[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 8 (Monday, January 13, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2151-2152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00321]


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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: Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES).
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0782.
    Form Number(s): ACE-1(S), ACE-1(M), ACE-1(L), ACE-1(I), ACE-2, ACE-
2(I).
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden Hours: 146,570.
    Number of Respondents: 75,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 2 hours.
    Needs and Uses: A major concern of economic policymakers is the 
adequacy of investment in plant and equipment. Data on the amount of 
business expenditures for new plant and equipment and measures of the 
stock of existing facilities are critical to evaluating productivity 
growth, the ability of U.S. businesses to compete with foreign 
businesses, changes in industrial capacity, and overall economic 
performance. The ACES is the sole source of detailed comprehensive 
statistics on investment in buildings and other structures, machinery, 
and equipment by private nonfarm businesses in the United States.
    Data users tell us that they need comprehensive and consistent data 
on investment by all private nonfarm businesses, by industry, by kind 
of investment, i.e., whether in new or used structures or equipment. 
The objectives of the ACES are:
    (a) To provide estimates of capital expenditures for all private 
nonfarm sectors of the economy by 3-digit and selected 4-digit North 
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) levels;
    (b) to base the survey on a probability sample that yields measures 
of the statistical reliability of the survey estimates;
    (c) to develop a base survey to benchmark more frequent surveys on 
capital expenditures that do not have complete industry coverage;
    (d) to produce annual enterprise-level data with the level of 
detail, coverage, and quality, which previously was only available as 
part of the quinquennial economic census;
    (e) to provide detail on capital expenditures for estimating the 
national income and product accounts, estimating the productivity of 
U.S. industries, evaluating fiscal and monetary policy, and conducting 
research using capital expenditures data; and
    (f) to provide industry analysts with capital expenditures data for 
market analysis, economic forecasting, product development, and 
business planning.
    This request is for continuation of a currently approved collection 
and will cover the 2013 through 2015 ACES (conducted in fiscal years 
2014 through 2016). Changes from the previous ACES authorization are 
the elimination of detailed capital expenditures by type of structure 
and equipment. These data, collected every five years, were last 
collected in the 2012 ACES and will not be collected again until the 
2017 ACES.
    We will collect and publish data based on the 2012 NAICS. 
Industries in the survey will comprise 3-digit and 4-digit 2012 NAICS 
codes.
    For the 2012 and prior ACES data collection; the Census Bureau used 
mail out/mail back survey forms to collect data. Companies were able to 
respond via Centurion (The Census Bureau's online reporting system), by 
mail, or by using our toll-free number to reply via secure facsimile 
machine. We asked companies to respond to the survey within 30 days of 
the initial mailing. If companies did not respond by the designated 
time, they received letters and/or telephone calls encouraging 
participation.
    Employer companies were mailed one of three forms based on their 
diversity of operations and number of industries with payroll. 
Companies that operated in only one industry received an ACE-1(S) form. 
Companies that operated in more than one, but less than nine industries 
received an ACE-1(M) form. Companies that operated in nine or more 
industries received an ACE-1(L). All nonemployer companies received an 
ACE-2 form.
    For the 2013 ACES collection, the Census Bureau will collect the 
data from employer companies primarily through electronic reporting. 
Employer companies will receive a mailed notification letter containing 
their User ID and password, and directed to respond via Centurion 
through the Census Bureau's Business Help Site. The online reporting 
instrument is an electronic version of the paper data collection 
instrument, and based on their diversity of operations and number of 
industries with payroll. Companies operating in only one industry will 
access an ACE-1(S) form or electronic instrument. Companies operating 
in more than one, but less than nine industries will access an ACE-1(M) 
form or electronic instrument. Companies that operate in nine or more 
industries will access an ACE-1(L) form or electronic instrument. 
Companies will be able to print the form through online services or 
request a paper form by mail.
    The Census Bureau will continue to use mail out/mail back survey 
forms to collect data from nonemployer companies. All nonemployer 
companies will receive an ACE-2 form. Nonemployer companies will have 
the option to respond by mail or online through the Census Bureau's 
Business Help Site using the User ID and password provided to them on 
their form.
    The Census Bureau will continue to ask both companies with 
employees and nonemployer companies to respond to the survey within 30 
days. Reminder letters and/or telephone calls encouraging participation 
will continue to all companies that have not responded by the 
designated time.
    For the 2014 and 2015 ACES data collection, the Census Bureau will 
determine whether to use the same data collection strategy based upon 
the electronic response rate of the employer companies for the 2013 
ACES.
    All ACE-1 forms request sales and receipts information to calculate 
industry investment to sales ratios and to assist in verifying that 
consolidated company data are being reported. Asset and depreciation 
information, also collected, assists in measuring changes in the 
Nation's capital stock estimates.
    Capital expenditures data are also collected annually from a sample 
of non-employer businesses using Form ACE-2. This collection is 
intended to better represent the total capital expenditures activity of 
all firms.
    The ACES is an integral part of the Federal Government's effort to 
improve the quality and usefulness of National economic statistics. 
Federal agencies,

[[Page 2152]]

including the Census Bureau, use these data to improve and supplement 
ongoing statistical programs.
    The Census Bureau uses these data to improve the quality of monthly 
economic indicators of investment. The Census Bureau's Value of New 
Construction Put in Place Survey currently uses the ACES data to 
benchmark its industrial buildings data. The Bureau of Economic 
Analysis (BEA) uses these data in refining and evaluating annual 
estimates of investment in structures and equipment in the national 
income and product accounts, compiling annual input-output tables, and 
computing gross domestic product by industry. The Federal Reserve Board 
(FRB) uses these data to improve estimates of investment indicators for 
monetary policy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) uses these data 
to improve estimates of capital stocks for productivity analysis.
    In addition, industry analysts use these data for market analysis, 
economic forecasting, product development, and business planning.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit: Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: The Census Bureau conducts this survey under the 
authority of Title 13 of the United States Code, Sections 131 and 182. 
Sections 224 and 225 make the survey mandatory.
    OMB Desk Officer: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Jennifer Jessup, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0336, 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 email ([email protected]).

    Dated: January 7, 2014.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-00321 Filed 1-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P