Notice2024-09793
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Boundary and Annexation Survey
Primary source
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Published
May 6, 2024
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 Boundary and Annexation 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 89 Issue 88 (Monday, May 6, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 88 (Monday, May 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37169-37172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09793]
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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; Boundary and Annexation Survey
AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of 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 revision of the Boundary and Annexation 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 July 5, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ea8e89878ec49a988baa898f84999f99c48d859c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6b0f08060f451b190a2b080e05181e18450c041d">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference ``Boundary and
Annexation Survey'' in the subject line of your comments. You may also
submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2024-0012, to the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. All comments
received are part of the public record. No comments will be posted to
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://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
[[Page 37170]]
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 Michael S. Snow, Program Manager, Decennial Census Management
Division, by phone at 301-763-9912 or by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3256515f561c4240537251575c4147411c555d44"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="debabdb3baf0aeacbf9ebdbbb0adabadf0b9b1a8">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts many voluntary geographic
partnership programs designed to collect addresses, boundaries, and
linear features for incorporation into the Master Address File/
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/
TIGER) System. The Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) is one of these
programs. It provides eligible governments, which include tribal,
state, and general-purpose local governments, an opportunity to review
the Census Bureau's legal boundary data to ensure the Census Bureau has
the correct boundary, name, and status information and make necessary
updates. BAS also allows for the review and update of census designated
place (CDP) boundaries and linear features. It fulfills the agency's
responsibility as part of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, for
which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-16
designates the Census Bureau as the lead federal agency for maintaining
national data about legal government boundaries, as well as statistical
and administrative boundaries. It also supports the geospatial data
steward responsibilities of the Geospatial Data Act, the Evidence Act,
OMB E-Gov, the Federal Geographic Data Committee, <a href="http://Data.gov">Data.gov</a>,
<a href="http://GeoPlatform.gov">GeoPlatform.gov</a>, the National Map, the Geographic Names Information
System, and the Geospatial One-Stop.
The Census Bureau uses the boundaries collected during BAS to
tabulate data for various censuses and surveys including the decennial
census, American Community Survey (ACS), and Population Estimates
Program (PEP). It also uses the boundaries collected through BAS to
support other programs such as the Redistricting Data Program, the
Economic Census, the Geographic Update Population Certification
Program, and the Special Census program.
Other federal programs also rely on accurate boundaries collected
through BAS. The Department of Housing and Urban Development uses
boundaries to determine jurisdictional eligibility for various grant
programs, such as the Community Development Block Grant program. In
addition, the Department of Agriculture uses boundaries to determine
eligibility for various rural housing and economic development
programs.
The BAS participation process, outlined below, is like the Census
Bureau's other geographic partnership programs though there are some
differences in the universe of eligible governments, requirements, and
timeframe of the program.
<bullet> The Census Bureau notifies eligible governments about BAS
through email. Eligible governments are instructed to review the legal
boundary, name, and status information, along with CDP boundaries,
linear features, and the highest elected official and program contact
information the Census Bureau has on file. They can review their
boundaries and linear features using the Census Bureau's TIGERweb
application, partnership shapefiles, or PDF maps.
<bullet> Eligible governments respond through an online response
form or email to indicate if they have legal boundary, CDP, linear
feature, or contact updates. Those with updates can choose to create
their submission using the BAS Partnership Toolbox, Geographic Update
Partnership Software (GUPS), GUPS Web, or paper maps.
<bullet> Eligible governments return updates to the Census Bureau.
Updates created using the BAS Partnership Toolbox, GUPS, or GUPS Web
are returned through the Census Bureau's secure online data sharing
portal while paper map updates are returned through the mail.
<bullet> The Census Bureau processes and verifies all updates for
accuracy and completeness. The updates are inserted into the MAF/TIGER
System and quality control is performed.
Legal Information
The Census Bureau reviews and maintains an inventory of each
state's legal boundary laws and statutes. This information is made
available to eligible governments on the BAS website. The Census Bureau
also uses this information to verify that updates provided during BAS
are made in accordance with state law.
If it comes to the Census Bureau's attention that an area of non-
tribal land is in dispute between two or more governments, the Census
Bureau will not make boundary updates until all affected parties come
to a written agreement, or there is a documented final court decision
regarding the matter and/or dispute. If there is a dispute over an area
of tribal land, the Census Bureau will not make boundary updates until
the governments provide supporting documents or the U.S. Department of
the Interior issues a comment. If necessary, the Census Bureau will
request clarification regarding current boundaries or supporting
documentation, from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the
Solicitor.
