[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18267-18268]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-7288]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Comment Request for Extension of Information Collection With
Revisions: Foreign Labor Certification Quarterly Activity Report
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: 60-Day notice of information collection under review: ETA Form
9127, Foreign Labor Certification Quarterly Activity Report; OMB
Control Number 1205-0457.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a
pre-clearance consultation to provide the public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). The Department undertakes
this consultation to ensure that requested data can be provided in the
desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is
minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the
impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly
assessed. Through this notice, the Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning the revision of
the approved information collection, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Control Number 1205-0457, containing ETA Form 9127--Foreign Labor
Certification Quarterly Activity Report and instructions. The ETA Form
9127 solicits information from State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) who are
recipients of foreign labor certification grants about program-related
activities performed by SWA staff in accordance with the specific
fiscal year annual plans. This information collection is set to expire
on May 31, 2012.
DATES: Please submit written comments to the office listed in the
addresses section below on or before May 29, 2012.
ADDRESSES: William L. Carlson, Ph.D., Administrator, Office of Foreign
Labor Certification, U.S. Department of Labor, Room C-4312, 200
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20210. Comments may also be
submitted by fax at (202) 693-2768; or by email to
ETA.OFLC.Forms@dol.gov, subject line: Revised ETA Form 9127.
A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be
obtained by contacting the office listed above by phone at (202) 693-
3010 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with hearing or
speech impairments may access the telephone number above via TTY by
calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-877-889-
5627 (TTY/TDD) or by sending an email to ETA.OFLC.Forms@dol.gov,
subject line: ETA Form 9127 ICR copy.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Under the foreign labor certification programs administered by ETA,
SWAs are funded through annual reimbursable grants to conduct certain
activities which support the processing of applications for temporary
labor certification filed by United States (U.S.) employers seeking to
hire foreign workers in the H-2B or H-2A visa categories to perform
agricultural or nonagricultural services or labor. These activities
include reviewing and transmitting through the intrastate and
interstate job clearance systems job orders submitted by employers to
recruit U.S. workers, conducting H-2A prevailing wage and prevailing
practice surveys, and performing H-2A related housing inspections of
facilities offered to agricultural workers.
The information pertaining to the performance of these functions by
the SWAs is currently collected on the OMB approved ETA Form 9127 and
is used by Department staff to monitor foreign labor certification
activities performed by SWAs. The Department is seeking to revise the
current information collection related to the ETA Form 9127 to cover
information collected by SWAs to determine prevailing, normal, accepted
or common employment practices for a specific occupational
classification by either formally surveying employers' prevailing
practices or by conducting ``ad hoc'' surveys. 20 CFR part 655, Subpart
B. The SWA survey information is used by the Department to ensure that
an H-2A employer's job qualifications and requirements are consistent
with the normal and accepted job qualifications required by employers
who do not use H-2A workers in same or comparable occupations and
crops, and that the H-2A employer's employment practices reflect the
prevailing employment practices in the area of intended employment.
This extension of the ETA Form 9127 also includes revisions to SWA
reporting requirements which correspond to recent changes in the
distribution of foreign labor certification activities between ETA and
SWAs.
Upon the approval of the extension and revisions of this currently
approved information collection, the Department will continue to use
the data collected to: (1) Monitor the number of job orders processed;
and (2) Track the number of agricultural prevailing wage and practice
surveys conducted and housing inspections made. This information is
used for formulating budget estimates for both State and Federal
workloads, and for monitoring a State's
[[Page 18268]]
performance against the grants and State annual plans.
II. Review Process
The Department is particularly interested in comments which:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions
Type of Review: Revision of a Currently Approved Information
Collection.
Title: Foreign Labor Certification Quarterly Activity Report.
OMB Number: 1205-0457.
Affected Public: State, local or tribal governments and private
sector--business or other for-profits.
Form(s): ETA Form 9127; Employment Practice Surveys.
Total Annual Respondents: 11,054.
Annual Frequency: Quarterly (ETA Form 9127); Annual and Ad Hoc
(Employment Practice Surveys).
Total Annual Responses: 11,216.
Average Time per Response: 2 hours (ETA Form 9127); 30 minutes
(Employment Practice Surveys).
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 432 hours (ETA Form 9127);
5,738 hours (Employment Practice Surveys).
Total Annual Burden Cost for Respondents: $12,960 (ETA Form 9127);
$172,125 (Employment Practice Surveys).
Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the ICR;
they will also become a matter of public record.
Signed in Washington, DC, this 21st day of March 2012.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-7288 Filed 3-26-12; 8:45 am]
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