[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12934-12936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04136]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Notice, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) 
invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, 
the Survey of Small Business and Farm Lending (FR 2028; OMB No. 7100-
0061).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 1, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 2028, by any of 
the following methods:
     Agency Website: https://www.federalreserve.gov/. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
     Email: [email protected]. Include the OMB 
number or FR number in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
     Mail: Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Attn: Ann E. 
Misback, Secretary of the Board, Mailstop M-4775, 2001 C St NW, 
Washington, DC 20551.
    All public comments are available from the Board's website at 
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as 
submitted, unless modified for technical reasons or to remove 
personally identifiable information at the commenter's request. 
Accordingly, comments will not be edited to remove any confidential 
business information, identifying information, or contact information. 
Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper in Room 
M-4365A, 2001 C St NW, Washington, DC 20551, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
on weekdays, except for Federal holidays. For security reasons, the 
Board requires that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. 
You may do so by calling (202) 452-3684. Upon arrival, visitors will be 
required to present valid government-issued photo identification and to 
submit to security screening in order to inspect and photocopy 
comments.
    Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Desk Officer for the Federal 
Reserve Board, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to (202) 395-6974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Federal Reserve Board Clearance 
Officer--Nuha Elmaghrabi--Office of the Chief Data Officer, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, [email protected], (202) 
452-3884.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board 
authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to approve and assign 
OMB control numbers to collections of information conducted or 
sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the 
Board is directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In 
determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board 
will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.
    During the comment period for this proposal, a copy of the proposed 
PRA OMB submission, including the draft

[[Page 12935]]

reporting form and instructions, supporting statement (which contains 
more detail about the information collection and burden estimates than 
this notice), and other documentation, will be made available on the 
Board's public website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportingforms/home/review or may be requested from the agency 
clearance officer, whose name appears above. Final versions of these 
documents will be made available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, if approved.

Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposal

    The Board invites public comment on the following information 
collection, which is being reviewed under authority delegated by the 
OMB under the PRA. Comments are invited on the following:
    a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Board's functions, including whether the 
information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the Board's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    c. Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
    d. Ways to minimize the burden of information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and
    e. Estimates of capital or startup costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
    At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations 
received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the Board 
should modify the proposal.

Proposal Under OMB Delegated Authority To Extend for Three Years, With 
Revision, the Following Information Collection

    Collection title: Survey of Small Business and Farm Lending.
    Collection identifier: FR 2028.
    OMB control number: 7100-0061.
    General description of collection: The Survey of Small Business and 
Farm Lending (SSBFL) comprises the following three reports:
     Survey of Terms of Bank Lending to Farmers (FR 2028B),
     Prime Rate Supplement of Survey of Terms of Lending (FR 
2028S), and
     Small Business Lending Survey (FR 2028D).
    The SSBFL collects unique information concerning price and certain 
nonprice terms of loans made to businesses and farmers each quarter 
(February, May, August, and November) from a sample of banks. The FR 
2028B collects detailed data on individual loans funded during the 
first full business week of the mid-month of each quarter, and the FR 
2028S collects the prime interest rate for each day of the survey week 
from FR 2028B respondents. The FR 2028D provides focused and enhanced 
information on small business lending including rates, terms, credit 
availability, and reasons for their changes. The FR 2028D collects 
quarterly average quantitative data on terms of small business loans 
and qualitative information on changes and the reasons for changes in 
the terms of lending. From these sample SSBFL data, estimates of the 
terms of business loans and farm loans extended are constructed. The 
aggregate estimates for business loans are published in the Federal 
Reserve Bank of Kansas City's quarterly release, Small Business Lending 
Survey, and aggregate estimates for farm loans are published in the 
statistical release, Agricultural Finance Databook.
    Proposed revisions: The Federal Reserve proposes to revise the FR 
2028D form and instructions, to be effective for the September 30, 
2023, as of date with the transmission period beginning on October 1, 
2023, based on loan activity over the third quarter 2023. The proposed 
revisions would add clarity in reporting instructions and requirements, 
improve data quality, and make slight reductions in reporting burden. 
These changes include removing items related to credit card lending and 
net drawdowns on lines of credit. A question requesting information on 
how respondents define small businesses for the purposes of small 
business lending would be added. Additionally, three questions were 
modified to add open-ended text fields offering respondents the 
opportunity to provide additional information on reasons for changes in 
lending. Minor wording changes are proposed to the form and 
instructions to add clarity to the survey or address changes to the 
form. Additionally, minor changes are proposed to the Frequently Asked 
Questions section to increase clarity of form definitions.

FR 2028D Deletions

    Questions determined to provide lower value, in comparison to the 
burden imposed on respondents required to track and respond, would be 
removed from the survey. Specifically, a survey question requesting net 
amounts of drawdowns on commercial and industrial (C&I) commitments 
broken out by fixed rate and variable rate would be removed. 
Additionally, questions related to new and outstanding credit card 
loans would be removed, eliminating 6 questions each for fixed rate and 
variable rate small business C&I loans along with one qualitative 
question.

FR 2028D Additions

    An open-ended question would be added to increase clarity in how 
respondents are defining small business lending for quantitative and 
qualitative loan data. The question would clarify whether a respondent 
is utilizing the survey definition of a small business, non-farm 
businesses domiciled in the U.S. with no more than $5 million in total 
annual revenue, or another internal definition. Current reporters would 
be asked to respond annually to the new question or when a change 
occurs in their internal small business definition. First time 
reporters would respond in the quarter that they are added to the 
respondent panel. Additionally, three questions would be modified to 
add voluntary open-ended text fields, offering respondents the 
opportunity to provide additional information on reasons for changes in 
credit standards/terms and credit quality of applicants.
    Frequency: Quarterly.
    Respondents: The FR 2028B and FR 2028S panels have an authorized 
size of 250 domestically chartered commercial banks. The panel of banks 
has been drawn from a random sample of banks stratified according to 
farm loan volumes since 1989. The authorized panel for the FR 2028D 
panel is 398 domestically chartered commercial banks. The size is based 
on obtaining survey results with a 95% confidence level and 5% standard 
error, allowing for a 10% nonresponse rate. The panel of banks is a 
random sample of banks stratified according to the dollar volumes of 
commercial and industrial loans with original amounts of $1,000,000 or 
less.
    Total estimated number of respondents:
    FR 2028B--250.
    FR 2028S--250.
    FR 2028D--398.
    Estimated average hours per response:
    FR 2028B--1.4.
    FR 2028S--0.1.
    FR 2028D--2.8.
    Total estimated change in burden: (318).

[[Page 12936]]

    Total estimated annual burden hours: 5,958.\1\
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    \1\ More detailed information regarding this collection, 
including more detailed burden estimates, can be found in the OMB 
Supporting Statement posted at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportingforms/home/review. On the page displayed at the link, you 
can find the OMB Supporting Statement by referencing the collection 
identifier, FR 2028.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 23, 
2023.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2023-04136 Filed 2-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P