Modernizing Recruitment Requirements for the Temporary Employment of H-2A Foreign Workers in the United States, 49439-49457 [2019-19674]

Agencies

• Employment and Training Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 183 (Friday, September 20, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49439-49457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19674]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

20 CFR Part 655

[Docket No. ETA-2018-0002]
RIN 1205-AB90


Modernizing Recruitment Requirements for the Temporary Employment 
of H-2A Foreign Workers in the United States

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is amending its 
regulations governing the certification of agricultural labor or 
services to be performed by temporary foreign workers in H-2A 
nonimmigrant status (H-2A workers). The Department issues this 
certification pursuant to Section 218(a) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (INA), which requires a prospective employer of H-2A 
workers to apply for a certification from the Secretary of Labor 
(Secretary) that there are not sufficient able, willing, and qualified 
United States (U.S.) workers available to fill the petitioning 
employer's job opportunity, and that the employment of H-2A workers in 
that job opportunity will not adversely affect the wages and working 
conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed. This 
final rule modernizes and improves the labor market test that the 
Department uses to assess whether able, willing, and qualified U.S. 
workers are available by: Rescinding the requirement that an employer 
advertise its job opportunity in a print newspaper of general 
circulation in the area of intended employment; expanding and enhancing 
the Department's electronic job registry; and leveraging the expertise 
and existing outreach activities of State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) to 
promote agricultural job opportunities.

DATES: This final rule is effective October 21, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas M. Dowd, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor, 
Box #12-200, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210, telephone 
(202) 513-7350 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with 
hearing or speech impairments may access the telephone numbers above 
via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 
1-877-889-5627 (TTY/TDD).

[[Page 49440]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Executive Summary

A. Statutory and Regulatory Background

    The INA, as amended by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 
1986 (IRCA), establishes an ``H-2A'' nonimmigrant visa classification 
for a worker ``having a residence in a foreign country which he has no 
intention of abandoning who is coming temporarily to the United States 
to perform agricultural labor or services . . . of a temporary or 
seasonal nature.'' 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a); see also 8 U.S.C. 
1184(c)(1) and 1188.\1\ The admission of foreign workers under this 
classification involves a multi-step process before several Federal 
agencies. First, a prospective H-2A employer must apply to the 
Secretary for a certification that:
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    \1\ For ease of reference, sections of the INA are referred to 
by their corresponding section in the United States Code.

    (A) There are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, 
and qualified, and who will be available at the time and place 
needed to perform the labor or services involved in the petition; 
and
    (B) The employment of the alien in such labor or services will 
not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in 
the United States similarly employed.

The INA prohibits the Secretary from issuing this certification--
known as a ``temporary labor certification''--unless both of the 
above-referenced conditions are met and none of the conditions in 8 
U.S.C. 1188(b) concerning strikes or lock-outs at the worksite, 
labor certification program debarments, workers' compensation 
assurances, and positive recruitment apply.

8 U.S.C. 1188(b). The Secretary has delegated his authority to issue H-
2A temporary labor certifications to the Assistant Secretary, 
Employment and Training Administration (ETA), who in turn has delegated 
that authority to ETA's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC). 
Secretary's Order 06-2010 (Oct. 20, 2010). Second, once an employer 
obtains a temporary labor certification from DOL, it may file a 
nonimmigrant visa petition with the Secretary of Homeland Security. 8 
U.S.C. 1184(c).\2\ Finally, if the employer's petition is approved, the 
foreign workers whom it seeks to employ must, generally, apply for a 
nonimmigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. Id.
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    \2\ Under Section 1517 of title XV of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002 (``HSA''), Pub. L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, reference to the 
Attorney General's or other Department of Justice Official's 
responsibilities under section 1184(c) have been expressly 
transferred to the Secretary of Homeland Security. See 6 U.S.C. 202, 
271(b).
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    The regulatory process whereby an employer may apply for and 
receive an H-2A labor certification is set forth in Title 20, part 655, 
subpart B of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The Department's 
last significant revision to these regulations took effect in 2010.\3\ 
The application process set forth in these regulations is designed to 
ensure that OFLC acquires sufficient information to make the factual 
determinations required by the INA, including the determination as to 
whether there are sufficient able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers 
available to perform the agricultural labor or services for which an 
employer seeks H-2A workers. 20 CFR 655.100. To that end, the 
Department's regulations require an employer seeking an H-2A temporary 
labor certification to test the labor market by recruiting U.S. workers 
for the position(s) in which it intends to employ H-2A workers. See, 
e.g., 20 CFR 655.121, 655.141-655.144. The outcome of this labor market 
test forms the basis of OFLC's determination as to whether there are 
sufficient able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers available to fill 
the employer's job opportunity.
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    \3\ See Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the 
United States; Final Rule, 75 FR 6884 (Feb. 12, 2010) (2010 Final 
Rule). The Department originally promulgated regulations governing 
H-2A labor certifications in 1987. See Labor Certification Process 
for the Temporary Employment of Aliens in Agriculture and Logging in 
the United States; Interim Final Rule, 52 FR 20496 (June 1, 1987).
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B. Current Recruitment Requirements

    Under the regulations currently in effect, an employer seeking H-2A 
workers generally initiates the labor market test by filing an 
Agricultural and Food Processing Clearance Order, Form ETA-790 (job 
order) with the SWA in the area where it seeks to employ H-2A workers. 
20 CFR 655.121. Absent limited exceptions, an employer must file this 
job order no more than 75 days, but no less than 60 days, before it 
seeks to employ H-2A workers. Id. The SWA will review the job order to 
confirm that the employer's job opportunity complies with the 
Department's regulations and, if so, it will place the job order into 
intrastate clearance, where the job order must remain active until 50 
percent of the period of employment certified by the Department is 
complete. 20 CFR 655.135. The SWA will refer each qualified U.S. worker 
who applies during this period to the employer, and the employer may 
reject applicants only for lawful, job-related reasons. Id.
    Unless a specific exemption applies, an employer must include a 
copy of this job order with the Application for Temporary Employment 
Certification, Form ETA-9142A (H-2A application) that it files with the 
Department. 20 CFR 655.130. An OFLC Certifying Officer (CO) will review 
the H-2A application and job order for compliance with program 
requirements. 20 CFR 655.140. If the H-2A application and job order 
meet all applicable requirements, the CO will issue a Notice of 
Acceptance (NOA) authorizing conditional access to the interstate 
clearance system and direct the SWA to circulate a copy of the 
employer's job order to other states where there are potential sources 
of U.S. workers. 20 CFR 655.153. The NOA will also specify the 
recruitment steps that the employer must conduct to complete the labor 
market test, as well as the date by which the employer must provide the 
Department an initial written report of its recruitment efforts. Id. 
Upon receipt of this report, the CO will make a final determination 
whether to grant, partially grant, or deny the employer's H-2A 
application, based on the criteria for certification set forth in 20 
CFR 655.160-655.161.
    Sections 655.151 through 655.153 outline the recruitment steps that 
most employers seeking H-2A labor certification will be required to 
conduct. Under these regulations, unless a limited exception applies, 
an employer must place two print advertisements that meet certain 
content requirements in a newspaper of general circulation serving the 
area of intended employment, see 20 CFR 655.151-655.152, and contact 
the former U.S. workers whom it employed in the previous year, see 20 
CFR 655.153.
    In addition, under section 655.154, when an employer's job 
opportunity is served by an area of traditional or expected labor 
supply, the CO may direct an employer to recruit U.S. workers in up to 
three additional states. 20 CFR 655.154. This latter regulation 
implements the statutory requirement that an employer make ``positive 
recruitment efforts'' in regions ``where the Secretary finds that there 
are a significant number of qualified United States workers who, if 
recruited, would be willing to make themselves available for work at 
the time and place needed.'' 8 U.S.C. 1188(b)(4). Paragraph (c) of 
section 655.154 leaves the precise nature of the additional positive 
recruitment that an employer must conduct to the discretion of the CO. 
In practice, however, when an employer's job opportunity is served by 
traditional or expected labor supply states, the CO has traditionally 
required the employer to place print advertisements in

[[Page 49441]]

newspapers with the largest circulations in those states.\4\
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    \4\ See Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the 
United States; Final Rule, 75 FR 6884, 6930 (Feb. 12, 2010) (2010 
Final Rule).
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C. Summary of Proposed Changes to the Recruitment Requirements and the 
Changes Adopted in This Final Rule

    On November 9, 2018, the Department issued a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (NPRM) announcing its intent to modernize the recruitment 
that an employer must conduct in conjunction with an H-2A application. 
See 83 FR 55985 (Nov. 9, 2018). Specifically, the Department proposed 
to eliminate the requirement that every employer advertise its job 
opportunity in a print newspaper and replace it with a requirement to 
post an electronic advertisement on a website. The Department invited 
interested parties to submit written comments on all aspects of this 
proposal, including a variety of issues related to the electronic 
advertising requirement. The Department also solicited comments as to 
whether there were alternative methods of recruitment that would more 
broadly and effectively disseminate information about agricultural job 
opportunities to U.S. workers. The Department originally stated that it 
would accept comments through December 10, 2018, but in response to a 
request for an extension, it subsequently extended this period through 
December 28, 2018. The public may review all comments that the 
Department received in response to the NPRM in the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) at https://www.regulations.gov, docket number 
ETA-2018-0002.
    Upon careful consideration of the comments that it received, the 
Department has decided to adopt its proposal to transition to 
electronic advertising with several changes. Specifically, this final 
rule adopts the NPRM's proposal to eliminate the existing requirement 
for most employers seeking H-2A labor certification to advertise their 
job opportunities in print newspapers of general circulation in the 
area of intended employment. The Department's transition to electronic 
advertising will not require an employer to place an electronic 
advertisement on the internet in the manner proposed in the NPRM. As 
explained in detail below, the Department will instead advertise all H-
2A job opportunities by posting them on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, the 
expanded and improved version of the Department's existing electronic 
job registry. This final rule further strengthens the labor market test 
by enhancing the existing role of the SWAs in conducting outreach 
activities. Specifically, this final rule allows the CO to direct a 
SWA, where appropriate, to offer written notice of an employer's H-2A 
job opportunity to organizations that provide employment and training 
services to workers who are likely to apply for the job and/or place 
written notice in other physical locations where such workers are 
likely to gather.

D. Severability

    To the extent that any portion of this final rule is declared 
invalid by a court, the Department intends for all other parts of the 
final rule that are capable of operating in the absence of the specific 
portion that has been invalidated to remain in effect. Thus, even if a 
court decision invalidating a portion of this final rule results in a 
partial reversion to the current regulations or to the statutory 
language itself, the Department intends that the rest of the final rule 
continue to operate, to the extent possible, in tandem with the 
reverted provisions.

II. Revisions to 20 CFR Part 655, Subpart B

A. The Department Is Rescinding the Regulation Generally Requiring 
Employers To Place Print Newspaper Advertisements in the Area of 
Intended Employment

1. Background
    In the NPRM, the Department proposed to revise section 655.151(a) 
to replace the requirement for an employer to place print newspaper 
advertisements with a requirement for an employer to post an electronic 
advertisement on a website that is widely viewed and appropriate for 
use by workers who are likely to apply for the job opportunity in the 
area of intended employment. The Department based this proposal on data 
indicating that print newspaper circulation continues to decline and 
that U.S. workers are increasingly turning to the internet in their job 
searches. The Department also relied on data from the National 
Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), which indicated that farmworkers in 
the United States very rarely, if ever, learn about job opportunities 
or obtain employment through print newspaper advertisements. The 
Department noted that the NAWS data was consistent with its experience 
conducting audit examinations of H-2A applications and anecdotal 
evidence from stakeholders who reported that newspaper advertisements 
were not an effective means of recruiting prospective U.S. workers for 
agricultural job opportunities. In light of this data, experience, and 
stakeholder feedback, the Department asserted that classified 
advertisements in print editions were becoming a less effective means 
of recruiting U.S. workers, and it proposed to replace section 
655.151's current requirement to place a print newspaper advertisement 
with a requirement to post an electronic advertisement on the internet.
    Many of the H-2A employers, agents, agricultural associations, and 
farm bureaus that submitted comments in response to the NPRM applauded 
the Department's efforts to modernize the recruitment process and 
confirmed that, based on their experience, the existing newspaper 
advertising requirement was not effective in recruiting U.S. workers 
for agricultural positions. A number of these commenters expressed 
concern about the high costs associated with placing newspaper 
advertisements under the existing rule. They asserted these costs are 
unwarranted because newspaper advertisements result in few, if any, 
referrals of U.S. applicants. For instance, one agent for H-2A 
employers reported that its employer-clients had spent about $75,000 to 
advertise roughly 5,000 positions, and the employers did not receive a 
single applicant in response to the advertisements. An association 
representing agricultural employers similarly reported that its members 
spent millions of dollars on newspaper advertisements for H-2A 
positions each year and received no U.S. applicants in response.
    Nevertheless, many of these same commenters disagreed with the 
Department's proposal to completely eliminate print newspaper 
advertisements and urged that the Department provide an individual 
employer with the option to choose whether to post two print newspaper 
advertisements in accordance with the requirement in the existing rule 
or an electronic advertisement in accordance with the requirement in 
the proposed rule. These commenters provided varied reasons to justify 
their request. For instance, some asserted that mandating electronic 
advertisements would unfairly exclude employers who do not have 
reliable access to the internet or who do not use the internet due to 
religious reasons. Others maintained that an individual employer is in 
the best position to know whether newspaper or electronic 
advertisements are most likely to be successful in its area and urged 
that the Department allow employers to select the method that works 
best for them.

