Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Program Year (PY) 2021 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 167, National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) Proposed Modifications to Allotment Formula, 24891-24895 [2021-09799]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 88 / Monday, May 10, 2021 / Notices
(Identification of Eligible Providers of
Training Services);
(4) One member who is a
representative of economic development
entities;
(5) One member who is a
representative of businesses, who has
been nominated by national business
organizations or trade associations;
(6) One member who is a
representative of labor organizations,
who has been nominated by a national
labor federation;
(7) One member who is a
representative of local workforce
development boards, who has been
nominated by a national organization
representing such boards; and
(8) One member who is a
representative of research entities that
use workforce and labor market
information.
The Secretary must ensure that the
membership of the WIAC is
geographically diverse, and that no two
members appointed under clauses (1),
(2), and (7) above represent the same
State. Please note, the members whom
the Secretary appoints to fill these
vacancies will serve the balance of their
predecessors’ unexpired terms, in this
case from the date of appointment until
March 9, 2023. Members of the Council
will serve on a voluntary and generally
uncompensated basis, but will be
reimbursed for travel expenses to attend
WIAC meetings, including per diem in
lieu of subsistence, as authorized by the
Federal travel regulations.
The WIAC is a permanent advisory
council and, as such, is not governed by
the Federal Advisory Committee Act’s
(FACA) section 14, on termination of
advisory committees. In other respects,
however, WIAC membership will be
consistent with the FACA requirement
that membership be ‘‘fairly balanced in
terms of the points of view represented
and the functions to be performed’’ (5
U.S.C. App. 2, section 5(b)(2)), as
specified in Wagner-Peyser section
15(2)(B) & (C), and the requirement that
members come from ‘‘a cross-section of
those directly affected, interested, and
qualified, as appropriate to the nature
and functions’’ of the WIAC (41 CFR
102–3.60(b)(3)). Under the FACA
regulation, the composition of the WIAC
will, therefore, depend upon several
factors, including: (i) The WIAC’s
mission; (ii) the geographic, ethnic,
social, economic, or scientific impact of
the WIAC’s recommendations; (iii) the
types of specific perspectives required;
(iv) the need to obtain divergent points
of view on the issues before the WIAC,
such as those of consumers, technical
experts, the public at large, academia,
business, or other sectors; and (v) the
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relevance of State, local, or tribal
governments to the development of the
WIAC’s recommendations (41 CFR 102–
3, Subpart B, Appendix A.).
To the extent permitted by FACA and
other applicable laws, WIAC
membership should also be consistent
with achieving the greatest impact,
scope, and credibility among diverse
stakeholders. The diversity in such
membership includes, but is not limited
to, race, gender, disability, sexual
orientation, and gender identity.
Nominations Process: Nominations
for a representative of lead State
agencies with responsibility for
workforce investment activities, or State
agencies described in Wagner-Peyser
Act section 4 (agency designated or
authorized by Governor to cooperate
with the Secretary of Labor), must be
nominated by such agencies or by a
national organization that represents
such agencies. Nominations for a
representative of State workforce and
labor market information directors
affiliated with the State agencies
responsible for the management and
oversight of the workforce and labor
market information system as described
in Wagner-Peyser Act section 15(e)(2),
must be nominated by the directors.
To nominate an individual for
appointment to the WIAC, please
submit, to one of the addresses listed
below, the following information:
• A copy of the nominee’s resume or
curriculum vitae;
• A cover letter that provides your
reason(s) for nominating the individual,
the constituency area that they represent
(as outlined above in the WIAC
membership identification discussion),
and their particular expertise for
contributing to the national policy
discussion on: (1) The evaluation and
improvement of the nationwide
workforce and labor market information
system and statewide systems that
comprise the nationwide system, and (2)
how the Department of Labor and the
States will cooperate in the management
of those systems, including programs
that produce employment-related
statistics and State and local workforce
and labor market information; and
• Contact information for the
nominee (name, title, business address,
business phone, and business email
address).
In addition, the cover letter must state
the nomination is being made in
response to this Federal Register Notice
and the nominee (if nominating
someone other than oneself) has agreed
to be nominated and is willing to serve
on the WIAC. Nominees will be
appointed based on their qualifications,
professional experience, and
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demonstrated knowledge of issues
related to the purpose and scope of the
WIAC, as well as diversity
considerations. The Department will
publish a list of the new WIAC members
on the WIAC’s website at https://
www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa/wiac.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Steve Rietzke, WIAC Designated Federal
Officer, WIAC@dol.gov.
Authority: Pursuant to the Wagner-Peyser
Act of 1933, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.;
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act,
Pub. L. 113–128; Federal Advisory
Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App.
