Notice2024-22451
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Redistricting Data 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
October 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79888-79889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22451]
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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; Redistricting Data Program
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 6, 2024, during a 60-day comment period. This
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.
Title: Redistricting Data Program.
OMB Control Number: 0607-0988.
Form Number(s): Certification Forms (4), Verification Forms (2) and
Feedback Form.
<bullet> Phase 4 Certification Form (States with Multiple
Congressional Districts).
<bullet> Phase 4 Certification Form (States with a Single
Congressional District).
<bullet> Phase 4 Certification Form (District of Columbia).
<bullet> Phase 4 Certification Form (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico).
<bullet> Phase 4 Verification Form (Congressional Districts).
<bullet> Phase 4 Verification Form (State Legislative Districts).
<bullet> RDP Feedback Form
Type of Request: Regular submission, request for a revision of a
currently approved collection.
Number of Respondents:
<bullet> Solicitation of Non-Partisan Liaisons: 52.
<bullet> Collection of Post-2020 Census Congressional and State
Legislative District Plans: 52.
<bullet> Block Boundary Suggestion Project (BBSP) Delineation
Phase: 52.
<bullet> BBSP Verification Phase: 52.
<bullet> Feedback: 52.
Average Hours per Response:
<bullet> Solicitation of Non-Partisan Liaisons: 6 hours.
<bullet> Collection of Post-2020 Census Congressional and State
Legislative District Plans: 8 hours.
<bullet> BBSP Delineation Phase: 124 hours.
<bullet> BBSP Verification Phase: 62 hours.
<bullet> Feedback: 1 hour.
Burden Hours: 10,452.
<bullet> Solicitation of Non-Partisan Liaisons: 312 hours.
<bullet> Collection of Post-2020 Census Congressional and State
Legislative District Plans: 416 hours.
<bullet> BBSP Delineation Phase: 6,448 hours.
<bullet> BBSP Verification Phase: 3,224 hours.
<bullet> Feedback: 52 hours.
Needs and Uses: The Redistricting Data Program (RDP) is executed
under the provisions of title 13, section 141(c) of the United States
Code (U.S.C.). Under the provisions of Public Law 94-171, as amended
(title 13, United States Code (U.S.C.), section 141(c)), the Secretary
of Commerce, who designates this responsibility to the Director of the
Census Bureau, is required to provide the ``officers or public bodies
having initial responsibility for the legislative apportionment or
districting of each state'' with the opportunity to ``identify the
geographic areas'' (e.g., Voting Districts (wards and election
precincts), congressional and state legislative districts, census
blocks) ``for which specific tabulations of population are desired''
and to deliver those counts in a timely manner.
The Solicitation of Non-Partisan Liaisons occurs by mail (U.S.
Postal Service) beginning in January 2025 and includes follow up emails
to the governors and the majority and minority legislative leadership
in the 50 states, the District of Columbia (DC), and the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico (PR). Non-partisan liaisons are appointed through a
response to that solicitation letter mailed or emailed to the Census
Bureau and signed by the legislative leadership. Once appointed, the
liaisons serve as the primary point of contact for the Census Bureau to
execute the Collection of Post-2020 Census Congressional and State
Legislative District Plans and the BBSP. Additionally, once the
liaisons have been appointed, they serve as liaisons through the entire
RDP, ending in 2035.
Liaisons are emailed an invitation to submit any updates to their
Post-2020 Census Congressional and State Legislative Districts in 2025.
This collection is performed every two years. Changes are submitted to
the Census Bureau electronically using email to confirm changes or no
changes and the Census Bureau's secure online data sharing portal to
submit their boundary and data updates when necessary. This process is
the same as that used for the prior collection in 2024.
Liaisons are emailed an invitation to participate in the
delineation cycle of the BBSP in 2026 and the verification cycle of the
BBSP in 2027. Changes are submitted to the Census Bureau electronically
using email to report no changes (during the verification cycle) and
the Census Bureau's secure online data sharing portal to submit their
BBSP updates. The BBSP has not appreciably changed since it last
occurred from 2016-2017 as a part of the 2020 RDP.
These activities directly support the Census Bureau's efforts to
comply with Public Law 94-171 by providing states, DC, and PR the
opportunity to identify
[[Page 79889]]
the small area tabulations they need for legislative redistricting and
by supplying them with that data in a timely manner. Participation is
strictly voluntary. The states, DC, and PR are the only authorities
that can choose where and how to draw their district boundaries.
In addition, these activities assist in maintaining the Master
Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and
Referencing (MAF/TIGER) System, in partnership with tribal, state, and
local governments nationwide. Because tribal, state, and local
governments have current knowledge of, and data about, where housing
growth and change are occurring in their jurisdictions, their input
into the overall development of geographic data for the Census Bureau
makes a vital contribution. Similarly, those governments are in the
best position to work with local geographic boundaries, and they
benefit from accurate address and geographic data.
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. Liaisons 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.
Affected Public: State and local governments.
Frequency: Annually.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Public Law 94-171, as amended (title 13, U.S.C.,
section 141(c)).
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 0607-0988.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-22451 Filed 9-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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