[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 158 (Wednesday, August 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50599-50600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-17647]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau

[Docket Number 220526-0123]


Soliciting Input or Suggestions on 2030 Census Preliminary 
Research

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: Early planning for the 2030 Census program began in Fiscal 
Year 2019 with building the program foundation and preparing for the 
official program kick-off and start of the Design Selection Phase in 
October 2021. The primary goal of the Design Selection Phase is to 
conduct the research, testing, and operational planning and design work 
to inform the selection of the 2030 Census operational design. We are 
issuing this notice to engage with our stakeholders on the development 
and implementation strategies that improve the way people participate 
in the 2030 Census. This notice also includes specific topics of 
interest to help guide input from stakeholders and other members of the 
public.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by November 15, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. You may also submit comments, 
identified by Docket Number USBC-2022-0004, 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 
should be directed to Jennifer Reichert, Chief, Decennial Census 
Management Division, 301-763-6712, and [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2020, the Census Bureau conducted the 
most automated, modern, and dynamic decennial census in our nation's 
history. This included design changes that made it as easy and 
efficient as possible for people to respond to the census by offering 
response options through the internet and by telephone, in addition to 
the traditional paper response, thereby allowing people to respond to 
the census from any location at any time. This helped to get more 
people to respond on their own, which, in turn, reduced the need to 
conduct expensive in-person follow-up for the enumeration.
    The 2020 Census Program used advertisements to motivate people to 
respond, and used different approaches to reach demographic groups and 
geographic areas. The Census Bureau's partnership program worked 
closely with national and local community, recreation, and faith-based 
organizations to host both in-person and virtual events within their 
communities. In addition, census workers left materials at households 
to encourage self-response.
    Our Post-Enumeration Survey and Demographic Analysis estimates 
indicate that we may have had undercounts of certain populations, in 
particular the Black or African American population, the American 
Indian and Alaska Native population living on the reservations, the 
Hispanic or Latino population, and young children aged 0-4. The Census 
Bureau seeks input on potential new methods and techniques to reach 
these populations.
    Full details of the 2020 Census Program can be found in the 2020 
Census Operational Plan. Two vintages of this operational plan are 
available online at: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/plan/op-plans.html.
    The version 4.0 of the 2020 Census Operational Plan, published in 
early 2019, describes the mature plan for the census prior to the 
production phase of the 2020 Census. Version 5.0 of the 2020 Census 
Operational Plan provides some operational updates that summarize the 
as-performed state of the census operations in Chapter 5, as well as 
some other noteworthy schedule and pre-2020

[[Page 50600]]

test result updates. Version 4.0 of the 2020 Census Operational Plan 
document is considered the more complete document of the plans for 
performing the 2020 Census.
    The Census Bureau plans to build on the experiences of the 2020 
Census and identify further, potential operational updates to develop 
the 2030 Census design. Early planning for the 2030 Census is now 
underway, and includes conducting research, testing, and operational 
planning and design work to inform the selection of the 2030 Census 
operational design. This work will factor in past census experiences, 
evolving technology, and stakeholder feedback.
    The 2030 Census program could encounter multiple factors that the 
census design will have to address, including:
     Constrained fiscal environment: Budget uncertainties place 
significant pressure on funding available for the research, testing, 
design, and development work.
     Rapidly changing use of technology: The rapid pace of 
change in the use of technology makes it challenging to plan for and 
adequately test the use of technologies before they become obsolete.
     Distrust in government: Concerns about the security and 
privacy of information given to the government impact response rates 
and pose difficulties in data collection.
     Declining response rates: Response rates for surveys and 
censuses have declined as people are overloaded with requests for 
information and concerned about privacy.
     Increasingly diverse population: The demographic and 
cultural makeup of the U.S. is increasing in complexity, requiring 
tailored outreach efforts to encourage response.
     Informal, complex living arrangements: Households are 
becoming more diverse and dynamic, making it a challenge to associate 
an identified person with a single location.
     A mobile population: The U.S. continues to be a highly 
mobile nation, which makes it more challenging to locate individuals 
and solicit their participation.
    The Census Bureau is seeking input from the public that could help 
mitigate these challenges and encourage people to respond to the 
census. The census count benefits from broad participation. We 
specifically are interested in strategies that may improve or enhance 
the way people respond to the 2030 Census on their own. We invite the 
public to comment on the following topics:
    A. Reaching and motivating everyone. As we lay the foundation for 
the 2030 Census, we are interested in recommendations that help us 
reach everyone--especially the Black or African American population, 
the American Indian or Alaska Native population living on a 
reservation, the Hispanic or Latino population, people who reported 
being of Some Other Race, and young children. The 2020 Post-Enumeration 
Survey and Demographic Analysis estimates suggest undercounts within 
these groups, and the Census Bureau remains committed to addressing the 
factors that may contribute to such undercounts. We are interested in 
insights that would help us understand how to reach these populations 
and motivate people to respond in the 2030 Census.
    B. Technology. As technological advancements continue to improve, 
we are interested in technological advancements and developments that 
could make responding to the census more user-friendly, could further 
enhance our efforts to increase self-response, and could facilitate our 
work to collect data in person when necessary.
    C. New data sources. The 2020 Census used administrative records 
(such as data from federal and state governments), third-party sources 
(data from commercial sources), internal data, and publicly available 
information to enhance operational efficiency and data quality. We are 
interested in learning about additional data sources, or methods of 
using them, that could continue increasing operational efficiency and 
effectiveness, and improving data quality.
    D. How we contact respondents. Contact strategies will focus on 
encouraging respondents to complete the census on their own. We are 
interested in recommendations for tailoring contact strategies to 
maximize the number of households responding on their own, including 
tools we use to invite people to respond to the census, how often we 
reach out to each household, and the messages we use.
    E. Respondent support services. We are interested in 
recommendations for supporting people as they respond by offering 
various types of support and in non-English languages. This may include 
providing support to people as they respond online or through telephone 
assistance.
    The Census Bureau encourages commenters to structure their input or 
recommendations using the text in headings A to E as identifiers for 
their remarks. This structure will assist in reviewing the input and 
recommendations received in response to these specific topics. For 
example, a commenter submitting input or recommendations responsive to 
item A above, would reference ``Reaching and motivating everyone'' in 
the heading of their remarks.
    Please note the following general points regarding the Census 
Bureau's use of comments and input:
    (1) The Census Bureau will review and screen the submissions and 
may not incorporate all input/recommendations.
    (2) While there is no compensation for submission, the Census 
Bureau encourages participation to help ensure broad and diverse input 
to inform the 2030 Census operational design.
    Robert L. Santos, Director, Census Bureau, approved the publication 
of this Notice in the Federal Register.

    Dated: August 10, 2022.
Shannon Wink,
Program Analyst, Policy Coordination Office, U.S. Census Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2022-17647 Filed 8-16-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P