[[Page 49442]]

    The Department also received comments from others--including 
individuals, a SWA, and a group of farmworker advocacy organizations--
that generally expressed support for its proposal to transition to 
electronic advertising. Although the farmworker advocacy organizations 
conditioned their support on several issues they felt needed to be 
addressed before the Department issued a final rule, they did not 
contend that the newspaper advertisements placed under the current rule 
are effective in recruiting U.S. agricultural workers, nor did they 
urge the Department to retain this requirement.
    While the vast majority of commenters supported eliminating (or 
partially replacing) the print newspaper advertising requirement, the 
Department received some comments--mostly from newspapers or 
organizations associated with the newspaper industry--expressing 
opposition to eliminating this requirement. These commenters generally 
questioned whether electronic advertisements would be effective in 
reaching U.S. workers interested in agricultural employment and pointed 
to data suggesting that some of these workers may have limited access 
to the internet. Others urged the Department to consider the effect 
that the proposed rule would have on the newspaper industry.
    Commenters associated with the newspaper industry additionally 
alleged that the Department's proposal to eliminate its print newspaper 
advertising requirement overlooked certain factors. For instance, a 
trade association alleged newspapers are more effective than the 
internet in disseminating information to relevant viewers. In support 
of this assertion, the trade association cited two instances in which 
non-job related public notices went unnoticed for weeks after they were 
exclusively posted on the internet, but drew thousands of public 
comments several weeks after newspapers had published stories about the 
proposals in print. This same trade association also alleged that many 
local newspapers reach an audience that is larger than their 
subscribership indicates because a single newspaper is often read by 
multiple people and the content in these newspapers is often available 
online. According to this trade association, the distribution and 
readership of a local newspaper, including all of its formats (print 
and electronic), can easily exceed the number of visits to a third-
party job search website.
    Others similarly noted that print newspapers are widely accessible 
and distributed in local and regional communities where agricultural 
job opportunities exist. Some of these commenters argued that the 
Department incorrectly focused on large newspapers and subscribership 
numbers, and maintained that newspapers continue to have large 
readership, especially in smaller and more rural communities. 
Accordingly, they urged the Department to revise section 655.151 to 
allow advertisements in local community newspapers, which according to 
these commenters, are more likely to be effective in recruiting U.S. 
agricultural workers than larger newspapers with broader markets.
    Finally, several commenters asserted that the electronic 
advertising requirement proposed in the NPRM would sacrifice 
accountability and transparency. In particular, they argued newspaper 
advertisements are more difficult for unscrupulous employers to alter 
or falsify and thus provide better evidence to demonstrate compliance 
with regulatory requirements.
2. Discussion
    After carefully considering the comments it received, the 
Department has decided to rescind section 655.151, and it will no 
longer generally require a prospective H-2A employer to advertise its 
job opportunity in a newspaper serving the area of intended employment. 
This decision is grounded in the Department's determination that the 
newspaper advertisements required under this section do not 
meaningfully contribute to the labor market test that the Department 
administers to assess the availability of able, willing, and qualified 
U.S. workers. Accordingly, this final rule rescinds the regulation 
imposing this requirement, as set forth at 20 CFR 655.151, and the 
regulation prescribing the content that an employer must include in 
those advertisements, as set forth at 20 CFR 655.152.
    This determination is supported by the lack of data indicating 
newspaper advertisements are an effective means of recruiting U.S. 
workers for agricultural positions. Specifically, as noted in the NPRM, 
available data indicate that farmworkers in the United States very 
rarely, if ever, learn about job opportunities or obtain employment 
through print newspaper advertisements. See 83 FR at 55987. For 
instance, none of the farmworkers interviewed in connection with the 
latest NAWS identified print newspaper advertisements as a source for 
obtaining their current job. In addition, the Department considered 
anecdotal accounts in comments from farmers, agents, and agricultural 
associations, who reported that the newspaper advertisements they have 
placed in connection with this requirement have yielded very few, if 
any, applications from able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers.
    Moreover, as noted in the NPRM, these comments and available data 
are consistent with the Department's experience in conducting audit 
examinations of H-2A labor certifications, as well as anecdotal 
evidence that the Department has received from stakeholders, both of 
which illustrate that print newspaper advertisements are not an 
effective method of recruiting prospective U.S. workers for 
agricultural job opportunities. See 83 FR at 55987. Specifically, as 
part of the audit process, the Department reviews the recruitment 
reports that H-2A employers must maintain under 20 CFR 655.156(b). An 
employer's recruitment report must identify each recruitment source 
(e.g., newspaper advertisements, contact with former employees, word-
of-mouth), the names and contact information for each U.S. worker who 
applied or was referred to the job opportunity, and the disposition of 
each U.S. applicant. 20 CFR 655.156(a). Based on the Department's 
experience in conducting audit examinations under current regulations, 
few of these recruitment reports indicate that U.S. workers have 
applied to agricultural job opportunities in response to the print 
newspaper advertisements that employers have placed under section 
655.151.
    In arriving at this determination, the Department carefully 
considered the arguments that commenters raised in support of retaining 
the requirement to place print newspaper advertisements. As explained 
below, however, none of these arguments contradict the findings 
discussed above that newspaper advertisements are rarely, if ever, an 
effective means of recruiting U.S. workers for agricultural positions. 
Accordingly, these arguments have not persuaded the Department that it 
must require every employer seeking H-2A workers to place print 
advertisements in order to effectively test the labor market for able, 
willing, and qualified, and available U.S. workers. As is currently the 
case, to the extent the Department receives information that an 
advertisement in a particular print publication is likely to reach 
able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. workers in specific areas 
or across certain populations, a CO may direct an employer to place 
such an advertisement, on a case-by-case basis, under his or her 
authority to order additional positive recruitment. See 20 CFR 655.154.

[[Page 49443]]

    Significantly, the commenters who urged the Department to retain a 
general print newspaper-advertising requirement did not point to data 
that showed such advertisements are effective in recruiting U.S. 
workers for agricultural positions. Rather, these commenters discussed 
the purported advantages of newspaper advertisements in general terms, 
compared to the purported advantage of electronic advertisements 
proposed in the NPRM, without specifically addressing the efficacy of 
newspaper advertisements in recruiting U.S. agricultural workers. For 
instance, some commenters cited data indicating certain populations and 
demographics are less likely to use the internet when searching for 
jobs and are more likely to turn to community newspapers than the 
internet to obtain local news. As it was not specific to agricultural 
workers, such data do not speak to whether U.S. workers seeking 
agricultural job opportunities actually use newspapers to look for 
work. The arguments that commenters raised regarding the circulation 
and distribution of newspapers suffer from the same flaw: They do not 
refute the Department's observation in the NPRM, nor do the assertions 
and anecdotes received in response to the NPRM, that farmworkers in the 
United States very rarely, if ever, learn about job opportunities or 
obtain employment using print newspaper advertisements. Similarly, the 
fact that the Department can easily verify whether an employer has 
placed a newspaper advertisement is irrelevant if the Department 
determines that the placement of such advertisements is not always 
required to adequately test the labor market.
    Moreover, as discussed in detail below, the Department has decided 
not to adopt its proposal to replace the requirement to place newspaper 
advertisements with a requirement for an employer to post an electronic 
advertisement on the internet. Instead, the Department will post an 
electronic advertisement on an employer's behalf on 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, an improved and expanded version of the 
electronic job registry that the Department is required to maintain 
under its existing regulations. See 20 CFR 655.144. This addresses 
concerns that some commenters expressed regarding the effect of the 
proposed rule on those employers who have limited or no access to the 
internet and/or religious objections to internet use, because such 
employers will not need to access the internet in order to participate 
in the H-2A program. Accordingly, employers who lack access to the 
internet will not need to acquire access to the internet in order for 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov to advertise their job opportunities or for them 
to respond to any applications received from U.S. workers in response 
to these advertisements. Likewise, employers will not need to determine 
whether a particular website meets applicable regulatory criteria or 
retain evidence of this posting. Rather, the Department will use 
information that an employer provides on its job order and H-2A 
application to generate the advertisement that the Department posts on 
the employer's behalf on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, and U.S. workers 
interested in a particular job opportunity can apply to the employer 
directly using the contact information that the employer provided to 
the Department.
    While the Department is aware that the final rule may have an 
impact on the newspaper industry, the Department is also obligated to 
carry out its statutory mandate in a manner that ensures the methods 
and locations in which employers conduct positive recruitment yield 
concrete results and are cost effective. As a general requirement for 
all employers, the Department has determined that newspaper 
advertisements do not meaningfully contribute to the labor market test, 
which must be carried out by prospective employers to determine the 
availability of able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers. Therefore, 
the impact the newspaper industry experiences as a result of this final 
rule is outweighed by the Department's need to more effectively carry 
out its statutory mandate to ensure an adequate test of the U.S. labor 
market.
    The relevant question is whether this requirement is an effective 
component of the labor market test that the Department conducts in 
connection with an H-2A application. Given the absence of evidence 
suggesting print newspaper advertisements are effective in recruiting 
U.S. workers for agricultural job opportunities, the Department has 
decided not to continue requiring most employers seeking an H-2A labor 
certification to place print newspaper advertisements. Accordingly, the 
Department is rescinding the regulation that generally requires 
employers to place such advertisements, see 20 CFR 655.151, and the 
regulation that prescribes the content of such advertisements, see 20 
CFR 655.152. Moreover, as proposed in the NPRM, the Department is also 
amending the regulation that specifies the post-acceptance requirements 
for positions engaged in the herding or production of livestock on the 
range, see 20 CFR 655.225, to conform to the rescission of section 
655.151.

B. Instead of Requiring a Prospective H-2A Employer To Post Its Own 
Electronic Advertisement, as Originally Proposed, the Department Will 
Advertise The Employer's Job Opportunity on Seasonaljobs.gov, an 
Improved and Expanded Version of the Department's Electronic Job 
Registry

1. Background
    In the NPRM, the Department proposed to amend section 655.151 to 
require that an employer post an advertisement on a website meeting 
certain criteria. The Department suggested that such websites might 
include those operated by state or local agricultural associations, job 
search websites that advertise agricultural job opportunities, and 
other classified advertisement websites with sections focused on local 
jobs. The Department requested comments on whether it should establish 
additional qualifying criteria (e.g., minimum number of unique visitors 
per month) or more specifically define the types of websites that an 
employer may use.
    Under the Department's proposed revision to section 655.151, an 
employer's advertisement would need to be clearly visible on the 
website's homepage or easily retrievable using the search tools on the 
website, posted for a period of no less than 14 consecutive calendar 
days, and publicly accessible to U.S. workers at no cost using the 
latest browser technologies and mobile devices. The proposed rule also 
required employers to use commonly understood terms and keywords to 
describe their job opportunities, so that U.S. workers likely to apply 
could easily retrieve advertisements using the website's search 
function. Moreover, in an attempt to ensure the advertisement would be 
readily available to U.S. workers at no cost, the proposed rule 
prohibited employers from placing it on a website that required U.S. 
workers to establish personal accounts or make payments of any kind to 
view the advertisement. For the same reason, the proposed rule also 
required the website to be functionally compatible with the latest 
commercial web browser platforms and easily viewable on mobile 
smartphones and similar portable devices. To ensure employers retained 
the documentation necessary to demonstrate their compliance with these 
requirements, the proposed rule required employers to print and retain 
screen shots of the web pages on which their advertisements appeared, 
as well

