Notice2023-26473
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Building Permits Survey Program
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
December 1, 2023
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 revision of the current Office of Management and Budget clearance for the surveys known as the Report of Building or Zoning Permits Issued for New Privately-Owned Housing Units (C-404) and the Survey of Residential Building or Zoning Permit Systems (C-411).
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 230 (Friday, December 1, 2023)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 230 (Friday, December 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83898-83900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26473]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Building Permits Survey Program
AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 revision of the current Office of Management and Budget
clearance for the surveys known as the Report of Building or Zoning
Permits Issued for New Privately-Owned Housing Units (C-404) and the
Survey of Residential Building or Zoning Permit Systems (C-411).
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed
information collection must be received on or before January 30, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
[[Page 83899]]
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#84d0ecebe9e5f7aaceaad7e9edf0ecc4e7e1eaf7f1f7aae3ebf2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f0a4989f9d9183debadea39d998498b093959e838583de979f86">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference the Building
Permits Survey Program in the subject line of your comments. You may
also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2023-0013, 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 Aidan Smith, Construction Indicator Programs, Economic Indicators
Division, U.S. Census Bureau, 301-763-2972, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e2838b86838ccc86cc918f8b968aa281878c919791cc858d94"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b3d2dad7d2dd9dd79dc0dedac7dbf3d0d6ddc0c6c09dd4dcc5">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Census Bureau plans to request a revision of the current Office
of Management and Budget clearance for the surveys known as the Survey
of Residential Building or Zoning Permit Systems (C-411) and the Report
of Building or Zoning Permits Issued for New Privately-Owned Housing
Units (C-404). The C-411 and the C-404 are related collections sharing
the same universe called the Active Governments File (AGF) universe.
The C-411 is utilized to update the permit issuing status of all
jurisdictions in the AGF. The C-404 is utilized to collect both monthly
and annual data on the totals of new housing unit permits issued. These
two surveys, currently cleared separately under control numbers 0607-
0350 and 0607-0094, respectively, will therefore be combined under one
control number and will be collectively called the Building Permits
Survey Program.
The Census Bureau uses these surveys to produce statistics to
monitor activity in the large and dynamic construction industry. These
statistics help state and local governments and the Federal government,
as well as private industry, to analyze this important sector of the
economy. Building permits for new private housing units also are a
component of The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index.
The Census Bureau uses the Form C-411 or individual questions from
the form, as needed, to obtain information needed to update the
universe of permit-issuing places from state and local building permit
and zoning officials. Questions on the form pertain to the legal
requirements for issuing building or zoning permits in the local
jurisdictions. Information is obtained on such items as geographic
coverage and types of construction for which permits are issued.
The universe of permit-issuing places is the sampling frame for the
Building Permits Survey (BPS) and the Survey of Construction (SOC).
These two sample surveys provide widely used measures of construction
activity, including the monthly Principal Federal Economic Indicators
Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits and Housing Starts.
For New Residential Construction (which includes Housing Units
Authorized by Building Permits, Housing Starts, and Housing
Completions), Form C-404 is used to collect the estimate for Housing
Units Authorized by Building Permits. For New Residential Construction
and Sales, the number of housing units authorized by building permits
is a key component utilized in the estimation of housing units started,
completed, and sold.
The Census Bureau uses Form C-404 to collect information on changes
to the geographic coverage of permit-issuing places, the number and
valuation of new residential housing units authorized by building
permits, and additional information on residential permits valued at $2
million or more, including, but not limited to, site address and type
of building. The Building Permits Survey is the only source of
statistics on residential construction for states and smaller
geographic areas. The Census Bureau uses the detailed geographic data
collected from state and local officials on new residential
construction authorized by building permits in the development of
annual population estimates that are used by government agencies to
allocate funding and other resources to local areas. Policymakers,
planners, businesses, and others also use the detailed geographic data
to monitor growth, plan for local services, and to develop production
and marketing plans.
II. Method of Collection
Survey of Residential Building or Zoning Permit Systems (C-411):
One of three variants of the Form C-411 is sent to a jurisdiction
when the Census Bureau needs to verify whether a new permit system has
been established or an existing one has changed. This is based on the
length of time since the jurisdiction last verified their permit
issuing status, or on information the Census Bureau obtains from a
variety of sources including survey respondents, regional planning
councils, and data from the Census Bureau's Geography Division on newly
incorporated jurisdictions. While the C-411 was previously a mailed
paper form, the Census Bureau plans to add this collection to the
standard online collection instrument (Centurion) in 2024.
There are three versions of the form:
<bullet> C-411(V) for verification of coverage for jurisdictions
with existing permit systems,
<bullet> C-411(M) for municipalities where a new permit system may
have been established,
<bullet> C-411(C) for counties where new permit systems may have
been established.
Prior to 2022, the universe of permit issuing places was updated
every 10 years. In 2012 and every ten years prior, we mailed the survey
to approximately 20,000 jurisdictions that were designated in our
records as non-permit issuing jurisdictions, or permit issuing
jurisdictions that needed verification of coverage. In processing the
2012 survey, it was determined that it was too burdensome to the Census
Bureau's staff to process all 20,000 jurisdictions in the same year. As
a result, the process was spread out into 5-year intervals, starting
with the mailing in 2017. In 2017, we mailed 3,500 priority
jurisdictions of the potential 20,000, with the intent of mailing
another priority group in 2022 to complete the 10-year collection
cycle. The planned 2022 mailing was deferred. Beginning January 2023,
we began updating the universe annually and as a result, we can now
incorporate more frequent updates to non-permit issuing jurisdictions.
Beginning in 2024 we expect to attempt to collect information from
3,150 jurisdictions annually using either the C-411(C) or C-411(M)
regarding the existence of new permit-issuing systems, or to resolve
coverage questions or issues concerning existing permit-issuing systems
using the C-411(V). This will allow us to attempt collection on all
20,000 jurisdictions approximately every seven years, on a rotating
basis.
Report of Building or Zoning Permits Issued for New Privately-Owned
Housing Units (C-404):
[[Page 83900]]
Respondents may submit their data via internet or a mailed or faxed
form. Some respondents choose to report over the phone or to send
proprietary files containing permit information in lieu of returning
the form.
The survey universe is comprised of approximately 20,000 local
governments that issue building permits. Due to resource availability
and the time required to complete the data review and analysis, the
Census Bureau collects data from a selection of permit-issuing
jurisdictions monthly, and the remainder of the jurisdictions annually.
We collect this information monthly for about approximately 8,600
permit-issuing jurisdictions. We also collect this information annually
for about 11,400 permit-issuing jurisdictions.
III. Data
OMB Control Numbers: 0607-0094, 0607-0350.
Form Numbers: C-404, C-411.
Type of Review: Regular submission, request for a revision of a
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: State and local governments.
Estimated Number of Respondents: C-404--20,000; C-411--3,150.
Estimated Time Per Response: C-404--8 minutes for monthly
respondents who report via internet, mail, or faxing the form, 23
minutes for annual respondents who report via internet, mail or faxing
the form, and 3 minutes for monthly and annual respondents who report
by telephone or send electronic files or printouts. C-411--15 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: C-404--17,229 hours; C-411--
788 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: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 131 and 182.
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 Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-26473 Filed 11-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 1, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.