[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 202 (Friday, October 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72424-72427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23249]


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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 American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community Survey

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 revision of the American Community Survey and Puerto Rico 
Community Survey, 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 19, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference the American Community 
Survey and the Puerto Rico Community Survey in the subject line of your 
comments. You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number 
USBC-2023-0009, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. All comments received are part of the public 
record. No comments will be posted to https://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 Dameka Reese, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Office, 
301-763-3804, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Since its founding, the U.S. Census Bureau has balanced the demands 
of a growing country requiring information about its people and economy 
with concerns for respondents' confidentiality and the time and effort 
it takes respondents to answer questions. Beginning with the 1810 
Census, Congress updated the set of questions asked in the 1790 and 
1800 Censuses by adding questions to support a range of public concerns 
and uses. Over the course of a century, Federal agencies requested to 
add questions about agriculture, industry, and commerce, as well as 
individuals' occupation, ancestry, marital status, disabilities, place 
of birth, and other topics. In 1940, the Census Bureau introduced the 
long-form census questionnaire in order to ask more detailed questions 
to a sample of the public.
    In the early 1990s, the demand for current, nationally consistent 
data from a wide variety of users led Federal Government policymakers 
to consider the feasibility of collecting social, economic, and housing 
data continuously throughout the decade. The benefits of providing 
current data, along with the anticipated decennial census benefits in 
cost savings, planning, improved census coverage, and more efficient 
operations, led the Census Bureau to plan the implementation of the 
Continuous Measurement Survey, later called the American Community 
Survey (ACS). After years of testing, the ACS was implemented in 2005 
replacing the need for long-form data collection in future decennial 
censuses. The ACS is conducted throughout the United States and in 
Puerto Rico, where it is called the Puerto Rico Community Survey 
(PRCS). The ACS samples approximately 3.5 million housing unit 
addresses in the United States and about 36,000 housing unit addresses 
in Puerto Rico each year. A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a 
mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room occupied or intended 
for occupancy as separate living quarters. The ACS also collects 
detailed socioeconomic data from a sample of about 170,000 residents 
living in group quarters facilities in the United States and about 900 
in Puerto Rico. Group quarters are places where people live or stay, in 
a group living arrangement that is owned or managed by an entity or 
organization providing housing and/or services for the residents. 
People living in group quarters usually are not related to each other. 
Group quarters include such places as college/university student 
housing, residential treatment centers, skilled nursing facilities, 
group homes, military barracks, correctional facilities, workers' group 
living quarters and Job Corps centers, and emergency and transitional 
shelters.
    The proposed content for the 2025 ACS and PRCS reflects changes to 
content and instructions that were recommended as a result of the 2022 
Content Test. The Census Bureau periodically conducts tests of new and 
revised survey content to ensure the ACS and the PRCS are meeting the 
data needs of its stakeholders. The primary objective of content tests 
is to determine whether changes to question wording, instructions, 
response categories, and underlying constructs improve the quality of 
the data collected. The 2025 survey changes cover several topics: 
household roster, educational attainment, health insurance coverage,

[[Page 72425]]

