[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7683-7684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02475]



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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; Census Military Panel

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of 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 new information collection of the Military Panel 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 April 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference Military Panel in the 
subject line of your comments. You may also submit comments, identified 
by Docket Number USBC-2023-0001, 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 Cassandra Logan, Survey Director, 301-763-1087, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    Early research and development work has demonstrated the value of a 
high-quality panel to improve representativeness and significantly 
reduce burden on respondents in the interest of collecting high-
frequency data. The Military Panel is a national survey panel by the 
U.S. Census Bureau (Census) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). 
Data collected from service members and their spouses on a variety of 
topics through the Panel will be used to improve military life and 
policies affecting active-service members and their families. The panel 
will consist of active-duty service members and spouses of active-duty 
service members that have agreed to be contacted and invited to 
participate. The goal for the overall panel project is to recruit at 
least 2,000 panel members (1,000 service members and 1,000 spouses), 
with data collection taking place once every two months, through fiscal 
year 2025.

II. Method of Collection

    A sample of 2,000 active-duty military members (1,000) and active 
duty military spouses (1,000) will be recruited from a frame provided 
by the Department of Defense. Potential panelists will be mailed 
invitations and asked to participate in an online or inbound telephone 
screener. If the respondent qualifies, they will be invited to join the 
panel by completing the baseline questionnaire in the same mode (online 
or inbound telephone). Households who do not respond to the mailed 
invitation will be in sample for telephone nonresponse follow up. In 
these cases, an interviewer would administer the screener and the 
baseline questionnaire. Once they join the panel, panelists will be 
eligible for online topical surveys every other month for up to 3 
years.
    The Census Bureau will conduct this information collection online 
using Qualtrics as the data collection platform. Qualtrics currently is 
used at the Census Bureau for research and development surveys and 
provides the necessary agility to deploy the Household Pulse Survey 
quickly and securely. It operates in the Gov Cloud, which is FedRAMP 
authorized at the moderate level, and has an Authority to Operate from 
the Census Bureau to collect personally identifiable and Title-
protected data.
    Responses will be collected using Qualtrics and panelists will be 
able to respond online. Panel recruitment will consist of mail, SMS and 
email contacts.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-XXXX.
    Form Number(s): Not yet determined.
    Type of Review: Regular submission, new information collection 
request.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.

Screening Operation

    Estimated Number of Respondents: 15,625.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes per respondent.
    Estimated Annual Screening Burden Hours: 2,604 per year.

Data Collection

    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: 20 minutes per response bi-monthly per 
respondent for a maximum of 2 hours per respondent per year.
    Estimated Annual Data Collection Burden Hours: 4,000 per year.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 6,604 per year.
    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: The Census Bureau, on behalf of the Department of 
Defense, is conducting this study under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 
1782. Privacy is protected by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a).

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

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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 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. 2023-02475 Filed 2-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P