[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60960-60962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21424]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Small Business Pulse Survey

    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 May 19, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Small Business Pulse Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-1014.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular Submission, Request for a Revision of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 738,000 (We anticipate receiving 20,500 
responses per week for up to 36 weeks of collection each year).
    Average Hours per Response: 6 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 73,920 (73,800 + 120 hours for cognitive testing).
    Needs and Uses: On April 22, 2020, the Office of Management and 
Budget authorized clearance of an emergency

[[Page 60961]]

Information Collection Request (ICR) to the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau to conduct the Small Business Pulse 
Survey. The emergency clearance enabled the Census Bureau to collect 
urgently needed data on the experiences of American small businesses as 
the coronavirus pandemic prompted business and school closures and 
widespread stay-at-home orders.
    The emergency clearance for the Small Business Pulse Survey will 
expire on October 31, 2020. In anticipation of a continuing need for 
Small Business Pulse Survey data, the Census Bureau is putting forward 
this request through normal (non-emergency) clearance channels for the 
purposes of continuing the survey beyond the emergency clearance 
expiration.
    The continuation of the Small Business Pulse Survey is responsive 
to stakeholder requests for high frequency data that measure the effect 
of changing business conditions during the Coronavirus pandemic on 
small businesses. While the ongoing monthly and quarterly economic 
indicator programs provide estimates of dollar volume outputs for 
employer businesses of all size, the Small Business Pulse Survey 
captures the effects of the pandemic on operations and finances of 
small, single location employer businesses. As the pandemic continues, 
the Census Bureau is best poised to collect this information from a 
large and diverse sample of small businesses.
    It is hard to know a priori when a shock will result in economic 
activity changing at a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly frequency. Early 
in the pandemic, federal, state, and local policies were moving quickly 
so it made sense to have a weekly collection. The problem is that while 
we are in the moment, we cannot accurately forecast the likelihood of 
policy action. In addition, we are not able to forecast a change in the 
underlying cause of policy actions: The effect of the Coronavirus 
pandemic on the economy. We cannot predict changes in the severity of 
the pandemic (e.g., will it worsen in flu season?) nor future 
developments that will alleviate the pandemic (e.g., vaccines or 
treatments). In a period of such high uncertainty, the impossibility of 
forecasting these inflection points underscore the benefits of having a 
weekly survey. For these reasons, the Census Bureau will proceed with a 
weekly collection.
    For the purposes of referencing prior ICRs, we refer to the initial 
approval by OMB to conduct the Small Business Pulse Survey as ``Phase 
1'' (April-June 2020), and the second approved clearance as ``Phase 2'' 
(August-October, 2020). This ICR requests regular (non-emergency) 
approval to conduct ``Phase 3'', starting November 2020.
    Phase 1 of the Small Business Pulse Survey was launched on April 
26, 2020 as an effort to produce and disseminate high-frequency, 
geographic- and industry-detailed experimental data about the economic 
conditions of small businesses as they experience the coronavirus 
pandemic. It is a rapid response endeavor that leverages the resources 
of the federal statistical system to address emergent data needs. Given 
the rapidly changing dynamics of this situation for American small 
businesses, the Small Business Pulse Survey has been successful in 
meeting an acute need for information on changes in revenues, business 
closings, employment and hours worked, disruptions to supply chains, 
and expectations for future operations. In addition, the Small Business 
Pulse Survey provided important estimates of federal program uptake to 
key survey stakeholders.
    In Phase 1, the Census Bureau worked in collaboration with the 
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 
Federal Reserve Board (FRB), International Trade Administration (ITA), 
Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), and the Small Business 
Administration (SBA) to develop questionnaire content. Subsequently, 
the Census Bureau was approached by the Bureau of Transportation 
Statistics (BTS), National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration (NTIA), and the Office of Tax Analysis (OTA) with 
requests to include additional content to the Small Business Pulse 
Survey for Phase 2. Understanding that information needs are changing 
as the pandemic continues, the Census Bureau proposed a revised 
questionnaire to ensure that the data collected continue to be relevant 
and broadly useful. Also in Phase 2, the Census Bureau refined its 
strategies for contacting businesses in a clear and effective manner 
while motivating their continued participation.
    Anticipating that businesses will continue to be affected by the 
pandemic, and as new developments are expected later this year and into 
2021 (including the continuation of government assistance programs that 
target small businesses; policy shifts including the loosening or 
tightening of restrictions on businesses or customers; changing weather 
or seasons on businesses that rely on serving customers outdoors; and 
new research, vaccines, and/or medications or treatments for the 
coronavirus), the Census Bureau will move forward with a Phase 3 as 
proposed in this ICR. The questionnaire used in Phase 2 will continue 
to be used in this next phase. Acknowledging that circumstances may 
evolve and information needs on specific topics may intensify, change 
or diminish over time, the Census Bureau may propose revisions to the 
questionnaire via the Non-Substantive Change process. These plans also 
will be made available for public comment through notice in the Federal 
Register.
    Phase 3 of the Small Business Pulse Survey will continue in 
cooperation with other federal agencies to produce near real-time 
experimental data to understand how changes due to the response to the 
COVID-19 pandemic are affecting American small businesses and the U.S. 
economy.
    The Phase 3 survey will carry forward questionnaire content from 
Phase 2. Content has been provided by the Census Bureau, SBA, FRB, 
MBDA, OTA, BTS, NTIA, and ITA. Domains include business closings, 
changes in employment and hours, disruptions to supply chain, changes 
in capacity, finances, and expectations for future operations.
    The historical circumstances of the pandemic and uncertainty about 
how it may or may not continue to affect businesses over the period of 
Phase 3 drives the need for flexibility in Phase 3 of the SBPS. If 
required, the Census Bureau would seek approval from OMB through the 
Non-Substantive Change Review Process to revise, remove or add 
questionnaire content during this phase to remain relevant in guiding 
the nation's response and recovery.
    All results from the Small Business Pulse Survey will continue to 
be disseminated as U.S. Census Bureau Experimental Data Products 
(https://portal.census.gov/pulse/data/). This and additional 
information on the Small Business Pulse Survey are available to the 
public on census.gov.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Small business will be selected once to participate in a 
6-minute survey.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 and 182.
    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 publication of 
this notice on the

[[Page 60962]]

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 
0607-1014.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-21424 Filed 9-28-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P