Notice2022-09415
Notice of Updated Population Estimates for Basic Field-Agricultural Worker Grants
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
May 3, 2022
Issuing agencies
Legal Services Corporation
Abstract
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announces revised, updated population estimates of agricultural workers that LSC uses to distribute funds among grants for providing civil legal services to those workers and their dependents. LSC provided a detailed background and discussion of why it needed to update these estimates; provided links to the preliminary updated estimates, estimation methodology and additional materials; and invited comments about the updated estimates in a notice for public comment published in the Federal Register. 86 FR 70539 (Dec. 10, 2021). LSC contracted with the United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to secure updated data regarding the agricultural worker population. LSC used the preliminary estimates that ETA provided for grant allocations starting January 1, 2022. Information LSC received indicated that the preliminary data ETA initially provided needed to be revised. This notice summarizes the revisions that LSC made in response to public comment.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 85 (Tuesday, May 3, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26228-26229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09415]
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LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION
Notice of Updated Population Estimates for Basic Field-
Agricultural Worker Grants
AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of updated population estimates on which LSC will
distribute Basic Field-Agricultural Worker Grants and availability of
documentation supporting the estimates.
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SUMMARY: The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announces revised,
updated population estimates of agricultural workers that LSC uses to
distribute funds among grants for providing civil legal services to
those workers and their dependents. LSC provided a detailed background
and discussion of why it needed to update these estimates; provided
links to the preliminary updated estimates, estimation methodology and
additional materials; and invited comments about the updated estimates
in a notice for public comment published in the Federal Register. 86 FR
70539 (Dec. 10, 2021).
LSC contracted with the United States Department of Labor,
Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to secure updated data
regarding the agricultural worker population. LSC used the preliminary
estimates that ETA provided for grant allocations starting January 1,
2022. Information LSC
[[Page 26229]]
received indicated that the preliminary data ETA initially provided
needed to be revised. This notice summarizes the revisions that LSC
made in response to public comment.
DATES: Applicable May 3, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stefanie K. Davis, Senior Associate
General Counsel for Regulations and Ethics Officer, Legal Services
Corporation, 3333 K St. NW, Washington, DC 20007; 202-295-1563 (phone);
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#64170005120d17240817074a030b12"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="384b5c594e514b78544b5b165f574e">[email protected]</span></a>.
Summary of Comments and Revisions to the Preliminary Estimates and
LSC's Response
LSC received one comment during the comment period. The National
Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) and the NLADA Agricultural
Worker Program Section (the Section) jointly submitted the comment.
NLADA and the Section expressed no opposition to the preliminary
estimates so that LSC's implementation of funding allocations based on
updated population estimates would not be delayed past January 2022.
They further indicated that NLADA had not fully analyzed the
preliminary estimates and that it might request adjustments to the 2021
estimates once its analysis was complete.
After the comment period, the Section submitted questions about the
data sets and methods used to estimate the population of H-2A
Agricultural Workers and H-2B Forestry Workers. After reviewing the
Section's comments, ETA determined that a revision of the estimation
methodology could provide a more accurate estimate of the number of
these H-2 workers. ETA proceeded to revise the methodology and provided
a more accurate estimates of the H-2 worker population and the total
agricultural worker population. The Section also requested additional
information to enable its members to better understand the estimation
methodology. ETA provided additional supplemental materials in response
to this request. LSC is using ETA's revised estimates for 2022 grant
allocations.
LSC has updated the population estimates of agricultural workers
based on the revised methods that ETA has used to estimate the
population of H-2 workers and is using the revised estimates for its
2022 grant allocations. The revised estimate of the number of H-2
workers increased the estimate of the national agricultural worker
population by .16% and resulted in small increases or decreases in
state estimates. This revision will result in corresponding changes in
2022 grant allocations for Agricultural Worker service areas. Because
the initial grant allocations for 2022 were based on the preliminary
estimates published in December 2021, LSC will adjust the grant
allocations for the remainder of 2022 to ensure that total grant
allocations for 2022 are based on the final estimates.
LSC is publishing on its website the following documents regarding
the final 2021 estimates. See <a href="https://www.lsc.gov/grants/basic-field-grant/lsc-service-areas/agricultural-worker-population-estimate-2021-update">https://www.lsc.gov/grants/basic-field-grant/lsc-service-areas/agricultural-worker-population-estimate-2021-update</a>.
Table: Final Estimates of the 2021 LSC Agricultural Worker Poverty
Population, Summary Table. Provides ETA's final 2021 estimates
nationally and by state of the LSC Agricultural Worker Poverty
Population.
Table: ``Final Estimates of the Number of H-2 Workers by State.''
Provides the updated estimates of the number of H-2 Workers by state
and compares the updated estimates with the initial estimates.
Memorandum: JBS International, ``Using Fiscal Year 2016, 2017 and
2018 Data to Estimate the Number of 2017 H-2 Workers.'' Explains the
methods used to develop revised estimates of H-2 workers with the data
available from the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC).
Table: ``Top-Down State-Level Estimates of Active Farmworkers-
2021.'' Shows the data and calculations from which the figures in the
November 5th memo, Appendix B, Table 1, Column B ``Total Number of
Active Farmworkers in the State'' are derived.
Memorandum: JBS International, ``Assessment of the Major Changes
Between the 2021 and 2016 LSC Agricultural Poverty Population
Estimates.'' Provides a high-level overview of farm labor market
changes over the last decade that likely account for the changes in
five components/factors in the 2021 and 2016 population estimates.
Table: Data Sources and Calculations--Final Estimates of the
Numbers of H-2A Agricultural Workers and H-2B Forestry Workers. This
replaces Table III published in December 2021.
Table: ``Comparison of the Preliminary and Final 2021 Estimates of
the LSC Agricultural Worker Poverty Population.'' Shows the differences
between the preliminary and final estimates of LSC Agricultural Worker
Population by state.
Table: ``Major Differences between 2021 and 2016 LSC Agricultural
Worker Poverty Population Estimates.'' This replaces the table with the
same name published in December 2021.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2996g(e).
Dated: April 27, 2022.
Jessica L. Wechter,
Special Assistant to the President, Legal Services Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2022-09415 Filed 5-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7050-01-P
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