[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 16, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31279-31281]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10370]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Program Year (PY) 
2023 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 167, 
National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) Grantee Allotments

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces allotments for Program Year (PY) 2023 
for the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP).

DATES: The PY 2023 NFJP allotments become effective for the grant 
period that begins July 1, 2023. Written comments on this notice are 
invited and must be received on May 30, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments are accepted via email to [email protected]. Please 
enter ``PY23 National Farmworker Jobs Program Grantee Allotments Public 
Comment'' in the subject line of the email.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Rietzke, Chief, Division of 
National Programs, Tools and Technical Assistance, Office of Workforce 
Investment, at 202-693-3980. (This is not a toll-free number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published pursuant to Section 
182(d) of the WIOA, Prompt Allotment of Funds.

I. Background

    The Department is announcing preliminary PY 2023 allotments for the 
NFJP. This notice provides information on the amount of funds available 
during PY 2023 to state service areas awarded through the PY 2020 
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the NFJP Career Services and 
Training and Housing Grants. The allotments are based on the funds 
appropriated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 
117-328 (from this point forward will be referred to as the ``the 
Act'').
    In appropriating these funds, Congress provided $90,134,000 for 
formula grants (of which $90,032,000 was allotted after $102,000 was 
set aside for program integrity), $6,591,000 for migrant and seasonal 
farmworker housing (of which $6,584,000 was allotted after $7,000 was 
set aside for program integrity and of which not less than 70 percent 
shall be for permanent housing), and another $671,000 was set aside for 
discretionary purposes. The Housing grant allotments are distributed as 
a result of a competition and according to language in the 
appropriations law requiring that of the total amount available, not 
less than 70 percent shall be allocated to permanent housing 
activities, leaving not more than 30 percent to temporary housing 
activities.
    This notice includes the following sections:
     Section II of this notice provides a discussion of the 
data used to populate the formula.
     Section III describes the hold-harmless provision for the 
implementation year.
     Section IV describes minimum funding provisions to address 
State service areas that would receive less than $60,000.
     Section V describes the application of the formula and the 
hold-harmless provision using preliminary state allotments for PY 2023.

II. Description of Data Files and Allotment Formula

    As with all state planning estimates since 1999, the PY 2023 
estimates are based on four data sources: (1) State-level, 2017 hired 
farm labor expenditure data from the United States Department of 
Agriculture's (USDA) Census of Agriculture (COA); (2) regional-level, 
2017 average hourly earnings data from the USDA's Farm Labor Survey; 
(3) regional-level, 2010-2018 demographic data from the ETA's National

[[Page 31280]]

Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS); and, (4) 2015-2019 (5-year file) 
data from the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey 
(ACS).
    The formula's original methodology is described in the Federal 
Register notice 64 FR 27390, May 19, 1999. In PY 2018, ETA incorporated 
two modifications to the allotment formula to provide more accurate 
estimates of each state service area's relative share of persons 
eligible for the program. The formula also used updated data from each 
of the four data files serving as the basis of the formula since 1999. 
The revised formula methodology is described in the Federal Register 
notice 83 FR 32151, July 11, 2018. In PY 2021, ETA incorporated two 
modifications to the allotment formula. These modifications are 
described in Federal Register notice 86 FR 32063, June 16, 2021. The 
Federal Register notices are accessible at https://www.federalregister.gov/.
    The Department will continue to apply the modifications that were 
incorporated in the PY 2021 allotments to the PY 2023 allotments, 
including the expansion to include farmworkers who are in families with 
total family incomes at or below 150 percent of the poverty line rather 
than the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the lower living 
standard income level. ETA will subsequently revise the PY 2024 
guidance regarding the definition of ``low-income individual'' as 
needed if the same provision is not included in subsequent 
appropriations.

III. Description of the Hold-Harmless Provision

    ETA will continue the hold-harmless provision as instituted in PY 
2018. The hold-harmless provision provides for a stop loss/stop gain 
limit to transition to the use of the updated data. This approach is 
based on a state service area's previous year's allotment percentage, 
which is its relative share of the total formula allotments. The stop 
gain provision provides that no state service area will receive an 
amount that is more than 150 percent of their previous year's allotment 
percentage. The staged transition of the hold-harmless provision is as 
follows:

    (1) In PY 2021, each state service area received an amount equal 
to at least 95 percent of their PY 2020 allotment percentage, as 
applied to the PY 2021 formula funds available.
    (2) In PY 2022, each state service area received an amount equal 
to at least 90 percent of their PY 2021 allotment percentage, as 
applied to the PY 2022 formula funds available.
    (3) In PY 2023, each state service area will receive an amount 
equal to at least 85 percent of their PY 2022 allotment percentage, 
as applied to the PY 2023 formula funds available.

    In PY 2024, 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 that 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 that 
would receive less than $60,000 may be combined with another adjacent 
state area.

