References: The Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the Trade Act); 20 CFR Part 617; the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended by the Higher Education Amendments of 1992; and General Administration Letter (GAL) No. 1-88. Background: GAL No. 1-88, issued December 2, 1987, provided program guidance to SESAs on the payment of TRA when a worker receives financial assistance such as a Pell Grant, a Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, or a similar grant or training allowance under any Federal law other than the Trade Act. Because of the subsequent Higher Education Amendments of 1992, the revised program guidance in this new GAL supersedes the program guidance in GAL No. 1-88 by providing that Pell Grants and other Federal student financial assistance shall not be deducted from payment of TRA and subsistence and transportation allowances. Other Federal student financial assistance includes benefits under Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Federal educational loan programs, Presidential Access Scholarships, Federal student work-study programs, and Bureau of Indian Affairs Student Assistance. This revised policy on reducing TRA by Pell Grants and other Federal student financial assistance results from a conflict between the provisions of the Trade Act and implementing regulations, which require that payment of TRA be reduced by the amount of a training allowance received pursuant to a Pell Grant or other Federal student financial assistance, and Section 479B of the HEA, as amended by Section 471 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, which prohibits the reduction of any Federally financed benefit or assistance based upon the receipt of such student financial assistance. Section 479B of the HEA, as amended, also prohibits the reduction of the amount of training payments due to the receipt of Federal student financial assistance. Conflict between this provision and the non-duplication provision of Section 236(a)(4) of the Trade Act may be avoided through funding pre-arrangements under Section 617.25(b) of the regulations. The Department is preparing additional guidance on this matter. When a State awards Trade Act benefits to a person receiving Federal student financial assistance, the State will notify the appropriate State educational officials consistent with State laws including the Privacy Act requirements. Section 471 of the Higher Education Amendments took effect on July 1, 1993. The justification for the revised policy on reducing TRA by Pell Grants and other Federal student financial assistance is provided in the Attachment to this GAL. Revised Program Guidance on the Payment of TRA: This GAL revises the program guidance provided to SESAs in GAL No. 1-88 on the payment of TRA when a worker who qualifies for TAA also receives a Pell Grant or other Federal student financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. GAL No. 1-88, which was issued prior to the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, provided the U.S. Department of Labor's position at that time on Section 236(a)(3)(C) (presently Section 236(a)(4)(C)) of the Trade Act, as implemented by Section 617.13(c)(2) and Section 617.25(b)(4)(ii)(C)(1) of the regulations, as follows: When Pell Grant funds are disbursed to the worker by the training institution, and the worker is responsible for paying the costs of training and other related, costs, under Section 236(a)(3)(C) of the Act the funds are not for the purpose of the "direct payment of the costs" of training. The Pell Grant funds disbursed to the worker may be used to pay the costs of training or retained for personal maintenance costs. Such funds are categorized as a training allowance under Section 232(c) of the Act (Section 617.13(c)(2)) and are deductible from the weekly TRA payments on a pro rata basis over the term of the training. (Underlining added.) The purpose for citing the above paragraph in GAL No. 1-88 is to emphasize that the regulations previously considered a payment of a Pell Grant to the worker to be an "indirect" payment of training costs and therefore was deductible from TRA. However, because of the amendment to the HEA made by Section 471, no payment of TRA made to a worker for any week beginning after the date of this GAL shall be reduced due to receipt of a Pell Grant or other Federal student financial assistance. Sections 617.27(a) and 617.28(a) of the regulations contain similar provisions reducing the payment of subsistence and transportation allowances if the worker receives similar assistance under another Federal law. Under the amendment to the HEA made by Section 471, such payments made after the date of this GAL may not be reduced on account of receipt of Federal student financial assistance. A worker whose payment of TRA, subsistence allowance, or transportation allowance was reduced due to the receipt of a Pell Grant or other Federal student financial