[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 154 (Thursday, August 9, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41890-41891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-19950]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection, Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c) (2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed revision of the ``Report on Employment, Payroll, and Hours 
(BLS-790).'' A copy of the proposed information collection request 
(ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual listed below in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice on or before October 9, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 3255, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212, telephone number 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
telephone number 202-691-7628. (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey is a Federal/State 
program of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It produces monthly 
estimates of employment, hours, and earnings based on U.S. 
nonagricultural establishment payrolls. Information for these estimates 
is derived from a sample of 359,400 reports, as of April 2001. Each 
month, these firms report their employment, payroll, and hours on forms 
identified as the BLS-790. An additional 46,400 establishments, (as of 
April 2001), currently are collected for the Wholesale Trade, Mining, 
Construction, and Manufacturing industries under the new probability-
based sample design. Other industry divisions will be phased in over 
the next two years. When the phase-in is complete in early 2003, the 
BLS expects to be collecting data from 172,500 Unemployment Insurance 
(UI) accounts for the new design, representing about 445,000 work 
sites. As industries are converted to the new design, there will be a 
reduction in the number of reports collected for the current design.
    The BLS-790 forms are used for both the current and probability-
based designs, and are submitted for clearance. A list of all form 
types currently used is attached. Respondents in the probability design 
receive variations of the basic collection forms, depending on their 
mode of reporting. The BLS is requesting approval through December 31, 
2004.

Conversion to the North American Industrial Classification System 
(NAICS)

    Forms for the NAICS-based sample are included in this request. The 
BLS plans to introduce the NAICS forms in January 2003. The NAICS forms 
incorporate significant improvements in forms design and layout based 
on cognitive testing and expert review. These forms may undergo further 
testing and review prior to their introduction. The forms will be 
resubmitted for clearance if any substantive changes are made. In 
general, the data elements and data item definitions remain the same 
under NAICS as they were under the Standard Industrial Classification 
(SIC) basis. However, the BLS has taken this opportunity to consolidate 
several forms and streamline others. All Service-producing industries 
under NAICS will be collected using the Service Producing Industries 
form E. This form collects all of the data items previously collected 
on the SIC-based form E. This will provide the BLS with an opportunity 
to collect commissions in all service producing sectors where such 
payments are fairly common. This improvement should enhance the quality 
of CES earnings estimates. The SIC-based form types A, B, and C are 
retained; however; they have been re-titled to reflect the NAICS sector 
names. Reporting requirements for education units have been reduced. 
All education sectors, public and private, will report only All 
Employees, Women Workers, and Faculty employment. The Public 
Administration NAICS reports will continue to be collected using the G 
form, which only collects all employees and women.
    The CES program is a voluntary program under Federal statute. 
Reporting to the State agencies is voluntary in all but four States 
(California, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina) and Puerto Rico.
    Automated data collection methods are now used for most of the CES 
sample. Approximately 214,300 reports are collected using Touch-tone 
Data Entry (TDE), as of April 2001. In comparison, 26,700 reports are 
collected by mail. The balance of the sample, 164,800 reports, is 
collected through other automated methods including Computer Assisted 
Telephone Interviewing (CATI), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), 
facsimile collection, and submission of tapes and diskettes.
    Research on use of the World Wide Web (WWW) for data collection is 
continuing. We expect that reporting via the WWW will grow as more 
respondents gain access to the Web at their workstations. We currently 
are testing the use of digital certificates for improving the security 
of reporting.
    The probability design currently is collected by using CATI for 
initial enrollment, and CATI, TDE, Fax, or EDI for ongoing collection. 
Because of the need to maintain acceptable response rates, the BLS will 
be switching more ongoing collection to permanent CATI and away from 
self-reporting via TDE and Fax. This will necessitate a 25% reduction 
in the sample size to accommodate the increased resource demands of 
CATI. However, because of higher response, the BLS expects the number 
of usable responses will remain about the same.

I. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in 
comments that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and

[[Page 41891]]

     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.

III. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
Report on Employment, Payroll, and Hours (BLS-790).
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Report on Employment, Payroll, and Hours (BLS-790).
    OMB Number: 1220-0011.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal government.

                                         Current Design Reporting Burden
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                                                                                    Minutes to
              Form                   Number of     Frequency of       Annual         complete     Annual  burden
                                    respondents      responses       response         report           hours
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BLS-790 BM......................             400              12           4,800              15           1,200
BLS 790-G, G-S..................          38,400              12         460,800               5          38,400
BLS 790-F1, F2, F3..............          18,800              12         225,600               7          26,320
All other BLS-790...............         261,700              12       3,140,400               7         366,380
    Total.......................         319,300  ..............       3,831,600  ..............         432,300
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                                       Probability Design Reporting Burden
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                                                                                    Minutes to
              Form                   Number of     Frequency of       Annual         complete     Annual  burden
                                    respondents      responses       response         report           hours
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BLS 790-F1, F2, F3..............           2,700              12          32,400               7           3,780
All other BLS-790...............          51,500              12         618,000               7          72,100
    Total.......................          54,200  ..............         650,400  ..............          75,880
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    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they also will become a 
matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, D.C., this 30th day of July, 2001.
Jesus Salinas,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 01-19950 Filed 8-8-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P