[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 19, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3068-3069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1002]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 
Currently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments 
concerning the proposed revision of the ``Consumer Price Index 
Commodities and Services Survey.'' 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 below on or before March 21, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
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

    Under the direction of the Secretary of Labor, the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) is directed by law to collect, collate, and report 
full and complete statistics on the conditions of labor and the 
products and distribution of the products of the same; the Consumer 
Price Index (CPI) is one of these statistics. The collection of data 
from a wide spectrum of retail establishments and government agencies 
is essential for the timely and accurate calculation of the Commodities 
and Services (C&S) component of the CPI.
    The CPI is the only index compiled by the U.S. Government that is 
designed to measure changes in the purchasing power of the urban 
consumer's dollar. The CPI is a measure of the average change in prices 
over time paid by urban consumers for a market basket of goods and 
services.
    The CPI is used most widely as a measure of inflation, and serves 
as an indicator of the effectiveness of government economic policy. It 
also is used as a deflator of other economic series, that is, to adjust 
other series for price changes and to translate these series into 
inflation-free dollars. A third major use of the CPI is to adjust 
income payments. Almost two million workers are covered by collective 
bargaining contracts which provide for increases in wage rates based on 
increases in the CPI.
    The continuation of the collection of prices for the CPI is 
essential since the CPI is the nation's chief source of information on 
retail price changes. If the information on C&S prices were not 
collected, Federal fiscal and monetary policies would be hampered due 
to the lack of information on price changes in a major sector of the 
U.S. economy, and estimates of the real value of the Gross National 
Product could not be made. The consequences to both the Federal and 
private sectors would be far-reaching and would have serious 
repercussions on Federal government policy and institutions.

II. Current Action

    The Telephone Point of Purchase Survey (TPOPS) is a household 
survey used to identify the universe of outlets from which sampled 
outlets are selected. A quarter of the CPI's priced geographic areas 
are surveyed each year, so that over a four year period the entire 
outlet sample is reselected.
    A new initiative to reinitiate a subset of the currently priced 
item sample in existing outlets to account for new goods has recently 
been deployed. This initiative is referred to as Item Rotation. Item 
rotation is a process that allows for the inclusion of new goods when 
reinitiating existing quotes within currently priced outlets and 
enables the item sample to be refreshed without the expense and delay 
of a full TPOPS rotation. Item rotation is completed at

[[Page 3069]]

currently priced outlets for selected item categories where the priced 
items are reinitiated two years after the original initiation, thus 
offering the chance that new goods will be selected for pricing. An 
example is prescription drugs where, based on current sales data, a new 
sample of prescribed drugs will be selected to replace the currently 
priced drugs. Since this reselection will include all currently 
dispensed drugs, those prescription drugs that have been introduced 
since the previous initiation will have a chance to be selected.
    A key element completed during 2004 was to convert all on going 
data collection and transmission to electronic systems. The 
introduction of a Computer-Assisted Data Collection (CADC) for the C&S 
portion of the CPI has resulted in significant advantages by increasing 
productivity and improving the overall quality of the CPI. Electronic 
data collection and transmission provide long-term savings through a 
major reduction of mail, paperwork, and printing costs. Electronic 
systems allow for price collection to cover the entire month, reduce 
data capture mistakes, speed up review time, and to improve survey 
logistics management.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Consumer Price Index Commodities and Services Survey.
    OMB Number: 1220-0039.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; and State, local, or tribal government.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                        Hours per
                  Activity                     Total number of              Frequency               Total annual         response       Estimated total
                                                 respondents                                         responses          (average)         burden hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pricing.....................................             42,314  Monthly/Bimonthly.............            385,904                .33            127,348
Initiation..................................             12,634  Annual........................             12,634                1.0             12,634
Re-initiation...............................                440  Annual........................                440                1.0                440
Test pricing................................              1,900  Annual........................              1,900                .65              1,235
                                             --------------------
    Totals..................................             57,288  ..............................            400,878  .................            141,657
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total Burden Cost (Capital/Startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (Operating/Maintenance): $0.

III. 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
     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.
    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 in Washington, DC, this 11th day of January 2005.
Cathy Kazanowski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 05-1002 Filed 1-18-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P