assistance for any week beginning on or after July 1, 1993, may be entitled to reimbursement for the reduced amount, pursuant to the applicable provisions of State UI law for undertaking redeterminations as stated below. Redeterminations of prior determinations of TRA and subsistence and transportation allowance claims shall be undertaken by a State or State agency solely pursuant to the authority in Section 617.50(c) of the regulations and the applicable State UI law as it is applied in the case of regular State UI. Such provisions of the State UI law shall be the sole criterion in determining whether the State or the State agency has the authority to make a redetermination in any case. For this purpose, the State UI law includes judicial decisions of the courts of the State in comparable UI cases as well as State statutory provisions, and thus is the same as the "State law" which is relevant for conformity and compliance purposes under Title III of the Social Security Act. In other words, the authority a State agency has under the State law to make redeterminations of a State UI claim under similar circumstances, and the time limits on such authority, is the authority a State agency has to make redeterminations of TRA and subsistence and transportation allowance claims due to the revised policy in this GAL. No departure from these rules shall be undertaken in any circumstances without the prior approval of the U.S. Department of Labor. In the case of any determination made with respect to any worker whose payment of TRA or subsistence or transportation allowance was incorrectly reduced due to the receipt of a Pell Grant or other Federal student financial assistance for any week beginning on or after July 1, 1993, the State or State agency shall exercise such authority as it has under the applicable State UI law for regular State UI to undertake a redetermination of the Trade Act payment. The procedural requisites of the applicable State law and Section 617.50(c) of the regulations shall be observed in undertaking and making any redetermination, including any notice to the claimant that reconsideration is being undertaken and the issue involved, and affording the worker an opportunity to present evidence and be represented before the claims examiner. If, upon redetermination, it is decided that the worker was underpaid TRA or subsistence or transportation allowance for any week beginning on or after July 1, 1993, due to the receipt of a Pell Grant or other Federal student financial assistance, the worker will be reimbursed for the underpaid amount. However, before reimbursement of TRA is made to any worker, the SESA must make certain that the amount of reimbursement will not exceed the maximum amount of basic TRA payable to the worker as determined in Section 617.14(a) or the number of weeks of additional TRA payable as determined in Section 617.15(b). (As explained in ET Handbook No. 336, SESA UI Program and Budget Plan Handbook, SESAs should report redeterminations on line 5, Section C of the UI-3 report. The MPU value is the same as the allocated initial claims MPU.) The revised program guidance on the payment of TRA in this GAL provides unequivocally that Section 232(c) of the Trade Act and the TRA reduction requirements of Sections 617.13(c)(2) and 617.25(b)(4)(ii)(C)(1) of the regulations are not applicable to Pell Grants and other Federal student financial assistance. This is also true for Section 617.27(a) and Section 617.28(a) of the regulations relative to the payment of subsistence and transportation allowances. NOTE: Funds provided to adversely affected workers from the other above-named Federal student financial assistance programs under the HEA will be administered in the same manner as Pell Grants. Educational and Training Grants Other Than HEA Grants: Educational and training grant funds other than HEA grant funds and Bureau of Indian Affairs Student Assistance will continue to be administered in the same manner as other non-HEA grant funds as required by the Trade Act. Action Required: SESA Administrators are requested to: a. Inform appropriate staff of the revised program guidance on the payment of TRA (or payment of subsistence or transportation allowances) when workers also receive a Pell Grant or other Federal student financial assistance. b. Ensure that the applicable provisions of State UI law for undertaking redeterminations are used to reimburse workers whose TRA payment (or subsistence or transportation allowance payment) was reduced due to the receipt of a Pell Grant or other Federal student financial assistance.

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Action Required: a. Remove canceled GALs listed on Attachment A from your active files. While a GAL may be canceled, the GAL and any material transmitted with it may be retained as long as it is useful. b. Place the current checklist (Attachment B) at the front of the appropriate binder to serve as a source of reference.

