[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 88 (Monday, May 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37169-37172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09793]


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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; Boundary and Annexation 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 Boundary and Annexation 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 July 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference ``Boundary and 
Annexation Survey'' in the subject line of your comments. You may also 
submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2024-0012, 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

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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 Michael S. Snow, Program Manager, Decennial Census Management 
Division, by phone at 301-763-9912 or by email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The U.S. Census Bureau conducts many voluntary geographic 
partnership programs designed to collect addresses, boundaries, and 
linear features for incorporation into the Master Address File/
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/
TIGER) System. The Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) is one of these 
programs. It provides eligible governments, which include tribal, 
state, and general-purpose local governments, an opportunity to review 
the Census Bureau's legal boundary data to ensure the Census Bureau has 
the correct boundary, name, and status information and make necessary 
updates. BAS also allows for the review and update of census designated 
place (CDP) boundaries and linear features. It fulfills the agency's 
responsibility as part of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, for 
which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-16 
designates the Census Bureau as the lead federal agency for maintaining 
national data about legal government boundaries, as well as statistical 
and administrative boundaries. It also supports the geospatial data 
steward responsibilities of the Geospatial Data Act, the Evidence Act, 
OMB E-Gov, the Federal Geographic Data Committee, Data.gov, 
GeoPlatform.gov, the National Map, the Geographic Names Information 
System, and the Geospatial One-Stop.
    The Census Bureau uses the boundaries collected during BAS to 
tabulate data for various censuses and surveys including the decennial 
census, American Community Survey (ACS), and Population Estimates 
Program (PEP). It also uses the boundaries collected through BAS to 
support other programs such as the Redistricting Data Program, the 
Economic Census, the Geographic Update Population Certification 
Program, and the Special Census program.
    Other federal programs also rely on accurate boundaries collected 
through BAS. The Department of Housing and Urban Development uses 
boundaries to determine jurisdictional eligibility for various grant 
programs, such as the Community Development Block Grant program. In 
addition, the Department of Agriculture uses boundaries to determine 
eligibility for various rural housing and economic development 
programs.
    The BAS participation process, outlined below, is like the Census 
Bureau's other geographic partnership programs though there are some 
differences in the universe of eligible governments, requirements, and 
timeframe of the program.
     The Census Bureau notifies eligible governments about BAS 
through email. Eligible governments are instructed to review the legal 
boundary, name, and status information, along with CDP boundaries, 
linear features, and the highest elected official and program contact 
information the Census Bureau has on file. They can review their 
boundaries and linear features using the Census Bureau's TIGERweb 
application, partnership shapefiles, or PDF maps.
     Eligible governments respond through an online response 
form or email to indicate if they have legal boundary, CDP, linear 
feature, or contact updates. Those with updates can choose to create 
their submission using the BAS Partnership Toolbox, Geographic Update 
Partnership Software (GUPS), GUPS Web, or paper maps.
     Eligible governments return updates to the Census Bureau. 
Updates created using the BAS Partnership Toolbox, GUPS, or GUPS Web 
are returned through the Census Bureau's secure online data sharing 
portal while paper map updates are returned through the mail.
     The Census Bureau processes and verifies all updates for 
accuracy and completeness. The updates are inserted into the MAF/TIGER 
System and quality control is performed.

Legal Information

    The Census Bureau reviews and maintains an inventory of each 
state's legal boundary laws and statutes. This information is made 
available to eligible governments on the BAS website. The Census Bureau 
also uses this information to verify that updates provided during BAS 
are made in accordance with state law.
    If it comes to the Census Bureau's attention that an area of non-
tribal land is in dispute between two or more governments, the Census 
Bureau will not make boundary updates until all affected parties come 
to a written agreement, or there is a documented final court decision 
regarding the matter and/or dispute. If there is a dispute over an area 
of tribal land, the Census Bureau will not make boundary updates until 
the governments provide supporting documents or the U.S. Department of 
the Interior issues a comment. If necessary, the Census Bureau will 
request clarification regarding current boundaries or supporting 
documentation, from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the 
Solicitor.

BAS Universe

    The BAS universe includes approximately 40,000 eligible 
governments. These include:
     Federally recognized tribes with a reservation or off-
reservation trust land (including tribal subdivisions).
     States.
     Counties and county equivalent governments.
     Incorporated places (including consolidated cities).
     Minor civil divisions.
     Hawaiian Home Lands.
     Municipios, barrios, barrio-pueblos, and subbarrios in the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
     The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands.

