[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54586-54587]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22124]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Questionnaire 
for Building Permit Official

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before December 9, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Thomas Smith, PRA Liaison, 
U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Room 7K250A, Washington, DC 
20233 (or via the internet at [email protected]). You may also submit 
comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2019-0011, to the Federal e-
Rulemaking Portal: http://

[[Page 54587]]

www.regulations.gov. All comments received are part of the public 
record. No comments will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov for 
public viewing until after the comment period has closed. 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, or Adobe PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to William Abriatis, U.S. Census Bureau, EID, CENHQ, 
Room 7K181, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Washington, DC 20233, telephone 
(301) 763-3686 (or via the internet at [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The U.S. Census Bureau plans to request a three-year extension of 
the current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of the 
Questionnaire for Building Permit Official (SOC-QBPO). The Census 
Bureau uses the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) 
electronic questionnaire SOC-QBPO to collect information from state and 
local building permit officials on: (1) The types of residential 
permits they issue, (2) the length of time a permit is valid, (3) how 
they store permits, and (4) the geographic coverage of the permit 
system. We need this information to carry out the sampling for the 
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (OMB number 0607-
0110), also known as Survey of Construction (SOC). The SOC provides 
widely used measures of construction activity, including the Principal 
Economic Indicators New Residential Construction and New Residential 
Sales.
    The current OMB clearance is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2020. 
We will continue to use the current CAPI questionnaire. The overall 
length of the interview and the sample size will not change.

II. Method of Collection

    The Census Bureau uses its field representatives to obtain 
information on the operating procedures of a permit office using the 
SOC-QBPO. The field representative visits the permit office, conducts 
the interview with office staff, and completes this electronic form.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0125.
    Form Number(s): SOC-QBPO.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: State and local Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,017.
    Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 254 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0 (This is not the cost of 
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for 
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to 
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services 
required specifically by the collection.)
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section 131 and 182.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2019-22124 Filed 10-9-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P