disability, and labor force questions. Additionally, three new 
questions are proposed to be added to the ACS and the PRCS on solar 
panels, electric vehicles, and sewage disposal. A summary of changes 
for each topic are as follows:
    Household Roster--The roster instructions have not changed since 
the 1990s while household living arrangements have increased in 
complexity. The revisions to the instructions help improve within 
household coverage, especially among young children and tenuously 
attached residents.
    Educational Attainment--A relatively high percentage of adults are 
selecting the response category, ``No schooling completed.'' Ongoing 
research suggests that this includes adults who have completed some 
level of schooling. The revision reduces erroneous reports in this 
category through formatting and wording changes to clarify the response 
options.
    Health Insurance Coverage--Since implementation in 2008, research 
has found that Medicaid and other means-tested programs are 
underreported in the ACS and the PRCS and that direct-purchase coverage 
is overreported, in part due to misreporting of non-comprehensive 
health plans and reporting multiple coverage types for the same plan 
(Mach & O'Hara, 2011; Lynch et al., 2011; Boudreaux et al., 2014; 
O'Hara, 2010; Boudreaux et al., 2011; Boudreaux et al., 2013). 
Moreover, revisions to the health insurance coverage question would 
help capture changes to the health insurance landscape that occurred 
with and since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act. Changes to the health insurance coverage question include a 
change in formatting of the question that adds an explicit response 
category for those who are uninsured, reordering some response options 
and rewording response options for direct purchase, Medicaid, employer, 
and veteran's health care.
    Disability--The series of six disability questions are being 
revised to capture information on functioning in a manner that reflects 
advances in the measurement of disability and is conceptually 
consistent with the World Health Organization's International 
Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) disability 
framework (World Health Organization, 2001). Changes include using 
graded response categories to reflect the continuum of functional 
abilities (the current questions use a dichotomous yes or no response), 
reordering the questions, and modifying question text. Additionally, a 
new question will ask about difficulties related to psychosocial and 
cognitive disability in addition to problems with speech.
    Labor Force--Labor force questions related to when the person last 
worked, the number of weeks, and the number of hours worked are being 
updated to clarify instructions to only include work for pay, to 
include all jobs a person may hold, and to ensure that military service 
is included.
    Electric Vehicles--This new question asks if there are plug-in 
electric vehicles kept at the housing unit. By adding this question, we 
will be able to provide data to stakeholders to project future energy 
sources, infrastructure, and consumer needs for the growing popularity 
of electric vehicles. The ACS and the PRCS would be the only data 
source at the housing unit level to adequately inform these 
projections.
    Solar Panels--This new question asks if the housing unit uses solar 
panels that generate electricity. By adding this question, we will be 
able to obtain data for operational solar panels on a housing unit 
level across the country. This information will help the Energy 
Information Administration (EIA) match energy consumption to energy 
production across the United States.
    Sewage Disposal--This new question asks if the housing unit is 
connected to a public sewer, septic tank, or other type of sewage 
system. By adding this question, we will be able to obtain consistent 
data on the decentralized wastewater infrastructure status in rural and 
other communities. These data are needed to protect public health, 
water quality, and to understand and meet the country's growing 
infrastructure needs. The ACS and the PRCS are the only available 
surveys that can provide these levels of data in a timely, consistent, 
and standardized manner.

II. Method of Collection

    To encourage self-response in the ACS, the Census Bureau sends up 
to five mailings to housing unit addresses selected to be in the 
sample. The first mailing, sent to all mailable addresses in the 
sample, includes an invitation to participate in the ACS online and 
states that a paper questionnaire will be sent in a few weeks to those 
unable to respond online. The second mailing is a letter that reminds 
respondents to complete the survey online, thanks them if they have 
already done so, and informs them that a paper questionnaire will be 
sent at a later date if we do not receive their response. In a third 
mailing, the paper questionnaire is sent only to those sample addresses 
that have not completed the online questionnaire within two weeks of 
receipt of the first mailing. The fourth mailing is a postcard that 
reminds respondents to respond and informs them that an interviewer may 
contact them if they do not complete the survey. A fifth mailing is 
sent to respondents who have not completed the survey within five 
weeks. This letter provides a due date and reminds the respondents to 
return their questionnaires to be removed from future contact. If a 
respondent starts to answer the survey online and provides an email 
address but does not complete the survey, an email will be sent to the 
respondent to remind them to return to the survey to complete their 
online questionnaire. If the Census Bureau does not receive a response 
or if the household refuses to participate, the address may be selected 
for an interview in-person or by telephone by a Census Bureau field 
representative, which we call the nonresponse follow-up data collection 
operation. Respondents also have the option to call the Telephone 
Questionnaire Assistance line and complete the survey over the 
telephone. A small sample of respondents from the nonresponse follow-up 
data collection operation are recontacted for quality assurance 
purposes.
    A sixth mailing, sent to all mailable addresses selected for an 
interview in-person, includes an invitation to participate in the ACS 
online and reminds the respondents to complete the survey online to 
avoid an in-person interview. Some addresses are deemed unmailable 
because the address is incomplete or directs mail only to a post office 
box. The Census Bureau currently collects data for these housing units 
using both online and computer-assisted personal interviewing by a 
Census Bureau field representative. During the person-level phase, a 
field representative uses a computer-assisted personal interview 
automated instrument to collect detailed information for each sampled 
resident. A small sample of respondents from the nonresponse follow-up 
data collection operation are recontacted for quality assurance 
purposes.
    For sample housing units in the PRCS, a different mail strategy is 
employed. The Census Bureau continues to use the previously used mail 
strategy with no references to an internet response option. The Census 
Bureau sends up to five mailings to a Puerto Rico address selected to 
be in the sample. The first mailing includes a prenotice letter. The 
second and fourth mailings include the paper survey. The third and 
fifth mailings are postcards that serve as a reminder to respond to

