[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3748-3757]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02223]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
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.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
Title: 2020 Census
The initial Federal Register Notice (``2020 Census,'' June 8, 2018,
Vol. 83, Number 111, pp. 26643-26653, FR Doc No.: 2018-12365) described
the 2020 Census in full. Approval for the 2020 Census is being sought
from OMB in phases. The first phase of approval was for the 2020 Census
Address Canvassing operation only, which was described in Federal
Register Notice ``2020 Census,'' October 2, 2018 (Vol. 83, No. 191, pp.
49535-49539, FR Doc No.: 2018-21386). Address Canvassing creates the
address list for the census and precedes census enumeration data
collection. The remaining operations scoped for the 2020 Census data
collection will be described below in this Federal Register Notice for
an additional 30-day comment period; the full census description will
be considered as a substantive change to the approved OMB materials.
This notice was previously posted on December 28, 2018, (Volume 83, No.
248, pp 67213-67222, FR Doc No.: 2018-28164) for a 30-day comment
period, but public comments could not be received during the partial
government shutdown. In addition, this document has been updated to
reflect pending litigation regarding the reinstatement of the
citizenship question as well as some minor edits.
OMB Control Number: 0607-1006.
Form Number(s): D-CN(E/S) (included with Address Canvassing
approval), D-Q, D-Q(E/S), D-Q-GE, D-Q-GE(S), D-Q-UL, D-Q-UL(E/S), D-Q-
TL, D-Q-TL(S), D-Q-UE, D-Q-RA, D-Q-TLRA, D-Q-GERA, D-Q-MV, D-CQ-TL, D-
CQ-TL(S), D-CQ-UE, D-CQ-RA, D-CQ-TLRA, D-Q-AS, D-Q-MI, D-Q-GU, D-Q-VI,
D-Q-VI(S), D-CQ-AS, D-CQ-MI, D-CQ-GU, D-CQ-VI, D-CQ-VI(S), D-Q-GE-AS,
D-Q-GE-MI, D-Q-GE-GU, D-Q-GE-VI, D-Q-GE-VI(S), D-Q-ULPR(E/S), D-Q-GEPR,
D-Q-GEPR(S), D-Q-PR(E/S), D-Q-TLPR, D-Q-TLPR(S), D-CQ-TLPR, D-CQ-
TLPR(S).
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Number of Respondents: 180,962,929 for all operations in the 2020
Census.
Average Hours per Response: 10 minutes for census enumeration.
Burden Hours: 26,531,594 for 2020 Census.
2020 Census
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Estimated time
Operation or category number of per response Total burden
respondents (minutes) hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address Canvassing.............................................. 15,786,734 5 1,315,561
Address Canvassing Listing QC................................... 1,578,673 5 131,556
-----------------------------------------------
Address Canvassing Subtotal................................. 17,365,407 .............. 1,447,117
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geographic Areas Focused on Self-Response (this includes Mailout and Update Leave)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet/Telephone/Paper........................................ 80,700,000 10 13,450,000
Update Leave.................................................... 11,900,000 5 991,667
Update Leave QC................................................. 1,190,000 5 99,167
Nonresponse Followup............................................ 52,700,000 10 8,783,333
Nonresponse Followup Reinterview................................ 2,760,000 5 230,000
Self-Response Quality Assurance................................. 250,000 10 41,667
Field Verification.............................................. 400,000 2 13,333
Field Verification QC........................................... 40,000 2 1,333
Coverage Improvement............................................ 3,200,000 7 373,333
Non-ID Processing Phone Followup................................ 750,000 5 62,500
-----------------------------------------------
Self-Response Areas Subtotal................................ 153,890,000 .............. 24,046,333
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Geographic Area Focused on Update Enumerate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update Enumerate Production..................................... 506,000 12 101,200
Update Enumerate Listing QC..................................... 50,600 5 4,217
[[Page 3749]]
Update Enumerate Reinterview.................................... 25,300 10 4,217
-----------------------------------------------
Update Enumerate Subtotal................................... 581,900 .............. 109,634
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Group Quarters
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GQ Update Program............................................... 7,168 10 1,195
GQ Advance Contact (facility)................................... 297,000 10 49,500
GQ Enumeration--eResponse (facility)............................ 14,300 20 4,767
GQ Enumeration--person contact.................................. 8,000,000 5 666,667
Group Quarters QC............................................... 8,500 5 708
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Group Quarters Subtotal......................................... 8,326,968 .............. 722,837
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Enumeration at Transitory Locations--Advance Contact............ 50,000 10 8,333
Enumeration at Transitory Locations--Units...................... 600,000 10 100,000
Federally Affiliated Count Overseas............................. 82 5 7
Island Areas Censuses--Housing Units............................ 138,281 40 92,187
Island Areas Censuses--Group Quarters........................... 10,291 30 5,146
-----------------------------------------------
Totals...................................................... 180,962,929 .............. 26,531,594
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Overview of 2020 Census Operations
Below is a summary of the needs and uses of the 2020 Census,
followed by a more detailed overview of data collection operations. The
geographic areas discussed in this notice refer only to the 50 states,
the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, unless otherwise noted. The
2020 Census also includes the Island Areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).
Needs and Uses: Article 1, Section 2 of the United States
Constitution mandates that the U.S. House of Representatives be
reapportioned every ten years by conducting a national census of all
residents. In addition to the reapportionment of the U.S. Congress,
census data are used to draw legislative district boundaries within
states. Census data are also used by numerous agencies to determine
funding allocations for the distribution of an estimated $675 billion
of federal funds each year.
The Census Bureau plans to conduct the most automated, modern, and
dynamic decennial census in history. The 2020 Census includes design
changes in four key areas, discussed below:
(1) New methodologies to conduct the Address Canvassing operation.