[[Page 49444]]

as screen shots of the web pages establishing the path used to access 
their advertisements.
    Separately, in the NPRM, the Department provided notice that it was 
evaluating the development of a centralized online platform to automate 
the advertising of H-2A job opportunities in order to assist employers 
in complying with the proposed electronic advertising requirement. 
Specifically, the Department envisioned that this electronic 
advertising platform would maintain a standard set of data on each job 
opportunity for integration with a wide array of job search website 
technologies. As envisioned in the NPRM, employers who elected to use 
this electronic advertising platform would consent to have the 
Department transmit information about their H-2A job opportunities to 
companies offering to provide advertising services. These companies 
would, in turn, advertise the employers' job opportunities on their 
respective job-search websites.
2. Discussion
    The Department received comments both in support and in opposition 
to the proposal to replace the print newspaper-advertising requirement 
in section 655.151 with a requirement to post an electronic 
advertisement on the internet. Some commenters fully supported the 
Department's proposed transition to electronic advertising, agreeing it 
was a necessary modernization of the H-2A program and had the capacity 
to reach a larger number of U.S. job seekers across a larger geographic 
area. These commenters noted that online advertisements would permit 
employers to recruit labor more quickly and reliably than print 
newspaper advertisements and offer an easier method for applicants to 
contact agricultural employers looking for labor.
    However, the Department also received a number of comments that 
raised significant concerns with various aspects of its proposal. For 
instance, many commenters expressed concern that the Department had not 
adequately considered whether farmworkers are likely to search for jobs 
online. A number of commenters cited data indicating people in rural 
communities and lower skilled positions are less likely to have 
reliable high-speed internet access than those in urban areas who seek 
higher skilled positions, which could impede employers' ability to 
post--and U.S. workers' ability to view--electronic advertisements. 
Other commenters raised significant issues with the proposed criteria 
for websites, the minimum required duration of the posting, and the 
documentation that employers would be required to retain to establish 
compliance.
    After considering these comments, the Department continues to 
believe that electronic advertising is an effective medium through 
which to reach U.S. workers. However, upon further consideration of how 
an electronic posting requirement can be effective in testing the U.S. 
labor market, how it can be effectively administered and enforced, and 
by whom, the Department has decided to rescind, rather than revise, the 
advertising requirement in section 655.151. Instead, the Department has 
decided to carry out the electronic advertising itself by posting H-2A 
job opportunities on Seasonaljobs.dol.gov, an improved and expanded 
version of the electronic job registry that the Department is required 
to maintain under its existing regulations. See 20 CFR 655.144. To 
accomplish this, in addition to placing copies of all approved H-2A job 
orders on its publicly accessible electronic job registry, 20 CFR 
655.144, the Department will enhance the functional capabilities of 
this registry so that it also serves as a job search website that 
broadly advertises and disseminates H-2A job opportunities to U.S. 
workers. As discussed in detail below, the Department believes this 
approach strikes an appropriate balance between addressing the concerns 
that stakeholders have raised with the proposed electronic advertising 
requirement and realizing the Department's goal of modernizing and 
improving the labor market test conducted in connection with an H-2A 
application.
    Having the Department facilitate the electronic advertising of H-2A 
job opportunities will have several salutary effects. First, it 
addresses concerns raised in public comments regarding the effect that 
this rule will have on employers who lack internet access and/or who 
have religious objections to using the internet. The employer will not 
need internet access to advertise job opportunities because the 
Department will be placing advertisements on seasonaljobs.dol.gov on 
behalf of all employers using the information that employers provide to 
the Department in their H-2A applications. U.S. workers interested in a 
particular job opportunity can apply by directly contacting the 
employer, using the contact information--regardless whether that is an 
email or physical address--that the employer provided to the 
Department. Second, it eliminates the need to establish regulatory 
criteria for the websites on which employers may place advertisements 
or the documentation employers must retain to establish compliance with 
those criteria. It also reduces burden on prospective H-2A employers--
who historically have been the parties tasked with placing 
advertisements--by effectively transferring the responsibility (and 
cost) for this activity from prospective H-2A employers to the 
Department. Finally, and most importantly, it strengthens the integrity 
and efficiency of the labor market test that is conducted in connection 
with an H-2A application by leveraging the latest job search 
technologies to more broadly disseminate information about H-2A job 
opportunities through a centralized website. The enhancements that the 
Department is making to its electronic H-2A job registry, as well as 
each of these salutary effects, are discussed in further detail below.
(a) The Department Will Improve and Expand Its Electronic H-2A Job 
Registry Instead of Creating a Separate DOL-Assisted Advertising 
Platform
    As previously mentioned, after considering the comments it received 
in response to the NPRM, the Department has decided that the best 
approach is to assume the responsibility for posting an electronic 
advertisement through the Department's own website. Accordingly, this 
final rule provides notice that the Department intends to improve and 
enhance the electronic job registry that the Department maintains under 
its existing regulations. See 20 CFR 655.144 (generally requiring the 
CO to place a copy of an employer's job order on an electronic job 
registry once the employer's H-2A application has been accepted for 
processing, and generally requiring that this job order remain posted 
on the electronic job registry until 50 percent of the employer's 
contract period has elapsed).
    The Department has used the iCERT Visa Portal System (iCERT System) 
to host its electronic job registry since July 2010, shortly after 
section 655.144 originally went into effect. Under this system, once an 
employer's application has been accepted for processing, the CO will 
redact any confidential information on the employer's job order and 
upload a redacted image of the job order onto the iCERT system, where 
it will generally remain posted until 50 percent of the employer's 
contract period has elapsed. At the conclusion of this period, the CO 
will change the job order to inactive status, so that the information 
on the job order will still be available for public research and 
access. The iCERT System currently allows the public to search and 
retrieve H-2A job

[[Page 49445]]

orders using several common data points--including the H-2A application 
number, employer name, area of intended employment, work contract 
period, job title, and primary crop or agricultural activity.
    The Department implemented the job registry for two reasons. See 75 
FR 6884, 6927 (Dec 12, 2010). One was to promote public disclosure and 
transparency, and the other was to have an additional tool through 
which U.S. workers and other intermediaries providing services to 
agricultural workers could more easily identify available job 
opportunities. The Department's experience demonstrates that many 
stakeholders value the transparency of a publicly available job 
registry and use the current job registry to locate H-2A job orders.
    Currently, however, the technology supporting the current job 
registry is more than 10 years old, lacks compatibility with the latest 
mobile devices, and provides limited search options for the public to 
retrieve H-2A job orders. It also serves as a static repository of H-2A 
job orders and lacks functionality that can facilitate the 
dissemination of these job opportunities to the widest audience. 
Finally, the manual process of scanning, redacting, and uploading 
scanned images of job orders creates the risk of error, incomplete 
information, and delays in posting, especially during the late fall and 
winter months when employers are filing large numbers of applications 
for the upcoming spring season.
    To address these limitations and expand U.S. workers' awareness and 
access to agricultural job opportunities, the Department is in the 
process of transitioning its electronic job registry to a new platform, 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, and it plans to decommission the public job 
registry on the iCERT System in the fall of 2019.\5\ 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov is a mobile-friendly website that leverages the 
latest technologies to automate the electronic advertising of H-2A job 
opportunities and ensures copies of H-2A job orders are promptly 
available for public examination.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ The Department first announced that it would be launching 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov on December 21, 2018. See https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20181221.
_____________________________________-

    SeasonalJobs.dol.gov is currently operational. Once a CO has 
accepted an employer's H-2A application for further processing, the 
Department posts a brief description of the employer's job opportunity 
on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov that includes a link to a full copy of the 
employer's job order. The employer's job opportunity appears on the 
website in a concise and easy-to-read format, using information that 
the employer reports to the Department on its H-2A application and job 
order. While currently functional, the Department continues to enhance 
the functionality of SeasonalJobs.dol.gov to make information about H-
2A job opportunities more accessible to U.S. workers. For instance, the 
search options available in the iCERT system are limited to job title, 
employer name, job order posting date, and the state where work will be 
performed. SeasonalJobs.dol.gov will offer a more targeted and robust 
set of search options than those on the current job registry. Users 
will be able to create and save customizable job search profiles and 
request email notifications informing them when the Department posts 
positions that match their search criteria. In addition, a geolocation 
Application Programming Interface will connect a user's current 
geographic location (when available) to the website's automated search 
tool, so that search results favor job opportunities near the user's 
current location. Location history will also help the Department 
identify how many users are searching for work in certain areas of the 
country and more effectively steer H-2A job opportunities to groups of 
job seekers located in certain regional areas and/or seeking different 
types of agricultural work.
    In addition, SeasonalJobs.dol.gov will make information about H-2A 
job opportunities more accessible to U.S. workers with limited English 
proficiency by posting the jobs in a format that allows language 
translation services to access and translate both the general web 
content on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov and specific terms and conditions of 
the job opportunities presented on job orders through the site. It will 
also facilitate broader dissemination of available job opportunities by 
making a standard set of job data available to third-party job search 
websites, which will allow job-search websites to execute web-scraping 
protocols that extract new H-2A job opportunities from 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov and index them for advertising to U.S. workers. In 
fact, Jobs on Google and LinkedIn job search features index the H-2A 
job opportunities currently advertised on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, and the 
Department is evaluating additional integrations with other commonly 
used job search and social media websites to cast as wide a net as 
possible to help Americans find jobs. Finally, the Department will be 
further enhancing the RSS feed capability to allow interested U.S. 
workers and stakeholders to tailor notifications of relevant job 
opportunities.
    The Department believes that the enhancements it has and will 
continue to make to the electronic job registry will improve the 
existing labor market test and resolve many of the concerns that 
commenters raised in response to the NPRM. This approach is also 
consistent with suggestions that the Department received from numerous 
commenters who urged the Department to either allow postings on its 
electronic job registry to fulfill the proposed electronic 
advertisement requirement or to implement a DOL-assisted electronic 
advertising platform. In fact, most of the commenters who addressed the 
DOL-assisted advertising platform expressed support for the proposal, 
noting it would reduce regulatory burdens on employers, assist 
employers in complying with advertising requirements, and enhance U.S. 
worker access to employers' job opportunities in a centralized location 
and standardized format.
    However, a few commenters questioned the Department's decision to 
expend resources developing this platform and suggested it was 
unnecessary, while another generally supported the idea as long as it 
did not impede or disrupt the processing of H-2A applications and was 
not mandated. In addition, a few commenters urged the Department to 
consult stakeholders prior to developing or implementing a DOL-assisted 
advertising platform.
    The Department has considered these comments, and while the 
Department has decided not to go forward with the DOL-assisted 
advertising platform that was proposed in the NPRM, it anticipates that 
stakeholders will be pleased with the improvements the Department has--
and continues--to make to the electronic job registry. The Department 
has administered this electronic job registry in some form for nearly a 
decade. Accordingly, employers have been and continue to be on notice 
that, as a condition of participating in the H-2A program, the CO will 
place a copy of their approved H-2A job order on an electronic job 
registry. As explained above, the Department created this job registry 
to promote greater public awareness of and access to H-2A job 
opportunities. The enhancements the Department has and continues to 
make to SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, including the capability for third-party 
websites to extract H-2A job opportunities for broader advertising, are 
designed to further this goal and increase the likelihood that U.S. 
workers interested

