Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 13635 

are employed in specific crops and 

tasks, and farm workers’ hygiene and 

clothes laundering practices. The 

information obtained from the proposed 

questions will improve the EPA–OPP’s 

ability to characterize the patterns of 

exposure, better assess pesticide risks 

posed to farm workers, and develop 

improved training and educational 

programs to manage the risks associated 

with exposure. 

This information collection is subject 

to the PRA. 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 the 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 if the 

collection of information does not 

display a valid OMB Control Number. 

See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6. The 

DOL obtains OMB approval for this 

information collection under OMB 

Control Number 1205–0453. The current 

OMB approval is scheduled to expire on 

October 31, 2013. For additional 

information, see the related notice 

published in the Federal Register on 

April 5, 2011. 

Interested parties are encouraged to 

send comments to the OMB, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs at 

the address shown in the ADDRESSES

section within 30 days of publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register. In 

order to help ensure appropriate 

consideration, comments should 

reference OMB Control Number 1205– 

0453. The OMB is particularly 

interested in comments that: 

• 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 submission of 

responses. 

Agency: Employment and Training 

Administration. 

Title of Collection: National 

Agriculture Workers Survey. 

OMB Control Number: 1205–0453. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

Households and Private Sector—Farms. 

Total Estimated Number of 

Respondents: 2,064. 

Total Estimated Number of 

Responses: 2,064. 

Total Estimated Annual Burden 

Hours: 1,693. 

Total Estimated Annual Other Costs 

Burden: $0. 

Dated: March 1, 2012. 

Michel Smyth, 

Departmental Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5482 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Labor Certification Process for the 

Temporary Employment of Aliens in 

Agriculture in the United States: 2012 

Allowable Charges for Agricultural 

Workers’ Meals and Travel 

Subsistence Reimbursement, 

Including Lodging 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Department of Labor. 

ACTION: Notice and clarification of 

policy. 

SUMMARY: The Employment and 

Training Administration (ETA) of the 

Department of Labor (Department) is 

issuing this Notice to announce the 

allowable charges for 2012 that 

employers seeking H–2A workers may 

charge their workers when the employer 

provides three meals a day, and the 

maximum meal reimbursement which a 

worker with receipts may claim. The 

Department is also providing 

clarification on the issue of overnight 

lodging costs as part of required 

subsistence, where necessary. 

DATES: Effective Date: This notice is 

effective March 7, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William L. Carlson, Ph.D., 

Administrator, Office of Foreign Labor 

Certification (OFLC), U.S. Department of 

Labor, Room C–4312, 200 Constitution 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. 

Telephone: 202–693–3010 (this is not a 

toll-free number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

United States (U.S.) Citizenship and 

Immigration Services of the Department 

of Homeland Security will not approve 

an employer’s petition for the admission 

of H–2A nonimmigrant temporary 

agricultural workers in the U.S. unless 

the petitioner has received from the 

Department an H–2A labor certification. 

The H–2A labor certification provides 

that: (1) 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 (2) the employment of the 

foreign worker(s) in such labor or 

services will not adversely affect the 

wages and working conditions of 

workers in the U.S. similarly employed. 

8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), 1184(c)(1), 

and 1188(a); 8 CFR 214.2(h)(5) and (6). 

Allowable Meal Charge 

Among the minimum benefits and 

working conditions which the 

Department requires employers to offer 

their U.S. and H–2A workers are three 

meals a day or free and convenient 

cooking and kitchen facilities. 20 CFR 

655.122(g). Where the employer 

provides the meals, the job offer must 

state the charge, if any, to the worker for 

such meals. 

The Department provides, at 20 CFR 

655.173(a), the methodology for 

determining the maximum amounts that 

H–2A agricultural employers may 

charge their U.S. and foreign workers for 

providing them with three meals per 

day. This methodology provides for 

annual adjustments of the previous 

year’s maximum allowable charge based 

upon updated Consumer Price Index 

(CPI) data. The maximum charge 

allowed by 20 CFR 655.122(g) is 

adjusted by the same percentage as the 

12 month percent change in the CPI for 

all Urban Consumers for Food (CPI–U 

for Food). The OFLC Certifying Officer 

may also permit an employer to charge 

workers a higher amount for providing 

them with three meals a day, if the 

higher amount is justified and 

sufficiently documented by the 

employer, as set forth in 20 CFR 

655.173(b). 

The Department has determined the 

percentage change between December of 

2010 and December of 2011 for the CPI– 

U for Food was 3.7 percent. 

Accordingly, the maximum allowable 

charge under 20 CFR 655.122(g) shall be 

no more than $11.13 per day, unless the 

OFLC Certifying Officer approves a 

higher charge as authorized under 20 

CFR 655.173(b). 

Reimbursement for Daily Travel 

Subsistence 

The regulations at 20 CFR 655.122(h) 

establish that the minimum daily travel 

subsistence expense, for which a worker 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
13636 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 

is entitled to reimbursement, is 

equivalent to the employer’s daily 

charge for three meals or, if the 

employer makes no charge, the amount 

permitted under 20 CFR 655.122(g). 