2.
Suzan G. LeVine,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Employment and Training Administration,
Labor.
[FR Doc. 2021–09792 Filed 5–7–21; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training
Administration
Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) Program Year
(PY) 2021 Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 167,
National Farmworker Jobs Program
(NFJP) Proposed Modifications to
Allotment Formula
Employment and Training
Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
AGENCY:
This Notice announces
proposed modifications to the allotment
formula for the National Farmworker
Jobs Program (NFJP), which is
authorized under the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act
(WIOA), Section 167, and presents
preliminary State planning estimates for
Program Year (PY) 2021. These
allotments are estimates based on the
funds appropriated in the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (from this
point forward will be referred to as the
‘‘the Act’’). The U.S. Department of
Labor (DOL), Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) will accept
comments related to the allotment
methodology, including modifications
and the hold-harmless provision.
DATES: The PY 2021 NFJP allotments
become effective for the grant period
that begins July 1, 2021. Written
comments on this notice are invited and
must be received on or before May 24,
2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments are accepted via
email to NFJP@dol.gov. Please enter
‘‘PY21 National Farmworker Jobs
SUMMARY:
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Program Grantee Allotments Public
Comment’’ in the subject line of the
email.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions on this notice can be
submitted to the Employment and
Training Administration, Office of
Workforce Investment, Attention: Laura
Iban˜ez, Unit Chief, (202) 693–3645 or
Steven Rietzke, Division Chief at (202)
693–3912, or at NFJP@dol.gov.
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).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
notice is published according to Section
182(d) of the WIOA, Prompt Allotment
of Funds. ETA developed the formula to
distribute funds geographically by state
service area, based on each state service
area’s relative share of persons eligible
for the program. The formula’s original
methodology is described in the Federal
Register notice 64 FR 27390, May 19,
1999. That information is accessible at
https://www.federalregister.gov/. In PY
2018, ETA incorporated two
modifications to the allotment formula
to provide more accurate estimates of
each state service area’s relative share of
persons eligible for the program. The
formula also used updated data from
each of the four data files serving as the
basis of the formula since 1999. The
revised formula methodology is
described in the Federal Register notice
83 FR 32151, July 11, 2018.
Beginning in PY 2021, ETA is making
two modifications to the allotment
formula. These modifications will
improve the formula’s accuracy in terms
of estimating the true NFJP-eligible
population in state service areas, and
one of the modifications is necessitated
by a recent statutory change to the NFJP
eligibility criteria, which Congress
enacted in the FY 2021 appropriation.
Section II includes further explanation
of these modifications. This Notice
includes the following sections:
• Section II of this notice provides a
discussion of the updated data that will
be used to populate the formula and the
proposed formula modifications.
• Section III describes the holdharmless provision for the
implementation year and the following
years. The hold-harmless provision is
designed to provide a staged transition
from old to new shares of funding for
State service areas.
• Section IV describes minimum
funding provisions to address State
service areas that would receive less
than $60,000.
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• Section V describes the application
of the formula and the hold-harmless
provision using preliminary planning
estimates for PY 2021.
This notice represents the first of a
two-stage process. Upon receipt of
public comments regarding this notice
related to the formula methodology and
modifications, ETA will consider
comments and finalize the formula
methodology and results. In the second
stage, ETA will publish the final
formula and final allotment levels in the
Federal Register.
I. Background
The Department is announcing
preliminary PY 2021 allotments for the
National Farmworker Jobs Program
(NFJP). This notice provides
information on the amount of funds
available during PY 2021 to state service
areas awarded grants through Funding
Opportunity Announcement FOA–
ETA–20–08 for the NFJP Career Services
and Training grants and Housing grants.
Funds to implement NFJP are
appropriated in the Act. In
appropriating these funds, Congress
provided $87,083,000 for formula grants
(of which $86,946,000 was allotted after
$137,000 was set aside for program
integrity), $6,256,000 for migrant and
seasonal farmworker housing (of which
not less than 70 percent shall be for
permanent housing), and another
$557,000 was set aside for discretionary
purposes. Included below is the table
listing the preliminary PY 2021
allotments for the NFJP Career Services
and Training grants. Individual grants
are awarded for Housing as a result of
the grants competition and are further
distributed according to language in the
appropriations law requiring that of the
total amount available, not less than 70
percent shall be allocated to permanent
housing activities, leaving not more
than 30 percent to temporary housing
activities.