[[Page 49446]]

in agricultural opportunities, as well as intermediaries providing 
services to those workers, receive timely notice of H-2A job 
opportunities. In addition, to increase the speed with which positions 
are posted on the public job registry, the website will generate 
postings using the information that an employer provides on the newly 
designed H-2A Agricultural Clearance Order (Form ETA-790/790A), which 
an employer will electronically submit through the Foreign Labor 
Application Gateway (FLAG) System beginning no later than October 1, 
2019. This enhanced job order will replace the current paper-based 
submission process in the iCERT System, reduce the frequency of 
inadvertent errors or manual corrections, and improve the efficiency of 
posting H-2A job opportunities on the electronic job registry by 
eliminating the need to manually redact, scan, and upload physical 
image files.
    Because the Department is not implementing a separate advertising 
platform, but rather enhancing the electronic job registry that it is 
currently required to maintain, the Department has decided that U.S. 
workers will be best served if it implements these enhancements as soon 
as practicable. Nevertheless, the Department values all suggestions and 
ideas to improve the functionality of SeasonalJobs.dol.gov and invites 
public input on changes that it can make to attract U.S. workers who 
are likely to apply for seasonal or temporary agricultural jobs. To 
facilitate public input, the Department has made the site easily 
accessible and included a specific function to collect stakeholder 
feedback and questions. The Department will also continue--as is its 
practice--to solicit and incorporate informal feedback from program 
users and other stakeholders in the course of outreach and technical 
assistance activities (including DOL-hosted stakeholder meetings and 
webinars) and at conferences, forums, and events hosted by interested 
stakeholders.
    The Department has also considered issues that several commenters 
raised regarding technical difficulties with its existing job registry 
and the iCERT system, and agrees that it is critical for 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov to function effectively and reliably. Although 
this is a goal of the Department independent of public comments in 
response to the NPRM, the above-referenced steps that the Department is 
taking to meet this goal should address and allay the concerns of the 
stakeholder community.
(b) Posting H-2A Job Opportunities on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov Will Reduce 
Regulatory Burden and Address Concerns About the Proposed Criteria for 
Employer-Posted Electronic Advertisements
    The Department received numerous comments addressing electronic 
advertisements, the criteria that would apply to these advertisements, 
and the documentation that an employer would be required to maintain. 
Many commenters generally agreed with the Department's proposal to 
transition to electronic advertising, but a number of commenters urged 
the Department to modify its proposal in various ways. For example, a 
number of commenters expressed concern that the proposed rule did not 
accommodate employers who had limited or no access to the internet (or 
those employers who did not access the internet for religious reasons), 
and they urged the Department to provide employers the option of 
posting an electronic advertisement or print newspaper advertisements. 
Other commenters speculated that electronic advertisements--and in 
particular, advertisements on publicly accessible websites--might 
result in employers being inundated with hundreds of applications from 
unqualified or disinterested workers, and they urged the Department to 
consider the burden employers would face in reviewing and documenting 
responses to such applications.
    The Department also received many comments suggesting that the 
standard it proposed to define the websites on which an employer could 
place an electronic advertisement required clarification. A number of 
commenters felt the proposed standard was ambiguous and did not 
sufficiently identify the websites--or types of websites--that would be 
permissible under the proposed rule. These commenters expressed varying 
opinions about the types of websites they believed should qualify and, 
for differing reasons, urged the Department to further clarify, define, 
or list the websites where it would be appropriate for an employer to 
advertise an H-2A job opportunity.
    For example, farmworker advocacy organizations urged the Department 
to identify additional qualifying criteria and suggested that the 
Department and SWAs provide a list of approved websites, including 
websites widely viewed by U.S. workers in areas of traditional or 
expected labor supply. Farmers, H-2A agents, and agricultural 
associations, by contrast, opposed the adoption of more specific 
qualifying criteria, which they argued would be cumbersome and make the 
regulation difficult to adapt to future changes in practices and 
technologies. Indeed, at least one commenter expressed concern that the 
proposed standard would require employers to monitor website platforms 
and technologies to ensure that they remain compliant with regulatory 
criteria. The Department also received comments from stakeholders who 
assumed job postings on SWA websites or the Department's existing 
electronic job registry would satisfy the proposed standard and/or who 
urged the Department to clarify that advertisements on such websites 
were acceptable.
    In addition, several commenters sought clarification on the 
documentation that an employer would be required to retain under the 
proposed recordkeeping requirements. For example, some stakeholders 
complained that the proposed rule did not clearly articulate how many 
screen shots an employer needed to retain (e.g., one screen shot, a 
screen shot from the first and last day of the posting, or a screen 
shot for each day the advertisement is posted), while others asserted 
it was overly burdensome. Commenters associated with the newspaper 
industry additionally alleged that newspapers are a more reliable means 
of documenting compliance, because they are archived and available if 
an employer loses its copy of the tear sheet, whereas screen shots of 
websites can be easily lost, altered, or fabricated. Other commenters 
urged the Department to require other, more specific documentation 
(e.g., electronic confirmation of posting or invoice payment from 
third-party website).
    The issues that these commenters raised have persuaded the 
Department that it would be extraordinarily difficult to develop, 
interpret, and implement qualifying criteria to govern the types of 
websites on which employers should place an electronic advertisement, 
as well as the documentation that an employer should retain to 
demonstrate compliance with this requirement. Accordingly, as explained 
above, the Department has decided not to adopt its proposal to amend 
section 655.151 to require that an employer post an electronic 
advertisement. Instead, the Department will advertise on an employer's 
behalf by posting its job opportunity on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov.
    Assuming control over the posting of the electronic advertisement 
and placing it on a centralized, DOL-administered platform addresses 
many, if not all, of the above-referenced concerns. As a preliminary 
matter, the

[[Page 49447]]

Department will no longer need to establish--and employers will no 
longer need to comply with--regulatory criteria limiting the types of 
websites on which employers must place an electronic advertisement or 
the documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance with this 
requirement. Moreover, the advertisement that the Department posts on 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov will not create any additional regulatory burden 
for an employer because the employer will have already provided the 
Department with information about its job opportunity on its job order 
and H-2A application, which the Department will use to generate the 
advertisement it posts on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov. U.S. workers interested 
in a particular job opportunity can apply by directly contacting the 
employer, using the contact information that the employer provided on 
its job order and H-2A application. As noted above, employers who lack 
access to the internet will not need to acquire access to the internet 
to post advertisements on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov or respond to any 
applications that they receive from U.S. workers in response to these 
advertisements; and employers will not need to determine whether a 
particular website meets applicable regulatory criteria or retain 
evidence of this posting.
    The Department has also considered comments suggesting that it rely 
on SWAs to post job orders on their websites. The Department believes 
that the advertisements it places on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov and the 
intra- and interstate clearance process administered by SWAs serve 
important, but distinct, purposes in facilitating the labor market test 
conducted in connection with an H-2A application. Specifically, 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov will accomplish the Department's objective of 
broadly disseminating information about H-2A job opportunities 
nationwide to the widest possible audience. The intra- and interstate 
clearance process, by contrast, target specific regional labor markets, 
so that SWAs in particular areas (the area of intended employment and 
areas of traditional or expected labor supply) assist in matching U.S. 
workers with H-2A job opportunities and facilitate applications for 
those jobs. The combination of these recruitment activities and, if 
ordered, an employer's positive recruitment efforts, help cast as wide 
a net as possible to apprise U.S. workers of agricultural job 
opportunities that could otherwise be filled by H-2A workers.
    The Department also appreciates the suggestion from worker advocacy 
organizations to expand the criteria in the NPRM to include websites 
that are widely viewed by U.S. workers in areas of traditional or 
expected labor supply. If the Department becomes aware of websites that 
are widely viewed by U.S. workers in areas of traditional or expected 
labor supply, the CO may order an employer to post an advertisement on 
such a website under section 655.154.
    Finally, while the Department is hopeful that advertising H-2A job 
opportunities on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov will increase the number of U.S. 
workers who apply for these positions, the Department does not believe 
that employers will be inundated with applications from unqualified or 
unwilling U.S. workers. The concerns some commenters raised to the 
contrary were speculative, generalized, or based on undocumented 
anecdotal experience from a different job search website. The 
Department reminds commenters that the electronic job registry, 
including the enhancements the Department has and continues to make 
through SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, is designed to promote greater public 
awareness of and access to H-2A job opportunities and increase the 
likelihood that U.S. workers interested in these jobs will apply. Any 
burden that an employer incurs reviewing increased applications from 
U.S. workers is a fundamental obligation for choosing to participate in 
the H-2A program and outweighed by the Department's statutory 
obligation to ensure that able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers are 
not available. Because H-2A job opportunities typically require minimal 
education, skills, and experience, employers should not find it 
especially burdensome to assess the qualifications of U.S. workers who 
submit applications for job opportunities advertised on 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov or to document their assessment of these 
applicants in a recruitment report.
(c) The Advertisements That the Department Places on 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov Will Improve the Information That U.S. Workers 
Receive About H-2A Job Opportunities
    The Department also received numerous comments questioning whether 
U.S. workers would be able--or likely--to access the electronic 
advertisements required under the proposed rule. As explained below, 
the Department's decision to assume control over the posting of the 
electronic advertisement not only reduces the burden of applying for an 
H-2A labor certification, but also improves access to information about 
H-2A job opportunities.
    First, it ensures that all H-2A job opportunities are advertised in 
a centralized location and in a uniform manner. This eliminates the 
concern raised by some commenters that U.S. workers would not know 
where to go to look for information about available H-2A job 
opportunities if employers were not posting advertisements in 
consistent locations or that unscrupulous employers could intentionally 
post advertisements on websites that able, willing, and qualified U.S. 
workers are unlikely to view. Second, the Department can assure broader 
dissemination of H-2A job opportunities without requiring an employer 
to ensure that the website on which it places its advertisement is 
functionally compatible with the latest commercial web browser 
platforms and easily viewable on mobile smartphones and similar 
portable devices. Under the Department's revised proposal, it is the 
Department (and not the employer) who will ensure compliance with these 
requirements. The Department will stay abreast of broader changes in 
technologies and implement appropriate upgrades to the usability and 
security of the SeasonalJobs.dol.gov. For example, unlike the iCERT 
System, SeasonalJobs.dol.gov uses Responsive Web Design (RWD), which 
allows the Department to optimize the design and content structure of 
the website to fit on the screen of the user's computer, smartphone, or 
other similar portable device, regardless of size. The RWD approach 
allows the Department to create a single website design that can reach 
users across a wide array of computing devices. The Department 
continuously tests the site's mobile device compatibility using a 
series of emulation tools and a wide array of actual mobile devices.
    Third, the Department will be able to improve the presentation of 
H-2A job opportunities to U.S. workers. For example, some commenters 
complained about the Department's existing advertising content 
requirements and suggested that they require employers to place 
advertisements that are too formalistic and contain too much 
information to attract U.S. workers. While the Department continues to 
believe that U.S. workers should have access to all of the information 
that is currently required by section 655.152, it also understands 
that, in some situations, a concise summary of the job opportunity may 
be more attractive to U.S. workers. Accordingly, the advertisements 
that the Department

[[Page 49448]]

places on SeasonalJobs.gov highlight select information about an 
employer's job opportunity and include a link to the job order, so that 
U.S. workers can quickly review listings to assess whether they are 
interested in a particular job and, if interested, review the job order 
to access all of the terms and conditions of employment. The Department 
additionally intends to upgrade SeasonalJobs.dol.gov to allow users to 
create and manage customizable notifications for the H-2A job 
opportunities. Specifically, as noted above, the Department plans to 
enhance the site's current RSS feed capability, which includes a basic 
function that alerts users when the Department updates web-based 
content, with more sophisticated options that will allow users to 
personalize these alerts so that they only receive notifications of new 
postings for specific types of agricultural work and/or in pre-
determined frequencies (e.g., immediately, daily, weekly, monthly) 
tailored to their individual preferences. Users will be able to manage 
these notifications and turn them off when they are no longer needed or 
relevant.
    Fourth, it addresses the concerns that some commenters raised 
regarding effective language access. Specifically, several commenters 
urged the Department to require employers to include commonly used 
search terms in English, Spanish, and other languages spoken by the 
agricultural workers whom they typically employ. To justify this 
recommendation, the commenters cited data from the NAWS, which showed 
that most farmworkers identified Spanish as their primary language, and 
that many farmworkers reported they did not speak or read English well 
or even at all.
    The Department appreciates suggestions on ways to improve the 
accessibility of electronic advertisements to U.S. workers, especially 
those workers with limited English proficiency. The internet offers an 
abundance of content presented in languages other than English, and the 
Department recognizes there are already a number of free browser 
applications and extension technologies (e.g., Google Translate, Chrome 
Duolingo, Firefox's Flagfox) that provide users with translations, 
definitions, and other dialect-related assistance. To assist U.S. 
workers who search for jobs online but who have limited proficiency in 
English, jobs available on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov will be posted in a 
format that allows language translation services to access and 
translate both the general web content and specific terms and 
conditions of the job opportunities presented on job orders. The 
Department is further evaluating whether existing technologies and 
services can provide effective language translation services, and can 
be implemented through the site, to both general web content on 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov and specific information about H-2A job 
opportunities presented on the site. The Department understands the 
challenges (e.g., numerous language dialects, accurately applying 
grammatical rules) associated with language translation tools and 
services, but believes that it is important for the information on 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov to be accessible and understandable to the widest 
possible audience of U.S. workers who are looking for employment. The 
Department will therefore work as expeditiously as possible within 
existing budgetary constraints to implement additional built-in 
language translation services for all job opportunities advertised on 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov.
    Finally, the Department acknowledges that some U.S. workers may 
lack reliable access to the internet, and it agrees that no single 
recruitment method will reach all job seekers. The Department likewise 
does not dispute that other methods of recruitment may be effective in 
limited circumstances. But the Department's move to electronic 
advertising--and to SeasonalJobs.dol.gov in particular--is only one 
aspect of the labor market test conducted in connection with an H-2A 
application. The existing labor market test additionally includes the 
intra- and interstate clearance process, see 20 CFR 655.121 and 
655.150, the requirement for an employer to contact former U.S. 
employees, see 20 CFR 655.153, and in certain circumstances, additional 
positive recruitment. The Department believes that the enhancements it 
has and continues to make to the electronic job registry will improve 
the existing labor market test by increasing awareness of H-2A job 
opportunities, which interested parties may then share with U.S. 
workers who do not have access to the internet or who may not use the 
internet to search for job opportunities. Moreover, as discussed in 
detail below, this final rule further encourages word-of-mouth 
recruitment by requiring a SWA, if directed by the CO, to provide 
written notice of H-2A job opportunities to certain types of 
organizations or in physical locations where U.S. agricultural workers 
are likely to gather. Accordingly, even if certain U.S. agricultural 
workers are unlikely to view an advertisement on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov 
(e.g., workers who do not have internet access or who are otherwise 
unlikely to turn to the internet to search for available job 
opportunities), they may be identified through other steps in this 
labor market test. Indeed, the only SWA to submit a comment in response 
to the NPRM agreed that SWAs could address this gap, explaining SWAs 
provide in-person assistance to job seekers who currently lack the 
skills and knowledge to conduct job searches online.

