[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 11, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18746-18747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-8922]


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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: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Feasibility Study for Conducting the American Community 
Survey in Puerto Rico.
    Form Number(s): ACS-1(PR).
    Agency Approval Number: None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden: 6,333 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 10,000.
    Avg Hours Per Response: 38 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is developing a methodology to 
collect and update every year demographic, social, economic, and 
housing data that is essentially the same as the ``long-form'' data 
that the Census Bureau traditionally has collected once a decade as 
part of the decennial census. Since the Census Bureau collects the 
long-form data only once every 10 years, the data become out of date 
over the course of the decade. To provide more timely data, the Census 
Bureau has been developing an alternative called Continuous Measurement 
(CM). CM is a re-engineering effort that blends the strength of small 
area estimation with the high quality of current surveys. CM will 
provide current data throughout the decade for small areas and small 
subpopulations. CM would also provide a mechanism for identifying and 
sampling these types of groups for future surveys providing a great 
advantage to the federal statistical system. The American Community 
Survey is the survey the Census Bureau uses for the CM program. The 
current plans for CM call for putting the American Community Survey in 
place with a new sample of households every month in every county in 
the United States and in Puerto Rico starting in 2003. Collecting these 
data from a new sample of households every month will not only provide 
more timely data, but will lessen respondent burden in the decennial 
census.
    In preparation for the American Community Survey in Puerto Rico in 
2003, the Census Bureau will conduct a feasibility study to assess the 
operational implications of using the American Community Survey data 
collection methods in Puerto Rico. The current design of the American 
Community Survey relies on three methods of data collection: mailout/
mailback, computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), and 
computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). We will mail the survey 
to selected sample households in Puerto Rico. We will use CATI to 
conduct telephone interviews for all households that do not respond by 
mail and for which we are able to obtain telephone numbers. We will not 
use CAPI in Puerto Rico during this feasibility study. We will take 
advantage of personal visit methods used in Puerto Rico during Census 
2000. The primary need for the feasibility study is to determine 
whether the current data collection procedures used stateside are 
appropriate for use in Puerto Rico.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: One time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Section 182.
    OMB Desk Officer: Susan Schechter, (202) 395-5103.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Madeleine Clayton, Departmental Paperwork 
Clearance Officer, (202) 482-3129, Department of Commerce, room 6086, 
14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the 
Internet at [email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this

[[Page 18747]]

notice to Susan Schechter, OMB Desk Officer, room 10201, New Executive 
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: April 6, 2001.
Madeleine Clayton,
Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-8922 Filed 4-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P