Notice2021-19805
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; American Community Survey
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
September 14, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Abstract
The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the proposed extension of the American Community Survey, prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 175 (Tuesday, September 14, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51112-51113]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19805]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; American Community Survey
AGENCY: Census Bureau, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites the general public and other
Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the
proposed extension of the American Community Survey, prior to the
submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for
approval.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed
information collection must be received on or before November 15, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#533230203c7d2321321330363d2026207d343c25"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ee8f8d9d81c09e9c8fae8d8b809d9b9dc0898198">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference the American Community
Survey in the subject line of your comments. You may also submit
comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2021-0019, to the Federal e-
Rulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. All comments received
are part of the public record. No comments will be posted to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> for public viewing until after the comment period
has closed. Comments will generally be posted without change. All
Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address)
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do
not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information. You may submit attachments to electronic
comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed
to Dameka Reese, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Office,
301-763-3804, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0f6b6e626a646e2162217d6a6a7c6a4f6c6a617c7a7c21686079"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="096d68646c62682764277b6c6c7a6c496a6c677a7c7a276e667f">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Since its founding, the U.S. Census Bureau has balanced the demands
of a growing country requiring information about its people and
economy, with concerns for respondents' confidentiality and the time
and effort it takes respondents to answer questions. Beginning with the
1810 Census, Congress added questions to support a range of public
concerns and uses, and over the course of a century, federal agencies
requested to add questions about agriculture, industry, and commerce,
as well as individuals' occupation, ancestry, marital status,
disabilities, place of birth and other topics. In 1940, the Census
Bureau introduced the long-form census in order to ask more detailed
questions to only a sample of the public.
In the early 1990s, the demand for current, nationally consistent
data from a wide variety of users led federal government policymakers
to consider the feasibility of collecting social, economic, and housing
data continuously throughout the decade. The benefits of providing
current data, along with the anticipated decennial census benefits in
cost savings, planning, improved census coverage, and more efficient
operations, led the Census Bureau to plan the implementation of the
continuous measurement survey, later called the American Community
Survey (ACS). After years of testing, the ACS replaced the long form in
2005. The ACS is conducted throughout the United States and in Puerto
Rico, where it is called the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS). Each
year a sample of approximately 3.5 million households and about 170,000
persons living in group quarters (GQ) in the United States are selected
to participate in the ACS and PRCS.
II. Method of Collection
To encourage self-response in the ACS, the Census Bureau sends up
to five mailings to housing units selected to be in the sample. The
first mailing, sent to all mailable addresses in the sample, includes
an invitation to participate in the ACS online and states that a paper
questionnaire will be sent in a few weeks to those unable to respond
online. The second mailing is a letter that reminds respondents to
complete the survey online, thanks them if they have already done so,
and informs them that a paper form will be sent at a later date if we
do not receive their response. In a third mailing, the questionnaire
package is sent only to those sample addresses that have not completed
the online questionnaire within two weeks. The fourth mailing is a
postcard that reminds respondents to respond and informs them that an
interviewer may contact them if they do not complete the survey. A
fifth mailing is sent to respondents who have not completed the survey
within five weeks. This letter provides a due date and reminds the
respondents to return their questionnaires to be removed from future
contact. The Census Bureau will ask those who fill out the survey
online to provide an email address, which will be used to send an email
reminder to households that did not complete the online form. The
reminder asks them to log back in to finish responding to the survey.
If the Census Bureau does not receive a response or if the household
refuses to participate, the address may be selected for computer-
assisted personal interviewing (CAPI).
Some addresses are deemed unmailable because the address is
incomplete or directs mail only to a post office box. The Census Bureau
currently collects data for these housing units using both online and
CAPI.
For sample housing units in the Puerto Rico Community Survey
(PRCS), a different mail strategy is employed. The Census Bureau
continues to use the previously used mail strategy with no references
to an internet response option. The Census Bureau sends up to five
mailings to a Puerto Rico address selected to be in the sample. The
first mailing includes a prenotice letter. The second and fourth
mailings include the paper survey. The third and fifth mailings serve
as a reminder to respond to the survey. Puerto Rico addresses deemed
unmailable because the address is incomplete or directs mail only to a
post office box are collected by CAPI.
The Census Bureau employs a different strategy to collect data from
GQs. The Census Bureau defines GQs as
[[Page 51113]]
places where people live or stay, in a group living arrangement that is
owned or managed by an entity or organization providing housing and/or
services for the residents, such as college/university student housing,
residential treatment centers, skilled nursing facilities, group homes,
military barracks, correctional facilities, workers' group living
quarters and Job Corps centers, and emergency and transitional
shelters. The Census Bureau collects data for GQs primarily through
personal interview. The Census Bureau will obtain the facility
information by conducting a personal visit interview with a GQ contact.
During this interview, the Census Bureau obtains roster of residents
and randomly selects them for person-level interviews. During the
person-level phase, an FR uses CAPI automated instrument to collect
detailed information for each sampled resident. FRs also have the
option to distribute a bilingual (English/Spanish) questionnaire to
residents for self-response if unable to complete a CAPI interview.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0607-0810.
Form Number(s): ACS-1, ACS-1(SP), ACS-1(PR), ACS-1(PR)SP, ACS-
1(GQ), ACS-1(PR)(GQ), GQFQ, ACS CAPI (HU), ACS RI (HU), AGQ QI, and AGQ
RI.
Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for an Extension,
without Change.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,540,000 for household
respondents; 20,000 for contacts in GQ; 170,000 persons in GQ; 43,200
households for reinterview; and 2,000 GQ contacts for reinterview. The
total estimated number of respondents is 3,775,200.
Estimated Time per Response: 40 minutes for the average household
questionnaire; 15 minutes for a GQ facility questionnaire; 25 minutes
for a GQ person questionnaire; 10 minutes for a household reinterview;
10 minutes for a GQ-level reinterview.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,360,000 for household
respondents; 5,000 for contacts in GQ; 70,833 for GQ residents 7,200
households for reinterview; and 333 GQ contacts for reinterview. The
estimate is an annual average of 2,443,366 burden hours.
Table 1--Annual ACS Respondent and Burden Hour Estimates
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Estimated
Annual minutes per
Forms or instrument used estimated respondent by Annual
Data collection operation in data collection number of data estimated
respondents collection burden hours
activity
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I. ACS Household Questionnaire, Online ACS-1, ACS 1(SP), ACS- 3,540,000 40 2,360,000
Survey, Telephone, and Personal Visit. 1PR, ACS-1PR(SP),
Online Survey,
Telephone, CAPI.
II. ACS GQ Facility Questionnaire CAPI GQFQ............... 20,000 15 5,000
CAPI--Telephone and Personal Visit.
III. ACS GQ CAPI Personal Interview or CAPI, ACS-1(GQ), ACS- 170,000 25 70,833
Telephone, and Paper Self-response. 1(GQ)(PR).
IV. ACS Household Reinterview--CATI/ ACS HU-RI............... 43,200 10 7,200
CAPI.
V. ACS GQ-level Reinterview--CATI/CAPI ACS GQ-RI............... 2,000 10 333
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Totals............................ ........................ 3,775,200 N/A 2,443,366
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Estimated Annualized Respondent Burden Hours.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0. (This is not the cost of
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services
required specifically by the collection.)
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section 141 and 193.
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-19805 Filed 9-13-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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