[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 25, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18052-18054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08685]


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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Submission for OMB Review

AGENCY: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection--Extension Without Change: 
State and Local Government Information Report (EEO-4).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announces that it is 
submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for a 
three-year extension without change of the State and Local Government 
Information Report (EEO-4 Report, Form 164).

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be submitted on or before 
May 25, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice must be submitted to Joseph B. Nye, 
Policy Analyst, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, email 
[email protected]. Commenters are also encouraged to send 
comments to the EEOC online at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions on the website for 
submitting comments. In addition, the EEOC's Executive Secretariat will 
accept comments in hard copy. Hard copy comments should be sent to 
Bernadette Wilson, Executive Officer, EEOC, 131 M Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20507. Finally, the Executive Secretariat will accept 
comments totaling six or fewer pages by facsimile (``fax'') machine 
before the same deadline at (202) 663-4114. (This is not a toll-free 
number.) Receipt of fax transmittals will not be acknowledged, except 
that the sender may request confirmation of receipt by calling the 
Executive Secretariat staff at (202) 663-4070 (voice) or (202) 663-4074 
(TTY). (These are not toll-free telephone numbers.) The EEOC will post 
online at http://www.regulations.gov all comments

[[Page 18053]]

submitted via this website, in hard copy, or by fax to the Executive 
Secretariat. These comments will be posted without change, including 
any personal information you provide. However, the EEOC reserves the 
right to refrain from posting libelous or otherwise inappropriate 
comments including those that contain obscene, indecent, or profane 
language; that contain threats or defamatory statements; that contain 
hate speech directed at race, color, sex, national origin, age, 
religion, disability, or genetic information; or that promote or 
endorse services or products. All comments received, including any 
personal information provided, also will be available for public 
inspection during normal business hours by appointment only at the EEOC 
Headquarters Library, 131 M Street NE, Washington, DC 20507. Upon 
request, individuals who require assistance viewing comments will be 
provided appropriate aids such as readers or print magnifiers. To 
schedule an appointment, contact EEOC Library staff at (202) 663-4630 
(voice) or (202) 663-4641 (TTY). (These are not toll-free numbers.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benita Marsh, Director of Surveys, 
Office of Research, Information and Planning, Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission, 131 M Street NE, Room 4SW32H, Washington, DC 
20507; (202) 663-7197 (voice) or by email at [email protected]. 
Requests for this notice in an alternative format should be made to the 
Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs at (202) 663-4191 
(voice) or (202) 663-4494 (TTY).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: State and local governments with 100 or more 
employees have been required to submit EEO-4 reports since 1974 
(biennially in odd-numbered years since 1993). A notice that EEOC would 
be submitting this request was published in the Federal Register on 
February 2, 2018, allowing for a 60-day public comment period. Seven 
comments were received from the public; however, none of these comments 
addressed the EEO-4 report. Accordingly, no changes have been made to 
the report based upon the unresponsive comments.

Overview of Current Information Collection

    Collection Title: State and Local Government Information Report 
(EEO-4).
    OMB Number: 3046-0008.
    Frequency of Report: Biennial.
    Type of Respondent: State and local government jurisdictions with 
100 or more employees.
    Description of Affected Public: State and local governments 
excluding public elementary and secondary public school districts.
    Number of Respondents: 5,128.\1\
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    \1\ This number represents the total number of state and local 
government respondents from the most recent reporting cycle in 2015.
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    Number of Responses: 12,197.\2\
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    \2\ This number represents the total number of reports filed 
during the 2015 reporting cycle; it is larger than the number of 
respondents due to the requirement for some state and local 
governments to file separate reports by function.
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    Biennial Reporting Hours: 85,379.
    Biennial Cost to Respondents: $1,646,107.12.
    Federal Cost: $251,920.
    Number of Forms: 1.
    Form Number: EEOC FORM 164.
    Abstract: Section 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(c), requires employers to make and 
keep records relevant to a determination of whether unlawful employment 
practices have been or are being committed, to preserve such records 
and to produce reports as the Commission prescribes by regulation or 
order. Accordingly, the EEOC issued regulations at 29 CFR 1602.32-
1602.37 prescribing the reporting requirements for State and local 
governments. The individual reports are confidential.
    EEO-4 data are used by the EEOC to investigate charges of 
discrimination against state and local governments and to provide 
information on the employment status of minorities and women. The data 
are shared with several other Federal agencies. Pursuant to section 
709(d) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, U.S.C. 2000e-8(d), 
as amended, EEO-4 data are shared with State and Local Fair Employment 
Practices Agencies (FEPAs). Aggregated data are also used by 
researchers and the general public.
    Burden Statement: The EEOC has updated its methodology for 
calculating biennial burden to reflect the time spent by staff that are 
responsible for preparing and filing the EEO-4 report. Based upon its 
years of experience and interactions with EEO-4 filers, the EEOC now 
accounts for time to be spent biennially on EEO-4 reporting by human 
resources assistants. The estimated number of respondents included in 
the biennial estimate is 5,128 state and local government respondents, 
as this is the number of EEO-4 filers from the 2015 reporting cycle. 
These 5,128 filers submit an estimated 12,197 reports biennially. The 
estimated hour burden per report will be 7 hours; this estimate is 
supported by information on hour burden collected from a sample of both 
small and large EEO-4 filers. The estimated total biennial respondent 
burden hours will be 85,379 hours. Burden hour cost was calculated 
using median hourly wage rates for human resources assistants.\3\ The 
burden hour cost per report will be $134.96, and the estimated total 
biennial burden hour cost will be $1,646,107.12. (See Table 1 below.)
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    \3\ The rate of $19.28 per hour is based on the mean hourly pay 
rate of human resources assistants (Occupational Employment 
Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2016, 43-4161 
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping, https://www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/oes434161.htm, U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, Division of Occupational Employment Statistics).
    \4\ The figures in this column were calculated by multiplying 
the hourly wage rate by the hours per report (7).
    \5\ The figures in this column were calculated by multiplying 
the hours per report by 12,197, the total number of responses.
    \6\ The figures in this column were calculated by multiplying 
the burden hour cost per report by 12,197, the total number of 
responses.

                                                  TABLE 1--Estimate of Biennial Burden for EEO-4 Report
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                                                                                       Hours per
                                                                      Hourly wage        local        Burden hour      Total burden    Total burden hour
                    State and local governments                          rate         government       cost per         hours \5\           cost \6\
                                                                                        report        report \4\
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                             Number of State and Local Government ResNumber of Reports Submitted =
                                                                                12,197
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HUMAN RESOURCES ASSISTANTS........................................          $19.28               7         $134.96              85379      $1,646,107.12
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    TOTAL.........................................................           19.28               7          134.96              85379       1,646,107.12
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[[Page 18054]]

    The cost estimates are based on the assumption that filers use 
online reporting. For the 2015 EEO-4 report, 85% of EEO-4 filers 
submitted their report via online reporting and 5% of EEO-4 reports 
were submitted using the data upload method. The remaining 10% of 
filers submitted reports via the paper method. The EEOC has made 
electronic filing much easier for employers required to file the EEO-4 
Report. As a result, more jurisdictions are using this filing method. 
This development, along with the greater availability of human resource 
information software, is expected to have significantly reduced the 
actual burden of reporting.

    Dated: April 18, 2018.
    For the Commission.
Victoria A. Lipnic,
Acting Chair.
[FR Doc. 2018-08685 Filed 4-24-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6570-01-P