[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 9, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51372-51373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25219]


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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: 2001 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program 
Participation, Wave 4 Topical Modules.
    Form Number(s): SIPP/CAPI Automated Instrument, SIPP 21405(L) 
Director's Letter, SIPP 21003 Reminder Card.
    Agency Approval Number: 0607-0875.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved Collection.
    Burden: 121,478 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 78,750.
    Avg Hours Per Response: 30 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests authorization from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct the Wave 4 Topical 
Module interview for the 2001 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program 
Participation (SIPP). We also request approval for a few replacement 
questions in the reinterview instrument. The core SIPP instrument, and 
reinterview instrument were cleared previously. The reinterview 
instrument will be used for quality control purposes. We are also 
seeking continued clearance for the SIPP Methods Panel instrument field 
testing to be conducted in October and November 2001 and July and 
August 2002. The test targets SIPP Wave 1 items and sections that 
require thorough and rigorous testing in order to improve the quality 
of core data. The experiment is conducted under the direction of the 
Methods Panel Team, which is committed to delivering an improved and 
less burdensome instrument for use in the 2004 SIPP Panel.
    The SIPP is designed as a continuing series of national panels of 
interviewed households that are introduced every few years, with each 
panel having durations of 3 to 4 years. The 2001 SIPP Panel is 
scheduled for three years and will include nine waves beginning 
February 1, 2001.
    The survey is molded around a central ``core'' of labor force and 
income questions that remain fixed throughout the life of a panel. The 
core is supplemented with questions designed to answer specific needs. 
These supplemental questions are included with the core and are 
referred to as ``topical modules.'' The topical modules for the 2001 
Panel Wave 4 are Annual Income and Retirement Accounts, Taxes, Work 
Schedule, and Childcare. Wave 4 interviews will be conducted from 
February through May 2002.
    Data provided by the SIPP are being used by economic policymakers, 
the

[[Page 51373]]

Congress, state and local governments, and Federal agencies that 
administer social welfare or transfer payment programs, such as the 
Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of 
Agriculture. The SIPP represents a source of information for a wide 
variety of topics and allows information for separate topics to be 
integrated to form a single and unified database so that the 
interaction between tax, transfer, and other government and private 
policies can be examined. Government domestic policy formulators depend 
heavily upon the SIPP information concerning the distribution of income 
received directly as money or indirectly as in-kind benefits and the 
effect of tax and transfer programs on this distribution. They also 
need improved and expanded data on the income and general economic and 
financial situation of the U.S. population. The SIPP has provided these 
kinds of data on a continuing basis since 1983, permitting levels of 
economic well-being and changes in these levels to be measured over 
time.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: Every 4 months.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    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 notice 
to Susan Schechter, OMB Desk Officer, room 10201, New Executive Office 
Building, Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: October 3, 2001.
Madeleine Clayton,
Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-25219 Filed 10-5-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P