[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