[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 105 (Thursday, May 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46854-46855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11836]


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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; Business and Professional Classification Report

    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

[[Page 46855]]

collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. 
Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on 
March 8, 2024 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: Business and Professional Classification Report.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0189.
    Form Number(s): SQ-CLASS.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension, 
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 60,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 13 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 13,000.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for continued clearance of the 
Business and Professional Classification Report (SQ-CLASS Report). The 
primary purpose of the SQ-CLASS Report is to meet the ongoing sample 
needs of the Census Bureau's current business surveys of the retail 
trade, wholesale trade, and services portions of the economy as defined 
by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The data 
collected by the SQ-CLASS Report are used to update the samples in our 
current business surveys to reflect newly opened establishments.
    Additionally, establishments in the five-year economic census will 
receive data collection instruments specifically tailored to their 
industry based on the classification information obtained by the SQ-
CLASS Report. Businesses in Support Activities for Crop Production 
(NAICS 1151) and Support Activities for Animal Production (NAICS 1152) 
are included in the scope and collection of the Economic Census. To 
ensure that businesses are properly classified, the scope of the SQ-
CLASS Report includes businesses in the Agriculture Sector (NAICS 
Sector 11) that are not fully classified. This accounts for 
approximately 600 cases in the SQ-CLASS Report's sample each year.
    To keep current with rapid changes in the marketplace caused by new 
businesses (a.k.a. births) the Census Bureau samples newly assigned 
Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) obtained from the Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS). Each EIN can only be selected once for the SQ-
CLASS Report. EINs selected for the SQ-CLASS Report sample are asked to 
provide data about the establishment(s) associated with the new EIN 
including a more reliable measure of size, consisting of sales in two 
recent months, company affiliation information, a new or more detailed 
industry classification code, and other key information needed to 
maintain proper coverage of the business universe on the Business 
Register (BR) for the current business surveys.
    Based on information collected on the SQ-CLASS Report form, EINs 
meeting the criteria for inclusion in the Census Bureau's current 
business surveys are eligible for a second phase of sampling. The 
retail, wholesale, and services EINs selected in this second sampling 
are asked to report monthly for the retail and wholesale surveys and 
quarterly for the services survey.
    The Economic Census and the current business surveys represent the 
primary source of facts about the structure and function of the U.S. 
economy, providing essential information to government and the business 
community in making sound decisions. This information helps build the 
foundation for the calculation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 
other economic indicators. Crucial to its success are the accuracy and 
reliability of the BR data, which provides the Economic Census and 
current business surveys with their establishment lists. Critical to 
the quality of information housed in the BR is that each of the 
statistical units has an accurate industry classification, measure of 
size, activity status, and physical address. The vital information 
obtained from the SQ-CLASS Report is fed back to the BR to represent 
changes in industries and confirm coverage between the years of the 
Economic Census.
    We are not proposing any major changes to the collection. Minimal 
changes are being made to the economic activity descriptions in the 
primary business activity question on the SQ-CLASS Report. Respondents 
will continue to choose the economic sector of their business and then 
select their type of business from a list of business activities based 
on their response to the economic sector question. If the respondent 
does not see their business activity listed, then they will provide a 
brief description of their business activity. This is the same 
methodology that the Census Bureau uses in the Economic Census to 
assign industry classification.
    Frequency: One time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: The Census Bureau conducts this survey under the 
authority of an Act of Congress, Title 13, U.S.C., Sections 131, 182, 
and 193.
    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 0607-0189.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-11836 Filed 5-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P