[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 28 (Friday, February 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9120-9122]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02688]


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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; Building Permits Survey Program

    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 December 1, 2023 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: Building Permits Survey Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0094.
    Form Number(s): C-404, C-411.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for a Revision of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: C-404--19,842; C-411--3,150.
    Average Hours per Response: C-404--9 minutes; C-411--15 minutes.
    Burden Hours: C-404--17,229; C-411--788.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is requesting a revision of the 
current Office of Management and Budget clearance for the surveys known 
as the Survey of Residential Building or Zoning Permit Systems (C-411) 
and the Report of Building or Zoning Permits Issued for New Privately-
Owned Housing Units (C-404) also known as BPS. The C-411 and the C-404 
are related collections sharing the same universe called the Active 
Governments File (AGF) universe. The C-411 is utilized to update the 
permit issuing status of all jurisdictions in the AGF. The C-404 is 
utilized to collect both monthly and annual data on the totals of new 
housing unit permits issued. These two surveys, currently cleared 
separately under control numbers 0607-0350 and 0607-0094, respectively, 
will therefore be combined under one control number and will be 
collectively called the Building Permits Survey Program.
    The Census Bureau produces statistics used to monitor activity in 
the large and dynamic construction industry. Given the importance of 
this industry, several of the statistical series have been designated 
by the Office of Management and Budget as Principal Economic 
Indicators. These statistics help state and local governments and the 
federal government, as well as private industry, to analyze this 
important sector of the economy.
    The BPS, and the Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions 
(OMB number 0607-0110), also known as Survey of Construction (SOC) 
provide widely used measures of construction activity, including the 
principal economic indicators, New Residential Construction and New 
Home Sales. Data from the BPS and SOC are used by the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BEA) in the calculation of estimates of the 
Residential Fixed Investment portion of the Nation's Gross Domestic 
Product (GDP). In addition, data from the BPS are used by the Census 
Bureau in the calculation of annual population estimates; these 
estimates are widely used by government agencies to allocate

[[Page 9121]]

