[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 3]
[Revised as of April 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR654.403]

[Page 451-452]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
 CHAPTER V--EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 654--SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE SYSTEM--Table of Contents
 
               Subpart E--Housing for Agricultural Workers
 
Sec. 654.403  Conditional access to the intrastate or interstate clearance system.

    (a) Filing requests for conditional access--(1) ``Noncriteria'' 
employers. Except as provided in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, an 
employer whose housing does not meet applicable standards may file with 
the local Job Service office serving the area in which its housing is 
located, a written request that its job orders be conditionally allowed 
into the intrastate or interstate clearance system, provided that the 
employer's request assures that its housing will be in full compliance 
with the requirements of the applicable housing standards at least 20 
calendar days (giving the specific date) before the housing is to be 
occupied.
    (2) ``Criteria'' employers. If the request for conditional access 
described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section is from an employer filing 
a job order pursuant to an application for temporary alien agricultural 
labor certification for H-2A alien agricultural workers or H-2 alien 
workers under subpart B or subpart C, respectively, of part 655 of this 
chapter, the request shall be filed with the RA as an attachment to the 
application for temporary alien agricultural labor certification.
    (3) Assurance. The employer's request pursuant to paragraphs (a)(1) 
or (a)(2) of this section shall contain an assurance that the housing 
will be in full compliance with the applicable housing standards at 
least 20 calendar days (stating the specific date) before the housing is 
to be occupied.
    (b) Processing requests--(1) State agency processing. Upon receipt 
of a written request for conditional access to the intrastate or 
interstate clearance system under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the 
local Job Service office shall send the request to the State office, 
which, in turn, shall forward it to the Regional Administrator, 
Employment and Training Administration, (RA).
    (2) Reqional office processing and determination. Upon receipt of a 
request for conditional access pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) or paragraph 
(b)(1) of this section, the RA shall review the matter and, as 
appropriate, shall either grant or deny the request.
    (c) Authorization. The authorization for conditional access to the 
intrastate or interstate clearance system shall be in writing, and shall 
state that although the housing does not comply with the applicable 
standards, the employer's job order may be placed into

[[Page 452]]

intrastate or interstate clearance until a specified date. The RA shall 
send the authorization to the employer and shall send copies to the 
appropriate State agency and local Job Service office. The employer 
shall submit and the local Job Service shall attach copies of the 
authorization to each of the employer's job orders which is placed into 
intrastate or interstate clearance.
    (d) Notice of denial. If the RA denies the request for conditional 
access to the intrastate or interstate clearance system, the RA shall 
provide written notice to the employer, the appropriate State agency, 
and the local Job Service office, stating the reasons for the denial.
    (e) Inspection. (1) The local Job Service office serving the area 
containing the housing of any employer granted conditional access to the 
intrastate or interstate clearance system shall assure that the housing 
is inspected no later than the date by which the employer has promised 
to have its housing in compliance with the requirements of this subpart. 
An employer, however, may request an earlier preliminary inspection. If, 
on the date set forth in the authorization, the housing is not in full 
compliance with the applicable housing standards as assured in the 
request for conditional access, the local Job Service office shall 
afford the employer five calendar days to bring the housing into full 
compliance. After the five-calendar-day period, if the housing is not in 
full compliance with the applicable housing standards as assured in the 
request for conditional access, the local Job Service office 
immediately:
    (i) Shall notify the RA;
    (ii) Shall remove the employer's job orders from intrastate and 
interstate clearance; and
    (iii) Shall, if workers have been recruited against these orders, in 
cooperation with the employment service agencies in other States, make 
every reasonable attempt to locate and notify the appropriate crew 
leaders or workers, and to find alternative and comparable employment 
for the workers.

[52 FR 20506, June 1, 1987, as amended at 64 FR 34965, June 29, 1999]

                            Housing Standards