II. Description of Data Files and Review
of PY 2021 Modifications to the
Allotment Formula
As with all state planning estimates
since 1999, the PY 2021 estimates are
based on four data sources: (1) Statelevel, 2017 hired farm labor expenditure
data from the United States Department
of Agriculture’s (USDA) Census of
Agriculture (COA); (2) regional-level,
2017 average hourly earnings data from
the USDA’s Farm Labor Survey; (3)
regional-level, 2010–2018 demographic
data from the ETA’s National
Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS);
and, (4) 2015–2019 (5-year file) data
from the United States Census Bureau’s
American Community Survey (ACS). A
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detailed description of how each data
source is used within the formula is in
the Federal Register notice 64 FR
27390, May 19, 1999). In addition to
populating the formula with updated
data, ETA is proposing two
modifications that will improve the
formula’s accuracy in terms of
estimating the true NFJP-eligible
population in state service areas, and
one of the modifications is necessitated
by the change to the NFJP eligibility
criteria applicable to the PY 2021
appropriation.
(1) First, the Act expands program
eligibility for grants funded by the PY
2021 appropriation to include
farmworkers who are in families with
total family incomes at or below 150
percent of the poverty line. Previously,
the definition of a low income
individual in WIOA section 3(36)(A)(ii)
was based on whether the individual
was in a family with a total family
income that did not exceed the higher
of the poverty line or 70 percent of the
lower living standard income level. As
noted above, a provision to expand
program eligibility is included in the
appropriations language for PY 2021. It
applies to grant activities funded under
the PY 2021 awards. Therefore, the PY
2021 allocations will use special
tabulations of data from the American
Community Survey (ACS) that reflect
farmworkers with total family incomes
at or below 150 percent of the poverty
line. ETA will subsequently revise the
PY 2022 guidance regarding the
definition of ‘‘low-income individual,’’
as needed if the same provision is not
included in subsequent appropriations.
(2) Second, and to more closely align
the formula with the definition of
eligible migrant and seasonal
farmworker under WIOA Section 167(i)
and 20 CFR 685.110 and clarified in the
Training and Employment Guidance
Letter 18–16, ETA proposes modifying
how the formula accounts for crop
workers who are primarily employed in
agriculture. Previously, for the formula,
a crop worker was considered to be
primarily employed in agriculture if (1)
at least 50 percent of their total
individual income was from farm work,
and (2) if they worked at least 25 days
or earned at least $800 in crop farm
work in the previous 24 months. ETA
proposes the formula consider a crop
worker to be primarily employed in
agriculture if at least 50 percent of their
total individual income is from farm
work or at least 50 percent of their total
employment time is in farm work.1 As
1 To determine ‘‘primarily employed in
agriculture’’ criteria, which has two parts, ETA uses
individual income from farm work.
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with all state planning estimates since
1999, ETA will use NAWS data to
determine the share of crop labor hours
in each state that was performed by crop
workers who were primarily employed
in agriculture, per this eligibility
criterion. This modification only applies
to estimates of NFJP-eligible labor hours
performed by crop workers, because the
data that would be needed to similarly
estimate NFJP-eligible labor hours
performed by animal agricultural
(livestock) workers are not available. As
with previous allocations of NFJP grant
funds, updating the data sources used in
the formula and modifying the NFJP
eligibility criteria will result in changes
in each state’s relative share of funding.
Therefore, ETA mitigates large changes
in state allotments by using the
StopLoss/StopGain provisions
discussed in Section III.
III. Description of the Hold-Harmless
Provision
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ETA is proposing to continue the
hold-harmless provision as instituted in
PY 2018. The updated data resulted in
significant changes for a few states and
the hold-harmless provision provides
for a stop loss/stop gain limit to
transition to the use of the updated data.
This approach is based on a state service
area’s previous year’s allotment
percentage, which is its relative share of
the total formula allotments. ETA will
implement the staged transition of the
hold-harmless provision as follows:
(1) In PY 2021, each state service area
will receive an amount equal to at least
95 percent of their PY 2020 allotment
percentage, as applied to the PY 2021
formula funds available;
(2) In PY 2022, each state service area
will receive an amount equal to at least
90 percent of their PY 2021 allotment
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percentage, as applied to the PY 2022
formula funds available;
(3) In PY 2023, each state service area
will receive an amount equal to at least
85 percent of their PY 2022 allotment
percentage, as applied to the PY 2023
formula funds available.
In PY 2021, 2022, and 2023, the stop
gain provision provides that no state
service area will receive an amount that
is more than 150 percent of their
previous year’s allotment percentage.
In PY 2024, since the Department has
a responsibility to use the most current
and reliable data available, amounts for
the new awards will be based on
updated data from the sources described
in Section II, pending their availability.
