[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 134 (Monday, July 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41948-41949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13522]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Expenditures Incurred by Recipients of Biomedical Research and 
Development Awards From the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on April 20, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Commerce.
    Title: Expenditures Incurred by Recipients of Biomedical Research 
and Development Awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
    OMB Control Number: 0608-0069.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, extension of a current 
information collection.
    Number of Respondents: 150.
    Average Hours per Response: 16 hours is the average but may vary 
among respondents because of differences in institution structure, 
size, and complexity.
    Burden Hours: 2,400 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The survey obtains the distribution of expenditures 
incurred by recipients of biomedical research awards from the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH) and will provide information on how the NIH 
award amounts are expended across several major categories. This 
information, along with wage and price data from other published 
sources, will be used to generate the Biomedical Research and 
Development Price Index (BRDPI). The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) 
of the Department of Commerce develops this index for NIH under a 
reimbursable contract. The BRDPI is an index of prices paid for the 
labor, supplies, equipment, and other inputs required to perform the 
biomedical research the NIH supports in its intramural laboratories and 
through its awards to extramural organizations. The BRDPI is a vital 
tool for planning the NIH research budget and analyzing future NIH 
programs. A survey of award recipients is currently the only means for 
updating the expenditure category weights that are used to prepare the 
BRDPI.
    A survey questionnaire with a cover letter that includes a brief 
description of, and rationale for, the survey will be sent to potential 
respondents by August 2020, 2021, and 2022. A report of the 
respondent's expenditures of the NIH award amounts following the 
proposed format for expenditure categories attached to the survey's 
cover letter, will be requested to be returned no later than December 
8, which in most years will be approximately 120 days after mailing. 
Survey respondents will be selected based on award levels, which 
determine the weight of the respondent in the biomedical research and 
development price index. BEA proposes to survey 150 organizations that 
receive NIH biomedical research awards. This will include the top 100 
organizations in total awards received; 40 additional organizations 
that are not primarily in the ``Research and Development (R&D) 
contracts'' category; and 10 additional organizations that are 
primarily in the ``R&D contracts'' category. Based on awards data for 
FY 2019 by type of organization, the top 100 organizations received 
$20.8 billion in awards (approximately 77 percent of total awards); the 
remaining awards-receiving organizations received $6.1 billion.
    Affected Public: Universities or other organizations that are NIH 
award recipients.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: 45 CFR 75.302, 75.308, 75.361, and 75.364.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the

[[Page 41949]]

publication of this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by 
selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' 
or by using the search function and entering either the title of the 
collection or the OMB Control Number 0608-0069.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-13522 Filed 7-10-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P