[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2850-2852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-741]


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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: Generic Clearance for MAF & TIGER Updating Activities.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0809.
    Form Number(s): Various.
    Type of Request: Extension of an approved collection.
    Burden Hours: 11,283.
    Number of Respondents: 212,892.
    Average Hours per Response: 3 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau requests approval from the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of the generic 
clearance for a number of activities it plans to conduct to update its 
Master Address File (MAF) and maintain the linkage between the MAF and 
the Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing 
(TIGER) database of address ranges and associated geographic 
information. The Census Bureau plans to use the MAF for post-Census 
2010 evaluations, various pre-2020 census tests, and as a sampling 
frame for the American Community Survey and our other demographic 
current surveys. In the past, the Census Bureau has built a new address 
list for each decennial census. The MAF built during Census 2000 will 
be updated thereafter, eliminating the need to

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assemble a completely new address list for future censuses and surveys. 
The TIGER is a geographic system that maps the entire country in Census 
Blocks with applicable address ranges of living quarter location 
information. Linking MAF and TIGER allows us to assign each address to 
the appropriate Census Block, produce maps as needed and publish 
results at the appropriate level of geographic detail.
    The generic clearance for the past three years has proved to be 
very beneficial to the Census Bureau. The generic clearance allowed us 
to utilize our limited resources on actual operational planning and 
development of procedures. The extension will be especially beneficial 
over the upcoming three years by enabling us to focus on the efforts to 
improve procedures for future Dress Rehearsals, and to continue 
updating the MAF.
    We will follow the protocol of past generic clearances: 30 days 
before the scheduled start date of each census activity, we will 
provide OMB with a detailed background on the activity, estimates of 
respondent burden and samples of pertinent forms. After the close of 
each fiscal year, we will also file a year-end summary report with OMB, 
presenting the results of each activity conducted.
    The following sections describe the categories of activities to be 
included under the clearance. The Census Bureau has conducted these 
activities (or similar ones) previously and the respondent burden 
remains relatively unchanged from one time to another.

Demographic Area Address Listing (DAAL)

    The Demographic Area Address Listing (DAAL) program encompasses the 
geographic area updates for the Community Address Updating System 
(CAUS) and the area and group quarters frame listings for many ongoing 
demographic surveys (the Current Population Survey, the Consumer 
Expenditures Survey, etc.). The CAUS program is designed to address 
quality concerns relating to areas with high concentrations of noncity-
style addresses, and to provide a rural counterpart to the update of 
city-style addresses the MAF receives from the U.S. Postal Services's 
Delivery Sequence File. The ongoing demographic surveys, as part of the 
2000 Sample Redesign Program, used the MAF as one of several sources of 
addresses from which they selected their samples. In fiscal year 2010, 
the DAAL operation will also be used to assess a job aid used in the 
2010 Address Canvassing operation to identify units in small multi-unit 
structures. The DAAL program is a cooperative effort among many 
divisions at the Census Bureau; it includes automated listing software, 
systems, and procedures that will allow us to conduct listing 
operations in a dependent manner based on information contained in the 
MAF.
    The DAAL operations will be conducted on an ongoing basis in 
potentially any county across the country. Field Representatives (FRs) 
will canvass selected Census 2000 tabulation blocks to improve the 
address list in areas where substantial address changes may have 
occurred that have not been added to the MAF through regular update 
operations, and/or in blocks in the area or group quarters frame sample 
for the demographic surveys. FRs will update existing address 
information, and, when necessary, contact individuals to collect 
accurate location and mailing address information. In general, contact 
will occur only when the FR is adding a unit to the address list, and/
or the individual's address is not posted or visible to the FR. There 
is no pre-determined or scripted list of questions asked as part of 
this listing operation. If an address is not posted or visible to the 
FR, the FR will ask about the address of the structure, the mailing 
address, and, in some instances, the year the structure was built. If 
the occupants of these households are not at home, the FR may attempt 
to contact a neighbor to determine the best time to find the occupants 
at home and/or to obtain the correct address information. At group 
quarters, a facility manager is usually contacted to collect 
information concerning the facility.
    DAAL is an ongoing operation. Listing assignments are distributed 
quarterly with the work conducted throughout the time period. We expect 
that DAAL listing operation will be conducted throughout the entire 
time period of the extension.

American Housing Survey (AHS) Screening Operation

    The Census Bureau plans a screening operation to add housing units 
in independent living facilities to the American Housing Survey (AHS) 
sample. We define an independent living facility as a building with 5 
or more housing units whose residents live independently and are 
generally self-sufficient but are able to get help with services like 
meals, transportation, and managing finances, as well as personal care 
such as bathing, eating, or dressing. The residents tend to be elderly 
but also include the disabled of all ages.
    We plan on placing a flag on the MAF to identify the independent 
living units added to the AHS by this operation. AHS is the first 
current survey to attempt to identify independent living units. If the 
operation is successful, other current surveys will use the criteria 
developed to identify such units for inclusion in their samples and 
will also flag these units on the MAF. Having these units identified on 
the MAF increases its functionality. Independent living is one of the 
fastest growing types of housing. The Census Bureau needs to begin the 
process of identifying units in these facilities.
    Depending on the sponsor's FY10 budget, there are an estimated 180 
to 600 units in sample for the 2011 AHS-Metropolitan survey, we will 
screen from all 12 Regional Offices October 12-December 10, 2010. We 
would need to do this again in late 2012 for the 2013 AHS survey. The 
Regional Office Supervisors will telephone the facility contacts to 
confirm the status of the units. We will never contact the housing unit 
itself for this information. We expect the screening questions to take 
about 6 minutes once a contact person is located which equates to total 
respondent burden of 60 hours.
    All information that identifies individuals will be held in strict 
confidence according to the provisions of Title 13, United States Code, 
Section 9. When contact is made, the Regional Office Supervisor will 
read the Confidentiality Notice that provides information on the 
confidential nature of Census Bureau data. This notice explains that 
any information given to the Census Bureau will be held in strict 
confidence. None of the questions asked during the screening are of a 
sensitive nature and there is no cost to facilities other than that of 
staff time to respond.
    The list above is not exhaustive of all activities, which may be 
performed under this generic clearance. We will follow the approved 
procedure when submitting any additional activities not specifically 
listed here.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: The activities to be conducted under this 
clearance are authorized by Title 13 United States Code, Sections 141 
and 193.
    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

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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: January 12, 2010.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2010-741 Filed 1-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P