(2) Innovative ways of optimizing self-response.
(3) The use of administrative records and third-party data to
reduce the Nonresponse Followup (NRFU) operation workload.
(4) The use of technology to reduce the manual effort and improve
the productivity of field operations, while decreasing the amount of
physical space required to perform the field operations.
(1) Reengineering Address Canvassing
An accurate address list is the cornerstone of a successful census.
In order to manage the work for the decennial census, the Census Bureau
uses the address and physical location of each place where someone is,
or could be, living. The Census Bureau maintains this address list and
spatial data for the United States and Puerto Rico in its Master
Address File (MAF)/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and
Referencing (TIGER) System database.
This database was created using the address files from the 1990
Census and has been subsequently and regularly updated using:
Information collected from decennial census operation
updates, including address and spatial updates.
The Delivery Sequence File of addresses from the United
States Postal Service (USPS).
Input from tribal, state, and local governments and third
parties, including address and boundary updates from various programs
conducted over the decade, such as the Local Update of Census Addresses
operation.
Information collected in other Census Bureau programs,
such as the American Community Survey.
The purpose of Address Canvassing is (1) to deliver a complete and
accurate address list and spatial database for enumeration and
tabulation, and (2) to determine the type and address characteristics
for each living quarter. Prior to a field Address Canvassing data
collection, the Census Bureau will delineate the entire land area of
the United States, Puerto Rico, and Island Areas into Type of
Enumeration Areas (TEAs). Most stateside United States living quarters
will be delineated into the self-response area, where the census
address list will be created before the census, census materials will
be provided in the mail, and self-response modes will be supported and
promoted. Other areas will be designated for Update Leave, Update
Enumerate (including Remote Alaska), Military Enumeration, or Island
Areas Enumeration.
For the 2020 Census, there will be a full Address Canvassing of the
country that will consist of In-Office Address Canvassing complemented
with In-Field Address Canvassing. In-Office Address Canvassing is the
process of using empirical geographic evidence (e.g., imagery,
comparison of the Census Bureau's address list to address lists
provided by the United States Postal Service and governmental units
that partner with the Census Bureau) to assess the current address list
and make changes where necessary. This component also detects and
captures areas of change from high-quality administrative records and
third-party data. Advancements in technology have enabled continual
address and spatial updates to occur throughout the decade
[[Page 3750]]
as part of the In-Office Address Canvassing effort. Since 2015,
satellite imagery has been used for the identification of areas where
there are changes in living quarters. Where the necessary updates can
be captured from electronic sources and are deemed to be sufficiently
accurate, In-Office Address Canvassing will complete the update process
prior to the census. The remaining blocks will become eligible to be
sent to In-Field Address Canvassing for updating on the ground by field
staff.
(2) Optimizing Self-Response
The goal of this innovation area is to make it as easy and
efficient as possible for people to respond to the 2020 Census by
offering new response options through the internet and telephone, in
addition to the traditional mailback paper questionnaire option. Self-
response reduces the need to conduct in-person follow-up operations to
complete the enumeration, by far the most expensive method of data
collection. To that end, the Census Bureau will motivate people to
respond, as well as make it easy for people to respond, from any
location at any time, even if they don't have the Census Bureau's
preassigned ID for the address.
The importance of responding to the 2020 Census will be
communicated in a variety of ways, including through mailings,
questionnaire delivery, advertising, and partnership efforts. In
particular, the Integrated Partnership and Communications operation is
responsible for communicating the importance of responding to the 2020
Census.
Internet response represents a substantial innovation for the
Census Bureau. The internet was not a response option in the 2010
Census. The internet response option has been included in multiple
tests leading up to the 2020 Census: the 2014 Census Test; all three
census tests performed in 2015; the 2016 Census Test; the 2017 Census
Test; and the 2018 End-to-End Census Test. It has also been used in the
American Community Survey since 2013.
(3) Utilizing Administrative Records and Third-Party Data
For the 2020 Census, ``administrative records'' and ``third-party
data'' are terms used to describe microdata records contained in files
collected and maintained by federal, state, and local government
agencies (``administrative records'') and commercial entities (``third-
party data'') for administering programs and providing services. For
many decades, the Census Bureau has successfully and securely used
administrative records and third-party data for statistical purposes.
For the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau intends to use administrative
records from both internal sources, such as data from prior decennial
censuses and the American Community Survey, and from a range of other
federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the
Social Security Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Indian
Health Service, the Selective Service, and the U.S. Postal Service. The
Census Bureau is also working to acquire state government
administrative records from enrollment in federal block grant programs,
such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants, and Children.
Throughout the decade, the Census Bureau continuously conducted
analyses and assessments to verify that the proposed uses of
administrative records and third-party data sources in the 2020 Census
were appropriate in each instance. Based on this research, testing, and
analyses, the Census Bureau announced its plans in November 2015 to
utilize administrative records and third-party data in the 2020 Census.
The 2020 Census Operational Plan calls for employing this information
for the following purposes:
I. Consistent with previous decennial censuses, the Census Bureau
will utilize administrative records from federal and state government
agencies and third-party data to refine contact strategies and build
and update the residential address list.
II. Also consistent with previous decennial censuses, the Census
Bureau will utilize federal and state administrative records to edit or
impute invalid, inconsistent, or missing responses.
III. The new use of administrative records for the 2020 Census is
to use data exclusively from federal administrative records to improve
the accuracy and efficiency of the NRFU operation by:
a. Reducing follow-up on vacant housing units and nonresidential
addresses, as designated by administrative records.
b. Enumerating households that do not self-respond and whom we were
unable to contact after six mailings and one in-person field visit.