C. The Department Will Leverage SWA Expertise and Service Delivery 
Systems in Local Labor Markets To More Broadly Disseminate Information 
About H-2A Job Opportunities

    As mentioned above, this final rule will further strengthen the 
labor market test conducted in connection with an H-2A application by 
leveraging the existing localized services, knowledge, and expertise of 
SWAs to promote awareness of H-2A job opportunities. Specifically, in 
addition to activities already performed by the SWA, the Department has 
decided to leverage the contact networks that its SWA grantees have 
with organizations that provide services to U.S. workers who are likely 
to apply for agricultural job opportunities and utilize their knowledge 
of recruitment and job search patterns in the state to determine the 
appropriate places to post the job opportunity. In the Department's 
view, this will lead to broader dissemination of information about 
available jobs and will expand word-of-mouth recruitment by friends and 
family members.
    In arriving at this determination, the Department has given careful 
consideration to comments regarding alternative methods of recruitment 
that would more broadly and effectively disseminate information about 
available agricultural job opportunities to U.S. workers. A number of 
commenters informed the Department that word-of-mouth recruitment is 
the most effective and most commonly cited method of recruiting U.S. 
agricultural workers. A few commenters suggested other methods of 
recruitment, such as placing advertisements on radio stations serving 
farmworkers; posting advertisements at the employer's worksite or other 
locations within the community where farmworkers are known to 
congregate (e.g., local businesses and churches); placing 
advertisements in community-based or other publications that target 
populations who may be interested in agricultural work; and leveraging 
social media. Commenters representing worker advocacy organizations 
also urged the Department to require employers to

[[Page 49449]]

contact organizations that serve farmworkers, such as migrant health 
centers and farmworker unions, to disseminate information about the job 
opportunity using their networks.
    Several commenters also recommended that the Department expand 
outreach and recruitment activities of the SWAs to make job seekers, 
particularly those who lack adequate access to the internet, aware of 
H-2A job opportunities. These commenters stated that the SWAs have 
resources and expertise in locating and screening, on behalf of 
employers, available and qualified U.S. agricultural workers through 
their existing outreach programs. In its comment, a SWA reinforced this 
suggestion, stating it provides in-person assistance, as needed, to 
both employers and job seekers who lack the skills and knowledge to 
post job openings and conduct job searches online. Worker advocacy 
organizations similarly urged the Department to work with SWAs to 
promote effective recruitment based on state-level recruitment and 
farmworker migration patterns. One of these commenters further stated 
that SWA staff located in traditional or expected labor supply states 
are likely to have particular knowledge of how U.S. agricultural 
workers in their region seek out and learn about job opportunities.
    The Department appreciates the ideas and suggestions that it 
received on alternative forms of recruitment. The Department has 
considered each of these suggestions but notes that many of these 
proposals--including advertising on local radio stations or in 
community-based and ethnic publications, posting physical notices at 
worksites or other places frequented by potential job applicants, or 
using social media--are challenging to regulate and monitor. Because 
the Department does not currently have sufficient information regarding 
the efficacy of these proposals in recruiting U.S. agricultural 
workers, the Department has decided against requiring every employer to 
use these methods. However, to the extent that the Department receives 
information indicating that one or more of these methods are effective 
in a particular area or among specific groups of workers, the CO 
retains the authority under section 655.154 to order an employer to use 
that method to recruit U.S. workers.
    While the Department agrees with worker advocacy organizations that 
word-of-mouth remains one of the simplest, yet most effective, 
recruitment tools for U.S. agricultural workers, as the Department 
previously pointed out in prior rulemaking efforts, it is almost 
impossible to mandate and enforce compliance with a requirement to 
recruit U.S. workers via word-of-mouth. See Temporary Agricultural 
Employment of H-2A Aliens in the United States; Final Rule, 75 FR 6928 
(Feb. 12, 2010) (2010 Final Rule). Nevertheless, the Department seeks 
to encourage this form of recruitment, and it has decided to do so by 
enhancing the SWA's existing employment service and outreach 
activities. Specifically, the CO may direct a SWA, where appropriate, 
to provide written notice of an employer's H-2A job opportunity to 
organizations that provide employment and training services to workers 
likely to apply for the job and/or to place written notice in other 
physical locations where such workers are likely to gather. Because 
SWAs have knowledge of local labor markets in their state and already 
coordinate regional outreach activities with organizations, SWAs are in 
the best position to identify which organizations or physical locations 
in their state will be effective in reaching U.S. workers who are able, 
willing, qualified and available for the job opportunity.
    Accordingly, this final rule amends section 655.143(b) to include a 
new paragraph (5), which authorizes the CO to direct a SWA to provide 
written notice of the job opportunity to organizations providing 
employment and training services to workers likely to apply for the job 
and/or to place written notice of the job opportunity in other physical 
locations where such workers are likely to gather. Specifically, after 
reviewing the job opportunity and consulting with the applicable SWA, 
the CO will determine whether to direct the SWA to provide the written 
notice described above. If the CO determines such a direction is 
appropriate, the CO will include directions to this effect in the 
Notice of Acceptance, as specified in paragraph (b)(5) of this section. 
Depending on the situation, the written notice need not necessarily 
include a full copy of the approved H-2A job order and all attachments, 
but rather, may consist of a written summary of the terms and 
conditions of the job opportunity. The Department does not anticipate 
that SWAs will find this task to be particularly burdensome, as SWAs 
may deliver this notice in a manner that is cost effective and 
consistent with section 653.501(d)(10).
    The Department has decided to direct SWAs, rather than employers, 
with distributing the written notice described above, because employers 
may not be able to discern when and what types of organizations should 
be provided written notice of available job opportunities and/or the 
physical locations that would be best suited for such postings. SWAs, 
on the other hand, are uniquely situated to perform this function given 
their existing role in, and the Department's funding to support, the 
Wagner-Peyser Employment Services program.
    The Wagner-Peyser Employment Services program provides job search 
and placement services for job seekers as well as recruitment services 
for employers. The Department envisions that the SWAs existing services 
and obligations under the Employment Service (ES)--in particular 
services provided to Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MSFWs)--can be 
leveraged to carry out the notification that the CO may direct under 
655.143(b)(5). For instance, SWAs are already required to publicize the 
availability of employment services to MSFWs through such means as 
newspaper and electronic media publicity and to use contacts with 
public and private community agencies, employers and/or employer 
organizations, and MSFW groups to facilitate the widest possible 
distribution of information concerning employment services. SWAs are 
required to perform these functions as the administrators of partner 
programs in the One-Stop System, which provides a wide range of 
employment and training services for U.S. workers through job training 
and outreach programs such as job search assistance and job referral 
and placement services. In carrying out their obligations under this 
new provision, SWAs are encouraged to reach out to other partners in 
the American Job Centers (AJCs) to help identify those organizations 
serving U.S. workers who might be interested in H-2A job opportunities.
    One group of partners that SWAs currently work with and are 
encouraged to reach out to are the National Farmworker Jobs Program 
(NFJP) grantees. The NFJP program is a nationally directed, locally 
administered program of services for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. 
It includes 52 Career Services and Training grants, also known as 
Employment and Training grants, and 11 Housing grants across the United 
States and Puerto Rico. Grantees of this program are a required partner 
in the AJC network with the SWAs, and they work closely with other 
local organizations to provide a wide array of support services to 
counter the chronic unemployment and underemployment experienced by 
farmworkers who

[[Page 49450]]

depend primarily on jobs in agriculture performed across the country. 
In regional areas where there are significant numbers of migrant and 
seasonal farmworkers, NFJP grantees also coordinate outreach with SWA 
monitor advocates and farm labor staff to provide services to 
farmworkers and their families working in agriculture employment. In 
carrying out their obligations under 655.143(b)(5), if a SWA is not 
already doing so, the Department encourages SWAs to include NFJP 
grantees among the organizations to which it provides notice of the job 
opportunity.
    Additionally, after consulting with a SWA, the CO may order the SWA 
to place written notice of the job opportunity in other physical 
locations where such workers are likely to gather, and determine the 
appropriate location using its local knowledge and expertise. SWAs will 
have discretion in determining the methods and physical locations used 
to place such notices based on the circumstances of the job 
opportunity, an assessment of local conditions and concentrations of 
U.S. workers likely to apply the job, and the prior effectiveness of 
such methods and physical locations in attracting referrals.
    The Department does not intend for the written notice required by 
this final rule to create significantly new responsibilities for SWAs, 
but rather, to supplement activities already undertaken by SWAs. As 
noted above, SWAs already administer the ES and MSFW programs, 
coordinating where appropriate with NFJP grantees, and SWAs are a 
required partner in the AJC network. The purpose of this notice is to 
broaden dissemination of H-2A job opportunities to relevant populations 
and thereby increase word-of-mouth recruitment for these positions, 
which the Department hopes will increase the pool of potential 
applicants for H-2A job opportunities.
    Finally, the final rule recognizes that the CO's determination to 
direct the SWA to provide additional written notice must be appropriate 
to the job opportunity and area of intended employment. The Department 
acknowledges that this provision may not be an effective recruitment 
option in certain circumstances, and after discussions with the SWA, 
the CO may decline to order the SWA to take this action. Examples of 
circumstances where such recruitment may not be appropriate include 
where it would be impractical, such as where the work is to be 
performed in remote or isolated geographic areas where organizations 
providing employment and training services do not exist.

D. The Department Is Retaining Section 655.154's Positive Recruitment 
Requirement

    As explained above, the INA requires an employer seeking an H-2A 
temporary labor certification to engage in positive recruitment of U.S. 
workers in a multi-state region of traditional or expected labor supply 
where the Secretary finds that there are a significant number of 
qualified U.S. workers who, if recruited, would be willing to make 
themselves available for work at the time and place needed. 8 U.S.C. 
1182(b)(4).
    In enacting this statutory requirement, Congress did not intend to 
impose unduly burdensome requirements on employers nor did it intend to 
require employers to continuously return to areas that have not proven 
to be a reliable source of qualified U.S. workers. Rather, Congress 
believed the methods and locations in which employers conduct positive 
recruitment must yield concrete results and be cost effective.\6\ 
Accordingly, the ``positive recruitment'' mandated by the INA is 
defined in the Department's regulations as ``[t]he active participation 
of an employer or its authorized hiring agent, performed under the 
auspices and direction of the OFLC, in recruiting and interviewing 
individuals in the area where the employer's job opportunity is located 
and any other state designated by the Secretary as an area of 
traditional or expected labor supply with respect to the area where the 
employer's job opportunity is located, in an effort to fill specific 
job openings with U.S. workers.'' See 20 CFR 655.103.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ House Conference Report No. 99-682(I), House Judiciary 
Committee, July 16, 1986, p. 81.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Currently, when an employer's job opportunity is served by 
traditional or expected labor supply states, the CO will designate no 
more than three states in which the employer must perform positive 
recruitment for each area of intended employment listed on the 
employer's application. 20 CFR 655.154(c). The Notice of Acceptance 
that the CO issues will describe the additional positive recruitment 
steps that the employer must conduct in those states. Section 655.154 
authorizes the CO to select the appropriate methods of recruitment on a 
case-by-case basis. As explained in the NPRM, the standard practice has 
been for the CO to order print advertisements in newspapers serving the 
traditional or expected labor supply states, but the Department does 
not intend to continue this practice.\7\
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    \7\ See Modernizing Recruitment Requirements for the Temporary 
Employment of H-2A Foreign Workers in the United States; Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, 83 FR 55989 (Nov. 9, 2018) (2018 NPRM). See 
Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the United 
States; Final Rule, 75 FR 6884 (Feb. 12, 2010) (2010 Final Rule). 
The Department originally provided notice that the types of 
recruitment used in the H-2A program have not varied tremendously 
through the decades, and that stated its intention to continue to 
rely on newspaper advertising. See Temporary Agricultural Employment 
of H-2A Aliens in the United States; Final Rule, 75 FR 6930 (Feb. 
12, 2010) (2010 Final Rule).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After carefully considering the comments it received addressing 
this regulation, the Department continues to believe that a CO must 
retain the flexibility to evaluate whether a job opportunity is served 
by areas of traditional or expected labor supply--and the appropriate 
means of recruitment in those areas--on a case-by-case basis. 
Accordingly, this final rule adopts the NPRM's proposal to retain 
section 655.154 without amendment.
    When evaluating an employer's application, a CO will continue to 
evaluate, on a case-by-case basis, the appropriate locations and 
methods of recruiting in traditional or expected labor supply states 
where a significant number of qualified U.S. workers who, if recruited, 
would be willing to make themselves available for work at the time and 
place needed. In retaining section 655.154 as drafted, the Department 
understands that Congress did not intend the positive recruitment 
requirement ordered under section 218(b)(4) to be unduly burdensome, 
and it believes that section 655.154 is consistent with Congressional 
intent. Notably, section 655.154 does not afford the CO unlimited 
discretion; rather, it authorizes the CO to order the recruitment 
necessary to ensure an adequate test of the labor market for the 
employer's job opportunity, after taking into account the location and 
characteristics of the position.
    In determining whether and what positive recruitment is required 
for a position, the CO will continue to consider information that the 
Department obtains from SWAs and other relevant stakeholders. The 
Department also continues, as it did when it adopted this regulation in 
2010, to invite stakeholders to submit information on areas of 
traditional or expected labor supply and effective means of recruiting 
U.S. workers in those areas. The Department acknowledges the comments 
it received suggested a wide array of alternative methods of 
advertising that, depending on the information provided to the CO, may 
effectively disseminate information about available job opportunities 
to U.S. workers. For example, based on the

