[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 197 (Thursday, October 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62079-62080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22190]


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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 Construction: Questionnaire for Building Permit 
Official

AGENCY: 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 Construction: Questionnaire for 
Building Permit Official 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 December 13, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference Survey of 
Construction: Questionnaire for Building Permit Official in the subject 
line of your comments. You may also submit comments, identified by 
Docket Number USBC-2022-0018, 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 
to William Abriatis, Chief, Residential Construction Branch, Economic 
Indicators Division, 301-763-3686, and [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 
Questionnaire for Building Permit Official (SOC-QBPO). The Census 
Bureau uses the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) 
electronic questionnaire SOC-QBPO to collect information from state and 
local building permit officials on: (1) the types of residential 
permits they issue, (2) the length of time a permit is valid, (3) how 
they store permits, and (4) the geographic coverage of the permit 
system. We need this information to carry out the sampling for the 
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (OMB number 0607-
0110), also known as Survey of Construction (SOC). The SOC provides 
widely used measures of construction activity, including the Principal 
Economic Indicators: New Residential Construction, and New Residential 
Sales.
    The current OMB clearance is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2023. 
We will continue to use the current CAPI questionnaire. The overall 
length of the interview will not change, and the sample size will only 
receive a minor downward revision.

II. Method of Collection

    The Census Bureau uses its field representatives to obtain 
information on the operating procedures of a permit office using the 
SOC-QBPO. The field representative visits the permit office, conducts 
the interview with office staff, and completes this electronic form.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0125.
    Form Number(s): SOC-QBPO.
    Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for an Extension, 
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Affected Public: State and local Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 250 hours.
    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. Sections 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

[[Page 62080]]

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. 2022-22190 Filed 10-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P