For each of the purposes listed in items II, IIIa, and IIIb, the
Census Bureau will use or plans to use administrative data only when it
can confirm empirically across multiple sources that the data are
consistent, of high quality, and can be accurately applied to the
addresses and households in question. The Census Bureau plans to
enumerate households utilizing administrative records only from federal
government agencies, such as the IRS. Use of administrative records for
nonresponding addresses will be evaluated under a strict set of Census
Bureau rules throughout the process to ensure completeness and
accuracy.
Based on the research and tests conducted, the Census Bureau
estimates that under the current operational plan, federal
administrative records will be used to enumerate up to 6.2 million
households of the projected total of approximately 62 million addresses
that are expected to be in the NRFU workload for the 2020 Census. These
6.2 million households represent less than five percent of the
approximately 147 million addresses in the Census master address file.
Where the Census Bureau does not have confidence in the data, such as
when the data are inconsistent or missing in the federal administrative
records, the household will remain in the NRFU workload to be
enumerated in person.
(4) Reengineering Field Operations
The final innovation area, ``Reengineering Field Operations,'' has
a goal of using technology to manage the 2020 Census fieldwork
efficiently and effectively, and as a result, reduce the staffing,
infrastructure, and brick and mortar footprint for the 2020 Census. The
Census Bureau plans to provide most listers and enumerators with the
capability to work completely remotely and perform all administrative
and data collection tasks directly from a mobile device.
Supporting Documents About the 2020 Census Design and the 2020 Census
Objectives
Multiple Census Bureau publications provide background on the plans
for the 2020 Census. The 2020 Census Operational Plan describes each of
the 35 operations scoped and defined for the census. Every task
performed for the 2020 Census must be assigned to one of the 35
operations. The operational plan also summarizes the major findings of
the census tests performed this decade. Moreover, this document shows
the planned design of the 2020 Census as of December 2018 and
identifies design decisions made, as well as remaining decisions to be
made using census test results. Key design components for the 2020
Census for every operation are discussed in Chapter 5 of the 2020
Census Operational Plan. In addition, for most of the 2020 Census
operations,
[[Page 3751]]
the Census Bureau is developing a detailed operational plan to document
objectives and procedures of the operation, major tasks involved in
implementation, the overall workflow, and the overall resources
required. The 2020 Census operational plan and detailed operational
plans are available at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/2020-census/planning-management/memo-series.html can
be referenced for more details about the tasks performed for each
operation.
Type of Enumeration Areas
Prior to the census, it is necessary to delineate all geographic
areas into Type of Enumeration Areas (TEAs). These TEAs describe what
methodology will be used for census material delivery and household
enumeration in order to use the most cost-effective enumeration
approach for achieving maximum accuracy and completeness. TEAs also
describe what methodology will be used for updating the address frame.
For the United States and Puerto Rico, TEAs are delineated at the block
level based on the address and spatial data in the MAF/TIGER database.
The MAF/TIGER does not contain data for the Island Areas, so a
separate TEA is designated for these areas. The TEAs designated for the
2020 Census are:
* TEA 1 = Self-Response.
* TEA 2 = Update Enumerate.
* TEA 3 = Island Areas.
* TEA 4 = Remote Alaska.
* TEA 5 = Military.
* TEA 6 = Update Leave.
The most common enumeration method by percentage of households is
self-response (TEA 1), where materials will be delivered to each
address through the mail, and self-response will be supported and
promoted. After the initial self-response phase, nonresponding
households will be enumerated in the NRFU operation. Update Enumerate
uses the methodology of updating the address list and attempting
household enumeration at the same time. This will be used for a very
small portion of the addresses in the country, such as those with
access problems or minimal mail service. The Island Areas are not
included in MAF/TIGER. For these areas, the address list will be
created and enumeration will be attempted at the same time. Remote
Alaska uses the Update Enumerate methodology but in remote areas of
Alaska that require a different schedule for enumeration due to changes
in transportation accessibility and living situations related to the
presence of ice. Military areas require special procedures due to
security restrictions. Update Leave is an update of the address list at
the same time that a questionnaire is left at each individual housing
unit and the enumeration data is expected to be returned or submitted
by a respondent. Puerto Rico is designated as entirely Update Leave
(except for military locations) in order to create a current address
list at the time of the census, in response to changes that may have
occurred due to natural disasters.
A. Content and Forms Design
The Content and Forms Design (CFD) operation is responsible for
identifying and finalizing the content and design of questionnaires and
associated nonquestionnaire materials. To support the 2020 Census, the
CFD operation ensures content consistency across data collection modes
and operations, as question wording varies depending on mode of data
collection. The CFD operation is responsible for creating, refining,
and finalizing instrument specifications for all data collection
modes--internet, phone, paper, and field enumeration. This is a
significant departure from the 2010 Census, which relied on paper for
virtually all data collection.
As required by law (Title 13, United States Code), the subjects
planned for the 2020 Census were submitted to Congress on March 29,
2017, and the questions planned for the 2020 Census were submitted to
Congress on March 29, 2018. The questions proposed for the 2020 Census
questionnaire in the March 29, 2018 submission included age,
citizenship, Hispanic origin, race, relationship, sex and tenure.
Should the government prevail in pending litigation regarding the
reinstatement of the citizenship question, the Census Bureau will
include the citizenship question on the 2020 Census questionnaire.
B. Language Services
The Language Services operation provides questionnaires and related
materials in non-English materials for respondents of Limited English
Proficiency. For the 2020 Census, the internet instrument and Census
Questionnaire Assistance will be available in Spanish, Chinese,
Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, Polish, French, Haitian
Creole, Portuguese, and Japanese, in addition to English. The bilingual
paper questionnaire, enumerator instrument, and field enumeration
materials will be available in Spanish. In addition, language guides
and language identification cards will be available in the following
languages: Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Bosnian,
Bulgarian, Burmese, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Farsi, French,
German, Gujarati, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong,
Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean,
Lao, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Marathi, Navajo, Nepali, Polish,
Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak,
Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya,
Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Yiddish, and Yoruba.