II. Method of Collection

    The following collection methods allow the Census Bureau to 
coordinate among various levels of governments to obtain the most 
accurate boundary, CDP, linear feature, and contact information:
     BAS.
     State Certification.
     Boundary Quality Project.

BAS

    BAS provides eligible governments, which include tribal, state, and 
general-purpose local governments, an opportunity to review the Census 
Bureau's legal boundary data to ensure the Census Bureau has the 
correct boundary, name, and status information and make necessary 
updates. BAS also allows for the review and update of CDPs and linear 
features.
    The Census Bureau notifies eligible governments about BAS through 
email. The email includes program information and directs eligible 
governments to respond through an online form if they have legal 
boundary, CDP, linear feature, or contact updates to report. Any 
eligible government without an email on file with the Census Bureau 
will be contacted by phone and asked to provide their response.

[[Page 37171]]

    Those indicating they have updates to provide must create their 
submission using one of the options listed below.
     BAS Partnership Toolbox. The BAS Partnership Toolbox 
allows eligible governments to create the submission in ArcGIS Pro. The 
toolbox automates data download, boundary update creation, and exports 
standardized files for submission.
     GUPS. GUPS is a free, customized geographic information 
system software application provided by the Census Bureau. It is 
offered as standalone (GUPS Download) and online (GUPS Web) 
applications.
    [cir] GUPS Download allows eligible governments to manually create 
boundary updates and export standardized files for submission.
    [cir] GUPS Web allows eligible governments to manually create 
boundary updates or import local boundary data to automate the creation 
of boundary updates and export standardized files for submission.
     Paper maps. The Census Bureau will ship large format paper 
maps and instructions for eligible governments to annotate and return 
their updates to the Census Bureau. The paper map package includes a 
letter, materials list insert, large format paper maps covering the 
extent of the government, supplies to update the paper maps, how-to 
guide, and postage-paid return envelope.
    Eligible governments that do have boundary updates can submit both 
legal boundary changes and boundary corrections. Legal boundary changes 
include updates that are a result of any legal action taken by the 
eligible government(s) to add or remove land to their official 
boundary. Boundary corrections are updates that are the result of 
spatial inaccuracies and do not substantially alter the Census Bureau's 
representation of the boundaries.
    Updates created using the BAS Partnership Toolbox, GUPS, or GUPS 
Web are returned through the Census Bureau's secure online data sharing 
portal, while paper map are returned through the mail.
    Eligible governments that do not respond, or those that indicate 
they have updates to provide, but have not submitted their updates are 
contacted during nonresponse follow-up by email. The email reminds 
eligible governments to respond through an online response form or 
email if they have updates to report. Those that indicated they have 
updates to report are requested to submit those updates by the March 1 
or May 31 deadlines.
    Refer to the schedule below for a high-level BAS program timeline.
     January 1--Legal boundary changes must be legally in 
effect on or before this date to be reported in the current survey 
year.
     January to May--The Census Bureau conducts BAS. Eligible 
governments respond to BAS indicating if they have legal boundary, CDP, 
linear feature, or contact updates to report. Those with updates can 
choose to create their submission using the Census Bureau's BAS 
Partnership Toolbox, GUPS, GUPS Web, or paper maps.
     Early January--The Census Bureau notifies eligible 
governments about BAS through email. Eligible governments are contacted 
through email to determine if they have legal boundary, CDP, linear 
feature, or contact updates to report. Any eligible government without 
an email on file with the Census Bureau will be contacted by phone and 
asked to provide their response.
     Mid-February, Mid-March, and Mid-April--The Census Bureau 
conducts nonresponse follow-up for BAS through email. Eligible 
governments that have not responded to annual response, along with 
those that indicated they have updates to report but have not yet 
submitted those updates, are contacted through email on up to three 
occasions.
     March 1--Legal boundary changes returned by this date will 
be reflected in the ACS and PEP data and in next year's BAS materials.
     May 31--Legal boundary changes returned by this date will 
be reflected in next year's BAS materials. If time permits, boundary 
corrections returned by this date may also be reflected in next year's 
BAS materials.
    The Census Bureau maintains state and county (CBAS) agreements that 
coordinate the sharing of information and resources between the federal 
government and state or county governments in collecting boundary 
information for general-purpose local governments. These agreements aim 
to reduce the duplication of effort across various levels of 
governments as well as the cost and time burden associated with BAS 
participation.
    To facilitate a state agreement, the Census Bureau enters a 
Memorandum of Understanding with the state. States interested in 
establishing an agreement can do so when there is state legislation 
requiring general-purpose local governments to report all boundary 
updates to a state agency. The Census Bureau currently maintains two 
types of state agreements. In the first type of agreement, the state 
reports boundary updates for all eligible governments within its 
jurisdiction. Eligible governments in this type of agreement are 
notified about BAS; however, they do not receive the request to provide 
updates and are instructed to report all boundary updates to the state. 
Under the second type of agreement, the state provides the Census 
Bureau with a list of eligible governments that reported boundary 
changes. The Census Bureau uses the list to target those general-
purpose local governments during BAS.
    CBAS agreements allow county or county-equivalent governments to 
submit updates for the eligible general-purpose local governments 
within their jurisdiction. Once under an agreement, eligible 
governments are notified about BAS; however, they do not receive the 
request to provide updates and are instructed to report all boundary 
updates to the county or county-equivalent government.

