[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30409-30410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11930]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; 
Small- and Medium-Sized Business Complex Event COVID-19 Survey (Wave 3)

    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 January 19, 2021 (86 FR 5140) during a 60-day 
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments.
    Agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
    Title: Small and Medium Sized Business Complex Event COVID-19 
Survey (Wave 3).
    OMB Control Number: 0693-XXXX.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular.
    Number of Respondents: 1,800.
    Average Hours per Response: 15 minutes to 45 minutes.
    Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes per structured survey 
(n=1,800); additional 45 minutes for the semi-structured survey add-on 
(n=300).
    Burden Hours: 675 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 15 min. x 1,800 = 27,000; 45 
min. x 300 = 13,500; Total = 40,500 min. = 675 hours.
    Needs and Uses: In May 2020, researchers at NIST launched a

[[Page 30410]]

longitudinal effort to assess Complex Event Resilience of Small- and 
Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This 
effort was approved by the NIST Office of the Associate Director for 
Laboratory Programs, providing time for this work to be conducted.
    As COVID-19 conditions persist, populations around the U.S. and the 
world have and will continue to experience heat waves, floods, 
hurricanes, fire, and drought during the period of virus transmission 
and into the period of recovery (e.g., Phillips et al., 2020). There 
were 22 $1 billion extreme weather events in 2020. SMEs in areas 
vulnerable to natural hazards and disasters are particularly noteworthy 
in the context of COVID-19.
    The goal of this longitudinal effort is to inform NIST research and 
recommendations as well as provide Federal partners (e.g., FEMA, NOAA, 
and SBA) with insights into how SMEs think about disaster readiness 
during the pandemic, both the transmission and recovery periods. The 
first and second waves of data collection took place during summer 2020 
and fall 2020/winter 2021, respectively and were approved under the 
NIST Generic Clearance #0693-0078.
    A third wave of data collection is proposed in order to address the 
research goals as SMEs begin to recover from the pandemic. This effort 
addresses the gap in research on the experiences of SMEs dealing with 
complex events generally and those that arise during a pandemic, 
specifically. This longitudinal study accounts for SME vulnerabilities, 
which may further amplify the impacts of a singular or complex event.
    Proposed respondents to this data collection have already 
registered their interest in participation in the data collection 
(during Wave 2). The proposed collection is critical to understand the 
resilience of SMEs, which in turn allows NIST to refine recommendations 
relevant to SMEs. This is critical as SMEs and the communities in which 
they exist plan for future events while continuing to recover from 
COVID-19 impacts.
    Affected Public: The private sector.
    Frequency: Once.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    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 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 the title of the collection.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-11930 Filed 6-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P