C. Address Canvassing
Address Canvassing, as described above, consists of two major
components: In-Office Address Canvassing and In-Field Address
Canvassing. In-Office Address Canvassing is the process of using
empirical geographic evidence (e.g., imagery, comparison of the Census
Bureau's address list to partner-provided lists) to assess the current
address list and make changes where necessary. This component detects
and captures areas of change from high-quality administrative records
and third-party data. Advancements in technology have enabled continual
address and spatial updates to occur throughout the decade as part of
the In-Office Address Canvassing effort.
Areas not resolved by In-Office Address Canvassing become the
universe of geographic areas worked during In-Field Address Canvassing.
Only the In-Field component of Address Canvassing involves in-person
collection of information from residents at their living quarters.
For In-Field Address Canvassing, an extract of addresses from the
MAF is created, and this address list is verified and updated in the
field, as needed. Updates can include adding units missing from the
address list and removing nonexistent or nonresidential units from the
list. In addition, living quarters are classified as housing units or
group quarters. Group quarters are living quarters where people who are
typically unrelated have group living arrangements and frequently are
receiving some type of service. College/university student housing and
nursing/skilled-nursing facilities are examples of group quarters.
The MAF also has geographic data for transitory locations, which
include recreational vehicle parks, campgrounds, racetracks, circuses,
carnivals, marinas, hotels, and motels. People residing at transitory
locations during the census are recorded as living
[[Page 3752]]
in housing units located at transitory locations.
During In-Field Address Canvassing, listers knock on doors at every
structure in the assignment in an attempt to locate living quarters and
classify each living quarter as a housing unit, group quarter, or
transitory location. If someone answers, the lister will provide a
Confidentiality Notice and ask about the address in order to verify or
update the information, as appropriate. The listers will then ask if
there are any additional living quarters in the structure or on the
property. If there are additional living quarters, the listers will
collect or update that information, as appropriate. In addition, there
will be a check on the quality of the address listing work on
approximately 10 percent of the address listing workload.
The results of Address Canvassing are processed with MAF/TIGER and
then used as input into the creation of the census address list for
enumeration. This address list in turn, is used in conjunction with the
TEA delineation to determine which materials should be printed for use
in the operation(s) designated for each area of the country.
D. Forms Printing and Distribution
The Forms Printing and Distribution operation prints and
distributes paper forms to support the 2020 Census mailing strategy and
enumeration of the population. The Forms Printing and Distribution
operation is responsible for the printing and distribution of mailed
internet invitations, reminder cards or letters, and questionnaire mail
packages where materials are mailed, in multiple languages as
determined by the Language Services operation. The letters, reminder
cards, and questionnaires are delivered according to the mailing
contact strategy, which is part of the internet Self-Response operation
(discussed below).
Every address record will be identified by an ID, which will be
printed on questionnaires and letters and used for tracking responses.
Paper questionnaires and responses from field operations will be linked
to the ID in data capture. Internet and telephone respondents will be
requested but not required to provide the ID. When an ID is not
provided, the response will be considered a Non-ID response. The Non-ID
operation is discussed below.
E. Internet Self-Response
The internet Self-Response (ISR) operation performs the following
functions:
Maximize online response to the 2020 Census through
contact strategies and improved access for respondents.
Collect response data via the internet to reduce paper and
the NRFU universe.
Contact Strategies for Mailing Materials
``Contact strategies for mailing materials'' refers to all attempts
by the Census Bureau to make direct contact with individual households
by mail. Types of contact strategies include invitation letters,
postcards, and questionnaires mailed to households.
A primary objective of the 2020 Census is for a majority of self-
respondents to complete their census questionnaire online. An approach
called ``internet First,'' in which the first mailing includes an
invitation to respond to the census online, has been developed for TEA
1 areas to encourage respondents to use the internet. Subsequent
mailings will be reminders to respond to the census online, until all
remaining nonresponding households in the internet First areas receive
a paper questionnaire in the fourth mailing. In TEA 1 areas with low
internet coverage or connectivity or other characteristics that may
make it less likely the respondents will complete the census
questionnaire online, the ``internet Choice'' contact strategy will be
designated for use instead. This strategy includes both an invitation
to complete the census online and a paper questionnaire as part of the
first mailing. The Census Bureau anticipates about 20 percent of the
households in the self-response TEA will receive the internet Choice
treatment.
In summary, the contact strategies for mailing materials including
mailing date are outlined in the table below:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN13FE19.011
Internet Self-Response Instrument
The internet application and all related support systems are
designed to handle the volume of responses that are expected to be
received by internet in the 2020 Census. It is imperative that the
application and systems service the scale of the operation in order to
ensure that users do not experience delays while completing the survey
or unavailability of the application. In addition, the internet
application and other associated systems were developed to adhere to
the highest standards of data security in order to ensure that all
respondent data are secure and confidential.
F. Census Questionnaire Assistance
The Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA) operation has three
primary functions:
Provide questionnaire assistance by answering questions
about specific items on the census questionnaire or other frequently
asked questions about the census.
[[Page 3753]]
Provide an option for respondents to complete a census
interview over the telephone.
Provide outbound calling in support of Coverage
Improvement (discussed in the NRFU section below).
Respondents using the internet instrument will have the ability to
contact CQA by telephone when web-based self-service help tools cannot
answer their questions. Each of the 13 supported languages, including
English, will have its own toll-free number for callers. Respondents
calling the English and Spanish language lines will initially be
presented with a self-service Interactive Voice Response system,
offering an assortment of automated responses to Frequently Asked
Questions. At any time, respondents may opt to transfer to a customer
service representative, who is prepared to further assist and enumerate
them. All callers who need assistance in other languages will be
connected directly to an appropriately skilled customer service
representative fluent in the language, based on the toll-free number
called.
