[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 20 (Monday, February 1, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4839-4840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2330]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission For OMB Review; Comment Request

    DOC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
clearance the following proposal for collection of information under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: Bureau of the Census.
    Title: Annual Capital Expenditures Survey.
    Form Number(s): ACE-1, ACE-1(S), ACE-1(I), ACE-2, ACE-2(I), ACE-
2(B), ACE-2(B)(I).
    Agency Approval Number: 0607-0782.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 114,000 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 53,000.
    Avg Hours Per Response: 2 hours and 9 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau plans the continuing information 
collection for the 1998 Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES). The

[[Page 4840]]

annual survey collects data on fixed assets and depreciation, sales and 
receipts, and capital expenditures for new and used structures and 
equipment. The ACES is the sole source of detailed comprehensive 
statistics on actual business spending by domestic, private, nonfarm 
businesses operating in the United States. Business spending data are 
used to evaluate the quality of estimates of gross domestic product, 
develop monetary policy, analyze business asset depreciation, and 
improve estimates of capital stock for productivity analysis. Industry 
analysts use these data for market analysis, economic forecasting, 
identifying business opportunities, product development, and business 
planning.
    The major changes from the previous ACES is the collection of 
detailed capital expenditures by type of structure and type of 
equipment for the 1998 ACES from employer companies and the collection 
of information from a sample of potential new (birth) single-
establishment businesses concerning their business expenditures. 
Beginning with the 1998 ACES, type of structures and type of equipment 
data will be collected together once every five years. These data are 
critical to evaluate the comprehensiveness of capital expenditures 
statistics collected in years for which type of structures and 
equipment detail are not collected. The detailed structures data will 
provide a 5-year benchmark for estimates of new construction put in 
place. The detailed equipment data will provide a periodic measure of 
expenditures by type of equipment and assist in evaluating estimates of 
Producer's Durable Equipment in nonresidential fixed investment.
    We plan to collect business investment information from a sample of 
7,000 potential new single-establishment businesses in order to 
determine the chronology of events that relate to the start-up of 
businesses with employees. This research is extremely important because 
we believe businesses make capital expenditures before hiring employees 
or paying payroll taxes, and these expenditures may not be fully 
reflected in the ACES estimates. This research will allow us to 
estimate the amount (if any) of capital expenditures not currently 
captured in the ACES.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit organizations, Not-
for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 USC, Sections 182, 224, and 225.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nancy Kirkendall, (202) 395-7313.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Linda Engelmeier, DOC Forms Clearance Officer, 
(202) 482-3272, Department of Commerce, room 5327, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to Nancy Kirkendall, OMB Desk Officer, room 10201, New Executive Office 
Building, Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: January 25, 1999.
Linda Engelmeier,
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 99-2330 Filed 1-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P