At that time, the Department will
determine whether the changes to state
allotments are significant enough to
warrant another hold-harmless
provision. Otherwise, allotments to each
state service area will be for an amount
resulting from a direct allotment of the
proposed funding formula without
adjustment.
IV. Minimum Funding Provisions
A state area that would receive less
than $60,000 by application of the
formula will, at the option of the DOL,
receive no allotment or, if practical, be
combined with another adjacent state
area. Funding below $60,000 is deemed
insufficient for sustaining an
independently administered program.
However, if practical, a state jurisdiction
that would receive less than $60,000
may be combined with another adjacent
state area.
V. Program Year 2021 Preliminary
State Allotments
The state allotments set forth in the
Table appended to this notice reflect the
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24893
distribution resulting from the allotment
formula described above. For PY 2020,
$91,896,000 was appropriated for
migrant and seasonal farmworker
programs, of which $85,229,000 was
appropriated for training grants and
allotted based on the PY 2018 formula
updates. The remaining $6,122,000 of
the PY 2020 appropriation was retained
to fund housing grants, and $545,000
was retained for Training and Technical
Assistance. The figures in the first
numerical column show the actual PY
2020 formula allotments to state service
areas. The next column shows the
percentage share of each allotment to
the total available.
For PY 2021, the funding level
provided for in the Act for the migrant
and seasonal farmworker program is
$93,896,000 of which $87,083,000 was
appropriated for training grants. After
allowable funds are set aside for
program integrity ($137,000), the
Department will allot $86,946,000 for
training grants based on the formula and
data outlined in this notice. For
purposes of illustrating the effects of the
updates to the allotment formula,
columns 3 and 4 show the state service
area allotments with the application of
the first-year (95 percent) hold-harmless
and minimum funding provisions,
followed by the percentages. The
difference between PY 2021 and PY
2020 allotments is shown in column 5.
Column 6 of the Table shows the
allotments based on the proposed
formula without the application of the
hold-harmless or minimum funding
provisions. The percentages are reported
in column 7.
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U. S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
National Farmworker Jobs Program - Career Services and Training Grants
Impact of Proposed Changes on PY 2021 Allotments to States
PY2020
State
Allotment
Percentage
Share
(1)
(2)
PY2021
With hold harmless
Allotment
Per<entage
DUTerence
Share
(PY 2021
vs.PY
(3)
(4)
2020)
Without hold harmless
Allotment
Percentage
Share
(6)
(7)
Total
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Cmmectlcnt
Delaware
Dist of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carollna
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Ca.-olina
South Dakota
Tmnessee
Texas
Utah
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Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
\Visconsin
\Vyoming
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$85,229,000
100.00000
801,605
0.94053
0.00000
2.97804
1.34234
27.37714
1.58052
0.47213
0.18288
0.00000
4.41597
1.96142
0.37788
2.08580
2.04965
1.34430
1.86330
1.43169
1.22519
0.93635
0.38589
0.45370
0.42761
2.49856
1.91238
1.20471
1.15614
0.73746
1.52006
0.22398
0.13562
0.70749
1.23083
1.84793
3.09557
0.97152
1.66341
1.18197
2.87162
1.74344
2.84035
0.07124
0.95188
0.71642
1.04980
6.19736
0.54781
0.21796
1.17635
5.30138
0.18234
1.92396
0.28816
2,538,153
1,144,067
23,333,261
1,347,060
402,388
155,864
3,763,684
1,671,697
322,061
1,777,707
1,746,897
1,145,731
1,588,068
1,220,211
1,044,219
798,040
328,886
386,681
364,444
2,129,494
1,629,902
1,026,761
985,363
628,528
1,295,534
190,893
115,590
602,990
1,049,022
1,574,968
2,638,326
828,016
1,417,710
1,007,381
2,447,454
1,485,920
2,420,800
60,713
811.276
610598
894,737
5,281,950
466,894
185,768
1,002,595
4,518,313
155,408
1,639,775
245597
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$86,946,000
100.00000
776,866
0.89350
0.00000
2.82914
1.37243
26.00828
1.91232
0.57652
0.17780
0.00000
4.19517
1.90528
0.35898
2.52412
2.10394
1.41368
2.02054
1.43012
1.16393
0.90013
0.46931
0.59929
0.58977
2.38490
1.81676
1.14447
1.40250
0.80447