References: 20 CFR part 655, subpart A; 20 CFR part 655, subparts H and I; 20 CFR part 656; and Technical Assistance Guide (TAG) No. 656 Labor Certifications. Background: Over the past two years, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has been considering proposals for reengineering the process used by the States to determine prevailing wages in order to increase the timeliness of responses to employer requests, insure the use of a consistent methodology by all States, and to maximize the accuracy of the determinations. As a result of this activity, it was determined that the most efficient and cost effective way to develop consistently accurate prevailing wage rates is to use the wage component of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' expanded Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Effective January 1, 1998, State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) are to implement the attached prevailing wage policy for nonagricultural immigration programs. The OES wage data should not be used for alien certification purposes until that date unless there are no other sources of wage data for a particular occupational classification and area. The validity of SESA surveys or published surveys which were to expire October 1, 1997, pursuant to GAL 2-97, "Changes in the Prevailing Wage Process for Labor Certification During Fiscal Year 1997," is hereby extended through December 31, 1997. The policy guidance provided in this document supersedes that contained in GAL No. ' 4-95 (May 18, 1995) effective January 1, 1998. Action Required: State Administrators are requested to: A. Provide the attached policy and procedural guidance to appropriate staff. B. Instruct staff to follow these policies and procedures in making prevailing wage determinations under the permanent and H-2B temporary labor certification programs as well as under the H-1B nonimmigrant program for professionals in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability.

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Reference: 29 CFR Part 34.43. Change: Item number six (6) on ETA Form 8429, the Employment Service Complaint/Referral Record Form, has been revised to comply with the nondiscrimination regulations (29 CFR Part 34). OMB Approval: The requirements for Form ETA 8429 are approved by OMB according to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 under OMB approval No. 1205-0039 to expire 9/30/2000. NOTE: Persons are not to required to respond to this collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Action: State Administrators are requested to provide the above information and the revised form to appropriate staff.

References: GAL No. 1-96. Background: The Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance (OTAA) has launched a capacity building strategy aimed at increasing the technical knowledge and proficiency of State staff who administer NAFTA-TAA benefits and training services. OTAA is supporting this effort through a variety of projects and activities which are responsive to, and in support of, the States' NAFTA-TAA service delivery systems and which focus primarily on effective customer satisfaction practices. As part of this effort, OTAA has developed a customer satisfaction survey which has been distributed to 15 pilot States to compile data on the value that dislocated workers associate with the services they receive under NAFTA TAA. The intent of this customer satisfaction project, of which the survey is one part, is to help the States improve or enhance their TAA, NAFTA-TAA and JTPA Title III service delivery systems for TAA or NAFTA TAA certified workers, improve outreach to secondary workers, improve the overall value of services provided to dislocated worker training participants, and better evaluate program operations and effectiveness. This General Administration Letter conveys information and a training schedule for the States so they may access and utilize the survey and technical materials developed and made available through this project. The Customer Satisfaction Project: The OTAA customer satisfaction survey was developed in consultation with State agencies responsible for providing NAFTA-TAA training and other reemployment services to NAFTA-certified dislocated workers. As noted above, the survey has been distributed in 15 States that represent 60% of all Trade and NAFTA-TAA activity over the last four years. The questions in the survey were determined by focus groups carried out in various States last year. The results of the survey will be compiled into a nationwide report to be distributed to all States in November or December. The intent of the customer satisfaction project is to provide not just the measurement tools, but training tools (see attached) to support the use of the instrument. Curriculum for three sessions, all built from several field-tested modules, will be made available to be accessed according to individual State program needs. The training sessions to be provided are: Program coordination and Teamwork; the Trade tool for success. Understanding Customer surveys; Using the survey and data to improve program design and delivery. Tools Tactics and Tips for Improving Customer Satisfaction. Other Training Service Provided: The States of Florida and California have jointly developed six training modules that specifically focus on enhancing the training services provided by the States and local offices to Trade, NAFTA- TAA, and JTPA Title III eligible workers. The training, designed for NAFTA-TAA coordinators, Title III staff and training service providers, outlines the retraining goals of the NAFTA-TAA program and emphasizes the rapid response assistance and retraining options available to workers who have been adversely affected by shifts in production to and/or imports from Canada or Mexico. The training was developed as a tool to assist State staff and training service providers regarding the NAFTA-TAA program and its retraining benefits and to provide information and contacts regarding non-traditional types of retraining and program development.