Notice2024-06479
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization
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
March 27, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 60 (Wednesday, March 27, 2024)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21235-21236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06479]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization
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 January 16, 2024 during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.
Title: Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization.
OMB Control Number: 0607-0175.
Form Number(s): MQ-C2.
Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension,
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
Number of Respondents: 7,500.
Average Hours per Response: 30 minutes.
Burden Hours: 15,000.
Needs and Uses: The U. S. Census Bureau, on behalf of the Federal
Reserve Board (FRB) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), within the
Department of Defense (DOD), requests an extension of approval for the
Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization (QPC). The survey
provides information on use of industrial capacity in manufacturing and
publishing plants as defined by the North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS). The Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization
began in the 1970's as an annual survey that collected fourth quarter
data only. The annual survey continued through 2006. In 2007, the FRB
requested that the survey be converted to a quarterly survey due to the
necessity for quarterly data rather than annual. The survey is the only
governmental source of capacity utilization rates at industry levels.
Changes in capacity utilization are considered important indicators of
investment demand and inflationary pressure. For these reasons, the
estimates of capacity utilization are closely monitored by government
policy makers and private sector decision makers.
This survey utilizes a multi-mode data collection process that
includes internet reporting and telephone. The survey collects the
value of quarterly production, the value of production that could be
achieved if operating under ``full production'' capability, and the
value of production that could be achieved if operating under
``emergency production'' capability. The ratio of the actual to the
full is the basis of the estimates for full capacity utilization rates
and similarly, the actual to the emergency for the emergency capacity
utilization rates. The survey also collects information by shift, on
work patterns at the actual production level.
The FRB is the primary user of the current QPC data and expressed
the need for these quarterly data. FRB publishes measures of industrial
production (IP), capacity, and capacity utilization in its G.17
statistical release, which has been designated by the federal
government as a Principal Federal Economic Indicator. Utilization rates
from the QPC survey are a principal source for the measures of capacity
and capacity utilization. The indexes of IP are either estimated from
physical product data or estimated from monthly data on inputs to the
production process, specifically production worker hours. To maintain
the quality of the IP index, the collection of these quarterly data,
including the utilization rate data and the workweek of capital, is
critical to the indicators of capital input use and industry output.
The FRB uses these data in several ways. First, the QPC data are
the primary source of information for the capacity indexes and
utilization rates published by the FRB. Second, the QPC utilization
rate data are used as indicators of output for some industries in the
estimation of monthly IP. Third, the survey responses for reasons
operating below capacity are valuable indicators for distinguishing
between supply chain bottlenecks versus demand constraints affecting
manufacturing. Fourth, the QPC utilization rate data and the workweek
data are used to improve the projections of labor productivity that are
used to align IP with comprehensive benchmark information from the
Economic Census covering the Manufacturing sector and the Annual Survey
of Manufactures (ASM). The Census Bureau is launching a new annual
survey in 2024, the Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES), which
will replace the ASM as a source for this benchmark information going
forward. Finally, utilization rate data will assist in the assessment
of recent changes in IP, as most of the high-frequency movement in
utilization rates reflects production changes rather than capacity
changes.
The DLA uses the data to assess industrial base readiness and ramp-
up time to meet demand for goods under selected national emergency
scenarios.
In addition to the FRB and DLA uses, these data are published on
the Census Bureau's website, <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/qpc.html">https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/qpc.html</a>.
Frequency: Quarterly.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 8(b); 50
U.S.C., Section 98, et seq.; and 12 U.S.C., Section 244.
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
[[Page 21236]]
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 0607-0175.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-06479 Filed 3-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 27, 2024.
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.