Notice2025-23329
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community Survey
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 19, 2025
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 revision of the American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community 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 90 Issue 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59485-59487]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23329]
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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; American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community 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
revision of the American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community
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 February 17, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b4d5d7c7db9ac4c6d5f4d7d1dac7c1c79ad3dbc2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7d1c1e0e12530d0f1c3d1e18130e080e531a120b">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference the American Community
Survey and the Puerto Rico Community Survey in the subject line of your
comments. You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number
USBC-2025-0203, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Click the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required
fields, and enter or attach your comments. 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 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 Nicole Butler, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Office,
301-763-3928, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1876717b77747d367a6d6c747d6a587b7d766b6d6b367f776e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="117f78727e7d743f7364657d74635172747f6264623f767e67">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The U.S. Census Bureau seeks a revision for the American Community
Survey (ACS) and the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS).
Since its founding, the Census Bureau has balanced the demands of a
growing country requiring information about its people and economy with
concerns for respondents' confidentiality and the time and effort it
takes respondents to answer questions. Beginning with the 1810 Census,
Congress updated the set of questions asked in the 1790 and 1800
Censuses by adding questions to support a range of public concerns and
uses. Over the course of a century, federal agencies requested to add
questions about agriculture, industry, and commerce, as well as
individuals' occupation, ancestry, marital status, disabilities, place
of birth, and other topics. In 1940, the Census Bureau introduced the
long-form census questionnaire to ask more detailed questions from a
sample of the public.
In the early 1990s, the demand for current, nationally consistent
data from a wide variety of data users led federal government
policymakers to consider the feasibility of collecting social,
economic, housing, and demographic data continuously throughout the
decade. The benefits of providing current data, along with the
anticipated decennial census benefits in cost savings, planning,
improved census coverage, and more efficient operations, led the Census
Bureau to plan the implementation of the Continuous Measurement Survey,
later called the American Community Survey (ACS). After years of
testing, the ACS was implemented in 2005, replacing the need for long-
form data collection in future decennial censuses. The ACS is conducted
throughout the United States including in Puerto Rico, where it is
called the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS). The ACS samples
approximately 3.5 million housing unit addresses in the United States
and about 36,000 in Puerto Rico each year. A housing unit is a house,
an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room
occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters. The ACS
also collects detailed data from a sample of about 150,000 residents
living in group quarters facilities in the United States and about 600
in Puerto Rico. Group quarters are places where people live or stay in
a group living arrangement owned or managed by an entity or
organization providing housing and/or services for the residents.
People living in group quarters usually are not related to each other.
Group quarters include college/university student housing, residential
treatment centers, skilled nursing facilities, group homes, military
barracks, correctional facilities, workers' group living quarters, Job
Corps centers, and emergency and transitional shelters.
The ACS program provides estimates annually for the nation, all
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, congressional districts,
metropolitan areas, and counties and places with a population of 65,000
or more. It takes five years for smaller areas and population groups to
accumulate enough data to provide reliable estimates. Every community
in the nation continues to receive a detailed, statistical portrait of
its social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics each
year through one-year and five-year ACS products.
The ACS collects detailed social, economic, housing, and
demographic data on over 40 topics. The list of topics and questions
can be found here: <a href="https://www.census.gov/acs/www/about/why-we-ask-each-question/">https://www.census.gov/acs/www/about/why-we-ask-each-question/</a>.
In 2027, the ACS plans to introduce an internet self-response
option to the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS) data collection
operation. The Census Bureau believes there is value in offering an
internet self-response option to households and people living in
certain types of group quarters--
[[Page 59486]]
college/university student housing, group homes, military barracks,
workers' group living quarters, and emergency and transitional shelters
in Puerto Rico.
In addition to the internet self-response option for PRCS, the
proposed content for the 2027 ACS and PRCS includes the updated race
and ethnicity question, which follows OMB's 2024 Statistical Policy
Directive No. 15 (SPD 15). Currently, race and ethnicity data are
collected and tabulated following OMB's 1997 SPD 15 on Federal race and
ethnicity data standards.
II. Method of Collection
To encourage self-response in the ACS, the Census Bureau sends up
to five mailings to housing unit addresses selected for the sample. The
first mailing, sent to all mailable addresses in the sample, includes
an invitation to participate in the ACS online and states that a paper
questionnaire will be sent in a few weeks to those unable to respond
online. The second mailing is a letter that reminds respondents to
complete the survey online, thanks them if they have already done so,
and informs them that a paper questionnaire will be sent later if we do
not receive their response. In a third mailing, the paper questionnaire
is sent only to those sample addresses that have not completed the
online questionnaire within two weeks of receipt of the first mailing.
