[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49234-49237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12701]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Employment and Training Administration Program Year 2024 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Section 167, National 
Farmworker Jobs Program Preliminary State Allotments

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces preliminary planning estimates for the 
National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) Career Services and Training 
grants for Program Year (PY) 2024. This Notice also explains the 
allotment process that ETA will follow in the event that it does not 
award funds to any grantee in a particular state in the PY 2024 
competition.

DATES: The PY 2024 NFJP allotments become effective for the grant 
period that begins July 1, 2024. Written comments on this notice are 
invited and must be received on June 25, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Comments are accepted via email to [email protected]. Please 
enter ``PY24 National Farmworker Jobs Program State Allotments Public 
Comment'' in the subject line of the email.
    Comments: The Department will retain all comments on this notice 
and will release them upon request via email to any member of the 
public. The Department will make copies of this notice available, upon 
request, in large print, Braille, and electronic file. The Department 
also will consider providing the notice in other formats upon request. 
To obtain the notice in an alternative format, contact the Department 
using the information provided above. The Department will retain all 
comments received without making any changes to the comments, including 
any personal information provided. The Department therefore cautions 
commenters not to include their personal information such as Social 
Security Numbers, personal addresses, telephone numbers, and email 
addresses in their comments; this information would be released with 
the comment if the comments are requested.

[[Page 49235]]

It is the commenter's responsibility to safeguard his or her 
information.

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.) If you 
are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-
1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published pursuant to Section 
182(d) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Prompt 
Allotment of Funds.

I. Background

    The Department has announced the availability of funding for NFJP 
grants through the PY 2024 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). In 
distributing funds, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) 
calculates allotments for NFJP Career Services and Training grantees 
through an administrative formula. This notice provides preliminary 
planning estimates for the NFJP Career Services and Training grants. 
The allotments are based on the funds appropriated in the Further 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, Public Law 118-47 (from this 
point forward will be referred to as the ``the Act'').
    PY 2024 funding levels, to use for planning purposes, are based on 
the full-year funding levels for this program in PY 2023 as indicated 
in Federal Register notice 88 FR 31279, May 16, 2023, pro-rated based 
on the availability of funding for NFJP formula grants in PY 2024. In 
PY 2024, Congress has provided $90,134,000 for formula grants (of which 
$90,048,000 is available for formula grants after setting aside $86,000 
for program integrity). While Congress appropriated the same amount for 
formula grants in PY 2023 and PY 2024, ETA is setting aside less 
funding in PY 2024 for program integrity. Accordingly, as noted above 
and explained further below, ETA is calculating state allotment amounts 
by pro-rating the PY 2024 allotment amounts based on the results of the 
PY 2023 formula and the updated availability of formula funding after 
set-asides in PY 2024.
    In the competition for NFJP Career Services and Training grants, if 
the Department does not receive any competitive applications from 
eligible applicants for a state, the Department does not plan to reopen 
the competition to seek prospective applicants to provide services in a 
state. In determining a course of action for a given state, the 
Department will follow the procedures described in the Funding 
Opportunity Announcement for the competition. For any state where the 
Department determines it will not award an NFJP grant under the PY 2024 
competition, it will instead redistribute the state's funds among the 
grants awarded to other state service areas, distributing funds 
proportionally based on the NFJP allotment formula results for PY 2024.
    As background, the PY 2024 appropriation also provides $6,591,000 
for migrant and seasonal farmworker housing (of which $6,585,000 was 
allotted after $6,000 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 are not the 
subject of this Notice.
    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 prorated method for allotments 
for the implementation year starting in PY 2024.
     Section IV describes minimum funding provisions to address 
State service areas that would receive less than $60,000.
     Section V provides preliminary state allotments for PY 
2024.

II. Description of Data Files and Allotment Formula

    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/.
    Like the PY 23 appropriation, the PY 24 appropriation includes the 
language expanding eligibility to 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. Because the PY 2024 allotments will be prorated 
based on the results of the PY 2023 formula, the PY 2024 allotment 
results continue to reflect modifications to the formula related to 
this expansion. ETA will subsequently revise relevant guidance 
regarding the definition of ``low-income individual'' as needed if the 
same expansion of eligibility is not included in subsequent 
appropriations.

III. Description of the Prorated Method for Allotments

    The Department will use a prorated method for PY 2024 allotments. 
For PY 2024, each state service area will receive a prorated allotment, 
which is based on their PY 2023 allotment percentage, as applied to the 
PY 2024 formula funds available. ETA anticipates updating data and 
reimplementing a staged stop loss/stop gain in PY 2026. ETA will 
explain its approach to calculating allotments in PY 2026 in a 
subsequent notice at a later date.

