[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23937-23940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10955]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Program Year (PY) 
2018 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 167, 
National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) Proposed Modifications to 
Allotment Formula

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

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ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces proposed modifications to the allotment 
formula for the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), authorized 
under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Section 167, 
and a presentation of preliminary State planning estimates for Program 
Year (PY) 2018. These planning estimates are based on the enacted NFJP 
funding appropriation in the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2018.

DATES: The PY 2018 NFJP allotments become effective July 1, 2018.
    Written comments on this notice are invited and must be received on 
or before May 30, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Questions on this notice can be submitted to the Employment 
and Training Administration, Office of Workforce Investment, 200 
Constitution Ave, NW, Room C4510, Washington, DC 20210, Attention: 
Laura Iba[ntilde]ez, Unit Chief, (202) 693-3645 or Steven Rietzke, 
Division Chief at (202) 693-3912.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Iba[ntilde]ez, Unit Chief, at 
(202) 693-3645 or Steven Rietzke, Division Chief, at (202) 693-3912.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published pursuant to Section 
182(d) of the WIOA, Prompt Allotment of Funds.
    The formula was developed for the purpose of distributing funds 
geographically by State service area, on the basis of each State 
service area's relative share of persons eligible for the program. The 
formula's methodology was described in detail in a notice that was 
published in the Federal Register on May 19, 1999 (64 FR 27390), which 
is accessible at https://www.federalregister.gov/. Beginning with PY 
2018, ETA proposes three modifications to the allotment formula which, 
if implemented, will result in more accurate estimates of each State 
service area's relative share of persons eligible for the program. In 
addition, new data from each of the four data files that have been the 
basis of the formula since 1999 will be used.
    The proposed formula modifications are the result of ETA's review 
of the formula in the context of the NFJP-eligible population and farm 
labor market changes, and feedback that ETA received from NFJP grantees 
following informational webinars that ETA hosted on February 23, 2017 
and April 27, 2017.
    Section II of this notice provides for public comment a discussion 
of the updated data files that will be used to populate the formula and 
the proposed formula modifications.
    Section III describes a hold-harmless provision which is proposed 
to be put into place for the implementation year and the following 
years. The hold-harmless provision is designed to provide a staged 
transition from old to new shares of funding for State service areas.
    Section IV describes proposed minimum funding provisions to address 
State service areas which would receive less than $60,000.
    Section V describes the proposed application of the formula and the 
hold-harmless provision using preliminary planning estimates for PY 
2018.
    This notice represents the first of a two-stage process. Upon 
receipt of public comments regarding this notice, changes to the 
proposed formula modifications and preliminary planning estimates will 
be considered. In the second stage, the final formula and final 
allotment levels will be published in the Federal Register.

I. Background

    The proposed formula modifications are the result of ETA's review 
of the formula in the context of the NFJP-eligible population and farm 
labor market changes, and feedback that ETA received from NFJP 
grantees.

