gov/about/mattersforcomment.php.
    LSC management has proposed to the LSC Board of Directors (Board) 
that LSC use the new data for these grants as follows:
    (1) Implement the new data for calculation of these grants 
beginning in January 2016;
    (2) phase in the funding changes to provide intermediate funding 
halfway between the old and new levels for 2016 and to fully implement 
the new levels for 2017;
    (3) update the data every three years on the same cycle as LSC 
updates poverty population data from the U.S. Census Bureau for the 
distribution of LSC's Basic Field--General grants.
    LSC Management presented this proposal to the Board's Operations 
and Regulations Committee (Committee) on January 22, 2015. The 
Committee then recommended Management's proposal to the full board on 
January 24, 2015. The Board adopted the recommendation of Management 
and the Committee that LSC publish this notice of Management's proposal 
in the Federal Register for comment. The Committee will meet to 
consider all comments received and make a recommendation to the Board 
for a final decision.
    LSC management's proposal and related documents are available at: 
http://www.lsc.gov/about/mattersforcomment.php.
    LSC invites public comment on this issue. Interested parties may 
submit comments to LSC before the deadline stated above.

    Dated: January 29, 2015.
Stefanie K. Davis,
Assistant General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-02029 Filed 2-2-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7050-01-P