[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 8, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 44488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15399]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit 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: 2007 Business Expenses Supplement to the Annual Wholesale 
and Retail Trade Surveys.
    Form Number(s): SA-42A(SUP), SA-42(ESUP), SA-44(ASUP), SA-44(ESUP), 
SA-45(ASUP), SA-45(ESUP), SA-721A(SUP), SA-721E(SUP), SA-722A(SUP), SA-
722E(SUP).
    Agency Approval Number: None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden Hours: 76,580.
    Number of Respondents: 28,363.
    Average Hours per Response: 2.7 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The 2007 Business Expenses Supplement (BES) will 
supplement basic economic statistics produced by the 2007 Economic 
Census of Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Accommodation and Food 
Services Industries with estimates of detailed operating expenses. 
Further, it will provide measures of value produced for wholesale trade 
and retail trade. Essential measurement of the Nation's economy 
requires compilation of comprehensive and reliable data on both 
economic outputs (e.g., sales) and inputs (e.g., utilities and 
advertising expenses). This supplement is the sole source of 
comprehensive expenses input data for covered industries. The Census 
Bureau will collect the information by means of a mail canvass with 
electronic reporting option directed to a sample of business units that 
represent one or more domestic establishments in covered industries. 
Results will be presented primarily in electronic reports containing 
statistical summaries by industry for the United States.
    This information collection is part of the 2007 Economic Census, 
which is required by law under Title 13, United States Code (U.S.C.). 
Section 131 of this statute directs the taking of a census of 
businesses, including the distributive trades, service establishments, 
and transportation, at 5-year intervals. Section 224 makes reporting 
mandatory. Section 193 authorizes surveys that collect supplementary 
statistics related to the main topic of the censuses. Finally, Section 
195 permits the use of statistical sampling methods.
    Information on business operating expenses was compiled in the 2002 
Business Expenses Survey covering wholesale distributors, retail trade, 
accommodation and food services, and selected service industries. Data 
on operating expenses for selected service industries are currently 
compiled by the Census Bureau's Service Annual Survey.
    The economic census is a primary source of facts about the 
structure and functioning of the Nation's economy. It provides 
essential information for government, industry, business, and the 
general public. For the 2007 Business Expenses Supplement, the Federal 
government is the primary user of the resulting data. In particular, 
the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the Federal agency that produces 
gross domestic product (GDP) estimates and maintains the national 
economic accounts. The benchmark input-output (I-O) accounts at BEA use 
the BES data to produce national estimates of value added, gross 
output, and intermediate inputs. These national estimates serve as a 
benchmark for the annual industry accounts, which provide the control 
totals for the GDP-by-state accounts. Additionally, data from the 
benchmark I-O and annual I-O accounts are used by the GDP-by-state 
accounts to remove purchased services from Census Bureau source data on 
manufacturing, mining, and construction because BEA's concept of value 
added excludes such services. Previously, BEA's GDP-by-state accounts 
used only the national benchmark I-O table as a source for the 
purchased services. BEA recently made advances in its annual I-O 
accounts program, enhancing the reliability of those statistics. Thus, 
the GDP-by-state estimates now incorporate the purchased services as 
measured by both the annual and benchmark I-O accounts.
    The U.S. Federal Reserve Board, in turn, uses the BEA's national 
accounts for analyzing productivity trends and industry-level price 
changes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses the data for measurement 
of industry productivity. The Economic Research Service of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture uses the data for analysis of national food 
marketing systems. Industry, business, and academia use the data for 
evaluating value added and profit margins occurring within the business 
sector.
    A specific objective of this supplement is to continue 
implementation of recommendations made in the Gross National Product 
Data Improvement Project (Creamer) Report (the Advisory Committee on 
Gross National Product Data Improvement, 1977), prepared under the 
auspices of the Office of Management and Budget; recommendations made 
in the Boskin Report on the Quality of Economic Statistics (President's 
Council of Economic Advisers, 1983); the (``Mid-Decade Strategic Review 
of BEA's Economic Accounts'' (Survey of Current Business, February 
1995); and recommendations of BEA's advisory council.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: One-time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 131, 193, 195, and 224.
    OMB Desk Officer: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
    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 Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB Desk Officer, either by fax (202-395-7245) 
or e-mail ([email protected]).

    Dated: August 2, 2007.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
 [FR Doc. E7-15399 Filed 8-7-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P