[[Page 49451]]

information the Department receives from SWAs and other stakeholders, 
the CO may determine that a particular method of advertising (e.g., 
community-based newspaper, agricultural careers website) covering a 
regional area, whether in print and/or electronic, may be effective in 
recruiting U.S. workers for a particular position, in a specific 
location, or during a certain period of the year. In requiring the use 
of a particular method of advertising, the CO will take into 
consideration all available information about whether that method has 
been, or is likely to be, effective in generating referrals of 
qualified U.S. workers.
    The Department also recognizes that the increased rates of 
innovation in job search technologies and infrastructure development 
designed to improve internet access within rural communities may be 
changing the way many U.S. workers search for and find available job 
opportunities in the future. Fortunately, section 655.154 provides the 
CO with flexibility to keep pace with the ever-changing labor market 
trends and technologies and select the most appropriate method(s) of 
recruitment for a particular job opportunity.
    Finally, the Department acknowledges the concerns that several 
associations raised regarding the areas in which a CO has ordered 
employers to perform additional positive recruitment under section 
655.154. These associations contend that the Department should no 
longer require additional positive recruitment under this section 
because there has been significant growth in certified H-2A positions 
in areas of alleged labor supply. The Department reminds the commenters 
that under current regulations the CO has the flexibility to gather 
information, including current use of the H-2A program in areas of 
alleged labor supply, to determine whether U.S. workers may be found 
and available for work at the time and place needed. The Department's 
statutory mandate to ensure that positive recruitment efforts are made 
within a multistate region of traditional or expected labor supply 
remains a factual determination with respect to the employer's job 
opportunity and location and time of year. Because many farm workers 
migrate over the course of the year and the time it takes to perform 
various farm work activities varies from year to year, the CO must 
consider current information to determine the states to which to refer 
an employer to conduct positive recruitment. The CO's review of such 
information, with respect to the job opportunity located in certain 
states and during certain seasons of the year, may or may not lead to 
the designation of traditional or expected labor supply states with 
respect to other states in which H-2A applications are filed.

E. Out of Scope Comments on the Proposed Rule

    The Department received comments on several issues that were 
unrelated to its proposal to modernize the recruitment that an employer 
must conduct under its regulations by replacing print newspaper 
advertisements with electronic advertisements posted on the internet.
    The Department recognizes and appreciates the value of these 
comments and suggestions. However, they are outside the scope of this 
rulemaking and the Department cannot adopt them without additional 
regulatory--and in some cases Congressional--action. To the extent that 
parties who submitted such comments seek further revisions to the H-2A 
program, the Department intends to propose a separate rule to 
streamline the process by which employers obtain an H-2A temporary 
labor certification, and it invites all interested parties to review 
this proposal, when published, and submit comments in response.

III. Administrative Information

A. Executive Orders 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review), 13563 
(Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review), and 13771 (Reducing 
Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs)

    Under Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB)'s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs determines 
whether a regulatory action is significant and, therefore, subject to 
the requirements of the E.O. and review by OMB. 58 FR 51735. Section 
3(f) of E.O. 12866 defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an 
action that is likely to result in a rule that: (1) Has an annual 
effect on the economy of $100 million or more, or adversely affects in 
a material way a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, 
jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, local or 
tribal governments or communities (also referred to as economically 
significant); (2) creates serious inconsistency or otherwise interferes 
with an action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially 
alters the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, or loan 
programs, or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) 
raises novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the 
President's priorities, or the principles set forth in the E.O. Id. OMB 
has determined that this final rule is a significant, but not 
economically significant, regulatory action under Sec. 3(f) of E.O. 
12866. Consequently, OMB has reviewed this rule.
    E.O. 13563 directs agencies to propose or adopt a regulation only 
upon a reasoned determination that its benefits justify its costs; the 
regulation is tailored to impose the least burden on society, 
consistent with achieving the regulatory objectives; and in choosing 
among alternative regulatory approaches, the agency has selected those 
approaches that maximize net benefits. E.O. 13563 recognizes that some 
benefits are difficult to quantify and provides that, where appropriate 
and permitted by law, agencies may consider and discuss qualitatively 
values that are difficult or impossible to quantify, including equity, 
human dignity, fairness, and distributive impacts.
    This final rule is an E.O. 13771 deregulatory action because the 
cost savings to H-2A employers associated with the rule are larger than 
the costs. The estimated cost savings associated with this regulatory 
action are derived from the rescission of section 655.151 to remove the 
newspaper-advertising requirement, the rescission of section 655.152 to 
eliminate the corresponding ad content requirements, and the revision 
of section 655.167 to eliminate document retention requirements 
associated with print newspaper advertisements.
1. Discussion of Comments
    Some commenters expressed concern about the cost of posting online 
advertisements, and the burden of reviewing a large volume of online 
applications. One commenter suggested that the Department's estimates 
for the costs of online advertisements underestimated actual fees, 
stating that prices for advertising online are in some instances the 
same as, if not greater than, the cost of a single newspaper 
advertisement. The commenter asserted that posting an advertisement 
online typically cost just as much as placing a print advertisement. An 
additional commenter stated that print advertising requirements add 
significant cost to H-2A employers already facing multiple other costs 
(e.g., agent fees, filing fees, housing, transportation, and adverse 
effect wage rates) and argued that print advertising has no value in 
targeting prospective job applicants. Another commenter suggested that 
newspaper advertisement packages often include options to advertise in 
either the print or online edition. A few other commenters took issue 
with the

[[Page 49452]]

assumption that online advertising has no cost to the employer, stating 
that several websites have a price associated with the cost of posting 
advertisements online. Some commenters argued that the proposed 
requirements help neither workers nor employers, since they do not 
actually protect the rights of U.S. workers but impose unnecessary 
costs on employers.
    Lastly, one commenter remarked that as the newspaper industry 
declines and fewer competitors are available, instances of abusive 
pricing have been reported, since newspaper companies know that 
employers have no alternative because of government-mandated 
advertisements. The commenter reasoned that the cost savings of 
switching to electronic advertisements would be beneficial to employers 
already incurring other large expenses from participating in the 
program (e.g., filing fees, transportation, subsistence, consular fees, 
DOL-mandated prevailing wages).
    Several commenters asserted that the proposal was based on an 
incomplete analysis of recruiting costs and the burden placed on 
employers. These commenters described employers' experiences with high 
volumes of applicants to online job postings to argue that the overall 
cost of electronic advertisements could be higher than print 
advertisements because of the increased burden of vetting hundreds of 
unqualified applicants. The commenters stated that large job posting 
websites often include ``Apply Now'' options that increase the 
likelihood of large responses to online postings, which they argued 
drives up costs for employers.
    The Department agrees with the commenters' concern that the 
Department may have underestimated the cost of online advertising. As 
explained elsewhere in this preamble, the Department has concluded 
that, to reduce this cost and burden, expand the reach of each ad, and 
leverage the Department's existing technology and infrastructure, it is 
appropriate for the Department rather than employers to place H-2A 
electronic advertisements. The final rule replaces the print newspaper-
advertising requirement with employers' job opportunities posted on a 
DOL-maintained website, SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, thus eliminating the cost 
to employers. Additionally, the enhancements the Department has and 
continues to make to SeasonalJobs.dol.gov are designed to further the 
Department's goal to promote greater public awareness of and access to 
H-2A job opportunities in order to increase the likelihood that U.S. 
workers interested in agricultural opportunities, as well as 
intermediaries providing services to those workers, receive timely 
notice of H-2A job opportunities. Any costs or burden that an employer 
incurs reviewing increased applications from U.S. workers is a 
fundamental obligation for choosing to participate in the H-2A program 
and outweighed by the Department's statutory obligation to ensure that 
able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers are not available.
    The Department also received comments on the recordkeeping costs 
associated with employers' online advertising. One commenter suggested 
that the per-employer costs required to adjust to the new electronic 
notifications might be slightly higher than estimated due to the 
increased recordkeeping fees incurred from vetting more applicants. The 
commenter stated that while these fees may be greater than the 
Department's estimates, the new requirements and fees associated with 
the rule are far more favorable to employers than the current print 
newspaper costs. A second commenter concluded that DOL's estimates of 
stakeholder time and cost required to conform business practices to the 
new rule are adequate.
    As the final rule eliminates an H-2A employer's recordkeeping 
obligation as it pertains to print advertisements, it also eliminates 
the cost associated with that requirement. Accordingly, the Department 
has estimated the cost savings associated with eliminating the 
requirements of document retention.
    Some commenters took issue with the specifics of the Department's 
calculations. This final rule eliminates costs, including recordkeeping 
costs, associated with employer-posted advertisements, both print and 
electronic. In the interest of transparency and responsiveness, the 
Department explains key elements of these calculations below.
    One commenter stated that the cost assessment in the rulemaking 
appeared to underestimate the actual cost to H-2A employers. According 
to this commenter, data for FYs 2015 through 2018 showed a trend toward 
ever-increasing numbers of certifications each year (e.g., 10,917 
certifications for FY 2017, and 11,319 certifications in FY 2018), 
suggesting that an average of 9,796 was simply too low to use as a 
basis for estimating certification totals in future years. The 
Department agrees with the commenter that the number of certifications 
is likely to grow in future years. Therefore, for this final rule, the 
Department has estimated an annual growth rate for the number of 
certifications in the 10-year analysis period, and revised our 
estimates of cost and cost-savings accordingly.
    Another commenter believed the use of advertisement rates for the 
largest newspapers in the five states with the most H-2A temporary 
labor certifications inflated the cost estimates. From the commenter's 
perspective, many employers may not use the largest newspapers to 
fulfill their advertising requirements, and smaller newspapers are 
likely to have lower ad rates. The commenter was concerned that the 
analysis did not specify which criteria were used to develop the rate 
estimates, and that rates vary depending on the advertisement size, 
number of lines, and placement. Another commenter agreed with DOL's 
average print advertisement cost estimate ($336 per advertisement), but 
pointed to additional costs associated with the print advertising 
requirement, including staff time required to place the advertisement, 
process the payment, and document and maintain records of print 
advertisements in case of an audit. All such efforts, the commenter 
concluded, had attracted no applicants in over four years.
    The Department based the cost estimates for two newspaper 
advertisements on advertising costs from newspapers with the widest 
circulation in the five states where H-2A certifications are most 
prevalent, as well as the advertising costs from the most widely 
circulating newspapers in the top feeder states that are adjacent to 
the primary H-2A prevalent states. The Department believes that its 
estimate of $672 represents, on average, a reasonable cost-savings of 
removing print newspaper requirements. The cost of active recruitment 
now disappears completely, as the Department will assume responsibility 
for posting employer advertisements. As explained above, the Department 
has also estimated the cost savings from eliminating the document 
retention requirement.
    Two commenters expressed concern that the proposed rule did not 
consider the impact on the newspaper industry. One commenter argued 
that the rule could potentially reduce budgets for vital local 
journalism since local newspapers may rely on revenue from H-2A job 
postings. As a safeguard, the commenter recommended the rule provide 
for a period of adjustment to allow employers to compare the effect and 
usefulness of electronic advertising versus print. Another commenter 
argued that removing newspaper-advertising requirements would be 
detrimental to the newspaper industry. In contrast,

