[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 3, 2009)]
Wage Methodology for the Temporary Non-Agricultural Employment H-
2B Program, Part 2

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor; U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services, DHS.

ACTION: Interim final rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department
of Labor (DOL) (jointly referred to as the Departments) are amending
regulations governing certification for the employment of nonimmigrant
workers in temporary or seasonal non-agricultural employment. This
interim final rule revises how DOL provides the consultation that DHS
has determined is necessary to adjudicate H-2B petitions by revising
the methodology by whichDOL calculates the prevailing wages to be paid to H-2B
workers and U.S. workers recruited in connection with the application for certification;
the prevailing wage is then used in petitioning DHS to employ
nonimmigrant workers in H-2B status. DOL and DHS are jointly issuing
this rule in response to the court's order in Comit[eacute] de Apoyo a
losTrabajadoresAgricolas v. Solis, which vacated portions of DOL's
current prevailing wage rate regulation, and to ensure that there is no
question that the rule is in effect nationwide in light of other
outstanding litigation. This rule also contains certain revisions to
DHS's H-2B rule to clarify that DHS is the Executive Branch agency
charged with making determinations regarding eligibility for H-2B
classification, after consulting with DOL for its advice about matters
with which DOL has expertise, particularly, in this case, questions
about the methodology for setting the prevailing wage in the H-2B
program.

DATES: This interim final rule is effective April 24, 2013. Interested
persons are invited to submit written comments on this interim final
rule on or before June 10, 2013.