[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 52263]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20780]


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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: 2008 Company Organization Survey.
    Form Number(s): NC-99001, NC-99007.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0444.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden Hours: 127,517.
    Number of Respondents: 48,000.
    Average Hours Per Response: 2 hours and 40 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau conducts the annual Company 
Organization Survey (COS) in order to update and maintain a central, 
multipurpose Business Register (BR). In particular, the COS supplies 
critical information on the organizational structure, operating 
characteristics, and employment and payroll of multi-location 
enterprises.
    The 2008 COS will direct inquiries to multi-establishment 
enterprises and selected single-establishment companies. The 2008 COS 
collection will differ from 2007 in the following ways: due to the 2007 
COS being conducted in coordination with the 2007 Economic Census, the 
2008 COS has decreased its sample size by about 50%, however, with more 
detailed inquiries being added (revision to the research and 
development question) to the 2008 COS and the inclusion of form, NC-
99007 (only for single unit establishments), there will be an overall 
increase in the reporting response burden. Note that we will also mail 
Form NC-99001 for the 2008 COS.
    Form NC-99001 is mailed to multi-location enterprises. We ask 
questions on ownership or control by a domestic parent, ownership or 
control by a foreign parent, and ownership of foreign affiliates; 
research and development, and employees from a professional employer 
organization. Establishment inquiries include questions on operational 
status, mid-March employment, first-quarter payroll, and annual payroll 
of the establishments.
    In addition to the mailing of multi-location enterprises, the 
Census Bureau will mail Form NC-99007 to some large single-location 
enterprises that may have added locations. Form NC-99007 contains 
questions on ownership and control by a domestic company, number of 
locations of operation, physical location, locations of operation, and 
inquiries on mid-March employment, first-quarter payroll, and annual 
payroll for each separate location.
    The information collected by the COS is used to maintain and update 
the BR. The BR serves two fundamental purposes: First and most 
important, it provides sampling populations and enumeration lists for 
the Census Bureau's economic surveys and censuses, and it serves as an 
integral part of the statistical foundation underlying those programs. 
Essential for this purpose is the BR's ability to identify all known 
United States business establishments and their parent companies. 
Further, the BR must accurately record basic business attributes needed 
to control sampling and enumeration. These attributes include 
industrial and geographic classifications, measures of size and 
economic activity, ownership characteristics, and contact information 
(for example, name and address).
    Second, it provides establishment data that serve as the basis for 
the annual County Business Patterns (CBP) statistical series. The CBP 
reports present data on number of establishments, first quarter 
payroll, annual payroll, and mid-March employment summarized by 
industry and employment size class for the United States, the District 
of Columbia, Puerto Rico, counties, and county-equivalents. No other 
annual or more frequent series of industry statistics provides 
comparable detail, particularly for small geographic areas.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations, Not-
for-profit institutions, Farms, and State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 182, 195, 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: September 3, 2008.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-20780 Filed 9-8-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P