1.44406
0.25754
0.16787
0.88544
1.22818
2.49485
2.94079
0.92294
1.65299
1.12287
2.72804
2.02678
2.69833
0.07460
0.90428
0.76566
0.99731
5.88749
0.75217
0.23546
1.11754
5.18758
0.17322
1.97716
0.35946
2,459,822
1,193,276
22,613,160
1,662,689
501,264
154,593
3,647,531
1,656,566
312,122
2,194,625
1,829,288
1,229,140
1,756,778
1,243,435
1,011,993
782,626
408,044
521,061
512,780
2,073,573
1,579,601
995,074
1,219,415
699,452
1,255,552
223,924
145,953
769,856
1,067,856
2,169,172
2,556,903
802,462
1,437,210
976,292
2,371,922
1,762,208
2,346,090
64,858
786,239
665,710
867,124
5,118,941
653,979
204,723
971,653
4,510,391
150,612
1,719,060
312,536
Fmt 4703
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$1,717,000
S86,946,000
100.00000
(24,739)
774,531
0.89082
0.00000
2.93049
1.45234
26.58478
2.02367
0.61009
0.18816
0.00000
3.63350
2.01622
0.18130
2.67109
2.22644
1.49599
2.13818
1.51339
0.96170
0.95254
0.49663
0.63419
0.62411
2.52376
1.91448
1.06085
1.48416
0.85131
1.51777
0.27254
0.17764
0.93700
1.29969
2.64011
2.42401
0.89595
1.74924
1.06585
2.68601
2.14479
2.35001
0.07894
0.79943
0.81024
0.72600
5.32570
0.79596
0.24917
0.90245
5.48962
0.12900
2.09228
0.38039
(78,331)
49,209
(720,101)
315,629
98,876
(1,271)
2,547,948
1,262,754
23,114,407
1,759,499
530,450
163,594
(116,153)
(15,131)
(9,939)
416,918
82,391
83,409
168,710
23,224
(32,226)
(15,414)
79,158
134,380
148,336
(55,921)
(50,301)
(31,687)
234,052
70,924
(39,982)
33,031
30,363
166,866
18,834
594,204
(81,423)
(25,554)
19,500
(31,089)
(75,532)
276,288
(74,710)
4,145
(25,037)
55,112
(27,613)
(163,()(19)
187,085
18,955
(30,942)
(7,922)
(4,796)
79,285
66,939
3,159,183
1,753,019
157,635
2,322,406
1,935,797
1,300,706
1,859,065
1,315,834
836,164
828,194
431,802
551,4()0
542,637
2,194,306
1,664,564
922,368
1,290,415
740,177
1,319,642
236,962
154,451
814,680
1,130,032
2,295,471
2,107,580
778,997
1,520,892
926,713
2,335,380
1,864,813
2,043,240
68,635
695,074
704,471
631,232
4,630,482
692,057
216,643
784,640
4,773,008
112,164
1,819,152
330,734
E:\FR\FM\10MYN1.SGM
10MYN1
EN10MY21.372</GPH>
(5)
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 88 / Monday, May 10, 2021 / Notices
Suzan G. LeVine,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary,
Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2021–09799 Filed 5–7–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–FN–C
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
[Docket No. DOL–2021–09669]
Privacy Act of 1974; System of
Records
Transition Assistance Program,
Veterans’ Training and Employment
Service, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of a new system of
records.
AGENCY:
Employment Navigators will
be located on-site at specific military
installations. Their primary duty is to
assist transitioning service members by
finding suitable employment before the
transition to the civilian workforce
occurs. This can be done directly, or
with assistance from an approved
Veterans’ Employment and Training
Service (VETS) partner entity. A cloudbased case management system is
required to collect certain key data
elements, including personally
identifiable (PII) information, for the
purposes of employment outcome
analysis and return on investment
calculations. Because of the nature of
geographic spread of Employment
Navigators, Transition Assistance
Program (TAP) partners, and VETS staff,
a cloud-based data entry and reporting
system must be available to all users
wherever internet access is available.
The PII will be matched with external
data sources, such as the National
Directory of New Hires, to produce
validated employment outcomes, as
well as reducing burden on
Employment Navigators to conduct
follow-up assessments with services
members or veterans.
DATES: This System of Records Notice
(SORN) is effective upon its publication
in today’s Federal Register with the
exception of the routine uses. The new
routine uses will not be effective until
June 9, 2021 pending public comment.
Comments on the new routine uses or
other aspects of the SORN must be
submitted on or before June 9, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments by
one of the following methods:
Electronic Comments: Comments may
be sent via email to SORN
Murren.Luke@dol.gov. Mail: Address
written submissions (including thumb
drive and CD–ROM submissions) to U.S.
DOL, VETS, and Attn: Luke Murren, 200
Constitution Avenue NW, Suite 2–1212,
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:05 May 07, 2021
Jkt 253001
and Washington, DC 20210.