The fourth mailing is a postcard that reminds respondents to respond
and informs them that an interviewer may contact them if they do not
complete the survey. A fifth mailing is sent to respondents who have
not completed the survey within five weeks. This letter provides a due
date and reminds the respondents to return their questionnaires in
order to be removed from future contact. Some households are also
contacted by email. If a household starts the online survey and gives
an email but doesn't finish the survey, the household will receive an
email reminder to complete the survey. The new PRCS internet self-
response option will mirror the ACS method of data collection.
If the Census Bureau does not receive a response from an address in
the first two months of data collection, the address may be selected
for an in-person or phone interview by a Census Bureau field
representative. This is the nonresponse follow-up data collection
operation known as the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI)
phase. The CAPI phase of data collection lasts for one month. Only a
portion of nonresponding addresses, after the first two months of data
collection, are sampled in CAPI. While this phase of data collection
focuses on personal interviews, respondents still have the option to
respond online, return a paper questionnaire, or call the Telephone
Questionnaire Assistance line and complete the survey over the
telephone.
At the beginning of the CAPI month, a sixth mailing is sent to all
mailable addresses in the CAPI sample. This letter urges respondents to
complete the survey online to avoid an in-person interview. If a
household responds online, by paper questionnaire, or by phone, they
are removed from the workload and are no longer contacted. If they do
not respond, a Census Bureau field representative attempts to contact
them to obtain a response via a computer-assisted interview.
The Census Bureau employs a separate strategy to collect data from
group quarters. The Census Bureau collects data for sampled people in
group quarters through personal interviews, telephone interviews, and
internet responses. The Census Bureau will obtain the facility
information by conducting a telephone or personal visit interview with
a group quarter contact. During this interview, the Census Bureau
obtains a roster of residents and randomly selects them for person-
level interviews. The facility can also upload their facility roster to
the Census Bureau online listing application. During the person-level
phase, a field representative uses a computer-assisted personal
interview automated instrument to collect detailed information for each
sampled resident. The field representative also has the option to
distribute a questionnaire to residents for self-response if they are
unable to complete a computer-assisted personal interview. Respondents
in some group quarters also have the option to self-respond to the
survey online.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0607-0810.
Form Number(s): ACS-1, ACS-1(SP), ACS-1(PR), ACS-1(PR)SP, ACS-
1(GQ), ACS-1(GQ)(PR), ACS Housing Unit internet electronic instrument
(no form number), ACS nonresponse follow up CAPI electronic instrument
(no form number), ACS Failed Edit Follow up CATI electronic instrument
(no form number), ACS Telephone Questionnaire Assistance CATI
electronic instrument (no form number). ACS Group Quarters internet
listing instrument (no form number), ACS Group Quarters Facility
Questionnaire CAPI GQFQ electronic instrument (no form number), ACS
Group Quarters internet electronic instrument (no form number), ACS
Group Quarters Resident CAPI electronic instrument (no form number).
ACS Reinterview CATI/CAPI HU RI electronic instrument (no form number),
ACS Reinterview CATI/CAPI GQ RI electronic instrument (no form number).
Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for a revision.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,576,000 for household
respondents; 20,100 for contacts in group quarters (GQ); 150,600 people
in GQ; 22,875 households for reinterview; and 1,422 GQ contacts for
reinterview. The total estimated number of respondents is 3,770,997.
Estimated Time Per Response: 40 minutes for the average household
questionnaire; 15 minutes for a GQ facility questionnaire; 25 minutes
for a GQ person questionnaire; 10 minutes for a household reinterview;
10 minutes for a GQ-level reinterview.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,384,000 for household
respondents; 5,025 for contacts in GQ; 62,750 for GQ residents 3,813
households for reinterview; and 237 GQ contacts for reinterview. The
estimate is an annual average of 2,455,825 burden hours.
Table 1--Annual ACS and PRCS Respondent and Burden Hour Estimates
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Annual Estimated minutes
Forms or instrument estimated per respondent by Annual
Data collection operation used in data number of data collection estimated
collection respondents activity burden hours
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I. ACS Household Questionnaire, ACS-1, ACS 1(SP), ACS- 3,576,000 40 2,384,000
Online Survey, Telephone, and 1PR, ACS-1PR(SP),
Personal Visit. Online Survey,
Telephone, CAPI.
[[Page 59487]]
II. ACS GQ Facility Questionnaire CAPI GQFQ............. 20,100 15 5,025
CAPI--Telephone and Personal Visit.
III. ACS GQ CAPI Personal Interview CAPI, ACS-1(GQ), ACS- 150,600 25 62,750
or Telephone, Online Survey and 1(GQ)(PR).
Paper Self-response.
IV. ACS Household Reinterview--CATI/ ACS HU-RI............. 22,875 10 3,813
CAPI.
V. ACS GQ-level Reinterview--CATI/ ACS GQ-RI............. 1,422 10 237
CAPI.
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Totals......................... ...................... 3,770,997 N/A 2,455,825
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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. 141, 193, 221, and 223.
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 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 we will be able to do so.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2025-23329 Filed 12-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 19, 2025.
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.