IV. Minimum Funding Provisions

    A state service 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 
service area. The Department has determined that funding below $60,000 
is insufficient for sustaining an independently administered program.

V. Program Year 2024 Preliminary State Allotments

    The planning estimates set forth in the Table appended to this 
notice reflect the distribution resulting from the prorated methodology 
described above.
    For purposes of illustrating the effects of using the prorated 
methodology, columns 2 and 3 show the state allotments for PY 2023 
(which incorporated an 85 percent stop loss) and prorated method for PY 
2024. The dollar difference between PY 2023 and PY 2024 allotments is 
shown in column 4. The percent difference is reported in column 5.

[[Page 49236]]



   U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, National Farmworker Jobs Program--Career
                                          Services and Training Grants
                                [Program year 2024 preliminary state allotments]
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                                                                      PY 2024
                                                    PY 2023 85%     Prorated no
                      State                         stop loss/    stop loss/stop   $ Difference    % Difference
                                                  150% stop gain       gain
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Total...........................................     $90,032,000     $90,048,000         $16,000            0.02
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.........................................         800,937         801,079             142            0.02
Alaska..........................................  ..............  ..............  ..............            0.00
Arizona.........................................       2,634,816       2,635,284             468            0.02
Arkansas........................................       1,305,806       1,306,038             232            0.02
California......................................      23,902,460      23,906,708           4,248            0.02
Colorado........................................       1,819,486       1,819,809             323            0.02
Connecticut.....................................         548,535         548,632              97            0.02
Delaware........................................         169,171         169,201              30            0.02
Dist of Columbia................................  ..............  ..............  ..............            0.00
Florida.........................................       3,266,891       3,267,472             581            0.02
Georgia.........................................       1,812,785       1,813,107             322            0.02
Hawaii..........................................         247,248         247,292              44            0.02
Idaho...........................................       2,401,585       2,402,012             427            0.02
Illinois........................................       2,001,796       2,002,152             356            0.02
Indiana.........................................       1,345,052       1,345,291             239            0.02
Iowa............................................       1,922,448       1,922,790             342            0.02
Kansas..........................................       1,360,695       1,360,937             242            0.02
Kentucky........................................         864,671         864,825             154            0.02
Louisiana.......................................         856,431         856,583             152            0.02
Maine...........................................         446,523         446,602              79            0.02
Maryland........................................         570,199         570,300             101            0.02
Massachusetts...................................         561,137         561,237             100            0.02
Michigan........................................       2,269,118       2,269,521             403            0.02
Minnesota.......................................       1,721,315       1,721,621             306            0.02
Mississippi.....................................         953,815         953,985             170            0.02
Missouri........................................       1,334,410       1,334,647             237            0.02
Montana.........................................         765,413         765,549             136            0.02
Nebraska........................................       1,364,634       1,364,877             243            0.02
Nevada..........................................         245,041         245,085              44            0.02
New Hampshire...................................         159,717         159,745              28            0.02
New Jersey......................................         842,456         842,606             150            0.02
New Mexico......................................       1,168,559       1,168,767             208            0.02
New York........................................       2,373,732       2,374,154             422            0.02
North Carolina..................................       2,179,435       2,179,822             387            0.02
North Dakota....................................         805,556         805,699             143            0.02
Ohio............................................       1,572,744       1,573,024             280            0.02
Oklahoma........................................         958,308         958,478             170            0.02
Oregon..........................................       2,415,002       2,415,431             429            0.02
Pennsylvania....................................       1,928,391       1,928,734             343            0.02
Puerto Rico.....................................       2,112,901       2,113,276             375            0.02
Rhode Island....................................          70,975          70,988              13            0.02
South Carolina..................................         718,772         718,900             128            0.02
South Dakota....................................         728,488         728,617             129            0.02
Tennessee.......................................         686,894         687,016             122            0.02
Texas...........................................       4,788,352       4,789,203             851            0.02
Utah............................................         715,651         715,778             127            0.02
Vermont.........................................         224,029         224,069              40            0.02
Virginia........................................         811,392         811,536             144            0.02
Washington......................................       4,935,737       4,936,614             877            0.02
West Virginia...................................         119,307         119,328              21            0.02
Wisconsin.......................................       1,881,174       1,881,508             334            0.02
Wyoming.........................................         342,010         342,071              61            0.02
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[[Page 49237]]

Jos[eacute] Javier Rodr[iacute]guez,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2024-12701 Filed 6-10-24; 8:45 am]
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