G. Update Leave
The Update Leave (UL) operation is designed for areas where the
majority of housing units either do not have mail delivered to the
physical location of the housing unit or the mail delivery information
for the housing unit cannot be verified. Designated during TEA
delineation, UL can occur in geographic areas that:
Do not have city-style addresses.
Do not receive mail through city-style addresses.
Receive mail at post office boxes.
Have been affected by major disasters.
The purpose of the UL operation is to update the address and
feature data for the area assigned and to leave an internet Choice
questionnaire package at every housing unit identified to allow the
household to self-respond. Enumerators do not attempt to enumerate the
household in person at this point.
Occupants can respond online, using the ID printed on the
questionnaire, or they can fill out and mail back the paper
questionnaire. If they have questions or wish to respond on the
telephone, they can call the CQA number, which is provided in the
package.
The UL operation includes mailing a reminder letter and a reminder
postcard to addresses that are capable of receiving mail within the
areas designated for UL. These mailed materials include the ID for the
given address and the website address for the household to use in order
to respond online. As in TEA 1, where all materials are mailed to
housing units, any households that do not self-respond will be
contacted during the NRFU operation. Finally, the UL operation performs
a check on the quality of the address listing work (quality control
[QC]) on approximately 10 percent of the production workload.
H. Update Enumerate
The Update Enumerate (UE) operation is designated for areas where
the initial visit requires enumerating at the living quarters while
updating the address list. The majority of the operation will occur in
remote geographic areas that have unique challenges associated with
accessibility. UE can occur in the following geographic areas:
Remote Alaska.
Areas that were a part of the 2010 Census Remote UE
operation, such as northern parts of Maine and southeast Alaska.
Select American Indian areas that request to be enumerated
in person during the initial visit.
Note that the areas included in the 2010 Census Remote Update
Enumerate operation might be delineated into TEA 1 or TEA 6 for the
2020 Census, based on changes in address type or mailability.
In the UE operation, field staff update the address and feature
data and enumerate respondents in person. The address and feature data
are updated on paper address registers and paper maps. The enumeration
is collected on paper questionnaires. Field staff conducting UE follow
a specific contact strategy for the remote locations and conduct any
needed follow-up. The UE operation will promote the quality of the
address work and of the enumeration data by having staff work in pairs
and by supervisors reviewing all data collected for completion and any
anomalies. Supervisors will rework an area to collect geographic and/or
enumeration data when necessary to improve the quality of the collected
data. Rework is expected on no more than 10 percent of the total
workload of cases.
I. Non-ID Processing
For the 2020 Census, respondents will be encouraged, but not
required, to use the Census Bureau's preassigned ID for the living
quarters. Within the internet instrument, and, consequently, within
CQA, it will be possible for respondents to submit their census
response without the preassigned ID. Non-ID Processing is the effort to
associate census responses that lack a Census ID with records included
on the Census Bureau's 2020 Census address frame. This processing can
occur through automated or clerical procedures. With the ISR instrument
collecting the response and address data, it will be possible to
perform automated processing to determine whether the address was
already included on the address frame and extracted from the MAF. For
those Non-ID responses not matched during automated processing, a
clerical operation will make a further attempt to match the address to
the 2020 Census address frame and validate nonmatching addresses. Some
of the clerical work may require contacting the respondent to help
determine a match or to verify the existence and location of the
address; this is known as Non-ID Processing Phone Followup. Any
nonmatching address whose existence and location cannot be verified by
the clerical Non-ID operation will become a Field Verification
assignment, handled as a component of the NRFU operation. Notably,
Field Verification is only an address verification effort and does not
include collection of the census questionnaire data.
J. Nonresponse Followup
The NRFU operation serves two primary purposes:
Determines or resolves housing unit status for addresses
included in the NRFU workload.
Enumerates housing units that are determined to have a
housing unit status of occupied.
The NRFU workload is comprised of addresses from a number of
sources, including:
Nonresponding addresses in TEAs 1 and 6.
Blank mail returns or mail returns otherwise deemed to be
too incomplete.
Addresses considered to represent new or recently
completed housing. These addresses are identified by the spring 2020
USPS Delivery Sequence File and other special efforts undertaken to
identify new housing around the time of the census--New Construction
and Housing Unit Count Review; addresses upheld in the Local Update of
Census Addresses appeals process; and potentially other addresses
determined to require follow-up after the initial enumeration universe
is established.
Addresses with a vacant status (reported as 0 occupants)
from internet Self-Response.
Field Verification cases.
Coverage Improvement cases.
Self-Response Quality Assurance cases.
The 2020 Census NRFU operation will be different from the NRFU
operation conducted in the 2010
[[Page 3754]]
Census. The Census Bureau will implement a NRFU operational design that
utilizes a combination of the following:
Automation to facilitate data collection.
Administrative records and third-party data usage to
reduce the workload.
Reengineering of staffing and management of field
operations.
A best-time-to-contact model to increase the likelihood of
making contact attempts when an enumerator will find people at home.
After giving the population in the United States and Puerto Rico an
opportunity to self-respond to the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau will
use the most cost-effective strategy for contacting and counting people
to ensure an accurate count.
