Notice2022-25312
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Annual Integrated Economic Survey
Primary source
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Published
November 21, 2022
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 new survey, the Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES), prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 223 (Monday, November 21, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 223 (Monday, November 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70775-70777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25312]
[[Page 70775]]
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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; Annual Integrated Economic 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 new survey, the Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES),
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 January 20, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a2f6cacdcfc3d18ce88cf1cfcbd6cae2c1c7ccd1d7d18cc5cdd4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e7b38f888a8694c9adc9b48a8e938fa7848289949294c9808891">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference Annual Integrated
Economic Survey (AIES) in the subject line of your comments. You may
also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2022-0024, 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 Blynda Metcalf, U.S. Census Bureau, Associate Directorate for
Economic Programs (ADEP) by phone (301) 763-4781, or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f3b19f8a9d9792ddb8ddbe968790929f95b390969d808680dd949c85"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1456786d7a70753a5f3a597160777578725477717a6761673a737b62">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Census Bureau plans to conduct the AIES on an annual basis,
beginning for survey year 2023 (collected in calendar year 2024) and a
Dress Rehearsal for the AIES for survey year 2022 (collected in
calendar year 2023). The AIES is a new survey designed to integrate and
replace seven existing annual business surveys into one survey. The
AIES will provide the only comprehensive national and subnational data
on business revenues, expenses, and assets on an annual basis. The AIES
is designed to combine Census Bureau collections to reduce respondent
burden, increase data quality, and allow the Census Bureau to operate
more efficiently to reduce costs. The existing collections integrated
into the AIES are the Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS), Annual
Wholesale Trade Survey (AWTS), Service Annual Survey (SAS), Annual
Survey of Manufactures (ASM), Annual Capital Expenditures Survey
(ACES), Manufacturer's Unfilled Orders Survey (M3UFO), and the Report
of Organization. The ARTS has been conducted annually since 1951 to
collect sales, expenses, and other items for the retail sector of the
economy. The AWTS has been conducted annually since 1978 to collect
data on sales, inventories, operational expenses, and purchases for
wholesale trade. The SAS has been conducted annually since 1982 to
collect revenues and other measures for most traditional service
industries. The ASM has been conducted annually since 1948 to collect
revenues, expenses, capital expenditures, fuels and electric energy
used, and inventories in the manufacturing sector. The ACES has been
conducted annually since 1996 to collect capital spending for new and
used structures and equipment in agriculture, construction, mining,
manufacturing, retail, wholesale, and service sectors. The M3UFO began
collecting manufacturing revenue and unfilled orders data in 2010. The
Report of Organization has been collecting information on organization
and structure of firms to maintain the Business Register on an annual
basis since 1973.
Estimates currently published in ARTS, AWTS, SAS, ASM, and ACES
will be produced as part of the AIES and expanded to include
subnational data across the economy. Previously, the ASM
(manufacturing) was the only annual survey being integrated into AIES
that produced subnational data. AIES will produce subnational data for
manufacturing, retail, wholesale, and service sectors if quality
standards are met. The AIES information previously collected on the
Report of Organization will continue to be used to update the Business
Register, and the AIES data previously collected on the M3UFO will
continue to be used for the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and
Orders (M3) Survey benchmarking purposes. Data users will be able to
access the AIES estimates through the use of visualizations and
<a href="http://data.census.gov">data.census.gov</a>. Private businesses, organizations, industry analysts,
educators and students, and economic researchers have used the data and
estimates provided by these seven existing collections for analyzing
and conducting impact evaluations on past and current economic
performance, short-term economic forecasts, productivity, long-term
economic growth, market analysis, tax policy, capacity utilization,
business fixed capital stocks and capital formation, domestic and
international competitiveness trade policy, product development, market
research, and financial analysis. Trade and professional organizations
