[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 14, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64041-64042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-22273]


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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: Survey of Industrial Research and Development.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0912.
    Form Number(s): RD-1, RD-1A.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden Hours: 70,750.
    Number of Respondents: 32,000.
    Average Hours Per Response: RD-1--8 hours, and RD-1A--1.5 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is requesting a revision of the 
currently approved 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). Under a 
joint project agreement between NSF and the Census Bureau, the Census 
Bureau is responsible for obtaining clearance of the Survey.
    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

[[Page 64042]]

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 www.nsf.gov/statistics/industry. 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.
    In the last request for OMB review, response to five questions 
(total net sales and total employment for the company; and the amount 
of Federal and total funds the company spent on R&D and cost of R&D 
performed within the company by state) was mandatory and fulfilled the 
Census Bureau's data-collecting mandate in Title 13, U.S. Code, 
Sections 131, 182, 224, and 225. 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 last applied for the 2002 cycle of the 
Survey. The next economic census will be conducted for 2007 and 
authorization to apply the requirement is requested.
    The Census Bureau and NSF also request to add item 13 from Form RD-
1 to Form RD-1A--R&D by type of expense. This item has been on the Form 
RD-1 for several years and survey respondents have shown the ability to 
provide data for this item. Collecting this information on both forms 
will allow the Census Bureau and NSF to have a more complete estimate 
of R&D expense by type.
    The Census Bureau and the NSF are planning a redesign of the 
Survey. The Census Bureau will provide a separate OMB submission for 
the redesigned survey to be implemented for survey year 2008.
    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 BEA has 
established a separate R&D satellite account in the System. Results 
from the Survey are needed to develop and subsequently update this 
detailed satellite account. Also a data linking project was designed to 
augment the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) data collected by BEA. This 
project was the first conducted under new data sharing legislation. The 
linking of the results of the 1997 and 1999 cycles of the Survey with 
BEA's 1997 and 1999 FDI benchmark files was the first application of 
the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 
(CIPSEA) that allows limited data sharing among selected Federal 
statistical agencies. The Census Bureau and NSF are preparing to 
conduct annual linkage projects of the R&D data to the FDI and USDIA 
data, commencing with the 2004 survey files. Plans also call for the 
possible linkage of the 2007 and future survey files. 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 organizations.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 131, 182, 224, and 225.
    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: November 7, 2007.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
 [FR Doc. E7-22273 Filed 11-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P