[[Page 72426]]

the survey. If the Puerto Rico address is deemed unmailable because the 
address is incomplete or directs mail only to a post office box, the 
address may be selected for an interview in-person or by telephone. A 
small sample of respondents from the nonresponse follow-up data 
collection operation are recontacted for quality assurance purposes.
    The Census Bureau employs a separate strategy to collect data from 
group quarters. The Census Bureau collects data for sampled people in 
group quarters through personal interview and telephone interview. The 
Census Bureau will obtain the facility information by conducting a 
telephone or personal visit interview with a group quarter contact. 
During this interview, the Census Bureau obtains a roster of residents 
and randomly selects them for person-level interviews. The facility 
also has the option of uploading their facility roster to the Census 
Bureau online listing application. During the person-level phase, a 
field representative uses a computer-assisted personal interview 
automated instrument to collect detailed information for each sampled 
resident. The field representative also has the option to distribute a 
bilingual (English/Spanish) questionnaire to residents for self-
response if they are unable to complete a computer-assisted personal 
interview. Beginning in 2024, respondents in some group quarters will 
have the option to self-respond to the survey online. A small sample of 
facilities are recontacted for quality assurance purposes.
    In 2018, the OMB in conjunction with the Census Bureau, solicited 
proposals for question changes or additions from over twenty federal 
agencies participating in the OMB Interagency Committee for the ACS 
(including the PRCS). The proposals contained a justification for each 
change and described any previous testing of question wording, the 
expected impact of the proposed revisions to the estimates, and the 
estimated respondent burden. For proposed new questions, the 
justification also described the need for the new data, whether federal 
law or regulations supported the collection of the data for small areas 
or small populations, if other data sources were available to provide 
the information, how policy needs or emerging data needs would be 
addressed through the new question, an explanation of why the data were 
needed with the geographic precision and frequency provided by the ACS 
and the PRCS, and described any previous testing of the questions.
    Proposals were reviewed by OMB, the Census Bureau, as well as the 
Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) Subcommittee on the 
ACS. The ICSP Subcommittee on the ACS advises the Chief Statistician of 
the United States at OMB and the Director of the Census Bureau on how 
the ACS can best fulfill its role in the portfolio of federal household 
surveys and provide the most useful information with the least amount 
of burden.
    After the proposals were reviewed and approved, topical 
subcommittees were formed from stakeholder federal agencies to develop 
question wording and provide input on testing and evaluation 
methodology. Cognitive testing was conducted for all questions. The 
Census Bureau contracted with Research Triangle Institute (RTI) 
International, who conducted three rounds of cognitive testing. The 
results of cognitive testing from the first two rounds informed the 
decisions on specific wording to proceed with testing. These rounds of 
testing included both English and Spanish and testing for different 
modes of administration. An additional third round of cognitive testing 
was conducted in Spanish in Puerto Rico and in English for residents of 
group quarters (facilities where groups of unrelated people live such 
as nursing homes, college dorms, and military barracks). With approval 
from OMB, questions were tested in the 2022 Content Test, which was a 
split-sample field test. Data from the test were used to evaluate the 
proposed question changes using a variety of metrics, including item 
missing data rates, response distributions, comparisons to benchmarks, 
response reliability, and other topic-specific metrics.
    The topic subcommittees reviewed the results of the field test and 
made recommendations to either implement the tested change or to keep 
the question as is. Changes were recommended for the following topics: 
household roster, educational attainment, health insurance coverage, 
disability, and labor force questions. The topic subcommittees also 
supported adding three new questions on solar panels, electric 
vehicles, and sewage disposal. Changes to three tested topics--Income, 
Labor Force, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--
were not recommended. These topics tested changes to the reference 
period from the ``last 12 months'' to the last calendar year, in 
preparation for eventually using administrative data to replace or 
supplement income data on the ACS. Before implementing a change to the 
reference period, further evaluation with administrative records data 
needs to be completed once administrative data are available. 
Therefore, a decision on implementation of changing the reference 
period will be delayed until that analysis can be completed. The ACS 
will move forward with recommending changes to the instructions for the 
labor force questions.
    The ICSP Subcommittee on the ACS reviewed the proposed content 
changes and recommended their approval to the OMB and the Census 
Bureau. The proposed content changes would apply to the ACS and PRCS 
paper questionnaire and automated data collection instruments for both 
Housing Unit and Group Quarters operations.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0810.
    Form Number(s): ACS-1, ACS-1(SP), ACS-1(PR), ACS-1(PR)SP, ACS-
1(GQ), ACS-1(PR)(GQ), GQFQ, ACS CAPI (HU), ACS RI (HU), ACSGQFQ, ACS 
GQQI, and ACS GQRI.
    Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for a Revision of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,576,000 for household 
respondents; 20,100 for contacts in GQ; 170,900 people in GQ; 22,875 
households for reinterview; and 1,422 GQ contacts for reinterview. The 
total estimated number of respondents is 3,791,297.
    Estimated Time per Response: 40 minutes for the average household 
questionnaire; 15 minutes for a GQ facility questionnaire; 25 minutes 
for a GQ person questionnaire; 10 minutes for a household reinterview; 
10 minutes for a GQ-level reinterview.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,384,000 for household 
respondents; 5,025 for contacts in GQ; 71,208 for GQ residents 3,813 
households for reinterview; and 237 GQ contacts for reinterview. The 
estimate is an annual average of 2,464,283 burden hours.