V. Program Year 2023 Preliminary State 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 2022, $88,160,000 was allotted for career services and 
training grants, $6,447,000 was allotted for housing grants, and 
$657,000 was retained for other discretionary purposes.
    For PY 2023, the funding level provided for in the Act for the 
migrant and seasonal farmworker program is $97,396,000. Congress 
provided $90,134,000 for formula grants (of which $90,032,000 was 
allotted after $102,000 was set aside for program integrity), 
$6,591,000 for migrant and seasonal farmworker housing (of which 
$6,584,000 was allotted after $7,000 was set aside for program 
integrity and of which not less than 70 percent shall be for permanent 
housing), and another $671,000 was set aside for other discretionary 
purposes.
    For purposes of illustrating the effects of the updates to the 
allotment formula, columns 2 and 3 show the state allotments with the 
application of the 90 percent hold-harmless for PY 2022 and 85 percent 
hold-harmless for PY 2023. The dollar difference between PY 2022 and PY 
2023 allotments is shown in column 4. The percent difference is 
reported in column 5.

Brent Parton,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training, Labor.

   U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, National Farmworker Jobs Program--Career
                                          Services and Training Grants
                                         [PY 2023 Allotments to States]
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                                                    PY 2022 90%     PY 2023 85%
                      State                        StopLoss/150%   StopLoss/150%   $ Difference    % Difference
                                                     StopGain        StopGain
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Total...........................................     $88,160,000     $90,032,000      $1,872,000            2.12
Alabama.........................................         776,212         800,937          24,725            3.19
Alaska..........................................  ..............  ..............  ..............            0.00
Arizona.........................................       2,553,478       2,634,816          81,338            3.19
Arkansas........................................       1,265,495       1,305,806          40,311            3.19
California......................................      23,164,574      23,902,460         737,886            3.19
Colorado........................................       1,763,318       1,819,486          56,168            3.19
Connecticut.....................................         531,602         548,535          16,933            3.19
Delaware........................................         163,949         169,171           5,222            3.19
Dist of Columbia................................  ..............  ..............  ..............            0.00
Florida.........................................       3,328,614       3,266,891        (61,723)           -1.85
Georgia.........................................       1,756,823       1,812,785          55,962            3.19

[[Page 31281]]

 
Hawaii..........................................         284,832         247,248        (37,584)          -13.20
Idaho...........................................       2,327,447       2,401,585          74,138            3.19
Illinois........................................       1,939,999       2,001,796          61,797            3.19
Indiana.........................................       1,303,529       1,345,052          41,523            3.19
Iowa............................................       1,863,100       1,922,448          59,348            3.19
Kansas..........................................       1,318,690       1,360,695          42,005            3.19
Kentucky........................................         923,511         864,671        (58,840)           -6.37
Louisiana.......................................         829,992         856,431          26,439            3.19
Maine...........................................         432,739         446,523          13,784            3.19
Maryland........................................         552,597         570,199          17,602            3.19
Massachusetts...................................         543,815         561,137          17,322            3.19
Michigan........................................       2,199,069       2,269,118          70,049            3.19
Minnesota.......................................       1,668,177       1,721,315          53,138            3.19
Mississippi.....................................         924,370         953,815          29,445            3.19
Missouri........................................       1,293,215       1,334,410          41,195            3.19
Montana.........................................         741,784         765,413          23,629            3.19
Nebraska........................................       1,322,506       1,364,634          42,128            3.19
Nevada..........................................         237,476         245,041           7,565            3.19
New Hampshire...................................         154,787         159,717           4,930            3.19
New Jersey......................................         816,449         842,456          26,007            3.19
New Mexico......................................       1,132,485       1,168,559          36,074            3.19
New York........................................       2,300,453       2,373,732          73,279            3.19
North Carolina..................................       2,333,344       2,179,435       (153,909)           -6.60
North Dakota....................................         780,688         805,556          24,868            3.19
Ohio............................................       1,524,192       1,572,744          48,552            3.19
Oklahoma........................................         928,725         958,308          29,583            3.19
Oregon..........................................       2,340,449       2,415,002          74,553            3.19
Pennsylvania....................................       1,868,860       1,928,391          59,531            3.19
Puerto Rico.....................................       2,140,963       2,112,901        (28,062)           -1.31
Rhode Island....................................          68,784          70,975           2,191            3.19
South Carolina..................................         717,495         718,772           1,277            0.18
South Dakota....................................         706,000         728,488          22,488            3.19
Tennessee.......................................         791,308         686,894       (104,414)          -13.20
Texas...........................................       4,671,373       4,788,352         116,979            2.50
Utah............................................         693,559         715,651          22,092            3.19
Vermont.........................................         217,113         224,029           6,916            3.19
Virginia........................................         886,698         811,392        (75,306)           -8.49
Washington......................................       4,783,367       4,935,737         152,370            3.19
West Virginia...................................         137,443         119,307        (18,136)          -13.20
Wisconsin.......................................       1,823,100       1,881,174          58,074            3.19
Wyoming.........................................         331,452         342,010          10,558            3.19
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[FR Doc. 2023-10370 Filed 5-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P