[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3968-3970]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01147]


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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; Annual Business 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 July 6, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.
    Title: Annual Business Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-1004.
    Form Number(s): ABS.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for a Revision of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 858,000.
    Average Hours per Response: Employer businesses--58 minutes; 
Nonprofit organizations who are R&D performers--3.5 hours; Nonprofit 
organizations who are not R&D performers--20 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 827,500.
    Needs and Uses: In an effort to improve the measurement of business 
dynamics in the United States, the Census Bureau plans to conduct the 
2023 Annual Business Survey (ABS), covering reference year 2022. The 
ABS combines Census Bureau firm-level collections to reduce respondent 
burden, increase data quality, reduce operational costs, and operate 
more efficiently. The ABS provides information on selected economic and 
demographic characteristics for businesses and business owners by sex, 
ethnicity, race, and veteran status. Further, the survey measures 
research and development for microbusinesses, new business topics such 
as innovation and technology, as well as other business 
characteristics. The 2023 ABS is co-sponsored by the National Center 
for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National 
Science Foundation (NSF) and conducted by the Census Bureau.
    The ABS includes all nonfarm employer businesses filing Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms as individual proprietorships, 
partnerships, or any other type of corporation, with receipts of $1,000 
or more. For the 2023 ABS, approximately 850,000 employer businesses 
will be sampled (reference year 2022). The large sample sized is needed 
to produce detailed statistics by owner demographics. Results from the 
large

[[Page 3969]]

sample size will allow the Census Bureau to produce tabulations by 
detailed NAICS (2-6 digit), detailed geography (US, state, metropolitan 
statistical area (msa), county, and economic place), and detailed race 
(i.e. Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Samoan, etc.). Starting with survey 
year 2024 (reference year 2023), the sample is reduced to approximately 
300,000 employer businesses annually (survey years 2024-2027) to reduce 
the burden on the respondents. The reduced sample size will yield 
summary-level estimates for women-owned, minority-owned, and veteran-
owned businesses at the 3-digit NAICS, U.S., state and metropolitan 
statistical area (MSA) levels. The Census Bureau uses administrative 
data to estimate the probability that a firm is minority- or women-
owned. Each firm is then placed in one of eight frames for sampling. 
The sampling frames are: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, 
Black or African American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific 
Islander, Non-Hispanic White Men, Publicly Owned, and Women. The sample 
is stratified by state, industry, and frame. The Census Bureau selects 
some companies with certainty based on volume of sales, payroll, and 
number of paid employees or NAICS. All certainty cases are sure to be 
selected and represent only themselves.
    The 2023 ABS (reference year 2022) will also sample 8,000 nonprofit 
organizations to collect their research activities. Historically, 
nonprofit organizations were in scope to the ABS, however, they were 
not surveyed before the 2021 ABS because the survey does not expect 
nonprofit organizations to be classifiable by sex, ethnicity, race, or 
veteran status. To include the nonprofit organizations, the sample size 
increased to approximately 858,000 (850,000 employer businesses + 8,000 
nonprofit organizations). Of note, nonprofit organizations will only 
see questions relating to research activities and will not be asked any 
questions relating to owner demographics.
    The ABS is designed to allow for incorporating new content each 
survey year based on topics of relevance. Each year new questions will 
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval.
    Employer businesses will be asked questions about the sex, 
ethnicity, race, and veteran status for up to four persons owning the 
majority of rights, equity, or interest in the business (Section B of 
the questionnaire). Organizations sampled as nonprofits and respondents 
with 1-9 employees will be asked about research and development (R&D) 
activities, R&D costs, and R&D capital expenditures. Further, employer 
businesses sampled will be asked about the following topics: Goods, 
Services, and Business Processes; Financing; Technology and 
Intellectual Property and Sustainability and Climate Impact.
    The ABS is primarily collected via an electronic or web-based 
instrument. Respondents selected for the survey receive an initial 
letter informing them of their requirement to complete the survey as 
well as instructions on accessing the survey. The 2023 ABS initial 
mailing is scheduled for July 2023. Responses will be due approximately 
30 days from initial mailing. Respondents will also receive a due date 
reminder approximately one week before responses are due. The Census 
Bureau plans to conduct two follow-up mailings and an optional third 
follow-up if deemed necessary based on check-in. Nonrespondents may 
receive a certified mailing for the second and third follow-up 
mailings. The Census Bureau may also plan to conduct an email follow-up 
to select nonrespondents reminding them to submit their report in the 
electronic instrument. The Census Bureau may include a paper 
questionnaire during the follow-up activities to assist with collecting 
data from select nonrespondents. Closeout of mail operations is 
scheduled for December 2023 but may be extended to allow ample time to 
receive returned forms if necessary. Response data will be processed as 
they are received. Upon the close of the collection period, data 
processing will continue, and records will be edited, reviewed, 
tabulated, and disseminated.
    The Annual Business Survey uses the collection year in the survey 
name rather than a single reference year. Therefore, the 2023 ABS 
covers mostly reference year 2022.
    Statistics from the ABS will be used by government program 
officials, industry organization leaders, economic and social analysts, 
business entrepreneurs, and domestic and foreign researchers in 
academia, business, and government. Estimates produced on owner 
demographic data may be used to assess business assistance needs, 
allocate available program resources, and create a framework for 
planning, directing, and assessing programs that promote the activities 
of disadvantaged groups; to assess minority-owned businesses by 
industry and area and to educate industry associations, corporations, 
and government entities; to analyze business operations in comparison 
to similar firms, compute market share, and assess business growth and 
future prospects. Estimates produced on R&D and innovation may be used 
to compare R&D costs across industries, determine where R&D activity is 
conducted geographically, and identify the types of businesses with 
R&D to contribute to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) system of 
national accounts; to increase investments in research and development, 
strengthen education, and encourage entrepreneurship; and to compare 
business innovation in the United States to other countries, including 
those in the European Union. Results of the research activities data 
collected from nonprofit organizations will be used to report updated, 
valid, and reliable estimates of U.S. nonprofit R&D in National 
Patterns of R&D Resources and BEA's system of national accounts.
    The data collected by ABS will also be incorporated into the 
National Science Board's biennial report, Science and Engineering 
Indicators (SEI). The R&D data from the nonprofit module will be 
reported in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 
(OECD) periodic publications and for international comparisons of R&D 
efforts. NCSES also anticipates professional associations will use data 
from the nonprofit module. Likely users in this category include, but 
are not limited to, the Science Philanthropy Alliance, the Association 
of Independent Research Institutes, and the Health Research Alliance.
    Additional examples of data use include:
     The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Minority 
Business Development Agency (MBDA) to assess business assistance needs 
and allocate available program resources.
     Local government commissions on small and disadvantaged 
businesses to establish and evaluate contract procurement practices.
     Federal, state and local government agencies as a 
framework for planning, directing and assessing programs that promote 
the activities of disadvantaged groups.
     The National Women's Business Council to assess the state 
of women's business ownership for policymakers, researchers, and the 
public at large.
     Consultants and researchers to analyze long-term economic 
and demographic shifts, and differences in ownership and performance 
among geographic areas.
     Individual business owners to analyze their operations in 
comparison to similar firms, compute their market share, and assess 
their growth and future prospects.

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    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, sections 8(b), 131, 
and 182; Title 42, United States Code, section 1861-76 (National 
Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended); and section 505 within the 
America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 authorize this collection. 
Sections 224 and 225 of Title 13, United States Code, require a 
response from sampled firms.
    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 either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0607-1004.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-01147 Filed 1-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P