[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 66 (Friday, April 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13629-13631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06651]


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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: American Community Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0810.
    Form Number(s): ACS-1, ACS-1(SP), ACS-1(PR), ACS-1(PR)SP, ACS-
1(GQ), ACS-1(PR)(GQ), GQFQ, ACS CAPI (HU), ACS RI (HU), and AGQ QI, AGQ 
RI.
    Type of Request: Regular Submission.
    Number of Respondents: 3,760,000 for the initial interview and 
45,200 for reinterview.
    Average Hours per Response: 40 minutes for the average household 
questionnaire.
    Burden Hours: The estimate is an annual average of 2,455,868 burden 
hours. The table below provides the calculation for this estimate.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                              Estimated
                                                                                             minutes per
                                       Forms or instrument used   Annual estimated number   respondent by
      Data collection operation           in data collection          of respondents            data               Annual estimated burden hours
                                                                                             collection
                                                                                              activity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. ACS Household Questionnaire--Paper  ACS-1, ACS-1(SP), ACS-    3,540,000...............              40  2,360,000.
 Mailout/Mailback.                      1PR, ACS-1PR(SP).
ACS Household CAPI--Personal Visit     CAPI HU.................  [698,000 included in I.]            [40]  [466,000 included in I.]
 Non-response Follow-up.
ACS Household internet...............  Internet HU.............  [712,000 included in I.]            [40]  [475,000 included in I.]

[[Page 13630]]

 
II. ACS GQ Facility Questionnaire      CAPI GQFQ...............  20,000..................              15  5,000.
 CAPI--Telephone and Personal Visit.
III. ACS GQ CAPI Personal Interview    CAPI, ACS-1(GQ), ACS-     200,000.................              25  83,333.
 or Telephone, and--Paper Self-         1(GQ)(PR).
 response.
IV. ACS Household Reinterview--CATI/   ACS HU-RI...............  43,200..................              10  7,200.
 CAPI.
V. ACS GQ GQ-level Reinterview--CATI/  ACS GQ-RI...............  2,000...................              10  335.
 CAPI.
                                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals...........................  ........................  3,805,200...............             N/A  2,455,868.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests authorization from 
the OMB for revisions to the American Community Survey (ACS).
    The ACS is one of the Department of Commerce's most valuable data 
products, used extensively by businesses, nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs), local governments, and many federal agencies. In conducting 
this survey, the Census Bureau's top priority is respecting the time 
and privacy of the people providing information while preserving its 
value to the public.
    In 2020, the ACS will adopt the final version of the race and 
Hispanic origin questions that will be implemented for the 2020 Census. 
This change will make the ACS consistent with 2020 Census data on this 
topic. The ACS will also change the instruction for reporting babies' 
ages to match the 2020 Census. Ongoing research suggests the 
instructions for reporting infants creates challenges for some 
respondents. Cognitive testing demonstrated the wording for the age 
instruction is unclear and confusing to respondents. Details about all 
of the questions planned for the 2020 Census and the American Community 
Survey are available at https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/dec/planned-questions-2020-acs.html.
    The ACS self-response rates in 2010, a decennial census year, were 
higher than usual in the first few months of the year but were lower 
than usual in the spring and summer months, when the 2010 Census was 
underway. The increased self-response rates early in the year were 
attributed to decennial census communications, while the decreased 
rates later in the year were attributed to respondent confusion, as 
respondents had already filled out their decennial census form and did 
not understand that the ACS was a separate data collection. Prior 
research suggests that during a decennial census year, ACS mail 
materials such as envelopes and letters should be revised to 
distinguish the ACS from the census. For the 2020 ACS data collection 
year, the Census Bureau plans to modify the mail package contents, 
field representative flyers, scripts for the Interactive Voice 
Recognition system, and frequently asked questions to better 
communicate to respondents that the ACS is a separate data collection 
from the 2020 Census and that respondents selected for the ACS should 
complete both the ACS and the 2020 Census.
    As a result of the 2018 Mail Materials Test, the Census Bureau 
plans to implement new mail materials designed to better emphasize the 
benefits of survey participation. Included in the changes are the use 
of updated logos on the envelopes and letters to identify the mail more 
clearly as coming from the Census Bureau and the addition of ``Open 
Immediately'' on some of the envelopes. Additionally, bold lettering 
and boxes (callout boxes) are used to highlight elements of the 
materials to capture the attention of busy respondents who may not read 
the entire letter. The mandatory nature of the survey is highlighted by 
using bold text and isolating sentences about being mandatory in the 
materials. Some materials, such as the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 
brochure are excluded from the mailings to simplify the materials and 
focus the attention of the respondent to what they need to do. Content 
from the FAQ brochure is included on the back of the letters. This 
information is new since the publication of the 60-day Federal Register 
Notice, Doc. 2018-22443, Volume 83, pages 52189-52190 on October 16, 
2018.
    To encourage self-response in the ACS, the Census Bureau sends up 
to five mailings to an address selected to be in the sample. The first 
mailing, sent to all mailable addresses in the sample, includes an 
invitation to participate in the ACS online and states that a paper 
questionnaire will be sent in a few weeks to those unable to respond 
online. Subsequent mailings serve as a reminder to respond to the 
survey, with a paper questionnaire included in the third mailing for 
those households that prefer to respond by mailing back the 
questionnaire. The Census Bureau may ask those who begin filling out 
the survey online to provide an email address, which would be used to 
send an email reminder to households that did not complete the online 
form. The reminder asks them to log back in to finish responding to the 
survey.
    Some addresses are deemed unmailable because the address is 
incomplete or directs mail only to a post office box. The Census Bureau 
currently collects data for these housing units using Computer-Assisted 
Personal Interviewing. The Census Bureau plans to make the ACS online 
survey available to all housing units in the 50 states and the District 
of Columbia, including those with unmailable addresses. Residents in 
housing units with unmailable addresses will still be contacted by 
Census Bureau field representatives, but they will now be given the 
option to complete the survey online or by personal interview.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: Response to the ACS is on a one-time basis.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141, 193, 
and 221.
    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

[[Page 13631]]

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. 2019-06651 Filed 4-4-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P