[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 47 (Monday, March 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8667-8668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04304]


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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: Survey of State Government Research and Development.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0933.
    Form Number(s): Survey Frame Review Module; SRD-1 State Agency 
Form.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 604.
    Average Hours per Response: 1 hour and 45 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 1,056.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is requesting clearance to 
conduct the Survey of State Government Research and Development (SGRD) 
for the 2019-2021 survey years. The Census Bureau conducts this survey 
on behalf of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Center 
for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). The NSF Act of 1950 
includes a statutory charge to ``provide a central clearinghouse for 
the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data on scientific and 
engineering resources and to provide a source of information for policy 
formulation by other agencies in the Federal Government.'' Under the 
aegis of this legislative mandate, NCSES and its predecessors have 
sponsored surveys of research and development (R&D) since 1953, 
including the SGRD since 2006. This survey has helped to expand the 
scope of R&D collections to include state governments, where previously 
there had been no regularly established collection efforts, and thus a 
gap in the national portfolio of R&D statistics.
    NCSES sponsors surveys of R&D activities of Federal agencies, 
higher education institutions, and private industries. The results of 
these surveys provide a consistent information base for both federal 
and state government officials, industry professionals, and researchers 
to use in formulating public policy and planning in science and 
technology. These surveys allow for the analysis of current and 
historical trends of R&D in the U.S. and in international comparisons 
of R&D with other countries. The data collected from the SGRD fills a 
void that previously existed

[[Page 8668]]

for collection of R&D activities. Although NCSES conducted periodic 
data collections of state government R&D in 1995, 1988 and 1987, more 
frequent collection was necessary to account for the changing dynamic 
of state governments' role in performing and funding R&D and their role 
as fiduciary intermediaries of federal funds for R&D. The survey is a 
census of state government departments, agencies, commissions, public 
authorities, and other dependent entities as defined by the Census 
Bureau's Census of Governments program, that performed or funded R&D 
activities in a given fiscal year.
    The Census Bureau, serving as collection agent, employs a 
methodology similar to the one used to collect information from state 
and local governments on other established censuses and surveys. This 
methodology involves identifying a central coordinator in each state 
who will assist Census Bureau staff in identifying appropriate state 
agencies to be surveyed. Since not all state agencies have the budget 
authority or operational capacity to perform or fund R&D, NCSES and 
Census Bureau staffs have identified those agencies most likely to 
perform or fund R&D based on state session laws, authorizing 
legislation, budget authority, previous R&D activities, and reports 
issued by state government agencies. The state coordinators, based on 
their knowledge of the state government's own activities and 
priorities, are asked to confirm which of the selected agencies 
identified should be sent the survey for a given fiscal year or to add 
additional agencies to the survey frame. These state coordinators also 
verify the final responses at the end of the data collection cycle and 
may assist with nonresponse follow-up with individual state agencies. 
The collection approach using a central state coordinator is used 
successfully at the Census Bureau in surveys of local school districts, 
as well as the annual surveys of state and local government finance.
    The FY 2019 survey will follow the same content that was collected 
during the FYs 2016-2018 survey cycles.
    Final survey results produced by NCSES contain state and national 
estimates and are useful to a variety of data users interested in R&D 
performance, including: The National Science Board; the OMB; the Office 
of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and other science policy 
makers; institutional researchers; and private organizations; and many 
state governments.
    Legislators, policy officials, and researchers rely on statistics 
to make informed decisions about R&D investment at the Federal, state, 
and local level. These statistics are derived from the existing NCSES 
sponsored surveys of Federal agencies, higher education institutions, 
and private industry. The total picture of R&D expenditures, however, 
had been incomplete due to the lack of data from state governments 
prior to this implementation of the SGRD in 2006, which now fills that 
void.
    State government officials and policy makers garner the most 
benefit from the results of this survey. Governors and legislatures 
need a reliable, comprehensive source of data to help in evaluating how 
best to attract the high-tech R&D industries to their state. Officials 
are able to evaluate their investment in R&D based on comparisons with 
other states. These comparisons include the sources of funding, the 
type of R&D being conducted, and the type of R&D performer.
    State governments serve a unique role within the national portfolio 
of R&D. Not only are they both performers and funders of R&D like other 
sectors such as the Federal Government, higher education, or industry, 
but they also serve as fiduciary intermediaries between the Federal 
Government and other R&D performers while also providing state specific 
funds for R&D. The information collected from the SGRD provides data 
users with perspective on this complex flow of funds. Survey results 
are used at the Federal level to assess and direct investment in 
technology and economic issues. Congressional committees and the 
Congressional Research Service use results of the R&D surveys. The BEA 
uses these data to estimate the contribution of state agency-funded R&D 
to the overall impact of treating R&D as an investment in BEA's 
statistics of gross domestic product by state-area.
    NSF also uses data from this survey in various publications 
produced about the state of R&D in the U.S. The Science and Engineering 
Indicators, for example, is a biennial report mandated by Congress and 
describes quantitatively the condition of the country's R&D efforts and 
includes data from the SGRD. Survey results are also included in the 
National Patterns of Research and Development report's tabulations.
    The availability of state R&D survey results are posted to NSF's 
web page allowing for public access from a variety of other data users 
as well. Media, university researchers, nonprofit organizations, and 
foreign government officials are also consumers of state R&D 
statistics. All users are able to utilize this information in an 
attempt to better understand the Nation's R&D resources.
    Affected Public: State, local or tribal government.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: This survey is conducted under the authority of 
the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, the America 
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, and collected under Title 13, 
United States Code, Section 8(b).
    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.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2019-04304 Filed 3-8-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P