II. Description of Updated Data Files and Proposed Modifications to the 
Allotment Formula

    As with all State planning estimates since 1999, the PY 2018 
estimates will be based on four data sources: (1) State-level, 2012 
hired farm labor expenditure data from the United States Department of 
Agriculture's (USDA) Census of Agriculture (COA); (2) regional-level, 
2012 average hourly earnings data from the USDA's Farm Labor Survey 
(FLS); (3) regional-level, 2006-2014 demographic data from the ETA's 
National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS); and, (4) 2010-2014 (5-year 
file) data from the United States Census Bureau's American Community 
Survey. A detailed description of how each data source is used within 
the formula is in the May 19, 1999 FRN (pages 27396 to 27399).
    In addition to populating the formula with more recent data, three 
modifications are being proposed. The first two are `back-out' 
adjustments to the COA hired labor expenditures (Wage Bill) to account 
for: (1) Unemployment Insurance (UI) payroll tax payments made on 
behalf of farm workers; and (2) expenditures on H-2A workers. The third 
modification aligns the allotment formula with the definition of 
dependent under WIOA Section 167(i)(2)(B) and (3)(B) to account for 
dependents of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MSFW) in each State's 
share of the total eligible population.
    These proposed modifications more accurately estimate each State's 
share of the NFJP-eligible population. Modification 1 removes non-wages 
from COA farm labor expenditures. UI payroll tax payments, which vary 
by State, are not wages. Modification 2 removes labor expenditures on 
H-2A workers from COA farm labor expenditures to align the allotment 
formula with the NFJP-eligible population. H-2A workers may only be 
provided emergency services. Modification 3 accounts for eligible 
dependents ages 14 and over of eligible MSFWs in each State's share of 
the total NFJP-eligible population.\1\
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    \1\ NAWS is administered to focus on crop workers age 14 and 
over, which also aligns with the age criteria for NFJP eligible 
dependents.
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    Under Modification 1, 2012 data from the Quarterly Census of 
Employment and Wages are used to adjust COA farm labor expenditures. 
This is accomplished by: (1) Summing, for each State, four quarters of 
employer UI contributions, separately for crop agriculture (Crop 
Production (NAICS 111) and Support Activities for Crop Production 
(NAICS 1151)) and animal agriculture (Animal Production (NAICS 112) and 
Support Activities for Animal Production (NAICS 1152)); and (2) 
subtracting the UI taxes from each State's COA farm labor expenditures 
in these sectors.
    For the 48 States, UI payroll tax payments (contributions) in crop 
agriculture totaled $469,020,138, or 2.02 percent of COA hired and 
contract labor expenditures in crop agriculture of $23,257,671,553.\2\ 
UI contributions in crop agriculture ranged from $210,085 in Delaware 
to $237,819,454 in California. In animal agriculture, UI contributions 
totaled $76,014,437, or 0.75 percent of COA hired and contract labor 
expenditures in animal agriculture of $10,190,832,196. UI contributions 
in animal agriculture ranged from $50,614

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in Delaware to $12,559,739 in California.
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    \2\ The proposed formula modifications cannot be applied to 
Alaska and Hawaii because the formula itself is not used to 
determine Alaska's and Hawaii's share of the NFJP allocation. 
According to the December 22, 1998 and May 19, 1999 Federal Register 
Notices, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, are treated differently 
due to the absence of one or more of the four data sources that are 
available for the ``conterminous 48 States.'' Therefore, ETA does 
not `back out' Unemployment Insurance payroll taxes or H-2A labor 
expenditures from Alaska's and Hawaii's labor expenditures because 
labor expenditures are not used to determine Alaska's and Hawaii's 
allocation.
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    For Modification 2, 2012 data from ETA's Office of Foreign Labor 
Certification's H-2A case disclosure file are used to adjust 2012 COA 
hired labor expenditures to account for expenditures on H-2A workers. 
This is accomplished by: (1) Calculating the wages paid to H-2A workers 
in each State, separately for crop and animal agriculture; and (2) 
subtracting the resulting H-2A wages from each State's COA hired farm 
labor expenditures for crop and animal agriculture.
    For the 48 States, H-2A wages in crop agriculture totaled 
$568,898,447, or 2.45 percent of COA hired and contract labor 
expenditures in crop agriculture of $23,257,671,553. H-2A wages in crop 
agriculture ranged from $23,452 in Rhode Island to $66,982,024 in North 
Carolina. In animal agriculture H-2A wages totaled $37,431,699, or 0.37 
percent of COA hired and contract labor expenditures in animal 
agriculture of $10,190,832,196. H-2A wages in animal agriculture ranged 
from $0 (12 States) to $9,867,520 in Louisiana.
    In Modification 3, four steps are taken to include eligible 
dependents of eligible MSFWs in each state's share of the total NFJP-
eligible crop worker population. First, utilizing the methodology to 
estimate each State's number (people-denominated index) of NFJP-
eligible crop workers, each State's number of MSFW-eligible crop 
workers is estimated. Next, the average number of eligible dependents 
per eligible MSFW is estimated for each of the 12 NAWS sampling 
regions. In step three, the average number of eligible dependents per 
eligible MSFW (the result from step 2) for each of the 12 NAWS sampling 
regions is applied to the corresponding States in the region and then 
multiplied by the corresponding State's estimated number of eligible 
MSFWs (from step 1) to obtain each State's number of eligible 
dependents of eligible MSFWs. In the fourth and final step, each 
State's estimated number of eligible dependents is added to the State's 
estimated number of NFJP-eligible crop workers to obtain each State's 
total eligible (crop-worker plus dependents) population and share of 
the national eligible population.
    Unlike Modifications 1 and 2, which pertain to both crop and animal 
agricultural worker estimates, Modification 3 can only be applied to 
the eligible population in crop agriculture. There is no national-level 
survey data on the demographic characteristics of animal agricultural 
workers to estimate the number of eligible dependents of eligible 
animal agricultural workers.\3\
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    \3\ Modification 3 is only applied to crop workers. ETA's NAWS, 
which is a survey of hired crop workers, is the source used in step 
2 of this modification to estimate the average number of eligible 
dependents per eligible MSFW for each of the 12 NAWS sampling 
regions.
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III. Description of the Hold-Harmless Provision