Instructions: Please submit only one
copy of your comments by only one
method. All submissions must include
the agency’s name and the Docket
Number DOL–2021–09669. Please be
advised that comments received will
become a matter of public record and
will be posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
Comments that are mailed must be
received by the date indicated for
consideration.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Request for additional information
should be submitted to the email and
physical address Electronic Comments:
Comments may be sent via email to
Murren.Luke@dol.gov attention Luke
Murren. Mail: Address written
submissions to U.S. DOL, VETS, and
Attn: Luke Murren, 200 Constitution
Avenue NW, Suite 2–1212, and
Washington, DC 20210. You may also
contact Luke Murren at his work
number 202–693–4711 for additional
information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
proposed system will be vital to
safeguarding the information collected
while receiving services from an
Employment Navigator, or approved
partner. This is a new DOL data
collection system.
SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
Employment Navigator Case
Management System; DOL/VETS–7
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
Primary location: Offices in various
components within the U.S. Department
of Labor, at the Frances Perkins
Building, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210, or other
Department offices. Additionally,
duplicate versions of some or all system
information may also be at satellite
locations where VETS has granted direct
access to support VETS operations,
system backup, emergency
preparedness, and/or continuity of
operations. To determine the location of
particular program records, contact the
system manager, listed in section
‘‘SYSTEM MANAGER’’ below.
SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
VETS Information Technology
Director, U.S. Department of Labor/
PO 00000
Frm 00057
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
24895
Veterans’ Employment and Training
Service (VETS), 200 Constitution Ave.
NW, Room S–1212, Washington, DC
20210, Work: (202) 693–4712.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
Defense Manpower Data Center Data
Base, November 23, 2011, 76 FR 72391;
38 U.S.C. 4102, Job Counseling,
Training, and Placement Service for
Veterans; and 10 U.S.C. 1142, Preseparation Counselling; E.O. 9397. And
pursuant to 10 U.S. Code § 1144
Employment assistance, job training
assistance, and other transitional
services: Department of Labor. The
above referenced section requires DOL
to ‘‘establish and maintain a program to
furnish counseling, assistance in
identifying employment and training
opportunities, help in obtaining such
employment and training, and other
related information and services to
members of the armed forces under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned
who are being separated from active
duty and the spouses of such members.’’
However, there is currently no way to
measure the effectiveness or capture
best practices of this requirement.
Congress and the Office of Management
and Budget have mentioned a great
desire for DOL to be able to provide
return-on-investment performance
metrics for this program requirement.
This requires analyzing data pertaining
to all transitioning service members.
The Department of Defense maintains
this dataset, and will share the
information with DOL through an
established Memorandum of
Understanding.
PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
The purpose of the proposed system
is to enable transitioning service
members and recently separated
veterans’ assistance in finding the bestfit career as quickly as possible. The
system will allow Employment
Navigators and partners to capture
necessary information for DOL to
conduct employment outcome analysis.
The case management/reporting system
should have three separate functions,
with three separate roles assigned to
users. The first module will allow for
Employment Navigators to enter
individual record data for each
participant (transitioning service
member) into the system. This
information will be personal
characteristics, services offered, and/or
referral information. The second module
will be accessible by TAP partner
entities who will provide information
on services they provided, and
outcomes such as job placements,
occupation employed in, and wages
E:\FR\FM\10MYN1.SGM
10MYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 88 (Monday, May 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24891-24895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09799]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Program Year (PY)
2021 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 167,
National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) Proposed Modifications to
Allotment Formula
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This Notice announces proposed modifications to the allotment
formula for the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), which is
authorized under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA),
Section 167, and presents preliminary State planning estimates for
Program Year (PY) 2021. These allotments are estimates based on the
funds appropriated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (from
this point forward will be referred to as the ``the Act''). The U.S.
Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
will accept comments related to the allotment methodology, including
modifications and the hold-harmless provision.
DATES: The PY 2021 NFJP allotments become effective for the grant
period that begins July 1, 2021. Written comments on this notice are
invited and must be received on or before May 24, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments are accepted via email to [email protected]. Please
enter ``PY21 National Farmworker Jobs
[[Page 24892]]
Program Grantee Allotments Public Comment'' in the subject line of the
email.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions on this notice can be
submitted to the Employment and Training Administration, Office of
Workforce Investment, Attention: Laura Iba[ntilde]ez, Unit Chief, (202)
693-3645 or Steven Rietzke, Division Chief at (202) 693-3912, or at
[email protected].