[[Page 72427]]



                        Table 1--Annual ACS and PRCS Respondent and Burden Hour Estimates
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                                                                                     Estimated
                                                                      Annual        minutes per
                                        Forms or instrument used     estimated     respondent by      Annual
       Data collection operation           in data collection        number of         data          estimated
                                                                    respondents     collection     burden hours
                                                                                     activity
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I. ACS Household Questionnaire, Online  ACS-1, ACS 1(SP), ACS-         3,576,000              40       2,384,000
 Survey, Telephone, and Personal Visit.  1PR, ACS-1PR(SP),
                                         Online Survey,
                                         Telephone, CAPI.
II. ACS GQ Facility Questionnaire       CAPI GQFQ...............          20,100              15           5,025
 CAPI--Telephone and Personal Visit.
III. ACS GQ CAPI Personal Interview or  CAPI, ACS-1(GQ), ACS-            170,900              25          71,208
 Telephone, and Paper Self-response.     1(GQ)(PR).
IV. ACS Household Reinterview--CATI/    ACS HU-RI...............          22,875              10           3,813
 CAPI.
V. ACS GQ-level Reinterview--CATI/CAPI  ACS GQ-RI...............           1,422              10             237
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Totals............................  ........................       3,791,297             N/A       2,464,283
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    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: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 141 and 193.

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 cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-23249 Filed 10-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P