[[Page 49453]]

another commenter--arguing U.S. farmworkers looking for work would no 
longer be required to purchase print newspapers for the classified 
advertisements--remarked that many comments against the proposed rule 
were from local newspaper publishers complaining that the rule change 
would reduce their profits. U.S. farms and farmworkers, this commenter 
asserted, are not responsible for subsidizing the newspaper industry. 
Further, the commenter stated that newspaper companies do not know how 
many applications employers receive because of a newspaper job posting 
and, therefore, cannot comment on the effectiveness of print 
advertisements.
    The Department concludes that while this rule may have an effect on 
the newspaper industry, the advertising revenue lost from employers who 
are no longer required to post job openings in print is expected to 
represent an insignificant portion of the industry's overall 
advertisement revenue.
2. Subject-by-Subject Analysis
    The Department's analysis below considers the expected impacts of 
the following aspects of the final rule against the baseline (i.e., the 
2010 Final Rule): (a) Rescission of the requirement that an employer 
advertise its job opportunity in a print newspaper of general 
circulation in the area of intended employment; (b) elimination of the 
document retention requirement associated with print newspaper 
advertisements; and (c) the time it takes the regulated community to 
read and review the rule.
    Based on historical program data on H-2A labor certifications 
issued from FY 2012-2018--the only data available to the Department for 
estimates a growth rate in certifications--the Department estimated a 
14 percent annual growth rate in the number of certified H-2A 
applications. The Department cautions, however, that this growth rate 
estimate represents the extreme upper bounds of projected certified H-
2A applications, and the actual number of certifications could very 
well be lower.\8\ The Department applied this average annual growth 
rate to the number of H-2A certifications for the 10-year study period 
to account for projected program growth.
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    \8\ The Department of Labor believes that an annual growth rate 
of 14 percent is unlikely to be sustained over the next 10 years, as 
this would require that workers in these industries all be H-2A 
employees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

(a) Eliminating the Use of Print Newspaper Advertisements
    This final rule modernizes H-2A recruitment by rescinding the 
regulation imposing the requirement for print newspaper advertisements, 
at 20 CFR 655.151, and the regulation prescribing the content that an 
employer must include in those advertisements, at 20 CFR 655.152. In 
conjunction with this rule, the Department will assume responsibility 
for these recruitment activities by advertising each employer's job 
opportunity on a DOL website designed to make the job opportunity more 
broadly available to U.S. workers.
    To estimate the cost savings to employers that would result from 
this final rule, the Department multiplied the average number of H-2A 
labor certifications issued each fiscal year by the average cost to an 
employer of placing a print advertisement. First, the Department used 
program data for FYs 2015-2017 to estimate that the H-2A program 
approves, on average, 9,796 labor certifications each fiscal year.\9\ 
Next, the Department applied a growth rate of 14 percent to this 
average number of certifications to estimate an annual count of H-2A 
certifications. To estimate the average cost of a print ad, the 
Department identified the top five states in which prospective H-2A 
employers received temporary labor certifications,\10\ and it 
researched the cost of placing a newspaper advertisement in the most 
populous city in each of these states (for several newspapers, 
including large and local papers), for advertisements satisfying the 
content requirements set forth in section 655.152. Based on this data, 
the Department estimated that, on average, it costs an employer $336 to 
place a single ad complying with section 655.152's content 
requirements. Thus, placing the two advertisements required by section 
655.151 costs an employer, on average, twice as much, or $672 ($336 for 
each advertisement).
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    \9\ The average is based on 8,721 H-2A temporary labor 
certifications in FY 2015; 9,751 temporary labor certifications in 
FY 2016; and 10,917 temporary labor certifications in FY 2017. See 
https://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/performancedata.cfm.
    \10\ The top 5 states in which employers seek to place H-2A 
workers are California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and 
Washington.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As mentioned above, employers can advertise using the DOL-
maintained website free of charge, so removing the requirement to 
advertise in a print newspaper would result in a cost savings equal to 
the cost of complying with the current regulation. Although section 
655.151 currently requires employers to advertise on two consecutive 
days, one of which must be a Sunday, the Department did not identify a 
significant difference in cost between advertisements placed on Sundays 
and weekdays, so the Department did not distinguish between these two 
costs when calculating total advertising cost savings. To estimate the 
annual newspaper advertising costs that employers will avoid under the 
final rule, the Department multiplied the estimated annual number of H-
2A temporary labor certifications (9,796 multiplied by the 14 percent 
annual growth rate) by the average newspaper advertising cost of $672. 
This yielded annual cost savings ranging from $7.48 million in year one 
to $23.48 million in year ten. The annualized cost savings over the 
ten-year period is $14.14 million and $14.11 million at discount rates 
of 3 and 7 percent, respectively. The Department believes that the cost 
to the Department of upgrading its database and posting employer's job 
opportunities on its website would be de minimis on an annual basis. 
The Department also notes that the startup investment for 
SeasonalJobs.dol.gov is a cost which exists in the baseline as DOL 
initiated the job posting site separate and apart from this rule. As a 
result, these costs are not considered costs of this rule.
(b) Eliminating Document Retention Requirements
    The final rule amends section 655.167 to eliminate the document 
retention requirement associated with print newspaper advertisements. 
To estimate the cost savings from this revision, the Department 
calculated the average cost for each employer to retain print ad 
records for each H-2A certification. To do so, the Department 
multiplied each employer's per-certification staff time by its per-
certification staff cost. The Department estimates that it takes a 
human resources (HR) manager, on average, two minutes to store (print 
and file) proof of print advertisement. The Department estimated a wage 
rate by multiplying the median hourly wage of an HR manager at an 
agricultural business ($31.84) by the loaded wage rate (1.63) to 
account for fringe benefits and overhead.\11\ The Department then 
multiplied the resulting wage rate by the staff time (two minutes), 
which yielded a cost of $1.73 per certification. As explained above, 
the Department estimated that the Department issues, on average, 9,796 
labor certifications each fiscal year, and applied an annual growth 
rate of 14 percent to this total. By multiplying the estimated annual

[[Page 49454]]

number of certifications by the cost per certification ($1.73), the 
Department estimated an annual cost savings ranging from $19,245 in 
year one to $60,437 in year ten. The annualized cost savings over the 
ten-year period is $36,392 and $36,337 at the discount rates of 3 
percent and 7 percent, respectively.
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    \11\ The loaded wage factor is calculated using a fringe benefit 
rate of 46 percent, which is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
Employer Cost for Employee Compensation data. This fringe benefit 
rate was added to an overhead rate of 17 percent, which is based on 
DOL practices.
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(c) Time To Review and Understand the Rule
    During the first year after this rule takes effect, employers 
seeking H-2A workers will need time to learn about the new 
requirements. The Department assumes that many employers participating 
in the H-2A program will learn about the requirements of the new rule 
from an industry newsletter or bulletin. The Department estimates that 
an employer will require approximately 10 minutes to understand the 
rule change, as this final rule addresses only the job-advertising 
requirement for employers seeking H-2A workers.
    The requirement to review and understand the rule represents a cost 
to employers participating in the H-2A program in the first year of the 
rule. The Department estimates this cost for each employer by 
multiplying the staff time required to read and review the new rule by 
the estimated staff cost. As above, the Department estimated a wage 
rate by multiplying the median hourly wage of an HR manager at an 
agricultural business ($31.84) \12\ by the loaded wage rate (1.63) to 
account for fringe benefits and overhead. The Department then 
multiplied the resulting wage rate by the required staff time (10 
minutes), which yielded a cost of $8.65 per employer. The Department 
estimated the total cost of reading and reviewing the rule by 
multiplying $8.65 by the average number of employers participating in 
the H-2A program over FY 2015-2017 (6,676). This calculation results in 
a cost of $57,747 in the first year. The annualized cost over the ten-
year period is $6,770 and $8,222 at the discount rates of 3 percent and 
7 percent, respectively.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ Wage derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics median hourly 
wage for HR Specialists (occupational code 13-1071), May 2017.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Summary of Impacts
    The Department estimates the total first-year costs of the final 
rule to be $57,747. This cost results from the time required to read 
and review the final rule, for all current H-2A employers combined. The 
Department estimates first-year cost savings of $7.49 million. This 
cost savings results from eliminating the requirement that employers 
place print newspaper advertisements and retain ad-related documents. 
Net first-year cost savings, therefore, amount to $7.44 million.
    Generally, annual cost savings are expected to range from $8.51 
million to $23.54 million in years following the first. The 10-year 
discounted net cost savings of the rule range from $120.90 million to 
$99.39 million (with 3 percent and 7 percent discount rates, 
respectively). The annualized net cost savings of the final rule ranges 
from $14.17 million to $14.14 million (with 3 percent and 7 percent 
discount rates, respectively). When the Department uses a perpetual 
time horizon to allow for cost comparisons under E.O. 13771, the 
annualized cost savings of this final rule are $14.15 \13\ million at a 
discount rate of 7 percent in 2016 dollars.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ Cost savings in current dollars are $14.16 million. To 
comply with E.O. 13771 accounting costs calculated on a perpetual 
time horizon are multiplied by the GDP deflator (0.980702077) to 
convert to 2016 dollars then multiplied by a discount rate 
(0.816297877) in order to set to discount the amount to 2016 
figures.
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B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., 
as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 
1996, Public Law 104-121 (March 29, 1996), requires federal agencies 
engaged in rulemaking to consider the impact of their proposals on 
small entities, consider alternatives to minimize that impact, and 
solicit public comment on their analyses. The RFA requires the 
assessment of the impact of a regulation on a wide range of small 
entities, including small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and 
small governmental jurisdictions. Agencies must perform a review to 
determine whether a proposed or final rule would have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 
and 604.
    This rule may impact small businesses that request H-2A temporary 
labor certifications. Based on data obtained from the Small business 
Administrations, the department identified that on average 1,195 total 
unique small employers could be affected by the implementation of this 
rule.\14\ The Department assumes that the average number of H-2A 
temporary labor certifications requested by any small business per year 
will be one. The Department estimates that small businesses will incur 
a one-time cost of $8.65 to familiarize themselves with the rule. 
Following the initial familiarization period, employers will experience 
annualized cost savings of $674 \15\ associated with advertising online 
rather than in print newspapers and the elimination of document 
retention requirements. To estimate the cost savings to small 
businesses the Department multiplied the average cost of a single 
newspaper advertisement by the number of advertisements required by 20 
CFR 655.42 ($336 per advertisement x 2 advertisements). This amount was 
added to the estimated cost savings from the elimination if the 
document retention requirement ($1.73). Over a 10-year period, the net 
annualized cost savings for a small business would be $716 at a 7-
percent discount rate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ The average is based on 1,136 unique small business 
entities FY 2016; and 1,253 unique small business entities in FY 
2017.
    \15\ $674 = ($336 for newspaper advertisement cost x 2 required 
advertisements) + $2 for the elimination of document retention 
requirement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department reviewed the impacts of the final rule for two North 
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes that frequently 
request H-2A temporary labor certifications--NAICS 115115: Farm Labor 
Contractors & Crew Leaders, and NAICS 111998: All Other Miscellaneous 
Crop Farming. The Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates that 
annual revenue for a small business with NAICS Code 115115 is $15 
million and for NAICS Code 111998 is $750,000.\16\ The Department 
estimates that the impact of the final rule will be less than 1 percent 
of annual revenue for the small businesses in these industries with the 
employment size fewer than 5 ($710,717 for NAICS 115115 and $430,835 
for NAICS 11).\17\ Based on this determination, the Department 
certifies that the final rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ U.S. Small Business Administration. (2017). Table of Small 
Business Size Standards Matched to North American Industry 
Classification System Codes. Retrieved from: https://www.naics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/SBA_Size_Standards_Table.pdf.
    \17\ U.S. Census, 2012 SUSB Annual Data Tables by Establishment 
Industry, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2012/econ/susb/2012-susb-annual.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One commenter asserted that the final rule might impact small 
businesses that request H-2A temporary labor certifications. The 
commenter argued that DOL's assumption that small businesses would only 
request one H-2A temporary labor certification is incorrect because a 
large percentage of small employers submit multiple certification 
applications. Another commenter, expressing support for the rule, 
argued that increasingly costly and cumbersome aspects of the H-2A 
program have precluded many small