The maximum meals component of 

the daily travel subsistence expense is 

based upon the standard minimum 

Continental United States (CONUS) per 

diem rate as stated by the General 

Services Administration (GSA) at 41 

CFR part 301, Appendix A. The CONUS 

meal component remains $46.00 per 

day. Workers who qualify for travel 

reimbursement are entitled to 

reimbursement for meals up to the 

CONUS meal rate when they provide 

receipts. In determining the appropriate 

amount of reimbursement for meals for 

less than a full day, the employer may 

provide for meal expense 

reimbursement, with receipts, to 75 

percent of the maximum reimbursement 

for meals of $34.50, as provided for in 

the GSA per diem schedule. If a worker 

has no receipts, the employer is not 

obligated to reimburse above the 

minimum stated at 20 CFR 655.122(g) as 

specified above. 

The Department notes that the 

regulation has consistently used the 

term ‘‘subsistence’’ which includes both 

meals and lodging during travel to and 

from the worksite. An employer is 

responsible for providing, paying in 

advance, or reimbursing a worker for the 

reasonable costs of transportation and 

daily subsistence between the 

employer’s worksite and the place from 

which the worker comes to work for the 

employer, if the worker completes 50 

percent of the work contract period, and 

upon the worker completing the 

contract, return costs. In those instances 

where a worker must travel to obtain a 

visa so that the worker may enter the 

U.S. to come to work for the employer, 

the employer must pay for the 

transportation and daily subsistence 

costs of that part of the travel as well. 

The Department interprets the 

regulation to require the employer to 

assume responsibility for the reasonable 

costs associated with the worker’s 

travel, including transportation, food, 

and, in those instances where it is 

necessary, lodging. If not provided by 

the employer, the amount an employer 

must pay for transportation and, where 

required, lodging must be no less than 

(and is not required to be more than) the 

most economical and reasonable costs. 

The employer is responsible for those 

costs necessary for the worker to travel 

to the worksite if the worker completes 

50 percent of the work contract period, 

but is not responsible for unauthorized 

detours, and if the worker completes the 

contract, return transportation and 

subsistence costs, including lodging 

costs where necessary. This policy 

applies equally to instances where the 

worker is traveling within the U.S. to 

the employer’s worksite. For further 

information on when the employer is 

responsible for lodging costs, see the 

FAQ on travel costs at the OFLC Web 

site at http:// 

www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/. 

Signed in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of 

March, 2012. 

Jane Oates, 

Assistant Secretary, Employment and 

Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5602 Filed 3–5–12; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Office of Workers’ Compensation 

Programs 

Division of Coal Mine Workers’ 

Compensation; Proposed Extension of 

Existing Collection; Comment Request 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as 

part of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork and respondent burden, 

conducts a pre-clearance consultation 

program to provide the general 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 

(PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This 

program helps 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. Currently, the Office 

of Workers’ Compensation Programs is 

soliciting comments concerning the 

proposed collection: Notice of 

Termination, Suspension, Reduction or 

Increase in Benefit Payments (CM–908). 

A copy of the information collection 

request can be obtained by contacting 

the office listed below in the addresses 

section of this Notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office listed in the 

addresses section below on or before 

May 7, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Ms. Yoon Ferguson, U.S. 

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 

Ave. NW., Room S–3201, Washington, 

DC 20210, telephone (202) 693–0701, 

fax (202) 693–1447, Email 

yoonferguson@dol.gov. Please use only 

one method of transmission for 

comments (mail, fax, or Email). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background: The Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Programs 

(OWCP)administers the Federal Mine 

Safety and Health Act of 1977 as 

amended, Section 432 (30 U.S.C. 942) 

and 20 CFR 725.621 necessitate this 

information collection. Under this Act, 

Coal mine operators, their 

representatives, or their insurers who 

have been identified as responsible for 

paying Black Lung benefits to an eligible 

miner or an eligible surviving 

dependent of the miner, are called 

Responsible Operators (RO’s). RO’s that 

pay benefits are required to report any 

change in the benefit amount to the 

Department of Labor (DOL). The CM– 

908, when completed and sent to DOL, 

notifies DOL of the change in the 

beneficiary’s benefit amount and the 

reason for the change. The Federal Mine 

Safety and Health Act of 1977 as 

amended, Section 432 (30 U.S.C. 942) 

and 20 CFR 725.621 necessitate this 

information collection. This information 

collection is currently approved for use 

through June 30, 2012. 

II. Review Focus: The Department of 

Labor 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: The Department 

of Labor seeks the approval for the 

extension of this currently-approved 

information collection in order to carry 

out its responsibility to evaluate an 

applicant ability to be a representative 

payee. If the Program were not able to 

screen representative payee applicants 

the beneficiary’s best interest would not 

be served. 

Agency: Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Programs. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES