(a) The Secretary has determined that the applicable Federal housing standards are the standards promulgated by the Employment and Training Administration, at 20 CFR 654.404 et seq. and the standards promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, at 29 CFR 1910.142. Except as provided in § 500.131, all migrant housing is subject to either the ETA standards or the OSHA standards, as follows:

(1) A person who owns or controls a facility or real property to be used for housing any migrant agricultural worker, the construction of which was begun on or after April 3, 1980, and which was not under a contract for construction as of March 4, 1980, shall comply with the substantive Federal safety and health standards promulgated by OSHA at 29 CFR 1910.142. These OSHA standards are enforceable under MSPA, irrespective of whether housing is, at any particular point in time, subject to inspection under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

(2) A person who owns or controls a facility or real property to be used for housing any migrant agricultural worker which was completed or under construction prior to April 3, 1980, or which was under a contract for construction prior to March 4, 1980, may elect to comply with either the substantive Federal safety and health standards promulgated by OSHA at 29 CFR 1910.142 or the standards promulgated by ETA at 20 CFR 654.404 et seq. The ETA standards were established to provide housing requirements for migrant housing used by an employer obtaining migrant workers through the U.S. Employment Service. The owner or operator of such housing may continue to rely on those standards, rather than OSHA standards, even if the housing is not currently being provided pursuant to a USES job placement program.