[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 121 (Thursday, June 23, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36898-36899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15652]


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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: The American Community Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0810.
    Form Number(s): ACS-I, ACS-I(SP), ACS-I(PR), ACS-I(PR)(SP), ACS-
I(GQ), ACS-I(PR)(GQ), GQFQ, ACS CATI (HU), ACS CAP I (HU), ACS (HU) 
Reinterview, GQ Reinterview.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Burden Hours: 2,337,868.
    Number of Respondents: 3,760,000.
    Average Hours oer Response: 38 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests continued 
authorization from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct 
the American Community Survey (ACS). The Census Bureau has developed a 
methodology to collect and update every year demographic, social, 
economic, and housing data that are essentially the same as the ``long-
form'' data that the Census Bureau traditionally has collected once a 
decade as part of the decennial census. Federal and state government 
agencies use such data to evaluate and manage federal programs and to 
distribute funding for various programs that include food stamp 
benefits, transportation dollars, and housing grants. State, county, 
and community governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and the 
general public use information like housing quality, income 
distribution, journey-to-work patterns, immigration data, and regional 
age distributions for decision-making and program evaluation.
    In years past, the Census Bureau collected the long-form data only 
once every ten years, which become out of date over the course of the 
decade. To provide more timely data, the Census Bureau developed the 
ACS. The ACS blends the strength of small area estimation with the high 
quality of current surveys. There is an increasing need for current 
data describing lower geographic detail. The ACS is now the only source 
of data available for small-area levels across the Nation and in Puerto 
Rico. In addition, there is an increased interest in obtaining data for 
small subpopulations such as groups within the Hispanic, Asian, and 
American Indian populations, the elderly, and children. The ACS 
provides current data throughout the decade for small areas and 
subpopulations.
    The ACS began providing up-to-date profiles in 2006 for areas and 
population groups of 65,000 or more people, providing policymakers, 
planners, and service providers in the public and private sectors with 
information every year--not just every ten years. The ACS program will 
provide estimates annually for all states and for all medium and large 
cities, counties, and metropolitan areas. For smaller areas and 
population groups, it took three to five years to accumulate 
information to provide accurate estimates. The first three-year 
estimates were released in 2008; the first five-year estimates in 2010. 
These multiyear estimates will be updated annually.
    Using the Master Address File (MAF) from the decennial census that 
is updated each year, we will select a sample of addresses, mail survey 
forms each month to a new group of potential households, and attempt to 
conduct interviews over the telephone with households that have not 
responded. Upon completion of the telephone follow-up, we will select a 
sub-sample of the remaining households, which have not responded, 
typically at a rate of one in three, to designate a household for a 
personal interview. We will also conduct interviews with a sample of 
residents at a sample of group quarters (GQ) facilities. Collecting 
these data from a new sample of housing unit (HU) and GQ facilities 
every month provides more timely data and lessened respondent burden in 
the 2010 Census.
    We will release a yearly microdata file, similar to the Public Use 
Microdata Sample file of the Census 2000 long-form records. In 
addition, we will produce total population summary tabulations similar 
to the Census 2000 tabulations down to the block group level. The 
microdata files, tabulated files, and their associated documentation 
are available through the Internet.
    In January 2005, the Census Bureau began full implementation of the 
ACS in households with a sample of approximately 250,000 addresses per 
month in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, we 
select

[[Page 36899]]

approximately 3,000 residential addresses per month in Puerto Rico and 
refer to the survey as the PRCS.
    In January 2006, the Census Bureau implemented ACS data collection 
for the entire national population by including a sample of 20,000 GQ 
facilities and a sample of 200,000 residents living in GQ facilities in 
the 50 states and the District of Columbia along with the annual 
household sample. A sample of 100 GQs and 1,000 GQ residents was also 
selected for participation in the PRCS.
    Starting with the June 2011 mail panel, the Census Bureau increased 
the annual sample size for the ACS to 3,540,000 households (or 295,000 
households per month) in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
    The primary need for continued full implementation of the ACS is to 
provide comparable data at the census tract and block group level. 
These data are needed by federal agencies and others to provide 
assurance of long-form type data availability since the elimination of 
the long form from the 2010 Census.
    State and local governments are becoming more involved in 
administering and evaluating programs traditionally controlled by the 
federal government. This devolution of responsibility is often 
accompanied by federal funding through block grants. The data collected 
via the ACS will be useful not only to the federal agencies but also to 
state, local, and tribal governments in planning, administering, and 
evaluating programs.
    The ACS provides more timely data for use in area estimation models 
that provide estimates of various concepts for small geographic areas. 
In essence, detailed data from national household and GQ surveys (whose 
samples are too small to provide reliable estimates for states or 
localities) can be combined with data from the ACS to create reliable 
estimates for small geographic areas.
    We will also continue to examine the operational issues, research 
the data quality, collect cost information and make recommendations in 
the future for this annual data collection. Data users can use 
information from this survey to help evaluate the ACS program and to 
give feedback to the Census Bureau to help in our evaluations.
    Affected Public: Households or individuals.
    Frequency: The ACS is conducted monthly. Respondents are asked to 
give only a one-time response.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 141, 193, and 221.
    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 6616, 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: June 17, 2011.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-15652 Filed 6-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P