[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 177 (Monday, September 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55084-55085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22958]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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: 2016 Government Units Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0930.
    Form Number(s): GUS-1.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement, with change, of an expired 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 77,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 15 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 19,250.
    Needs and Uses: This information request covers the questionnaire 
needed to conduct the directory survey component of the 2017 Census of 
Governments. The 2016 Government Units Survey (GUS) will be used to 
update the universe list of public sector entities for the 2017 Census 
of Governments. Each of the estimated 77,000 non-school governments 
will be sent a questionnaire. Respondents will be encouraged to respond 
to the survey on the Internet but will have the option to answer the 
questions and return the questionnaire by paper mail. Respondents will 
be asked to verify or correct the name and mailing address of the 
government and answer five questions to complete the survey.
    The GUS is mailed to all municipalities, townships, counties, and 
special districts. The 2011 GUS, conducted in advance of the 2012 
Census of Governments, consisted of nine broad content areas: 
Background information, debt, license and permit fees, taxes, 
retirement/pension plan, government activity, public services, judicial 
or legal activities, and finance. The 2016 GUS will differ from the 
former version by shortening the number of content areas. The 2016 GUS 
consists of only two broad content areas: Background and employee 
information. Both the 2011 and 2016 GUS also include(d) both remarks 
and contact information sections. The first content area for the 2016 
GUS consists predominately of yes/no questions and is designed to 
determine the existence of a government. The employees section of the 
questionnaire requests the number of paid employees of a government. A 
notice published in the Federal Register on April 1, 2015 stated our 
intent to ask respondents detailed questions on defined-contribution 
plans, defined-benefit and post-employment healthcare plans. However, 
we will not be asking these questions for this collection.
    The GUS serves multiple purposes. The GUS will be used to obtain 
descriptive information on the basic characteristics of governments; to 
identify and delete inactive units from the official list of public 
entities maintained by the Census Bureau; to identify file duplicates 
and units that were dependent on other governments; to update and 
verify the mailing addresses of governments; and to produce the 
official count of non-school government units in the United States.
    Federal legislation relevant to the American workforce, the Fair 
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family Medical Leave Act, refer to 
the list of governments maintained by the Census Bureau for purposes of 
administering provisions of these laws. The Bureau of Justice 
Statistics maintains an interest in the list of active governments and 
their activities for purposes of administering grant programs. The 
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses the products of the Census of 
Governments including the counts of state and local governments; and 
state and local government employment and payroll data. BEA also uses 
revenue, expenditures, debt, and financial assets data from the Census 
of Governments for principal inputs to the local government portion of 
their Gross Domestic Product publication. In addition, users from 
academia, research organizations, governments, public interest groups, 
and various businesses provide evidence of their interest through 
requests for information and requests for assistance in accessing 
universe information available on the Census Bureau Internet Web site.
    Affected Public: State, local or tribal government.
    Frequency: Every 5 years.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 161 and 193.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.


[[Page 55085]]


    Dated: September 8, 2015.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-22958 Filed 9-11-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P