During the NRFU operation, enumerators will visit each housing unit
designated for follow-up and determine whether the unit exists and then
the occupancy status of the unit on April 1, 2020. If the unit exists,
they complete an interview using an automated application on a
smartphone. The devices will use a secure Census Bureau-provided
enumeration application solution for conducting the NRFU field data
collection. Enumeration data and workload updates will be transmitted
between the NRFU instruments and response processing systems on a
regular basis. Various techniques will be used during NRFU to make the
data collection as efficient as possible. The number of allowed
attempts to contact will be controlled within the automated instrument,
and best-time-to-contact modeling will be used in the creation of the
daily assignments. Every case in the NRFU workload will initially have
a maximum of six unique contact days. (During the Closeout phase of the
operation, cases may receive additional attempts, as necessary, to
resolve incomplete cases.) After a third attempt to contact a household
does not yield a respondent, a case will become proxy-eligible. A proxy
is a neighbor, landlord, real estate agent, or other knowledgeable
person who can provide information about the unit and the people who
live there. An enumerator should attempt three proxies after each
noninterview for a proxy-eligible case.
In addition to the initial in-person contact attempt, these
addresses will also receive a final mailing that encourages occupants
to self-respond to the 2020 Census. If the initial in-person contact
attempt is unsuccessful, the Census Bureau will use administrative
records for the unit status or as the household response data when it
has high-quality administrative records from trusted sources.
Undeliverable-As-Addressed information from the USPS will serve as the
primary administrative records source for the identification of vacant
addresses and addresses that do not exist. Examples of sources of
administrative records and third-party data used to enumerate occupied
housing units include IRS Individual Tax Returns, IRS Information
Returns, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Statistics Medicare
Enrollment Database. Addresses will also be removed from the workload
throughout the course of the NRFU operation as self-responses continue
to be received.
Early NRFU
Early NRFU occurs in areas where there are high concentrations of
college students living in off-campus housing who are unlikely to be
present during the scheduled dates for regular NRFU. The enumeration
procedures for early NRFU are the same as regular NRFU, but just
conducted at an earlier time to accommodate the schedules of select
colleges and universities. Any early NRFU addresses that are unresolved
by the start of NRFU will receive additional field attempts during
regular NRFU.
NRFU Reinterview
The NRFU Reinterview program will check the quality of the work
done by enumerators in NRFU. A sample of approximately 5 percent of
NRFU interviews will be selected for verification through NRFU
Reinterview. The NRFU Reinterview program involves conducting an
independent field reinterview for selected cases to verify that an
enumerator conducted the interview and followed procedures. The NRFU
Reinterview interviewer/enumerator always attempts to contact the
respondent from the original interview, which may be a household
member, neighbor, or some other proxy. If the original respondent
confirms that he/she was contacted and an enumerator conducted the
original interview, the NRFU Reinterview interviewer/enumerator
collects roster names and ends the interview. If the respondent was not
contacted or does not know if an enumerator conducted the original
interview, the NRFU Reinterview interviewer/enumerator conducts a full
interview with the respondent.
During the early weeks of NRFU, enumerators will conduct interviews
with multiunit structure managers to determine the occupancy status of
nonresponding units within the multiunit structure. This Manager Visit
(MV) allows enumerators to identify several units as vacant or delete
without having to attempt each unit individually. Enumerators have a
maximum of two unique contact days to complete the MV cases. The MV
Reinterview program will check the quality of work done by enumerators
during the MV and will target MVs with high numbers of vacant and
delete unit statuses. During the MV Reinterview, the enumerator will
ask to speak to the manager from the original MV interview. If the
respondent confirms that he/she was contacted and an enumerator
conducted the original interview, the MV RI enumerator asks about a
subset of the list checked during the MV. If the respondent was not
contacted or does not know if an enumerator conducted the original MV
interview, the MV Reinterview enumerator conducts a full interview and
asks about the entire list during the MV.
The NRFU universe also includes cases from Non-ID Processing that
were not able to be matched to the address frame. As discussed in the
Non-ID section, these are Field Verification (FV) cases, where the
enumerators attempt to locate the address in question and collect its
Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. A sample of the FV cases
is selected for verification through FV QC. Since FV cases only require
an enumerator to determine the existence of an address and will not
require an interview with a respondent, the FV QC program will consist
of an independent check of the production enumerators where the FV QC
enumerator will conduct the same procedures as the FV enumerator. FV
cases, along with their QC component, have a maximum of one field
contact day.
The Coverage Improvement operation resolves categories of erroneous
enumerations (people counted in the wrong place or counted more than
once) and omissions (people who were missed) identified through
collected enumeration data. The Coverage Improvement operation will
attempt to resolve these issues from both self-response and NRFU
responses. All cases that are selected for Coverage Improvement with a
valid phone number will be subject to an interview attempt by a CQA
Customer Service Representative. The workload identified for the
Coverage Improvement operation will be responses where a household
enumeration shows a difference between the answer for the number of
people within the household and the number of people enumerated, and
answers to coverage questions in the initial enumeration that reflect
potential
[[Page 3755]]
coverage errors. Automation and the internet self-response option
should reduce the prevalence of these types of respondent errors as
compared to the 2010 Census, which was completed almost entirely on
paper questionnaires.
Self-Response Quality Assurance cases are generated as part of the
quality assurance efforts for self-response. This re-collection of the
enumeration data will also be worked within NRFU.
K. Group Quarters
The 2020 Census Group Quarters (GQ) operation will enumerate people
living or staying in group quarters and will provide an opportunity for
people experiencing homelessness and receiving service at a service-
based location, such as a soup kitchen, to be counted in the census.
The 2020 Census GQ operation consists of the following components:
In-Office GQ Advance Contact.
GQ Enumeration.
Service-Based Enumeration.
Military Enumeration.
Maritime Vessel (Shipboard) Enumeration.
In-Office GQ Advance Contact
The In-Office GQ Advance Contact is an in-office activity conducted
in the area census offices. Preferred dates, times, methods of
enumeration, and expected population on Census Day will be collected.
