Notice2026-10118
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Commodity Flow Survey (CFS)
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
May 20, 2026
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 reinstatement, with change, of the Commodity Flow 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 91 Issue 97 (Wednesday, May 20, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 97 (Wednesday, May 20, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29449-29450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-10118]
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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; Commodity Flow Survey (CFS)
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
proposed reinstatement, with change, of the Commodity Flow 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 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f4a09c9b999587dabedaa7999d809cb497919a878187da939b82"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a9fdc1c6c4c8da87e387fac4c0ddc1e9caccc7dadcda87cec6df">[email protected]</span></a>. Please refer to the Commodity Flow
Survey in the subject line of your comments. You may also submit
comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2026-0166, 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 Berin Linfors, Branch Chief, at (301) 763-5366 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e38186918a8dcd8f8a8d858c9190a380868d909690cd848c95"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="771512051e19591b1e19111805043714121904020459101801">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Commodity Flow Survey, a component of the 2027 Economic Census,
is the only comprehensive and publicly available source of multimodal,
[[Page 29450]]
system-wide data on the volume and pattern of goods movements in the
United States. The Commodity Flow Survey is conducted in partnership
with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. Department of
Transportation.
The Commodity Flow Survey data are used by policy makers and
transportation planners in various federal, state, and local agencies
to assess the demand for transportation facilities and services, energy
use, safety risks, and environmental concerns. Additionally, business
owners, private researchers, and analysts use the Commodity Flow Survey
data for analyzing trends in the movement of goods, mapping spatial
patterns of commodity and vehicle flows, forecasting demands for the
movement of goods, and determining the needs for associated
infrastructure and equipment.
The survey provides data on the movement of commodities in the
United States from their origin to destination. The survey produces
summary statistics on value, tons, and average miles by commodity,
industry, and mode of transportation. The Census Bureau will publish
these shipment characteristics for the nation, census regions and
divisions, states, and CFS defined geographical areas.
Primary strategies for reducing respondent burden in the Commodity
Flow Survey include: employing a stratified random sample of business
establishments; requesting data on a limited sample of shipment records
from each establishment with the option to provide all shipments in the
week, which simplified reporting for respondents; conducting a pre-
canvass survey before the first quarter to inquire about the shipping
status of NAICS auxiliary and publisher establishments and to route
non-shippers out of the survey; the pre-canvass survey will also be
conducted to offer select large companies with multi-unit
establishments the ability to create mail groups (which are single
points of contact for companies with multiple establishments); and
adding the ability to create mail groups within each quarter instead of
only at the beginning of each quarter like 2022; removing the
supplemental questions from quarters one and four on hazardous
materials packaging for companies that ship hazardous materials will
decrease the number of establishments from 160,000 in 2022 to 140,000
in 2027; accepting estimates of shipping activity and allowing
respondents the option to report their shipment weight in additional
units of measurement; applying machine learning to code products based
on their descriptions; and providing electronic reporting and including
the option for consolidated reporting of multiple locations through a
single login for larger companies. In conclusion, the above items will
help reduce the burden for the 2027 CFS. There will be a substantial
decrease in the number of respondents and the annual burden hours by
removing the hazardous materials packaging respondents and their
corresponding survey questions from the 2027 CFS. The burden hours will
also be reduced by allowing the respondents to submit all their data in
a given week instead of having to go through the process of sampling
their shipments.
II. Method of Collection
A sample of business establishments classified in Mining,
Manufacturing, Wholesale, and select Retail and Service industries (as
defined by the North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS)
will be selected for the Commodity Flow Survey. The survey will also
cover auxiliary establishments (i.e., warehouses and managing offices)
of multi-unit establishments. Each selected establishment will be
surveyed four times, once during each calendar quarter of 2027. Each
questionnaire will ask the establishment to report data for up to 100
shipments for a predetermined reporting week. These data will include
the value, net weight, commodity, and origin and destination of each
selected shipment. Survey responses will be collected electronically,
and respondents will have the option to provide all shipments for the
reporting week instead of sampling shipments.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0607-0932.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for a Reinstatement,
with Change, of a Previously Approved Collection.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 140,000.
Estimated Time per Response: 1.5 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 840,000.
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. 8(b) 131 and 193; Title 49 U.S.C.,
Section 6302.
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,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2026-10118 Filed 5-19-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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