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).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published according to
Section 182(d) of the WIOA, Prompt Allotment of Funds. ETA developed
the formula to distribute funds geographically by state service area,
based on each state service area's relative share of persons eligible
for the program. The formula's original methodology is described in the
Federal Register notice 64 FR 27390, May 19, 1999. That information is
accessible at https://www.federalregister.gov/. In PY 2018, ETA
incorporated two modifications to the allotment formula to provide more
accurate estimates of each state service area's relative share of
persons eligible for the program. The formula also used updated data
from each of the four data files serving as the basis of the formula
since 1999. The revised formula methodology is described in the Federal
Register notice 83 FR 32151, July 11, 2018.
Beginning in PY 2021, ETA is making two modifications to the
allotment formula. These modifications will improve the formula's
accuracy in terms of estimating the true NFJP-eligible population in
state service areas, and one of the modifications is necessitated by a
recent statutory change to the NFJP eligibility criteria, which
Congress enacted in the FY 2021 appropriation. Section II includes
further explanation of these modifications. This Notice includes the
following sections:
Section II of this notice provides a discussion of the
updated data that will be used to populate the formula and the proposed
formula modifications.
Section III describes the hold-harmless provision for the
implementation year and the following years. The hold-harmless
provision is designed to provide a staged transition from old to new
shares of funding for State service areas.
Section IV describes minimum funding provisions to address
State service areas that would receive less than $60,000.
Section V describes the application of the formula and the
hold-harmless provision using preliminary planning estimates for PY
2021.
This notice represents the first of a two-stage process. Upon
receipt of public comments regarding this notice related to the formula
methodology and modifications, ETA will consider comments and finalize
the formula methodology and results. In the second stage, ETA will
publish the final formula and final allotment levels in the Federal
Register.
I. Background
The Department is announcing preliminary PY 2021 allotments for the
National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP). This notice provides
information on the amount of funds available during PY 2021 to state
service areas awarded grants through Funding Opportunity Announcement
FOA-ETA-20-08 for the NFJP Career Services and Training grants and
Housing grants. Funds to implement NFJP are appropriated in the Act. In
appropriating these funds, Congress provided $87,083,000 for formula
grants (of which $86,946,000 was allotted after $137,000 was set aside
for program integrity), $6,256,000 for migrant and seasonal farmworker
housing (of which not less than 70 percent shall be for permanent
housing), and another $557,000 was set aside for discretionary
purposes. Included below is the table listing the preliminary PY 2021
allotments for the NFJP Career Services and Training grants. Individual
grants are awarded for Housing as a result of the grants competition
and are further distributed according to language in the appropriations
law requiring that of the total amount available, not less than 70
percent shall be allocated to permanent housing activities, leaving not
more than 30 percent to temporary housing activities.
II. Description of Data Files and Review of PY 2021 Modifications to
the Allotment Formula
As with all state planning estimates since 1999, the PY 2021
estimates are based on four data sources: (1) State-level, 2017 hired
farm labor expenditure data from the United States Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) Census of Agriculture (COA); (2) regional-level,
2017 average hourly earnings data from the USDA's Farm Labor Survey;
(3) regional-level, 2010-2018 demographic data from the ETA's National
Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS); and, (4) 2015-2019 (5-year file)
data from the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey
(ACS). A detailed description of how each data source is used within
the formula is in the Federal Register notice 64 FR 27390, May 19,
1999). In addition to populating the formula with updated data, ETA is
proposing two modifications that will improve the formula's accuracy in
terms of estimating the true NFJP-eligible population in state service
areas, and one of the modifications is necessitated by the change to
the NFJP eligibility criteria applicable to the PY 2021 appropriation.
(1) First, the Act expands program eligibility for grants funded by
the PY 2021 appropriation to include farmworkers who are in families
with total family incomes at or below 150 percent of the poverty line.
Previously, the definition of a low income individual in WIOA section
3(36)(A)(ii) was based on whether the individual was in a family with a
total family income that did not exceed the higher of the poverty line
or 70 percent of the lower living standard income level. As noted
above, a provision to expand program eligibility is included in the
appropriations language for PY 2021. It applies to grant activities
funded under the PY 2021 awards. Therefore, the PY 2021 allocations
will use special tabulations of data from the American Community Survey
(ACS) that reflect farmworkers with total family incomes at or below
150 percent of the poverty line. ETA will subsequently revise the PY
2022 guidance regarding the definition of ``low-income individual,'' as
needed if the same provision is not included in subsequent
appropriations.
