[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 151 (Friday, August 5, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47539-47540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19873]


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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: 2012 Economic Census--Commodity Flow Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0932.
    Form Number(s): CFS 1000 (2012), CFS 2000 (2012), CFS-1100, CFS-
1200, CFS-1000-L1, CFS-1000-F, CFS-1000-LE, CFS-1000-L1a.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement, with change, of an expired 
collection.
    Burden Hours: 800,000.
    Number of Respondents: 100,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 2 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The 2012 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), a component 
of the 2012 Economic Census, is the only comprehensive source of multi-
modal, system-wide data on the volume and pattern of goods movement in 
the United States. The CFS is conducted through a partnership between 
the U.S. Census Bureau and the Research and Innovative Technology 
Administration (RITA), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), 
Department of Transportation (DOT). The survey provides a crucial set 
of statistics on the value, weight, mode, and distance of commodities 
shipped by mining, manufacturing, wholesale, and selected retail and 
services establishments, as well as auxiliary establishments that 
support these industries. The U.S. Census Bureau will publish these 
shipment characteristics for the nation, census regions and divisions, 
states, and CFS defined geographic areas. As with the 2007 Commodity 
Flow Survey, this survey also identifies export and hazardous material 
shipments.
    The DOT consistently views updated information on freight flows as 
critical to understanding the use, performance, and condition of the 
nation's transportation system, as well as transportation investments 
and the unintended consequences of transportation. Data on the movement 
of freight also are important for effective analyses of changes in 
regional and local economic development, safety issues, and 
environmental concerns. They also provide the private sector with 
valuable data needed for critical decision-making on a variety of 
issues including market trends, analysis, and segmentation. Each day, 
governments, businesses, and consumers make countless decisions about 
where to go, how to get there, what to ship and which transportation 
modes to use. Transportation constantly responds to external forces 
such as shifting markets, changing demographics, safety concerns, 
weather conditions, energy and environmental constraints, and national 
defense requirements. Good decisions require having the right 
information in the right form at the right time.
    The CFS is the primary source of information about freight movement 
in the United States. Estimates of shipment characteristics are 
published for differing levels of aggregation. The CFS produces summary 
statistics only, and no confidential data are released. The survey 
covers shipments from establishments in the mining, manufacturing, 
wholesale, and selected retail industries, as well as auxiliary 
establishments that support these industries. Federal agencies, state 
and local transportation planners and policy makers, and private sector 
transportation managers, analysts, and researchers have strongly 
supported the conduct of the CFS.
    The 2012 CFS will be a mail-out/mail-back or electronic reporting 
sample survey of approximately 100,000 business establishments in the 
mining, manufacturing, wholesale, and selected retail and services 
industries, as well as auxiliary establishments that support these 
industries. Respondents will be asked to provide a quarterly response 
for a one-year period.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.
    Frequency: Every 5 years.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 131, 193, 
and 224.
    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,

[[Page 47540]]

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: August 2, 2011.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-19873 Filed 8-4-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P