BAS Universe
The BAS universe includes approximately 40,000 eligible
governments. These include:
<bullet> Federally recognized tribes with a reservation or off-
reservation trust land (including tribal subdivisions).
<bullet> States.
<bullet> Counties and county equivalent governments.
<bullet> Incorporated places (including consolidated cities).
<bullet> Minor civil divisions.
<bullet> Hawaiian Home Lands.
<bullet> Municipios, barrios, barrio-pueblos, and subbarrios in the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
<bullet> The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin
Islands.
II. Method of Collection
The following collection methods allow the Census Bureau to
coordinate among various levels of governments to obtain the most
accurate boundary, CDP, linear feature, and contact information:
<bullet> BAS.
<bullet> State Certification.
<bullet> Boundary Quality Project.
BAS
BAS provides eligible governments, which include tribal, state, and
general-purpose local governments, an opportunity to review the Census
Bureau's legal boundary data to ensure the Census Bureau has the
correct boundary, name, and status information and make necessary
updates. BAS also allows for the review and update of CDPs and linear
features.
The Census Bureau notifies eligible governments about BAS through
email. The email includes program information and directs eligible
governments to respond through an online form if they have legal
boundary, CDP, linear feature, or contact updates to report. Any
eligible government without an email on file with the Census Bureau
will be contacted by phone and asked to provide their response.
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Those indicating they have updates to provide must create their
submission using one of the options listed below.
<bullet> BAS Partnership Toolbox. The BAS Partnership Toolbox
allows eligible governments to create the submission in ArcGIS Pro. The
toolbox automates data download, boundary update creation, and exports
standardized files for submission.
<bullet> GUPS. GUPS is a free, customized geographic information
system software application provided by the Census Bureau. It is
offered as standalone (GUPS Download) and online (GUPS Web)
applications.
[cir] GUPS Download allows eligible governments to manually create
boundary updates and export standardized files for submission.
[cir] GUPS Web allows eligible governments to manually create
boundary updates or import local boundary data to automate the creation
of boundary updates and export standardized files for submission.
<bullet> Paper maps. The Census Bureau will ship large format paper
maps and instructions for eligible governments to annotate and return
their updates to the Census Bureau. The paper map package includes a
letter, materials list insert, large format paper maps covering the
extent of the government, supplies to update the paper maps, how-to
guide, and postage-paid return envelope.
Eligible governments that do have boundary updates can submit both
legal boundary changes and boundary corrections. Legal boundary changes
include updates that are a result of any legal action taken by the
eligible government(s) to add or remove land to their official
boundary. Boundary corrections are updates that are the result of
spatial inaccuracies and do not substantially alter the Census Bureau's
representation of the boundaries.
Updates created using the BAS Partnership Toolbox, GUPS, or GUPS
Web are returned through the Census Bureau's secure online data sharing
portal, while paper map are returned through the mail.
Eligible governments that do not respond, or those that indicate
they have updates to provide, but have not submitted their updates are
contacted during nonresponse follow-up by email. The email reminds
eligible governments to respond through an online response form or
email if they have updates to report. Those that indicated they have
updates to report are requested to submit those updates by the March 1
or May 31 deadlines.
Refer to the schedule below for a high-level BAS program timeline.
<bullet> January 1--Legal boundary changes must be legally in
effect on or before this date to be reported in the current survey
year.
<bullet> January to May--The Census Bureau conducts BAS. Eligible
governments respond to BAS indicating if they have legal boundary, CDP,
linear feature, or contact updates to report. Those with updates can
choose to create their submission using the Census Bureau's BAS
Partnership Toolbox, GUPS, GUPS Web, or paper maps.
<bullet> Early January--The Census Bureau notifies eligible
governments about BAS through email. Eligible governments are contacted
through email to determine if they have legal boundary, CDP, linear
feature, or contact updates to report. Any eligible government without
an email on file with the Census Bureau will be contacted by phone and
asked to provide their response.
<bullet> Mid-February, Mid-March, and Mid-April--The Census Bureau
conducts nonresponse follow-up for BAS through email. Eligible
governments that have not responded to annual response, along with
those that indicated they have updates to report but have not yet
submitted those updates, are contacted through email on up to three
occasions.
<bullet> March 1--Legal boundary changes returned by this date will
be reflected in the ACS and PEP data and in next year's BAS materials.
<bullet> May 31--Legal boundary changes returned by this date will
be reflected in next year's BAS materials. If time permits, boundary
corrections returned by this date may also be reflected in next year's
BAS materials.
The Census Bureau maintains state and county (CBAS) agreements that
coordinate the sharing of information and resources between the federal
government and state or county governments in collecting boundary
information for general-purpose local governments. These agreements aim
to reduce the duplication of effort across various levels of
governments as well as the cost and time burden associated with BAS
participation.