[[Page 49455]]

family farms from participating. The commenter argued that the new rule 
would mitigate such costs and make the program more economically viable 
for those employers who lack the size and scale to absorb the 
additional overhead.
    The Department understands that some small businesses may have more 
than one certification, but this final rule makes no change to affect 
small employers to increase or decrease their number of certifications. 
This final rule will provide cost savings to small businesses by 
removing print newspaper advertisement requirements and associated 
document retention requirements.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., provides 
that a Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection 
of information, and the public is generally not required to respond to 
an information collection, unless it is approved by OMB under the PRA 
and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, 
notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall generally 
be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection of 
information that does not display a valid Control Number. See 5 CFR 
1320.5(a) and 1320.6. DOL has submitted the Information Collection 
Request (ICR), concerning OMB Control Number 1205-0532, contained in 
this final rule to OMB to obtain approval using emergency clearance 
procedures outlined at 5 CFR 1320.13.
    The revisions detailed in this final rule closely relate to 
existing information collections approved for the H-2A Foreign Labor 
Certification Program under OMB control number 1205-0466. The 
Department is not submitting this ICR under that control number, 
however, because the ROCIS database, which is OMB's system for 
processing requests, allows only one ICR per control number to be 
pending at any given time, and the existing control number will be 
encumbered by an unrelated ICR when submitting the final rule in this 
regulatory process. The Department is therefore submitting the instant 
ICR under a different control number, 1205-0532, which was assigned by 
OMB, for administrative purposes only. Once all of the outstanding 
actions are complete, the Department intends to submit a non-material 
change request to transfer the burden from this OMB control number 
(1205-0532) to the existing OMB control number for the H 2A Foreign 
Labor Certification Program (1205-0466) and proceed to discontinue the 
use of this OMB control number 1205-0532.
    This final rule modernizes and improves the labor market test that 
the Department uses to assess whether able, willing, and qualified U.S. 
workers are available by: (1) Rescinding the requirement that an 
employer advertise its job opportunity in a print newspaper of general 
circulation in the area of intended employment; (2) expanding and 
enhancing the Department's electronic job registry; and (3) further 
leveraging the knowledge and expertise of State Workforce Agencies 
(SWAs) to promote agricultural job opportunities. More specifically, 
this final rule eliminates the general requirement for a prospective H-
2A employer to advertise its job opportunity in a print newspaper of 
general circulation in the area of intended employment. However, in 
contrast to the NPRM, this final rule does not require the employer to 
place this electronic advertisement. Rather, as explained in detail in 
this final rule, the Department will advertise the employer's job 
opportunity on its behalf by posting it on SeasonalJobs.dol.gov, an 
expanded and improved version of the Department's existing H-2A job 
registry website. In addition, this final rule further strengthens the 
labor market test by leveraging existing recruitment outreach 
activities of the SWAs to provide written notice of the job opportunity 
to organizations providing employment and training services to workers 
likely to apply for the job, or place written notice in other physical 
locations where such workers are likely to gather.
    The information collection change in requirements associated with 
this final rule are summarized as follows:
    Agency: DOL-ETA.
    Type of Information Collection: New OMB Control Number 1205-0532.
    Title of the Collection: Advertising Requirements for Employers 
Seeking to Employ H-2A Nonimmigrant Workers.
    Agency Form Number: None.
    Affected Public: Private Sector--businesses or other for-profits 
and state/local agencies.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 9,796.
    Average Responses per Year per Respondent: 2.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 19,592.
    Average Time per Response: 7 minutes per application.
    Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 137,144 hours.
    Total Estimated Other Costs Burden: $0.

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) is intended, among 
other things, to curb the practice of imposing unfunded Federal 
mandates on state, local, and tribal governments. Title II of the Act 
requires each Federal agency to prepare a written statement assessing 
the effects of any Federal mandate in a proposed or final agency rule 
that may result in $100 million or more expenditure (adjusted annually 
for inflation) in any one year by state, local, and tribal governments, 
in the aggregate, or by the private sector.
    SWAs are mandated to perform certain activities for the Federal 
Government under the H-2A program, and receive grants to support the 
performance of these activities. The current regulation requires SWAs 
to review and place approved job orders into their intrastate and 
interstate clearance systems, which includes dissemination of the job 
opportunity to all offices where SWA staff are located as well as one-
stop partner sites and other specialized offices affiliated with the 
state one-stop delivery system. SWAs are also responsible for assisting 
U.S. workers to understand the terms and conditions of employment set 
forth in intrastate and interstate clearance orders, actively referring 
qualified U.S. workers to available job opportunities, and performing 
housing inspections to ensure compliance with applicable housing 
standards.
    Under the final rule, SWAs will continue to play a significant and 
active role in disseminating available job opportunities and providing 
the full range of employment and training services to the agricultural 
community, both workers and employers, through the state one-stop 
delivery system. Specifically, the final rule strengthens the labor 
market test by leveraging existing recruitment outreach activities of 
the SWAs to provide written notice of the job opportunity to 
organizations providing employment and training services to workers 
likely to apply for the job, or place written notice in other physical 
locations where such workers are likely to gather.
    Regulations under the Wagner-Peyser Act require each state to 
conduct outreach activities to U.S. agricultural workers and circulate 
available job opportunities throughout the state's one-stop delivery 
system, including NFJP grantees serving migrant and seasonal 
farmworkers. The Department recognizes that this final rule may 
slightly increase the outreach activities of some SWAs, particularly 
those who

[[Page 49456]]

do not serve significant numbers of U.S. agricultural workers, in terms 
of identifying organizations providing employment and training services 
to workers likely to apply for agricultural job opportunities or 
gathering information on where such workers are likely to gather. 
However, the Department anticipates that the workload associated with 
these activities will be minimal, since information needed to contact 
employment and training service providers is readily available, and the 
SWAs possess extensive experience conducting a wide array of outreach 
services to U.S. agricultural workers.
    Funding to carry out these activities under the H-2A program is 
provided by the Department through grants under the Wagner-Peyser Act, 
29 U.S.C. 49 et seq., and directly through appropriated funds for 
administration of the Department's foreign labor certification program. 
The Department anticipates continued funding under the Wagner-Peyser 
Act to support the activities of the SWAs. Furthermore, this final rule 
does not exceed the $100 million expenditure in any 1 year when 
adjusted for inflation, and this rulemaking does not contain such a 
mandate. The requirements of Title II of the Act, therefore, do not 
apply, and the Department has not prepared a statement under the Act.

E. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

    This final rule is not a major rule as defined by section 804 of 
the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act of 1996, Public Law 104-
121, 804, 110 Stat. 847, 872 (1996), 5 U.S.C. 804(2). This final rule 
has not been found to result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 
million or more; a major increase in costs or prices; or significant 
adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, 
innovation, or on the ability of United States-based companies to 
compete with foreign-based companies in domestic or export markets.

F. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    This final rule does not have federalism implications because it 
does not have substantial direct effects on the states, on the 
relationship between the national government and the states, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 
government. Accordingly, Executive Order 13132, Federalism, requires no 
further agency action or analysis.

G. Executive Orders 13175 (Indian Tribal Governments)

    This final rule does not have ``tribal implications'' because it 
does not have substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, 
on the relationship between the Federal government and Indian tribes, 
or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the 
Federal government and Indian tribes. Accordingly, Executive Order 
13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, 
requires no further agency action or analysis.

H. The Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 1999: 
Assessment of Federal Regulations and Policies on Families

    This final rule will have no effect on family well-being or 
stability, marital commitment, parental rights or authority, or income 
or poverty of families and children. Accordingly, section 654 of the 
Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 1999 (5 U.S.C. 
601 note) requires no further agency action, analysis, or assessment.

I. Executive Order 13045 (Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health Risks and Safety Risks)

    This final rule will have no adverse impact on children. 
Accordingly, Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks, as amended by Executive 
Orders 13229 and 13296, requires no further agency action or analysis.

J. Environmental Impact Assessment

    This action is one of a category of actions that do not 
individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human 
environment. This action is therefore categorically excluded from 
further review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321-4375.

K. Executive Order 13211 (Energy Supply)

    This final rule will not have impacts on energy supply. 
Accordingly, Executive Order 13211 requires no further Agency action or 
analysis.

L. Executive Order 12630 (Constitutionally Protected Property Rights)

    This final rule will not implement a policy with takings 
implications. Accordingly, Executive Order 12630, Governmental Actions 
and Interference with Constitutionally Protected Property Rights, 
requires no further agency action or analysis.

M. Executive Order 12988 (Civil Justice Reform Analysis)

    This final rule meets the applicable standards set forth in 
sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 655

    Administrative practice and procedure, Employment, Employment and 
training, Enforcement, Foreign workers, Forest and forest products, 
Fraud, Health professions, Immigration, Labor, Longshore and harbor 
work, Migrant workers, Nonimmigrant workers, Passports and visas, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Unemployment, 
Wages, Working conditions.

    Accordingly, DOL amends part 655 of title 20 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations as follows:

PART 655--TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN WORKERS IN THE UNITED 
STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 655 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Section 655.0 issued under 8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)(15)(E)(iii), 1101(a)(15)(H)(i) and (ii), 8 U.S.C. 
1103(a)(6), 1182(m), (n) and (t), 1184(c), (g), and (j), 1188, and 
1288(c) and (d); sec. 3(c)(1), Pub. L. 101-238, 103 Stat. 2099, 2102 
(8 U.S.C. 1182 note); sec. 221(a), Pub. L. 101-649, 104 Stat. 4978, 
5027 (8 U.S.C. 1184 note); sec. 303(a)(8), Pub. L. 102-232, 105 
Stat. 1733, 1748 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note); sec. 323(c), Pub. L. 103-206, 
107 Stat. 2428; sec. 412(e), Pub. L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681 (8 
U.S.C. 1182 note); sec. 2(d), Pub. L. 106-95, 113 Stat. 1312, 1316 
(8 U.S.C. 1182 note); 29 U.S.C. 49k; Pub. L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 
2135, as amended; Pub. L. 109-423, 120 Stat. 2900; sec. 205 of 
division M, Pub. L. 115-141, 132 Stat. 348; 8 CFR 2.1, 
214.2(h)(4)(i), and 214.2(h)(6)(iii).
    Subpart A issued under 8 CFR 214.2(h).
    Subpart B issued under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), 1184(c), 
and 1188; and 8 CFR 214.2(h).
    Subparts F and G issued under 8 U.S.C. 1288(c) and (d); sec. 
323(c), Pub. L. 103-206, 107 Stat. 2428; and 28 U.S.C. 2461 note, 
Pub. L. 114-74 at section 701.
    Subparts H and I issued under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) and 
(b)(1), 1182(n) and (t), and 1184(g) and (j); sec. 303(a)(8), Pub. 
L. 102-232, 105 Stat. 1733, 1748 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note); sec. 412(e), 
Pub. L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681; 8 CFR 214.2(h); and 28 U.S.C. 2461 
note, Pub. L. 114-74 at section 701.
    Subparts L and M issued under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) and 
1182(m); sec. 2(d), Pub. L. 106-95, 113 Stat. 1312, 1316 (8 U.S.C. 
1182 note); Pub. L. 109-423, 120 Stat. 2900; and 8 CFR 214.2(h).


0
2. Amend Sec.  655.143 by revising paragraph (b)(3) and (b)(4) and by 
adding paragraph (b)(5) to read as follows:

[[Page 49457]]

Sec.  655.143   Notice of acceptance.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (3) State that positive recruitment is in addition to and will 
occur during the period of time that the job order is being circulated 
by the SWA(s) for interstate clearance under Sec.  655.150 of this 
subpart and will terminate on the actual date on which the H-2A workers 
depart for the place of work, or 3 calendar days prior to the first 
date the employer requires the services of the H-2A workers, whichever 
occurs first;
    (4) State that the CO will make a determination either to grant or 
deny the Application for Temporary Employment Certification no later 
than 30 calendar days before the date of need, except as provided for 
under Sec.  655.144 for modified Applications for Temporary Employment 
Certification.; and
    (5) Where appropriate to the job opportunity and area of intended 
employment, direct the SWA to provide written notice of the job 
opportunity to organizations that provide employment and training 
services to workers likely to apply for the job and/or to place written 
notice of the job opportunity in other physical locations where such 
workers are likely to gather.


Sec.  655.151  [Removed and Reserved]

0
3. Remove and reserve Sec.  655.151.


Sec.  655.152  [Removed and Reserved]

0
4. Remove and reserve Sec.  655.152.


Sec.  655.161  [Amended]

0
5. In Sec.  655.161(a), remove the reference to ``Sec.  655.121 and 
Sec.  655.152'' and add in its place ``this subpart''.


Sec.  655.167  [Amended]

0
6. Amend Sec.  655.167 by removing paragraph (c)(1)(ii) and 
redesignating paragraphs (c)(1)(iii) and (iv) as paragraphs (c)(1)(ii) 
and (iii).


Sec.  655.225  [Amended]

0
7. Amend Sec.  655.225 by removing paragraph (d) and redesignating 
paragraph (e) as paragraph (d).

John P. Pallasch,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2019-19674 Filed 9-19-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P