[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25479-25480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12668]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Company Organization Survey

ACTION: Proposed agency information collection activity; comment 
request.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 22, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Linda Engelmeier, Acting 
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 
5327, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Paul S. Hanczaryk, Bureau of the Census, Room 2546, 
Federal Building 3, Washington, DC 20233-6100; telephone (301) 457-
2580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau conducts the annual Company Organization Survey 
(COS) in order to update and maintain a central, multipurpose business 
register, known as the Standard Statistical Establishment List (SSEL). 
In particular, the COS supplies critical information to the SSEL 
concerning the establishment composition, organizational structure, and 
operating characteristics of multiestablishment enterprises.
    The SSEL serves two fundamental purposes:
     First and most important, it provides sampling populations 
and enumeration lists for the Census Bureau's economic surveys and 
censuses, and it serves as an integral part of the statistical 
foundation underlying those programs. Essential for this purpose is the 
SSEL's ability to identify all known United States business 
establishments and their parent enterprises. Further, the SSEL must 
accurately record basic business attributes needed to control sampling 
and enumeration. These attributes include industrial and geographic 
classifications, measures of size and economic activity, ownership 
characteristics, and contact information (for example, name and 
address).
     Second, it provides establishment data that serve as the 
basis for the annual County Business Patterns (CBP) statistical series. 
CBP reports present data on number of establishments, first quarter 
payroll, annual payroll, and mid-March employment summarized by 
industry and employment size class for the United States, states, the 
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, counties, and county-equivalents. No 
other annual or more frequent series of industry statistics provides 
comparable detail, particularly for small geographic areas.
    The Census Bureau plans to revise the existing COS collection, 
which is approved through November 1997. This revision will not make 
substantive changes to the survey's content. Rather, it will amend 
instructions and add relatively short reference lists for respondents 
to use as guides when reporting updated industrial classifications for 
selected establishments. These changes will improve collection of 
classification information and obtain industry detail that is needed to 
prepare for implementation of the North American Industry 
Classification System in the 1997 Economic Censuses. The revised 
collection will employ procedures that the Census Bureau tested and 
used for the 1987 COS, when the agency implemented the most recent 
revision to the Standard Industrial Classification in conjunction with 
the 1987 Economic Censuses.
    The planned change in the 1996 COS collection will affect reporting 
for some 120,000 establishments operated by approximately 30,000 
multiestablishment enterprises. The impact on response burden for those 
enterprises should be small, and overall estimated response burden for 
the survey will actually decrease. The decrease is due primarily to a 
reduction in panel size made possible by improved methodology for 
selectively

[[Page 25480]]

targeting the collection to enterprises affected by changes in 
organization and/or operating characteristics.
    A complementary collection, the 1997 Economic Censuses Refile 
Classification Survey, will obtain improved classification information 
from single-establishment enterprises and from selected small 
multiestablishment enterprises not covered by the 1996 COS. The Census 
Bureau will coordinate these collections so as to avoid duplication and 
minimize response burden on businesses.

II. Method of Collection

    The 1996 COS will direct inquiries to 85,000 multiestablishment 
enterprises, which operate 1.1 million establishments. This panel will 
be drawn from the SSEL universe of nearly 200,000 multiestablishment 
enterprises, which operate 1.5 million establishments. Additionally, 
the panel will include approximately 1,000 new payroll tax entities 
that have become active during 1996. The procedure for constructing the 
COS panel selectively targets enterprises that are most likely to 
report changes in organization and/or operating characteristics, and it 
also targets new payroll tax entities that are most likely to report 
affiliation with a multiestablishment enterprise. In general, the 
selection of these units is based on enterprise size/complexity and 
administrative records indications. Additionally, the panel will 
include a small probability sample of the multiestablishment 
enterprises not selected by the targeting procedure.
    The survey is conducted by mail canvass. More than 300 larger 
enterprises (accounting for approximately 22 percent of covered 
establishments) return their COS reports by automated/electronic means. 
All other survey respondents return a paper questionnaire. Data content 
is identical for all reporting modes. The instrument includes inquiries 
on ownership or control by a domestic parent, ownership or control by a 
foreign parent, and ownership of foreign affiliates. Further, the 
instrument lists an inventory of establishments belonging to the 
enterprise and its subsidiaries, and it requests updates to the 
inventory, including additions, deletions, and changes to information 
on Federal employer identification number, name and address, industrial 
classification, end-of-year operating status, mid-March employment, 
first quarter payroll, and annual payroll.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0607-0444.
    Form Number: NC-9901.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit institutions, not-
for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 85,000 enterprises.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 1.7 hour.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 144,500.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: Included in the total annual cost of 
the SSEL, which is estimated to be $6.1 million for fiscal year 1996.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: May 15, 1996.
Linda Engelmeier,
Acting Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Office of Management and 
Organization.
[FR Doc. 96-12668 Filed 5-20-96; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P