funding and other resources to local governments.
    The key estimates from the C-404 are the numbers of new housing 
units authorized by building permits; data are also collected on the 
valuation of the housing units. Form C-404 specifically collects 
information on changes to the geographic coverage of the permit-issuing 
place, the number and valuation of new residential housing units 
authorized by building permits, and additional information on 
residential permits valued at $2 million or more, including, but not 
limited to, site address and type of building. The form is titled 
``Report of Building or Zoning Permits Issued for New Privately-Owned 
Housing Units''.
    Two Principal Economic Indicators are directly dependent on the key 
estimates from the BPS. For New Residential Construction (which 
includes Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits, Housing Starts, 
and Housing Completions), form C-404 is used to collect the estimate 
for Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits. For New Residential 
Construction and Sales, the number of housing units authorized by 
building permits is a key component utilized in the estimation of 
housing units started, completed, and sold.
    Beginning January 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau changed the 
methodology for the tabulation of the Building Permit Survey. The 
methodology changed from a representative sample to a cutoff sample 
based on recent permit activity by jurisdiction. Published data from 
the survey can be found on the Census Bureau's website at 
www.census.gov/permits.
    The Census Bureau primarily collects these data through the 
Centurion internet Reporting System, by mail using the Form C-404 or by 
telephone. Some data are also collected via receipt of proprietary 
electronic files or mailed printouts for jurisdictions who have 
established reporting arrangements which allow them to submit their 
responses using their own file format.
    The Census Bureau uses Form C-404 to collect data that provides 
estimates of the number and valuation of new residential housing units 
authorized by building permits. There are roughly 20,000 permit issuing 
jurisdictions in the United States. Slightly less than one-half of 
those permit offices are requested to report monthly. The remaining 
offices are surveyed annually. We use the data, which is a component of 
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index, to estimate the number of 
housing units authorized, started, completed, and sold (single-family 
only). In addition, the Census Bureau uses the detailed geographic data 
in the development of annual population estimates; those population 
estimates are used by government agencies to allocate funding and other 
resources to local areas, inform policy, and aid in city planning. 
Policymakers, planners, businesses, and others use the detailed 
geographic data to monitor growth and plan for local services, and to 
develop production and marketing plans. The BPS is the only source of 
statistics on residential construction for states, counties, and 
smaller geographic areas. Since building permits are public records, we 
can release data for individual jurisdictions, and annual data are 
published for every permit-issuing jurisdiction.
    The Census Bureau uses Form C-411 to obtain information from state 
and local building permit officials needed for updating the universe of 
permit-issuing places, which serves as the sampling frame for the BPS 
and the SOC. The accuracy of the Census Bureau statistics regarding the 
amount of construction authorized depends on data supplied by building 
and zoning officials throughout the country.
    The questions on Form C-411 pertain to the legal requirements for 
issuing building or zoning permits in local jurisdictions. Information 
is obtained on such items as geographic coverage and types of 
construction for which permits are issued.
    One of three variants of Form C-411 is sent to a jurisdiction when 
the Census Bureau needs to verify whether a new permit system has been 
established or an existing one has changed. This is based on the length 
of time since the jurisdiction last verified their permit issuing 
status, or on information the Census Bureau obtains from a variety of 
sources including survey respondents, regional planning councils, and 
data from the Census Bureau's Geography Division on newly incorporated 
jurisdictions. While the C-411 was previously a mailed paper form, the 
Census Bureau plans to add this collection to the standard online 
collection instrument (Centurion) in 2024.
    There are three versions of the form:
     C-411(V) for verification of coverage for jurisdictions 
with existing permit systems,
     C-411(M) for municipalities where a new permit system may 
have been established,
     C-411(C) for counties where new permit systems may have 
been established.
    Prior to 2022, the universe of permit issuing places was updated 
every 10 years. In 2012 and every ten years prior, we mailed the survey 
to approximately 20,000 jurisdictions that were designated in our 
records as non-permit issuing jurisdictions, or permit issuing 
jurisdictions that needed verification of coverage. In processing the 
2012 survey, it was determined that it was too burdensome to the Census 
Bureau's staff to process all 20,000 jurisdictions in the same year. As 
a result, the process was spread out into 5-year intervals, starting 
with the mailing in 2017. In 2017, we mailed 3,500 priority 
jurisdictions of the potential 20,000, with the intent of mailing 
another priority group in 2022 to complete the 10-year collection 
cycle. The planned 2022 mailing was deferred. Beginning January 2023, 
we began updating the universe annually and as a result, we can now 
incorporate more frequent updates to non-permit issuing jurisdictions. 
Beginning in 2024 we expect to attempt to collect information from 
3,150 jurisdictions annually using either the C-411(C) or C-411(M) 
regarding the existence of new permit-issuing systems, or to resolve 
coverage questions or issues concerning existing permit-issuing systems 
using the C-411(V). This will allow us to attempt collection on all 
20,000 jurisdictions approximately every seven years, on a rotating 
basis.
    Based on previous collections, we anticipate approximately a 50% 
response rate to the mailed C-411 forms. This will be supplemented with 
existing known information from the C-404 monthly and annual 
collection, individual follow-ups with jurisdictions by email or phone, 
and publicly available information to maintain coverage for the 
universe of permit issuing places. We anticipate having accurate and up 
to date coverage for over 85% of the annually targeted jurisdictions as 
a result of these combined operations.
    Failure to maintain the universe of permit-issuing places would 
result in deficient samples and inaccurate statistics. This in turn 
jeopardizes the accuracy of the Census Bureau's construction-related 
Principal Federal Economic Indicators. These indicators are closely 
monitored by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and 
other economic policy makers because of the sensitivity of the housing 
industry to changes in interest rates.
    Frequency: C-404--Monthly and annually; C-411--Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 and 182.

[[Page 9122]]

    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 0607-0094.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-02688 Filed 2-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P