have used the estimates to analyze industry trends and benchmark their
own statistical programs, develop forecasts, and evaluate regulatory
requirements. Government program officials and agencies have used the
data for research, economic policy making, and forecasting. Based on
the use of the data of the existing collections, estimates produced
from the AIES will serve as a benchmark for Census Bureau indicator
programs, such as the Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food
Services (MARTS), the Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS),
Manufacturers' Shipments Inventories & Orders (M3), Monthly Wholesale
Trade Survey (MWTS), and the Quarterly Services Survey (QSS). Like the
previous collections, the AIES will provide updates to the Longitudinal
Research Database (LRD), and Census Bureau staff and academic
researchers with special sworn status will continue to use the LRD for
micro data analysis. The Census Bureau will also continue to use
information collected in the AIES to update and maintain the
centralized, multipurpose Business Register that provides sampling
populations and enumeration lists for the Census Bureau's economic
surveys and censuses. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will
continue to use the estimates to derive industry output for the input-
output accounts and for the gross domestic product (GDP). We expect
that the Bureau of Labor
[[Page 70776]]
Statistics (BLS) will continue to use the data as input to its Producer
Price Index (PPI) and in developing productivity measurements; the
Federal Reserve Board (FRB) will continue to use the data to prepare
the Index of Industrial Production, to improve estimates of investment
indicators for monetary policy, and in monitoring retail credit
lending; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will
continue to use the data to estimate expenditures for the National
Health Accounts and for monitoring and evaluating healthcare
industries; and the Department of the Treasury will continue use the
data to analyze depreciation and to research economic trends.
The AIES covers domestic, nonfarm employer businesses with
operations during the survey year. Non-employer businesses are not
within the scope of this new AIES. The Census Bureau will submit a
separate request for approval to collect data from non-employer
businesses, if it is determined that a collection is needed to produce
those estimates.
The AIES will collect the following information from employer
businesses in sample:
--Business characteristics, including employment, operating status,
organizational change, ownership information, and co-op status
--Business classification, including business activity, type of
operation, and tax status
--Revenue, including sales, shipments, and receipts, revenue by class
of customer, taxes, contributions, gifts, and grants, products, and e-
commerce activity
--Operating expenses, including purchased services, payroll, benefits,
rental payments, utilities, interest, resales, equipment, materials and
supplies, research and development, and other detailed operating
expenses
--Assets, including capital expenditures, inventories, and depreciable
assets
--Robotic equipment
Additional topics of collections in the AIES include sources of
revenue for providers (e.g., hospitals and other businesses in the
health industry) of select services such as inpatient days, outpatient
visits to hospitals, patient visits for other selected health
industries, revenue from telemedicine services, and expenses for
electronic health records. Product data will be collected from
businesses operating in manufacturing and services industries.
Merchandise lines data will be collected from businesses operating in
select retail industries will collect merchandise lines data. Detailed
inventories will be collected for trucks, truck tractors, and trailers.
The AIES may include new questions each year based on relevant
business topics. Potential topics for such new questions could include
technological advances, management and business practices, exporting
practices, and globalization. Any new questions will be submitted to
OMB for review using the appropriate clearance vehicle.
In 2020 and 2021, research was conducted on the potential impacts
of a coordinated collection of SAS, ARTS, and AWTS. This coordinated
collection research was designed to investigate the impact of
implementing the existing contact strategy that encompassed multiple
survey requests. Following this coordinated collection research effort,
approximately 19 interviews were conducted with nonrespondents, and 35
interviews were conducted with respondents. In 2021, AIES data
accessibility and recordkeeping studies were conducted with about 60
companies. In 2022, a pilot AIES survey was administered to 78
companies, including 2,863 establishments, to test the respondent
experience; the pilot AIES survey focused on the layout and design of
the collection instrument and harmonized content. From the pilot
survey, 10 interviews were conducted with respondents, and 15 Response
Analysis Surveys (RAS) were completed by respondents. Cognitive testing
encompassing survey structure, instrument design, and respondent
reporting process was conducted with about 40 companies in 2022.
