[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10147-10148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03457]


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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: Annual Business Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-1004.
    Form Number(s): ABS-L1--Initial Letter; ABS-L1R--Due Date Reminder; 
ABS-L2--1st Follow-up; ABS-L3--2nd Follow-up; ABS-L3F--3rd Follow-up; 
ABS-1 Worksheet.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 300,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 52 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 260,000.
    Needs and Uses: In an effort to improve the measurement of business 
dynamics in the United States, the Census Bureau is conducting the 
Annual Business Survey (ABS). The ABS combines Census Bureau firm-level 
collections to reduce respondent burden, increase data quality, reduce 
operational costs, and operate more efficiently. The ABS replaced the 
five-year Survey of Business Owners (SBO) for employer businesses, the 
Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE), and the Business Research and 
Development (R&D) and Innovation for Microbusinesses (BRDI-M) surveys. 
The ABS provide information on selected economic and demographic 
characteristics for businesses and business owners by sex, ethnicity, 
race, and veteran status. Further, the survey measures research and 
development for microbusinesses, new business topics such as innovation 
and technology, as well as other business characteristics. The ABS is 
sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics 
(NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and conducted by 
the Census Bureau for five years (2018-2022).
    The ABS includes all nonfarm employer businesses filing Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms as individual proprietorships, 
partnerships, or any other type of corporation, with receipts of $1,000 
or more. The ABS sampled approximately 850,000 employer businesses for 
survey year 2018. Starting with survey year 2019, the sample was 
reduced to approximately 300,000 employer businesses annually (survey 
years 2019-2022) to reduce the burden on the respondents. The sample 
size should yield summary-level estimates for women-, minority-, and 
veteran-owned businesses at the 2-digit NAICS, U.S., state and 
metropolitan statistical area (MSA) levels. The Census Bureau uses 
administrative data to estimate the probability that a firm is 
minority- or women-owned. Each firm is then placed in one of nine 
frames for sampling. The sampling frames are as follows: American 
Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic, 
Non-Hispanic White Men, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 
Other, Publicly Owned, and Women. The sample is stratified by state, 
industry, and frame. The Census Bureau selects some companies with 
certainty based on volume of sales, payroll, and number of paid 
employees or NAICS. All certainty cases are sure to be selected and 
represent only themselves.
    The ABS is designed to incorporate new content each survey year 
based on topics of relevance. Each year the new module of questions is 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. 
The table below shows the proposed ABS content for each survey year.

                                                     Proposed Content for the Annual Business Survey
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       Collection year
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Topic modules                      2018                    2019                    2020                   2021                   2022
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Owner Characteristics...........  Full..................  Reduced...............  Reduced..............  Full.................  Reduced.
B. Innovation......................  Full..................  Reduced...............  Full.................
C. Research & Development (1-9       Full..................  Full..................  Full.................  Full.................  Full.
 employees only).

[[Page 10148]]

 
D. Technology and Intellectual       Reduced (digital).....  Full (automation).....  Full (technology TBD)  Full (digital).......  Full (automation).
 Property.
E. Financing.......................  Full..................  ......................  .....................  Full.................
F. Globalization...................  ......................  ......................  Full.................
G. Business Structure..............  Full..................  Full..................  Full.................  Full.................  Full.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The ABS primary collection method is via an electronic instrument. 
Those selected for the survey receive an initial letter informing the 
respondents of their requirement to complete the survey as well as 
instructions on accessing the survey. The 2020 ABS initial mailing is 
scheduled for July 2020. Responses will be due approximately 30 days 
from initial mailing. Respondents will also receive a due date reminder 
approximately one week before responses are due. The Census Bureau 
plans to conduct two follow-up mailings and an optional third follow-up 
if deemed necessary based on check-in. Nonrespondents may receive a 
certified mailing for the second and third follow-up mailings. The 
Census Bureau may also plan to conduct an email follow-up to select 
nonrespondents reminding them to submit their report in the electronic 
instrument. The optional third follow-up may include a paper 
questionnaire to assist with collecting data from select 
nonrespondents. Closeout of mail operations is scheduled for December 
2020 but may be extended to allow ample time to receive returned forms 
if necessary. Response data will be processed as they are received. 
Upon the close of the collection period, data processing will continue, 
and records will be edited, reviewed, tabulated, and released publicly.
    The ABS uses the collection year in the survey name rather than a 
single reference year. The ABS include questions from multiple 
reference periods; therefore, the 2019 survey data is referred to as 
the 2020 ABS (rather than the 2019 ABS).
    Statistics from the ABS will be used by government program 
officials, industry organization leaders, economic and social analysts, 
business entrepreneurs, and domestic and foreign researchers in 
academia, business, and government. Estimates produced on owner 
demographic data may be used to assess business assistance needs, 
allocate available program resources, and create a framework for 
planning, directing, and assessing programs that promote the activities 
of disadvantaged groups; to assess minority-owned businesses by 
industry and area and to educate industry associations, corporations, 
and government entities; to analyze business operations in comparison 
to similar firms, compute market share, and assess business growth and 
future prospects. Estimates produced on research and development and 
innovation may be used to compare R&D costs across industries, 
determine where R&D activity is conducted geographically, and identify 
the types of businesses with R&D to contribute to the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BEA) system of national accounts; to increase 
investments in research and development, strengthen education, and 
encourage entrepreneurship; and to compare business innovation in the 
United States to other countries, including those in the European 
Union.
    Additional examples of data use include:
     The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Minority 
Business Development Agency (MBDA) to assess business assistance needs 
and allocate available program resources.
     Local government commissions on small and disadvantaged 
businesses to establish and evaluate contract procurement practices.
     Federal, state and local government agencies as a 
framework for planning, directing and assessing programs that promote 
the activities of disadvantaged groups.
     The National Women's Business Council to assess the state 
of women's business ownership for policymakers, researchers, and the 
public at large.
     Consultants and researchers to analyze long-term economic 
and demographic shifts, and differences in ownership and performance 
among geographic areas.
     Individual business owners to analyze their operations in 
comparison to similar firms, compute their market share, and assess 
their growth and future prospects.
    New questions on the 2020 ABS collect data on globalization and the 
relationship between domestic and foreign activities.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 8(b), 131, 
and 182; Title 42, United States Code, Section 1861-76 (National 
Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended); and Section 505 within the 
America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 authorize this collection. 
Sections 224 and 225 of Title 13, United States Code, require response 
from sampled firms.
    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,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-03457 Filed 2-20-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P