To facilitate a state agreement, the Census Bureau enters a
Memorandum of Understanding with the state. States interested in
establishing an agreement can do so when there is state legislation
requiring general-purpose local governments to report all boundary
updates to a state agency. The Census Bureau currently maintains two
types of state agreements. In the first type of agreement, the state
reports boundary updates for all eligible governments within its
jurisdiction. Eligible governments in this type of agreement are
notified about BAS; however, they do not receive the request to provide
updates and are instructed to report all boundary updates to the state.
Under the second type of agreement, the state provides the Census
Bureau with a list of eligible governments that reported boundary
changes. The Census Bureau uses the list to target those general-
purpose local governments during BAS.
CBAS agreements allow county or county-equivalent governments to
submit updates for the eligible general-purpose local governments
within their jurisdiction. Once under an agreement, eligible
governments are notified about BAS; however, they do not receive the
request to provide updates and are instructed to report all boundary
updates to the county or county-equivalent government.
State Certification
The state certification program allows state agencies to verify
that the legal boundary, name, and status information received through
BAS were reported in accordance with state law. The Census Bureau
annually requests that each state governor designate a state certifying
official (SCO) to participate in the program. The SCO reviews listings
of legal boundary changes, as well as government names and statuses
that were submitted through the previous year's BAS. These listings
include the attribute information for new incorporations, dissolutions,
mergers, consolidations, and legal boundary changes. The listings also
include the names and functional statuses of all general-purpose local
governments within the state's jurisdiction. The SCO can request that
the Census Bureau edit the attribute data, add missing records, or
remove invalid records. Invalid records are only removed if the state
government maintains an official record of all changes to legal
boundaries and governments as mandated by state law. The state
certification schedule is as follows:
<bullet> October--The Census Bureau emails governor's letters
requesting the state appoint an SCO to participate in the program.
<bullet> December--The Census Bureau emails the information
required to participate to the SCO.
<bullet> December to February--The SCO returns submission to the
Census Bureau.
<bullet> March--The Census Bureau distributes discrepancy emails to
general-purpose local governments based on feedback from the SCO.
The state certification materials include a governor's letter, an
email to the SCO, how-to guide, legal boundary change and government
name and status
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listings, and discrepancy email to local governments. The listings and
how-to guide are available on the BAS website. The SCO returns all
updates electronically through the Census Bureau's secure online data
sharing portal.
Boundary Quality Project
The boundary quality project is designed to assess, analyze, and
improve the spatial quality of legal, statistical, and administrative
boundaries within the MAF/TIGER System. Ensuring quality boundaries is
a critical component of the geographic preparations for each decennial
census and the Census Bureau's ongoing geographic partnership programs.
In addition, the improvement of boundary quality is an essential
element of the Census Bureau's commitment as the responsible agency for
legal boundaries under OMB Circular A-16.
The project represents an effort to systematically target and
assess boundary quality within the MAF/TIGER System. Historically, the
Census Bureau relied exclusively on geographic partnership programs
such as BAS and the Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) to
obtain updates to tribal, state, general-purpose local government, and
CDP boundaries. While programs like BAS play an essential role in
improving boundary quality, the goal of the boundary quality project is
to establish a new, more accurate, baseline for legal boundaries and
CDPs within an entire state or county. BAS builds on this baseline by
collecting individual legal boundary changes and optionally associated
addresses, and CDP updates on a transaction basis as they occur over
the years.
Feedback
The Census Bureau is adding a feedback component to its geographic
partnership programs to allow for the solicitation of feedback to
improve the administration of the respective program and potentially
reduce the future burden. Eligible governments may be asked to provide
their feedback on materials, method(s) of data collection, manner of
communications, and the usability of the program applications and
tools.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0607-0151.
Form Number(s): BAS-6. This is the CBAS agreement form.
Type of Review: Regular submission, request for a revision of a
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Tribal, state, and general-purpose local
governments in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
<bullet> BAS/State Certification/Boundary Quality Project: 40,000
governments.
<bullet> Feedback: 1,000 governments.
Estimated Time per Response:
<bullet> BAS/State Certification/Boundary Quality Project: 7.5
hours. This estimate is based on an average of 5 hours for an eligible
government with no change and 10 hours for an eligible government with
changes.
<bullet> Feedback: 30 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 300,500 hours.
<bullet> BAS/State Certification/Boundary Quality Project: 300,000
hours.
<bullet> Feedback: 500 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., section 6.
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. 2024-09793 Filed 5-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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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.