State Certification

    The state certification program allows state agencies to verify 
that the legal boundary, name, and status information received through 
BAS were reported in accordance with state law. The Census Bureau 
annually requests that each state governor designate a state certifying 
official (SCO) to participate in the program. The SCO reviews listings 
of legal boundary changes, as well as government names and statuses 
that were submitted through the previous year's BAS. These listings 
include the attribute information for new incorporations, dissolutions, 
mergers, consolidations, and legal boundary changes. The listings also 
include the names and functional statuses of all general-purpose local 
governments within the state's jurisdiction. The SCO can request that 
the Census Bureau edit the attribute data, add missing records, or 
remove invalid records. Invalid records are only removed if the state 
government maintains an official record of all changes to legal 
boundaries and governments as mandated by state law. The state 
certification schedule is as follows:
     October--The Census Bureau emails governor's letters 
requesting the state appoint an SCO to participate in the program.
     December--The Census Bureau emails the information 
required to participate to the SCO.
     December to February--The SCO returns submission to the 
Census Bureau.
     March--The Census Bureau distributes discrepancy emails to 
general-purpose local governments based on feedback from the SCO.
    The state certification materials include a governor's letter, an 
email to the SCO, how-to guide, legal boundary change and government 
name and status

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listings, and discrepancy email to local governments. The listings and 
how-to guide are available on the BAS website. The SCO returns all 
updates electronically through the Census Bureau's secure online data 
sharing portal.

Boundary Quality Project

    The boundary quality project is designed to assess, analyze, and 
improve the spatial quality of legal, statistical, and administrative 
boundaries within the MAF/TIGER System. Ensuring quality boundaries is 
a critical component of the geographic preparations for each decennial 
census and the Census Bureau's ongoing geographic partnership programs. 
In addition, the improvement of boundary quality is an essential 
element of the Census Bureau's commitment as the responsible agency for 
legal boundaries under OMB Circular A-16.
    The project represents an effort to systematically target and 
assess boundary quality within the MAF/TIGER System. Historically, the 
Census Bureau relied exclusively on geographic partnership programs 
such as BAS and the Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) to 
obtain updates to tribal, state, general-purpose local government, and 
CDP boundaries. While programs like BAS play an essential role in 
improving boundary quality, the goal of the boundary quality project is 
to establish a new, more accurate, baseline for legal boundaries and 
CDPs within an entire state or county. BAS builds on this baseline by 
collecting individual legal boundary changes and optionally associated 
addresses, and CDP updates on a transaction basis as they occur over 
the years.

Feedback

    The Census Bureau is adding a feedback component to its geographic 
partnership programs to allow for the solicitation of feedback to 
improve the administration of the respective program and potentially 
reduce the future burden. Eligible governments may be asked to provide 
their feedback on materials, method(s) of data collection, manner of 
communications, and the usability of the program applications and 
tools.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0151.
    Form Number(s): BAS-6. This is the CBAS agreement form.
    Type of Review: Regular submission, request for a revision of a 
currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Tribal, state, and general-purpose local 
governments in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
    Estimated Number of Respondents:
     BAS/State Certification/Boundary Quality Project: 40,000 
governments.
     Feedback: 1,000 governments.
    Estimated Time per Response:
     BAS/State Certification/Boundary Quality Project: 7.5 
hours. This estimate is based on an average of 5 hours for an eligible 
government with no change and 10 hours for an eligible government with 
changes.
     Feedback: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 300,500 hours.
     BAS/State Certification/Boundary Quality Project: 300,000 
hours.
     Feedback: 500 hours.
    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: Title 13 U.S.C., section 6.

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. 2024-09793 Filed 5-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P