Notice2021-20421
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Small Business Pulse Survey
Primary source
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Published
September 21, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 180 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52443-52444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20421]
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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; Small Business Pulse Survey
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite 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. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on May 19, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.
Title: Small Business Pulse Survey.
OMB Control Number: 0607-1014.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular Submission, Request for a Revision of a
Currently Approved Collection.
Number of Respondents: 810,000 (22,500 responses per week for up to
a maximum of 36 weeks of collection).
Average Hours per Response: 6 minutes.
Burden Hours: 81,000 + 3 hours for cognitive testing = 81,003.
Needs and Uses: Phase 1 of the Small Business Pulse Survey was
launched on April 26, 2020 as an effort to produce and disseminate
high-frequency, geographic- and industry-detailed experimental data
about the economic conditions of small businesses as they experience
the coronavirus pandemic. It is a rapid response endeavor that
leverages the resources of the federal statistical system to address
emergent data needs. Given the rapidly changing dynamics of this
situation for American small businesses, the Small Business Pulse
Survey has been successful in meeting an acute need for information on
changes in revenues, business closings, employment and hours worked,
disruptions to supply chains, and expectations for future operations.
In addition, the Small Business Pulse Survey provided important
estimates of federal program uptake to key survey stakeholders.
Due to the ongoing nature of the pandemic, the Census Bureau
subsequently conducted Phases 2 through 6 of the Small Business Pulse
Survey. The Office of Management and Budget authorized clearance of
Phase 6 of the Small Business Pulse Survey on August 6, 2021. The
Census Bureau now seeks approval to conduct Phase 7 of the Small
Business Pulse Survey which will occur over 9 weeks starting November
15, 2021.
The continuation of the Small Business Pulse Survey is responsive
to stakeholder requests for high frequency data that measure the effect
of changing business conditions during the Coronavirus pandemic on
small businesses. While the ongoing monthly and quarterly economic
indicator programs provide estimates of dollar volume outputs for
employer businesses of all size, the Small Business Pulse Survey
captures the effects of the pandemic on operations and finances of
small, single location employer businesses. As the pandemic continues,
the Census Bureau is best poised to collect this information from a
large and diverse sample of small businesses.
It is hard to predict when a shock will result in economic activity
changing at a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly frequency. Early in the
pandemic, federal, state, and local policies were moving quickly so it
made sense to have a weekly collection. The problem is that while we
are in the moment, we cannot accurately forecast the likelihood of
policy action. In addition, we are not able to forecast a change in the
underlying cause of policy actions: The effect of the Coronavirus
pandemic on the economy. We cannot predict changes in the severity of
the pandemic (e.g., will it worsen in flu season?) nor future
developments that will alleviate the pandemic (e.g., vaccines or
treatments). In a period of such high uncertainty, the impossibility of
forecasting these inflection points underscores the benefits of having
a weekly survey. For these reasons, the Census Bureau will proceed with
a weekly collection.
SBPS Phase 7 content includes the core concepts seen throughout the
SBPS previous phases, such as overall impact, business closures/
openings, revenue and employment changes, workplace vaccine and testing
requirements, and business outlook. New business norms questions 14-16
were introduced for phase 6 and will continue to Phase 7. Based on
feedback from the Department of Commerce's chief economist, another new
business norm question was developed. Question 17 was developed to
capture business changes not included in question 14-16. The responses
to the new question are captured through a select all that apply. This
question was cognitively tested with six businesses. Additionally, in
anticipation of potential pandemic reoccurrence with economic impact on
small businesses, we have included the previous cash on hand question.
To balance out the questionnaire with these new additions, we removed
the question inquiring about revenues from exports and the open-ended
question with 1000 characters. The remarks field at the end of the
survey will still be present.
[[Page 52444]]
All results from the Small Business Pulse Survey will continue to
be disseminated as U.S. Census Bureau Experimental Data Products
(<a href="https://portal.census.gov/pulse/data/">https://portal.census.gov/pulse/data/</a>). This and additional
information on the Small Business Pulse Survey are available to the
public on <a href="http://census.gov">census.gov</a>.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
Frequency: Small business will be selected once to participate in a
6-minute survey.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 and 182.
This information collection request may be viewed at
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>. Follow the instructions to view the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB
Control Number 0607-1014.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-20421 Filed 9-20-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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