Usability testing on the electronic collection instrument will be
conducted with up to 30 companies at the end of 2022 and will continue
into 2023. A Phase II pilot will be conducted in February 2023 with
approximately 562 companies. Phase II will follow the same model as the
first pilot with debriefing interviews and a response analysis survey
planned. In the Spring of 2023, we also plan to conduct Large Firm
Response Research with up to 35 of the largest firms in the AIES
sample. All the afore-mentioned work has been, or will be, conducted
under the Census Bureau's Generic clearance for Field Tests and
Evaluations (OMB# 0607-0971) or the Generic Clearance for Questionnaire
Pretesting Research (OMB# 0607-0725).
In June of 2023, the Census Bureau plans to conduct a Dress
Rehearsal for the AIES with up to 10,000 companies. The Dress Rehearsal
will be large-scale test of the forms and procedures planned for the
AIES. The burden estimate is 3 hours and 47 minutes per respondent. The
Dress rehearsal will allow us to examine patterns of non-response and
to determine what additional support respondents will need. Paradata
gathered from respondents' interactions with the online collection
instrument during the Dress Rehearsal will help refine our burden
estimate. We will also compare the quality of responses received to
historic data collected in the 7 surveys the AIES will replace. Up to
30 debriefing interviews with respondents will also be conducted.
The total annual reporting burden for the Dress Rehearsal will be
37,786 hours (10,000 x 3 hours and 47 minutes). Debriefing interviews
will take approximately 1 hour each and will add 30 hours to this
total.
To minimize the burden imposed on respondents already in sample for
the seven annual surveys the AIES will replace, we will use the AIES
responses from companies that participate in the Dress Rehearsal to
satisfy their reporting requirement for the annual surveys for which
they are in sample for the 2022 survey year. Given that the AIES Dress
Rehearsal will be conducted during the same calendar year as we will be
conducting the 2022 Economic Census, we may use AIES Dress Rehearsal to
supplement Economic Census responses, pursuant to 13 U.S.C. 193.
After conclusion of the Dress Rehearsal, and based on refinements
made to forms and procedures, the Census Bureau will begin conducting
the full-scale AIES in 2024. The AIES will select a stratified
sequential random sample of 380,199 companies from a frame of
approximately 5.4 million companies constructed from the Business
Register, which is the Census Bureau's master business list. The AIES
will impose an estimated 1,436,619 hours of annual reporting burden
(380,199 x 3 hours and 47 minutes). If the current sample size or
burden estimate changes, based on our analysis of paradata information
gathered during the Dress Rehearsal, the Census Bureau will submit a
request to adjust the burden using the appropriate clearance vehicle.
Businesses which reported business activity on Internal Revenue Service
tax forms 941, ``Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return''; 944,
``Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return''; 1065 ``U.S. Return of
Partnership Income''; or any one of the 1120 corporate tax forms will
be eligible for selection.
The AIES will replace the ARTS, AWTS, SAS, ASM, ACES, M3UFO, and
the Report of Organization in survey year 2023, at which time the
Census
[[Page 70777]]
Bureau will discontinue these collections.
II. Method of Collection
The AIES Dress Rehearsal conducted for survey year 2022 and the
AIES conducted for survey year 2023 and beyond will be collected using
Centurion, the Census Bureau's secure online survey collection tool.
Respondents will receive an email and/or letter notifying them of their
requirement to respond and how to access the survey. Responses will be
due approximately 30 days from receipt. Select businesses will receive
a due date reminder via a letter or email prior to the due date.
Additionally, email follow-ups and up to three mail follow-ups to
nonrespondents will be conducted at approximately one-month intervals.
Selected nonrespondents will receive a priority class mailing for the
third follow-up if needed. Selected nonrespondents will also receive
follow-up telephone calls.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0607-XXXX.
Type of Review: Regular submission, new collection.
Affected Public: Businesses, or other for profit or non-profit
institutions or organizations.
Estimated Number of Respondents: Dress Rehearsal--10,000 companies;
AIES--380,199 companies.
Estimated Time Per Response: 3 hours and 47 minutes per company.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Dress Rehearsal--37,816;
AIES--1,436,619.
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. Sections 131, 182, 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. 2022-25312 Filed 11-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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