[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 98 (Friday, May 22, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24042-24043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-11996]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the 
following information collection requirement to OMB for review and 
clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. 
This is the second notice for public comment; the first was published 
in the Federal Register at 74 FR 964, and three comments were received. 
NSF is forwarding the proposed renewal submission to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance simultaneously with the 
publication of this second notice. The full submission of this 
information collection request may be found at: http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Comments regarding (a) whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden including 
the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be 
collected; or (d) ways to 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 should 
be addressed to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, 
Attention: Desk Officer for National Science Foundation, 725 17th 
Street, NW., Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, and to Suzanne H. 
Plimpton, Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation, 4201 
Wilson Boulevard, Suite 295, Arlington, Virginia 22230 or send e-mail 
to [email protected]. Comments regarding these information collections are 
best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of 
this notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by 
calling 703-292-7556.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton at (703) 292-7556 
or send e-mail to [email protected]. Individuals who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
    NSF may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless 
the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to 
the collection of information that such persons are not required to 
respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Comments: On January 9, 2009, we published in the Federal Register 
(74 FR 964) a 60-day notice of our intent to request renewal of this 
information collection authority from OMB. In that notice, we solicited 
public comments for 60 days ending March 10, 2009. Three comments were 
received from the public notice. The first comment came from B. Sachau 
of Floram Park, NJ, via e-mail on January 9, 2005. Ms. Sachau objected 
to the information collection. Ms. Sachau had no specific suggestions 
for altering the data collection plans other than to discontinue them 
entirely. Because the comment does not pertain to the collection of 
information on the required forms for which NSF is seeking OMB 
approval, NSF is proceeding with the clearance request.
    The second comment (more of a request) came from Jerry Stone with 
the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). He requested a copy of the 
current survey form and instructions, which were provided to him.
    The third comment came from Dr. Dennis Fixler, the Chief 
Statistician of BEA, who submitted a letter of support for the survey 
(included with the information collection request materials found at 
the Web site above). This letter stated that the collected survey data 
are crucial to key components of BEA's economic statistics and 
requested some additional data elements be collected in future years. 
Some of these elements are planned to be collected on the redesigned 
survey instrument, which will be pilot tested with 40 institutions 
during the FY 2009 survey. The letter also requested that BEA be kept 
informed about modifications to the survey instrument.
    Title: Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at 
Universities and Colleges.
    OMB Control Number: 3145-0100.
    Proposed Renewal Project: Separately budgeted current fund 
expenditures on research and development in the sciences and 
engineering performed by universities and colleges and Federally funded 
research and development centers--A Web survey, the Survey of Research 
and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, originated 
in fiscal year (FY) 1954 and has been conducted annually since FY 1972. 
The survey is the academic research and development expenditure 
component of the NSF statistical program that seeks to provide a 
``central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, and 
analysis of data on the availability of, and the current and projected 
need for, scientific and technical resources in the United States, and 
to provide a source of information for policy formulation by other 
agencies of the Federal government,'' as mandated in the National 
Science Foundation Act of 1950.
    Use of the Information: The proposed project will continue the 
annual survey cycle for up to three years. The Academic R&D Survey will 
be a census of the full population--for FY 2009 an expected 751 
institutions (713 universities or colleges plus 38 federally

[[Page 24043]]

funded research and development centers--FFRDCs). These institutions 
account for over 95 percent of the Nation's academic R&D funds. NSF 
will also conduct a pretest of a revised and expanded version of the 
survey for planned implementation in FY 2010 with a subset of 40 
universities or colleges.
    The survey has provided continuity of statistics on R&D 
expenditures by source of funds and by science & engineering (S&E) 
field, with separate data requested on current fund expenditures for 
research equipment by S&E field. Further breakdowns are collected on 
passed through funds to subrecipients and received as a subrecipient, 
and on R&D expenditures by field of science and engineering from 
specific Federal Government agency sources. Information on R&D for non-
S&E fields is also requested. Data are published in NSF's annual 
publication series Academic R&D Expenditures and are available 
electronically on the World Wide Web.
    The survey is a fully automated Web data collection effort and is 
handled primarily by the administrators in university budget and 
accounting offices. To minimize burden, institutions are provided with 
an abundance of guidance and help menus on the Web, in addition to 
printing and responding via paper copy if necessary. Each record is 
pre-loaded with the institution's 2 previous years' data and a complete 
program for editing and trend checking. Response to this voluntary 
survey in FY 2007 was 96.9 percent.
    Burden estimates are as follows: \1\
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    \1\ Average burden hours for institutions responding to burden 
item.

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                                                                               Master's-  Bachelor's
                                               Total number     Doctorate-     granting     degree      FFRDC's
                    Year                            of           granting       burden      burden      burden
                                               institutions    burden hours      hours       hours       hours
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FY 1999.....................................             480            20.8        13.0         7.5         9.4
FY 2000.....................................             700            21.0        12.0        10.5         9.2
FY 2001.....................................             625            30.2        11.9         9.0        12.1
FY 2002.....................................             625            28.7        14.9        12.2         4.5
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    Dated: May 19, 2009.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. E9-11996 Filed 5-21-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P