Special instructions or concerns related to privacy, confidentiality,
and security will also be addressed.
GQ Enumeration
The GQ Enumeration will cover all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico. An additional late GQ enumeration phase
allows for the stakeholder identification and enumeration of group
quarters that may have been missed during the earlier time frame. The
primary method of conducting in-person enumeration of people residing
in group quarters will be by using the Individual Census Questionnaire
as the paper data collection instrument. In-person interviewing is
planned for all group quarter types that are part of the field
enumeration workload.
GQ Enumeration--eResponse Data Transfer
eResponse uses electronic data transfer from GQ administrators to
the Census Bureau. Client-level data from systems maintained by GQ
Administrators can be transferred to a standardized Census Bureau
system that will accept electronically submitted data in a standardized
template. These data will be accepted in lieu of use of the Individual
Census Questionnaire if data are deemed to be of sufficiently high
quality and completeness.
Service-Based Enumeration
The Service-Based Enumeration is specifically designed to approach
people using service facilities because they may be missed during the
traditional enumeration at housing units and group quarters. These
service locations and outdoor locations include the following:
Shelters: Shelters with sleeping facilities for people
experiencing homelessness; shelters for children who are runaways,
neglected, or experiencing homelessness.
Soup kitchens.
Regularly scheduled mobile food vans: Stops where
regularly scheduled mobile food vans distribute meals.
Targeted nonsheltered outdoor locations.
For the 2020 Census, the Service-Based Enumeration operation will
be conducted over the three-day period that ends on April 1, 2020,
Census Day. Service providers for shelters, soup kitchens, and
regularly scheduled mobile food vans will be given the flexibility for
their facility to be enumerated on any one of the three days. Targeted
nonsheltered outdoor locations will be enumerated April 1, 2020. Field
partnership specialists with local knowledge will help to identify
nonsheltered outdoor locations during the time of the census.
Domestic Violence Shelters
Domestic violence shelters are facilities for those seeking safety
from domestic violence. Domestic violence shelters are enumerated using
special procedures and specially trained personnel. These special
procedures include inviting members of the National Coalition Against
Domestic Violence state coalitions to participate in the 2020 Census
Group Quarters Update Program to create a comprehensive and current
address listing for domestic violence shelters. These special
procedures are designed to protect the safety and security of
respondents being enumerated at these locations.
Military Enumeration and Maritime Vessel Enumeration
Military Enumeration involves enumeration of people living in GQs
or barracks on stateside military installations or military vessels.
Military installations are fenced, secured areas used for military
purposes. An important feature of the military enumeration operation is
that it includes both group quarters and housing units. A military
vessel is defined as a United States Navy or United States Coast Guard
vessel assigned to a home port in the United States. See part Q for
methods we will use to count overseas military.
L. Paper Data Capture
The Paper Data Capture operation scans and converts data from 2020
Census paper questionnaires. Core sources for the Paper Data Capture
operation include housing unit self-response questionnaires mailed back
by respondents and Group Quarters Individual Census Reports. The Census
Bureau's in-house Integrated Computer Assisted Data Entry system is
used to capture paper responses from questionnaires. Each write-in and
checkbox data field is data-captured, and Optical Character Recognition
and Optical Mark Recognition are performed. If Key From Image is needed
for forms that cannot be processed through Optical Character
Recognition or Optical Mark Recognition, staff are presented the image
of the page and are able to clarify, correct, or add to what was
captured. The Census Bureau maintains the data, images of the forms,
and the paper forms themselves until confirmation that the data have
been correctly captured, at which point the paper forms are sent to
destruction while the data and images are retained. The Census Bureau
maintains the images for archiving purposes until such time as the
National Archiving and Records Administration takes possession of the
images for permanent archiving.
M. Response Processing
The Response Processing Operation (RPO) supports the three major
components of the 2020 Census: Pre-data collection activities, data
collection activities, and post-data collection activities.
Specifically, the operation supports the following activities:
Pre-data collection:
Create and distribute the initial 2020 Census enumeration
universe of living quarters.
Assign the specific enumeration strategy for each living
quarter based on case status and associated paradata.
Data collection:
Create and distribute workload files required for
enumeration operations.
Track case enumeration status.
Check for suspicious returns.
Post-data collection:
Run post-data collection processing actions in preparation
for producing the final 2020 Census results.
[[Page 3756]]
N. Redistricting Data Program
The purpose of the 2020 Census Redistricting Data Program (RDP) is
to provide to each state the legally required redistricting data
tabulations by the mandated deadline of one year from Census Day: April
1, 2021. In compliance with Public Law (P.L.) 94-171, the Census Bureau
will tabulate for each state the total population counts by race and
Hispanic origin. The Census Bureau will tabulate these counts for the
total population and for the population age 18 and over in a prototype
redistricting data file released as part of the 2018 End-to-End Census
Test. The Census Bureau intends to work with stakeholders, specifically
``the officers or public bodies having initial responsibility for the
legislative apportionment of each state,'' to solicit feedback on the
content of the prototype redistricting data file. If those stakeholders
indicate a need for tabulations of citizenship data on the 2020 Census
Public Law 94-171 Redistricting Data File, the Census Bureau will make
a design change to include citizenship as part of that data, if
collected. That new design would then be published in the Federal
Register after it is completed in the summer of 2019. The Census Bureau
will also tabulate housing unit counts by occupancy status (occupied or
vacant) and provide total population counts for group quarters by group
quarters type. For the prototype and for the 2020 Census Redistricting
Data Files, the Census Bureau will provide these tabulations for a
variety of standard census geographic areas including state, county,
place, tract, and tabulation block. If states provide their
congressional, legislative, and voting district boundaries through the
Redistricting Data Program, the Census Bureau will also provide the
tabulations for these areas. Tabulations by congressional, legislative,
and voting districts will be available for the 50 states; equivalent
tabulations will be available for the District of Columbia and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
This program has a separate OMB clearance number. There is more
detail about this program in Federal Register Notice ``Redistricting
Data Program,'' July 26, 2018, (Vol. 83, No. 144, pp. 35458-35460. FR
Doc No. 2018-15972).