    For PY 2018, 2019, and 2020, the Department intends to apply a 
hold-harmless provision to the allotment formula in order to allow a 
staged transition from the application of the previous formula to the 
modified formula. The hold-harmless provision provides for a stop loss/
stop gain limit to transition to the use of the updated data. Due to 
the length of time since the data has been updated, it is anticipated 
there may be significant changes for a few states, necessitating the 
stop loss/stop gain approach. The stop loss/stop gain approach is based 
on a State service area's previous year's allotment percentage share, 
which is its relative share of the total formula allotments. The staged 
transition of the hold-harmless provision is proposed specifically as 
follows:
    (1) In PY 2018, State service areas will receive an amount equal to 
at least 95 percent of their PY 2017 allotment percentage share, as 
applied to the PY 2018 formula funds available;
    (2) In PY 2019, State service areas will receive an amount equal to 
at least 90 percent of their PY 2018 allotment percentage share, as 
applied to the PY 2019 formula funds available;
    (3) In PY 2020, State service areas will receive an amount equal to 
at least 85 percent of their PY 2019 allotment percentage share, as 
applied to the PY 2020 formula funds available.
    In PY 2018, 2019, and 2020, the hold-harmless provision also 
provides that no State service area will receive an amount that is more 
than 150 percent of their previous year's allotment percentage share.
    In PY 2021, since the Department has a responsibility to use the 
most current and reliable data available, amounts for the new awards 
will be based on updated data from the sources described in Section II, 
pending their availability. At that time, the Department will determine 
whether the changes to State allotments are significant enough to 
warrant another hold-harmless provision. Otherwise, allotments to each 
State service area will be for an amount resulting from a direct 
allotment of the proposed funding formula without adjustment.

IV. Minimum Funding Provisions

    A State area which would receive less than $60,000 by application 
of the formula will, at the option of the DOL, receive no allotment or, 
if practical, be combined with another adjacent State area. Funding 
below $60,000 is deemed insufficient for sustaining an independently 
administered program. However, if practical, a State jurisdiction which 
would receive less than $60,000 may be combined with another adjacent 
State area.

V. Program Year 2018 Preliminary Allotments

    The state allotments set forth in the Table appended to this notice 
reflect the distribution resulting from the allotment formula described 
above. For PY 2017, $81,896,000 was appropriated for migrant and 
seasonal farmworker programs, of which $75,505,575 was allotted on the 
basis of the old formula after $379,425 was set aside for program 
integrity. The remaining $5,489,415 of the PY 2017 appropriation was 
retained to fund housing grants after $27,585 was set aside for program 
integrity, and $494,000 was retained for Training and Technical 
Assistance. The figures in the first numerical column show the actual 
PY 2017 formula allotments to State service areas. The next column 
shows the percentage of each allotment.
    For PY 2018, the funding level provided for in the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2018 for the migrant and seasonal farmworker 
program is $81,203,000 and will be allotted on the basis of the 
proposed formula. For purposes of illustrating the effects of the 
proposed allotment formula, the State service area allotments with the 
application of the first-year (95 percent) hold-harmless and minimum 
funding provisions, followed by the percentages, are shown in columns 3 
and 4. The difference between PY 2017 and PY 2018 allotments are shown 
in column 5. The sixth column of the Table shows the allotments based 
on the proposed formula without the application of the hold-harmless or 
minimum funding provisions. The percentages are reported in column 7.

Rosemary Lahasky,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
 BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN23MY18.004

[FR Doc. 2018-10955 Filed 5-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-FN-C