[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 210 (Monday, November 1, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63353-63354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24291]



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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: 2004-2006 Survey of Industrial Research & Development.
    Form Number(s): RD-1, RD-1A.
    Agency Approval Number: None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden: 93,500 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 32,000.
    Avg Hours Per Response: 3 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is requesting a new collection 
for the annual Survey of Industrial Research and Development (the 
Survey) that is conducted jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the 
National Science Foundation (NSF). Historically, the Survey approval 
request had been submitted by the NSF with the Census Bureau acting as 
the collection agent. Under a joint project agreement between NSF and 
the Census Bureau, the Census Bureau plans to assume responsibility for 
obtaining clearance of the Survey. The Survey was previously cleared 
under OMB control number 3145-0027.
    The National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, authorizes 
and directs NSF ``* * * to provide a central clearinghouse for the 
collection, interpretation, and analysis of data on scientific and 
engineering resources and to provide a source of information for policy 
formulation by other agencies of the Federal government.'' The Survey 
is the vehicle with which NSF carries out the industrial portion of 
this mandate. NSF together with the Census Bureau, the collecting and 
compiling agent, analyze the data and publish the resulting statistics.
    Industry is the major performer of research and development (R&D) 
in the United States, spending over 70 percent of total U.S. R&D 
outlays each year. A consistent industrial R&D information base is 
essential to government officials formulating public policy, industry 
personnel involved in corporate planning, and members of the academic 
community conducting research. To develop policies designed to promote 
and enhance science and technology, past trends and the present status 
of R&D must be known and analyzed. Without comprehensive industrial R&D 
statistics, it would be impossible to evaluate the health of science 
and technology in the United States or to make comparisons between the 
technological progress of our country and that of other nations.
    Statistics from the Survey are published in NSF's annual 
publication series, Research and Development in Industry, available via 
the Internet at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/indus/start.htm. Since 1953, 
this survey has provided continuity of statistics on R&D expenditures 
by major industry groups and by source of funds. Over the years, 
questions on a number of additional areas have been added to the Survey 
as the need for this R&D information became necessary for policy 
formulation and research.
    Prior to the last request for OMB review, response to four 
questions (total net sales and total employment for the company; and 
the amount of Federal and total funds the company spent on R&D) was 
mandatory and fulfilled the Census Bureau's data-collecting mandate in 
Title 13, U.S. Code, 131, 182, 224 and 225. The last request asked for 
authorization to increase the number of annual mandatory items from 4 
to 5 by adding the item, cost of R&D performed within the company by 
state, to the list. Further, authorization to make the entire survey 
mandatory every five years to coincide with the Census Bureau's 
Economic Census was requested and approved. The ``all-mandatory'' 
requirement was first applied for the 2002 cycle of the Survey.
    The next economic census will be conducted for 2007 and 
authorization to apply the requirement will be requested again. In the 
meantime, response to other than the five mandatory items will remain 
voluntary for the three non-economic census years covered by this 
request.
    In addition to burden hours sufficient to cover the normal 
operation of the survey, we are also requesting 5,000 hours annually to 
cover methodological and survey quality improvement efforts.
    Policy officials from many Federal agencies rely on statistics from 
this survey for essential information. For example, total U.S. R&D 
expenditures statistics have been used by the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis (BEA) to update the System of National Accounts and, in fact, 
the first attempt by BEA to establish a separate R&D satellite account 
in the System is underway. Results from the Survey are needed to 
develop and subsequently update this detailed satellite account. Also, 
recently a new data linking project has begun that is designed to 
augment the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) data collected by BEA. This 
project is the first to test new data sharing legislation. The linking 
of the results of the 1997 cycle of the Survey with BEA's 1997 FDI 
benchmark files is the first application of the recently enacted 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 
(CIPSEA) that allows limited data sharing among selected Federal 
statistical agencies. Future FDI linkages are planned to begin with the 
2002 Survey file. Further, the Census Bureau links data collected by 
the Survey with other statistical files. At the Census Bureau, 
historical company-level R&D data are linked to a file that contains 
information on the outputs and inputs of companies' manufacturing 
plants. Researchers are able to analyze the relationships between R&D 
funding and other economic variables by using micro-level data.
    Many individuals and organizations access the survey statistics via 
the Internet and hundreds have asked to have their names placed on the 
mailing list for a paper copy of the annual SRS InfoBrief that 
announces the availability of statistics from each cycle of the Survey. 
Information about the kinds of projects that rely on statistics from 
the Survey is available from internal records of NSF's Division of 
Science Resources Statistics (SRS). In addition, survey statistics are 
regularly printed in trade publications and many researchers use the 
survey statistics from these secondary sources without directly 
contacting NSF or the Census Bureau.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary and Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131, 182, 224, and 225; 
The National Science Foundation Act of 1950.
    OMB Desk Officer: Susan Schechter, (202) 395-5103.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, room 6625, 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 either by fax (202-395-7245) or e-
mail ([email protected]).


[[Page 63354]]


    Dated: October 26, 2004.
Madeleine Clayton,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-24291 Filed 10-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P