[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 146 (Friday, July 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45507-45508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19284]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

U.S. Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Public 
Employment & Payroll Forms

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before September 27, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Diana Hynek, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Erika Becker-Medina, Chief, Employment and 
Benefit Statistics Branch, Governments Division, U.S. Census Bureau, 
Washington, DC 20233-6800 (301-763-1494 or 
[email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau plans to request clearance for the forms 
necessary to conduct the public employment and payroll program which 
consists of an annual collection of information and a quinquennial 
collection in a census environment in years ending in ``2'' or ``7''. 
During the upcoming two years, we intend to conduct the 2012 Census of 
Governments: Employment Component and the 2013 Annual Survey of Public 
Employment & Payroll.
    Under Title 13, Section 161 & 182, of the United States Code, the 
Secretary of Commerce is authorized to conduct the public employment 
and payroll program, which collects and disseminates data by function 
for full-time and part-time employees, payroll, and number of part-time 
hours worked. The number and content of the data items collected are 
the same in the annual and census cycles.
    The burden hours we will request are based on the expected 2012 
Census of Governments: Employment Component mail-out of 99,935 forms 
and the expected 2013 Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll mail 
out of 17,209 forms.
    The state and local government statistics produced cover national, 
state, and local aggregates on various functions with comparative 
detail for individual governments for the pay period that includes 
March 12. The public employment and payroll program provides the only 
comprehensive count of employees and payrolls of state and local 
governments. Government employees constitute approximately one-sixth of 
the entire U.S. workforce and their salaries are a major source of 
personal income.
    The Census Bureau provides this employment data to the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis for constructing the functional payrolls in the 
public sector of the Gross Domestic Product; payroll being the single 
largest component of current operations. The public employment and 
payroll program has increasingly been used as the base for reimbursable 
programs conducted by the Census Bureau for other Federal agencies such 
as: (1) The government portion of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 
commissioned by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to 
provide timely, comprehensive information about health care use and 
costs in the United States, and (2) the Criminal Justice Expenditure 
and Employment Survey, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics 
(BJS), which provides criminal justice expenditure and employment data 
on spending and personnel levels.
    Statistics are produced as data files in electronic formats. The 
program has disseminated comprehensive and comparable governmental 
statistics since 1940.

[[Page 45508]]

    The users of the public employment and payroll program data include 
Federal agencies, state and local governments and related 
organizations, public interest groups, and many business, market, and 
private research organizations.

II. Method of Collection

    Approximately 104,000 state agencies, county governments, 
consolidated city-county governments, independent cities, towns, 
townships, special district governments, and public school systems 
designated for the 2012 Census of Governments: Employment Component 
will either be sent an appropriate form or their data will be collected 
through a data sharing arrangement between the Census Bureau and the 
government unit. Approximately 20,800 government units will be sent a 
form or collected through data sharing arrangements for the 2013 Annual 
Survey of Public Employment & Payroll.
    The Census Bureau developed central collection agreements with 
state and large local government officials to collect the data from 
their dependent agencies and report to us as a central respondent. 
These arrangements eliminate the need for a mail canvass of 
approximately 3,480 state agencies and 620 school systems. The 
agreements reduce burden by greatly reducing the number of people who 
have to complete a form as the data are pulled from a centralized 
source instead of from multiple sources. Currently, the Census Bureau 
has central collection agreements with forty-five states, four local 
school district governments, and ten local governments. The Census 
Bureau continues to expand the conversion of paper submissions into 
electronic formats, for both individual units and central collection 
units.
    All form types can be completed on the Internet. For the 2007 
Census, approximately 24 percent responded using the Census Bureau's 
Web site. For the 2010 annual survey, approximately 45 percent of the 
governments sampled responded using the Census Bureau's Web site.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0452.
    Form Number: E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4, E-5, E-6, E-7, E-9.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: State, Tribal, or local governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 58,572.
    Estimated Time per Response: The average for all forms is 49 
minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 47,904.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $1,161,709.
    Respondents Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section 161 & 182.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: July 26, 2011.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-19284 Filed 7-28-11; 8:45 am]
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