O. Data Products and Dissemination
The Data Products and Dissemination (DPD) operation performs three
primary functions:
Prepare and deliver the 2020 Census apportionment data for
the President of the United States to provide to Congress by December
31, 2020.
Tabulate 2020 Census data products for use by the states
for redistricting.
Tabulate and disseminate 2020 Census data for use by the
public.
The DPD operation produces information required by Public Law to
satisfy apportionment and redistricting requirements. Title 13, U.S.
Code (U.S.C.) requires that the apportionment population counts be
delivered to the Office of the President within nine months of the
census date. Apportionment counts are based on the Census Unedited
File, the Federally Affiliated Overseas Personnel and Dependents Count
File, and a geographic file of state changes. For the 2020 Census, the
census date is April 1, 2020, and the President will receive the counts
by December 31, 2020.
The DPD operation is also responsible for the production and
dissemination of many data products, including national and state
summary files, tabulated informational files, and data comparison
tables. This includes electronic and printed products that cover
population and housing unit tabulations, geographical maps, and
products specific to the Island Areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).
The Center for Enterprise Dissemination Services and Consumer
Innovation initiative is responsible for developing enterprise
dissemination requirements. DPD is conducting a thorough review of the
past product design (cross-tabulations and iterations of
characteristics), while also looking to ensure that users can find data
after the 2020 Census quickly and easily. The Census Bureau will
undertake a thorough analysis of the proposed 2020 Census data products
in keeping with our sworn obligation to protect respondents' data as
data stewards under Title 13. Federal Register Notice ``Soliciting
Feedback from Users on 2020 Census Data Products,'' July 19, 2018 (Vol.
83, pp. 34111--34112, FR Doc No. 2018-15458) was published with a 60-
day comment period. It requested feedback from users on specific tables
and geographic detail for decennial census products such as Summary
File 1, Summary File 2, and the Demographic Profile. The last day to
provide comment on the notice was September 17, 2018. Subsequently,
this notice was reopened for an additional 30-day comment period on
October 9, 2018 (Vol. 83, p. 50636, FR Doc No. 2018-21837). The last
day to provide comments on this notice was November 8, 2018. The final
suite of 2020 Census data products will be determined in the summer of
2019.
P. Archiving
The Archiving (ARC) operation performs the following functions:
Coordinate storage of the materials and data and provides
records deemed permanent as the official data of the 2020 Census,
including files containing the individual responses to the 2020 Census,
to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Provide similar files to the Census Bureau's National
Processing Center in Indiana to use as source materials to conduct the
Age Search Service.
Store data to cover in-house needs.
Q. Federally Affiliated Count Overseas
The Federally Affiliated Count Overseas operation obtains counts by
home state of United States military and federal civilian employees who
are stationed or assigned overseas and their dependents living with
them. For the 2020 Census, overseas is defined as anywhere outside the
50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas:
American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and
the United States Virgin Islands. Counts are submitted from federal
agencies and the Department of Defense (Defense Manpower Data Command)
through a Census Bureau secure server and are used to allocate the
federally affiliated population living overseas to their home state for
the purposes of apportioning seats in the U.S. House of
Representatives. If military and federal civilian employees of the U.S.
government are deployed overseas while stationed or assigned within the
U.S., they are counted at their U.S. residence where they live or sleep
most of the time using administrative data provided by federal agencies
and the Department of Defense. See Section K for more info on how we
count stateside military personnel.
R. Island Areas Censuses
The purpose of the Island Areas Censuses (IAC) operation is to
enumerate all residents of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands;
process and tabulate the collected data; and disseminate data products
to the public. All data collection activities for the IAC will rely on
the use of paper questionnaires, paper maps, and paper address
registers to record the physical addresses of housing units and group
quarters. The IAC questionnaire will leverage the American Community
[[Page 3757]]
Survey questionnaire with minor wording changes in order to take into
account the Island Areas local governments' concerns, where possible.
Enumerators will list the addresses using paper address registers.
Once the addresses have been listed, enumerators will visit every
living quarter to conduct interviews with household members and follow
up as necessary. The IAC will perform a clerical review of all
completed questionnaires for completeness and data consistency, a
reinterview for a sample of questionnaires, and an independent address
check. The response data will be processed through the Decennial
Response Processing System. Data products will include counts of the
population and housing units, data profiles, subject tables, ranking
tables, and supplemental tables.
S. Evaluations and Experiments
The Census Bureau is not currently planning a separate package for
the Evaluations and Experiments program, as has been done in past
censuses. For the 2020 Census, these evaluations and experiments will
be described either as Substantive Changes to this package, to the
Census Bureau's Post-Enumeration Survey Independent Listing and QC OMB
package, or within the Generic Clearance for Decennial Census Field
Tests and Evaluations, covered under OMB approval 0607-0971.
Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
Frequency: Once every 10 years.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Section 141.
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, identified by Docket number OMB-2018-0004, may be submitted
to the Federal e-Rulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov within
30 days of publication of this notice. You may also submit comments and
recommendations to [email protected] or fax to (202)
395-5806. All comments received are part of the public record and will
be posted to http://www.regulations.gov for public viewing. Comments
will generally be posted without change. All Personally Identifiable
Information (for example, name and address) voluntarily submitted by
the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential
business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
You may submit attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word,
Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer,
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2019-02223 Filed 2-12-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P