(2) Second, and to more closely align the formula with the
definition of eligible migrant and seasonal farmworker under WIOA
Section 167(i) and 20 CFR 685.110 and clarified in the Training and
Employment Guidance Letter 18-16, ETA proposes modifying how the
formula accounts for crop workers who are primarily employed in
agriculture. Previously, for the formula, a crop worker was considered
to be primarily employed in agriculture if (1) at least 50 percent of
their total individual income was from farm work, and (2) if they
worked at least 25 days or earned at least $800 in crop farm work in
the previous 24 months. ETA proposes the formula consider a crop worker
to be primarily employed in agriculture if at least 50 percent of their
total individual income is from farm work or at least 50 percent of
their total employment time is in farm work.\1\ As
[[Page 24893]]
with all state planning estimates since 1999, ETA will use NAWS data to
determine the share of crop labor hours in each state that was
performed by crop workers who were primarily employed in agriculture,
per this eligibility criterion. This modification only applies to
estimates of NFJP-eligible labor hours performed by crop workers,
because the data that would be needed to similarly estimate NFJP-
eligible labor hours performed by animal agricultural (livestock)
workers are not available. As with previous allocations of NFJP grant
funds, updating the data sources used in the formula and modifying the
NFJP eligibility criteria will result in changes in each state's
relative share of funding. Therefore, ETA mitigates large changes in
state allotments by using the StopLoss/StopGain provisions discussed in
Section III.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ To determine ``primarily employed in agriculture'' criteria,
which has two parts, ETA uses individual income from farm work.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Description of the Hold-Harmless Provision
ETA is proposing to continue the hold-harmless provision as
instituted in PY 2018. The updated data resulted in significant changes
for a few states and the hold-harmless provision provides for a stop
loss/stop gain limit to transition to the use of the updated data. This
approach is based on a state service area's previous year's allotment
percentage, which is its relative share of the total formula
allotments. ETA will implement the staged transition of the hold-
harmless provision as follows:
(1) In PY 2021, each state service area will receive an amount
equal to at least 95 percent of their PY 2020 allotment percentage, as
applied to the PY 2021 formula funds available;
(2) In PY 2022, each state service area will receive an amount
equal to at least 90 percent of their PY 2021 allotment percentage, as
applied to the PY 2022 formula funds available;
(3) In PY 2023, each state service area will receive an amount
equal to at least 85 percent of their PY 2022 allotment percentage, as
applied to the PY 2023 formula funds available.
In PY 2021, 2022, and 2023, the stop gain provision provides that
no state service area will receive an amount that is more than 150
percent of their previous year's allotment percentage.
In PY 2024, since the Department has a responsibility to use the
most current and reliable data available, amounts for the new awards
will be based on updated data from the sources described in Section II,
pending their availability. At that time, the Department will determine
whether the changes to state allotments are significant enough to
warrant another hold-harmless provision. Otherwise, allotments to each
state service area will be for an amount resulting from a direct
allotment of the proposed funding formula without adjustment.
IV. Minimum Funding Provisions
A state area that would receive less than $60,000 by application of
the formula will, at the option of the DOL, receive no allotment or, if
practical, be combined with another adjacent state area. Funding below
$60,000 is deemed insufficient for sustaining an independently
administered program. However, if practical, a state jurisdiction that
would receive less than $60,000 may be combined with another adjacent
state area.
V. Program Year 2021 Preliminary State Allotments
The state allotments set forth in the Table appended to this notice
reflect the distribution resulting from the allotment formula described
above. For PY 2020, $91,896,000 was appropriated for migrant and
seasonal farmworker programs, of which $85,229,000 was appropriated for
training grants and allotted based on the PY 2018 formula updates. The
remaining $6,122,000 of the PY 2020 appropriation was retained to fund
housing grants, and $545,000 was retained for Training and Technical
Assistance. The figures in the first numerical column show the actual
PY 2020 formula allotments to state service areas. The next column
shows the percentage share of each allotment to the total available.
For PY 2021, the funding level provided for in the Act for the
migrant and seasonal farmworker program is $93,896,000 of which
$87,083,000 was appropriated for training grants. After allowable funds
are set aside for program integrity ($137,000), the Department will
allot $86,946,000 for training grants based on the formula and data
outlined in this notice. For purposes of illustrating the effects of
the updates to the allotment formula, columns 3 and 4 show the state
service area allotments with the application of the first-year (95
percent) hold-harmless and minimum funding provisions, followed by the
percentages. The difference between PY 2021 and PY 2020 allotments is
shown in column 5. Column 6 of the Table shows the allotments based on
the proposed formula without the application of the hold-harmless or
minimum funding provisions. The percentages are reported in column 7.
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P
[[Page 24894]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN10MY21.372
[[Page 24895]]
Suzan G. LeVine,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2021-09799 Filed 5-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-C
