[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 172 (Thursday, September 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54980-54981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19477]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites 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. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the 
proposed extension of the Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and 
Completions, prior to the submission of the information collection 
request (ICR) to OMB for approval.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before November 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference Survey of Housing 
Starts, Sales, and Completions in the subject line of your comments. 
You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2020-
0021, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://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 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
William Abriatis, U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, 
(301) 763-3686, or [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 
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales and Completions, also known as the 
Survey of Construction (SOC). The SOC collects monthly data on new 
residential construction from a sample of owners or builders. The 
Census Bureau uses the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) 
electronic questionnaires SOC-QI/SF.1 and SOC-QI/MF.1 to collect data 
on start and completion dates of construction, physical characteristics 
of the structure (floor area, number of bathrooms, type of heating 
system, etc), and if

[[Page 54981]]

applicable, date of sale, sales price, and type of financing. The SOC 
provides widely used measures of construction activity, including the 
economic indicators Housing Starts and Housing Completions, which are 
from the New Residential Construction series, and New Residential 
Sales. The current clearance for this survey is scheduled to expire on 
April 30, 2021.
    We sample about 1,800 new buildings each month (21,600 per year). 
We inquire about the progress of each building multiple times until it 
is completed (and a sales contract is signed, if it is a single-family 
house that is built for sale). For single-family buildings, we conduct 
an average of 8 interviews and for multifamily buildings, we conduct an 
average of 6 interviews. The total number of interviews conducted in 
2019 for single-family buildings is about 109,900 and for multifamily 
buildings is about 48,300. Each interview takes 5 minutes on average. 
Therefore, the total annual burden is 13,183 hours.

II. Method of Collection

    The Census Bureau uses its field representatives to collect the 
data. The field representatives conduct interviews to obtain data.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0110.
    Form Number(s): SOC-QI.SF.1 and SOC-QI/MF.1.
    Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for an Extension, 
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 21,600.
    Estimated Time per Response: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 13,183.
    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

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-19477 Filed 9-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P