25086 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training

Administration

Job Training Partnership Act and Work

Opportunity Tax Credit; Lower Living

Standard Income Level

AGENCY: Employment and Training

Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of determination of lower

living standard income level.

SUMMARY: The Job Training Partnership

Act (JTPA) provides that the term

‘‘economically disadvantaged’’ may be

defined as 70 percent of the ‘‘lower

living standard income level’’ (LLSIL).

To provide the most accurate data

possible, the Department of Labor is

issuing revised figures for the LLSIL.

The Internal Revenue Code also

provides that the term ‘‘economically

disadvantaged’’ may be defined as 70

percent of the LLSIL for purposes of the

Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC).

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective

on May 6, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to:

Mr. Ron Putz, Office of Employment

and Training Programs, Employment

and Training Administration,

Department of Labor, Room N–4463,

200 Constitution Avenue NW.,

Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Ron Putz, Telephone: 202–219–5229

(this is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is a

purpose of the Job Training Partnership

Act (JTPA) ‘‘to establish programs to

prepare youth and adults facing serious

barriers to employment for participation

in the labor force by providing job

training and other services that will

result in increased employment and

earnings, increased educational and

occupational skills, and decreased

welfare dependency, thereby improving

the quality of the work force and

enhancing the productivity and

competitiveness of the Nation,’’ JTPA

Section 2 and 20 CFR 626.1. JTPA

Section 4(8) defines, for the purposes of

JTPA eligibility, the term ‘‘economically

disadvantaged’’ in part by reference to

the ‘‘lower living standard income

level’’ (LLSIL).

The LLSIL figures published in this

notice shall be used to determine

whether an individual is economically

disadvantaged for applicable JTPA

purposes. JTPA Section 4(16) defines

the LLSIL as follows: The term ‘‘lower

living standard income level’’ means

that income level (adjusted for regional,

metropolitan, urban, and rural

differences and family size) determined

annually by the Secretary [of Labor]

based on the most recent ‘‘lower living

family budget’’ issued by the Secretary.

Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) Section

51 established the Work Opportunity

Tax Credit (WOTC) for a portion of the

wages paid by employers from

‘‘targeted’’ groups. The LLSIL figures

published in this notice shall be used to

determine whether an individual is a

member of one of the targeted groups for

applicable WOTC purposes.

The most recent lower living family

budget was issued by the Secretary in

the fall of 1981. Using those data, the

1981 LLSIL was determined for

programs under the now-repealed

Comprehensive Employment and

Training Act, and for the WOTC. The

four-person urban family budget

estimates previously published by the

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

provided the basis for the Secretary to

determine the LLSIL for training and

employment program operators. BLS

terminated the four-person family

budget series in 1982, after publication

of the Fall 1981 estimates.

Under JTPA, the Employment and

Training Administration (ETA)

published the 1997 updates to the LLSIL

in the Federal Register of April 25,

1997, 62 FR 20205. ETA has again

updated the LLSIL to reflect cost of

living increases for 1997 by applying the

percentage change in the December

1997 Consumer Price Index for All

Urban Consumers (CPI–U), compared

with the December 1996 CPI–U, to each

of the April 25, 1997, LLSIL figures.

Those updated figures for a family of

four are listed in Table 1 below by

region for both metropolitan and

nonmetropolitan areas. Since eligibility

is determined by family income at 70

percent of the LLSIL, pursuant to

Section 4(8) of JTPA, those figures are

listed below as well.

Jurisdictions included in the various

regions, based generally on Census

Divisions of the U.S. Department of

Commerce, are as follows:

Northeast

Connecticut New York

Maine Pennsylvania

Massachusetts Rhode Island

New Hampshire Vermont

New Jersey Virgin Islands

Midwest

Illinois Missouri

Indiana Nebraska

Iowa North Dakota

Kansas Ohio

Michigan South Dakota

Minnesota Wisconsin

South

Alabama Kentucky

American Samoa Louisiana

Arkansas Marshall Islands

Delaware Maryland

District of Columbia Mississippi

Florida Micronesia

Georgia North Carolina

Northern Marianas Tennessee

Oklahoma Texas

Palau Virginia

Puerto Rico West Virginia

South Carolina

West

Arizona New Mexico

California Oregon

Colorado Utah

Idaho Washington

Montana Wyoming

Nevada

Additionally, separate figures have

been provided for Alaska, Hawaii, and

Guam as indicated in Table 2 below.

For Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, the

1998 figures were updated by creating a

‘‘State Index’’ based on the ratio of the

urban change in the State (using

Anchorage for Alaska and Honolulu for

Hawaii and Guam) compared to the

West regional metropolitan change, and

then applying that index to the West

regional nonmetropolitan change.

Data on 25 selected Metropolitan

Statistical Areas (MSAs) are also

available. These are based on monthly,

bimonthly or semiannual CPI–U

changes for a 12-month period ending in

December 1997. The updated LLSIL

figures for these MSAs, and 70 percent

of the LLSIL, rounded to the next

highest ten, are set forth in Table 3

below.

Table 4 below is a listing of each of

the various figures at 70 percent of the

updated 1998 LLSIL for family sizes of

one to six persons. For families larger

than six persons, an amount equal to the

difference between the six-person and

the five-person family income levels

should be added to the six-person

family income level for each additional

person in the family. Where the poverty

level for a particular family size is

greater than the corresponding LLSIL

figure, the figure is indicated in

parentheses.

Section 4(8) of JTPA defines

‘‘economically disadvantaged’’ as,

among other things, an individual

whose family income was not in excess

of the higher of the poverty level or 70

percent of the LLSIL. The Department of

Health and Human Services published

the annual update of the poverty-level

guidelines at 63 FR 9235 (February 24,

1998).

Use of These Data

Based on these data, Governors

should provide the appropriate figures

to service delivery areas (SDAs), State

Employment Security Agencies, and
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices 25087

employers in their States to use in

determining eligibility for JTPA and

WOTC. The Governor should designate

the appropriate LLSILs for use within

the State from Tables 1 through 3. Table

4 may be used with any of the levels

designated.

Information may be provided by

disseminating information on MSAs and

metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas

within the State, or it may involve

further calculations. For example, the

State of New Jersey may have four or

more figures: metropolitan,

nonmetropolitan, for portions of the

State in the New York City MSA, and

for those in the Philadelphia MSA. If an

SDA includes areas that would be

covered by more than one figure, the

Governor may determine which is to be

used. Pursuant to the JTPA regulations

at 20 CFR 627.200, guidelines,

interpretations, and definitions adopted

by the Governor shall be accepted by the

Secretary to the extent that they are

consistent with the JTPA and the JTPA

regulations.

Disclaimer on Statistical Uses

It should be noted that the publication

of these figures is only for the purpose

of determining eligibility for applicable

JTPA and WOTC programs. BLS has not

revised the lower living family budget

since 1981, and has no plans to do so.

The four-person urban family budget

estimates series has been terminated.

The CPI–U adjustments used to update

the LLSIL for this publication are not

precisely comparable, most notably

because certain tax items were included

in the 1981 LLSIL, but are not in the

CPI–U.

Thus, these figures should not be used

for any statistical purposes, and are

valid only for eligibility determination

purposes under the JTPA and WOTC

programs.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 27th day of

April, 1998.

Charles Atkinson,

Deputy Administrator, Office of Job Training

Programs.

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25088 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices

Appendix
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices 25089
25090 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices 25091

[FR Doc. 98–12017 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

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