[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3992-3993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00851]


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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; Small Business Pulse Survey

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following non-
substantive change 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.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Small Business Pulse Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-1014.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular Submission, Non-substantive change of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 738,000 (We anticipate receiving 20,500 
responses per week for up to 36 weeks of collection each year).
    Average Hours per Response: 6 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 73,920 (73,800 + 120 hours for cognitive testing).
    Needs and Uses: During the month of November 2020, the Office of 
Management and Budget authorized clearance of an Information Collection 
Request (ICR) to the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau to 
conduct a Phase 3 of the Small Business Pulse Survey. The clearance 
enabled the Census Bureau to continue collecting urgently needed data 
on the experiences of American small businesses as the coronavirus 
pandemic prompted business and school closures and widespread stay-at-
home orders. This Census Bureau now seeks approval of a non-substantive 
change request to conduct Phase 3, Cycle 2 of the Small Business Pulse 
Survey which will occur over 9 weeks stating February 8, 2021.
    The continuation of the Small Business Pulse Survey is responsive 
to stakeholder requests for high frequency data that measure the effect 
of changing business conditions during the Coronavirus pandemic on 
small businesses. While the ongoing monthly and quarterly economic 
indicator programs provide estimates of dollar volume outputs for 
employer businesses of all size, the Small Business Pulse Survey 
captures the effects of the pandemic on operations and finances of 
small, single location employer businesses. As the pandemic continues, 
the Census Bureau is best poised to collect this information from a 
large and diverse sample of small businesses.
    It is hard to predict when a shock will result in economic activity 
changing at a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly frequency. Early in the 
pandemic, federal, state, and local policies were moving quickly so it 
made sense to have a weekly collection. The problem is that while we 
are in the moment, we cannot accurately forecast the likelihood of 
policy action. In addition, we are not able to forecast a change in the 
underlying cause of policy actions: the effect of the Coronavirus 
pandemic on the economy. We cannot predict changes in the severity of 
the pandemic (e.g., will it worsen in flu season?) nor future 
developments that will alleviate the pandemic (e.g., vaccines or 
treatments). In a period of such high uncertainty, the impossibility of 
forecasting these inflection points underscores the benefits of having 
a weekly survey. For these reasons, the Census Bureau will proceed with 
a weekly collection.
    For the purposes of referencing prior ICRs, we refer to the initial 
approval by OMB to conduct the Small Business Pulse Survey as ``Phase 
1'' (April-June 2020), the approval as ``Phase 2'' (August--October 
2020), and the third approval as ``Phase 3'', which started in November 
2020.
    Phase 1 of the Small Business Pulse Survey was launched on April 
26, 2020 as an effort to produce and disseminate high-frequency, 
geographic- and industry-detailed experimental data about the economic 
conditions of small businesses as they experience the coronavirus 
pandemic. It is a rapid response endeavor that leverages the resources 
of the federal statistical system to address emergent data needs. Given 
the rapidly changing dynamics of this situation for American small 
businesses, the Small Business Pulse Survey has been successful in 
meeting an acute need for information on changes in revenues, business 
closings, employment and hours worked, disruptions to supply chains, 
and expectations for future operations. In addition, the Small Business 
Pulse Survey provided important estimates of federal program uptake to 
key survey stakeholders.
    In Phase 1, the Census Bureau worked in collaboration with the 
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal 
Reserve Board, International Trade Administration, Minority Business 
Development Agency, and the Small Business Administration to develop 
questionnaire content. Subsequently, the Census Bureau was approached 
by Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, and the Office of Tax Analysis with 
requests to include additional content to the Small Business Pulse 
Survey for Phase 2. Understanding that information needs are changing 
as the pandemic continues, the Census Bureau proposed a revised 
questionnaire to ensure that the data collected continue to be relevant 
and broadly useful. Also, in Phase 2, the Census Bureau refined its 
strategies for contacting businesses in a clear and effective manner 
while motivating their continued participation.
    Anticipating that businesses will continue to be affected by the 
pandemic, and as new developments are expected this year (including the 
continuation of

[[Page 3993]]

government assistance programs that target small businesses; policy 
shifts including the loosening or tightening of restrictions on 
businesses or customers; changing weather or seasons on businesses that 
rely on serving customers outdoors; and new research, vaccines, and/or 
medications or treatments for the coronavirus), the Census Bureau moved 
forward with a Phase 3 cycle 1 and proposes moving forward with Phase 3 
cycle 2 as described in this ICR. The questionnaire used in Phase 2 and 
Phase 3 cycle 1 will continue to be used in this Phase 3 cycle 2. 
Acknowledging that circumstances may evolve, and information needs on 
specific topics may intensify, change, or diminish over time, the 
Census Bureau may propose revisions to the questionnaire via the Non-
Substantive Change process. These plans also will be made available for 
public comment through notice in the Federal Register.
    In Phase 3 cycle 1 of the Small Business Pulse Survey, we continued 
collaborating with other federal agencies to produce near real-time 
experimental data to understand how changes due to the response to the 
COVID-19 pandemic are affecting American small businesses and the U.S. 
economy.
    The Phase 3 cycle 1 survey carried forward questionnaire content 
from Phase 2. Content had been provided by the Census Bureau, Small 
Business Administration, Federal Reserve Board, Minority Business 
Development Agency, Office of Tax Analysis, Bureau of Transportation 
Statistics, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
and International Trade Administration. Domains include business 
closings, changes in employment and hours, disruptions to supply chain, 
changes in capacity, finances, and expectations for future operations.
    The Phase 3 cycle 2 survey will modify the questionnaire content to 
capture information on concepts such as business closings, changes in 
revenue, changes in employment and hours, disruptions to supply chain, 
operating capacity factors, and expectations for future operations. 
These economic data will be used to understand how changes due to the 
response to the COVID-19 pandemic have and continue to affect American 
businesses and the U.S. economy.
    The historical circumstances of the pandemic and uncertainty about 
how it may or may not continue to affect businesses over the period of 
Phase 3 drives the need for flexibility in Phase 3 of the SBPS.
    If required, the Census Bureau would seek approval from OMB through 
the Non-Substantive Change Request Process to revise, remove or add 
questionnaire content during this phase to remain relevant in guiding 
the nation's response and recovery.
    All results from the Small Business Pulse Survey will continue to 
be disseminated as U.S. Census Bureau Experimental Data Products 
(https://portal.census.gov/pulse/data/). This and additional 
information on the Small Business Pulse Survey are available to the 
public on census.gov.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Small business will be selected once to participate in a 
6-minute survey.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 and 182.
    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 0607-1014.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-00851 Filed 1-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P