8760 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 9, 2021 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; Annual Business Survey 

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 July 6, 2020 

during a 60-day comment period. This 

notice allows for an additional 30 days 

for public comments. 

Agency: U.S. Census Bureau. 

Title: Annual Business Survey. 

OMB Control Number: 0607–1004. 

Form Number(s): ABS–1. 

Type of Request: Regular submission, 

Request for a Revision of a Currently 

Approved Collection. 

Number of Respondents: 308,000. 

Average Hours per Response: 

Employer Businesses—52 minutes; 

Nonprofits who are R&D performers—3 

hours; Nonprofits who are not R&D 

performenrs—20 minutes. 

Burden Hours: 270,133. 

Needs and Uses: In an effort to 

improve the measurement of business 

dynamics in the United States, the 

Census Bureau is conducting the 

Annual Business Survey (ABS). The 

ABS combines Census Bureau firm-level 

collections to reduce respondent 

burden, increase data quality, reduce 

operational costs, and operate more 

efficiently. The ABS replaced the fiveyear Survey of Business Owners (SBO) 

for employer businesses, the Annual 

Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE), and the 

Business Research and Development 

(R&D) and Innovation for 

Microbusinesses (BRDI–M) surveys. The 

ABS provides information on selected 

economic and demographic 

characteristics for businesses and 

business owners by sex, ethnicity, race, 

and veteran status. Further, the survey 

measures research and development for 

microbusinesses, new business topics 

such as innovation and technology, as 

well as other business characteristics. 

The ABS is sponsored by the National 

Center for Science and Engineering 

Statistics (NCSES) within the National 

Science Foundation (NSF) and 

conducted by the Census Bureau for five 

years (2018–2022). 

The ABS includes all nonfarm 

employer businesses filing Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms as 

individual proprietorships, 

partnerships, or any other type of 

corporation, with receipts of $1,000 or 

more. The ABS samples approximately 

300,000 employer businesses annually 

yielding summary-level estimates for 

women-, minority-, and veteran-owned 

businesses at the 2-digit NAICS, U.S., 

state, and metropolitan statistical area 

(MSA) levels. The Census Bureau uses 

administrative data to estimate the 

probability that a firm is minority- or 

women-owned. Each firm is then placed 

in one of nine frames for sampling. The 

sampling frames are: American Indian 

or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black, or 

African American, Hispanic, NonHispanic White Men, Native Hawaiian, 

and Other Pacific Islander, Other, 

Publicly Owned, and Women. The 

sample is stratified by state, industry, 

and frame. The Census Bureau selects 

some companies with certainty based on 

volume of sales, payroll, and number of 

paid employees or NAICS. All certainty 

cases are sure to be selected and 

represent only themselves. 

Starting with survey year 2021, the 

ABS sample will include an additional 

8,000 respondents to collect research 

activities from nonprofit organizations. 

Historically, nonprofit organizations 

were in scope to the ABS, however, they 

were not mailed because the survey 

does not expect nonprofit organizations 

to be classifiable by sex, ethnicity, race, 

or veteran status. To include the 

nonprofit organizations, the sample size 

will increase to approximately 308,000 

(300,000 employer businesses + 8,000 

nonprofit organizations). Of note, 

nonprofit organizations will only see 

questions relating to research activities 

and will not be asked any questions 

relating to owner demographics. The 

questions were adopted from the 2016 

Nonprofit Research Activities—NPRA 

Survey which collected information 

about research activities at nonprofit 

organizations. Based on estimates from 

that survey, the estimated burden for 

R&D performers is 3 hours. This 

includes the time it will take to gather 

materials prior to reporting and 

responding to the survey. For nonprofit 

organizations that are not R&D 

performers and therefore will not 

answer all the questions, the estimated 

burden is 20 minutes. 

Employer businesses will be asked 

questions about the sex, ethnicity, race, 

and veteran status for up to four persons 

owning the majority of rights, equity, or 

interest in the business (Section B of the 

questionnaire). Organizations sampled 

as nonprofits and respondents with 1– 

9 employees will be asked about 

research and development (R&D) 

activities and related costs (Sections C 

and D of the questionnaire respectively). 

Further, employer businesses sampled 

will be asked about the following topics: 

Technology, Operations, and Innovation 

(Section E of the questionnaire); 

Financing (Section F of the 

questionnaire); Management Practices 

(Section G of the questionnaire); and 

Coronavirus Pandemic as related to R&D 

(Section H of the questionnaire). 

The ABS is designed to allow for 

incorporating new content each survey 

year based on topics of relevance. Each 

year new questions will be submitted to 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for approval. 

New questions on the 2021 ABS 

collect data on the following topics: 

Research activities at nonprofit 

organizations (Section C of the 2021 

ABS questionnaire); technology, 

operations, and innovation (Section E of 

the 2021 ABS questionnaire), financing 

(Section F of the 2021 ABS 

questionnaire), and management 

practices (Section G of the of the 2021 

ABS questionnaire). Within Sections F 

and H of the questionnaire, several 

questions have been added to measure 

the impact of the 2020 coronavirus 

pandemic on business activity and R&D, 

respectively. 

The ABS is primarily collected via an 

electronic instrument. Those selected 

for the survey receive an initial letter 

informing the respondents of their 

requirement to complete the survey as 

well as instructions on accessing the 

survey. The 2021 ABS initial mailing is 

scheduled for July 2021. Responses will 

be due approximately 30 days from 

initial mailing. Respondents will also 

receive a due date reminder 

approximately one week before 

responses are due. 

Statistics from the ABS will be used 

by government program officials, 

industry organization leaders, economic 

and social analysts, business 

entrepreneurs, and domestic and foreign 

researchers in academia, business, and 

government. Estimates produced on 

owner demographic data may be used to 

assess business assistance needs, 

allocate available program resources, 

and create a framework for planning, 

directing, and assessing programs that 

promote the activities of disadvantaged 

groups; to assess minority-owned 

businesses by industry and area and to 

educate industry associations, 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 9, 2021 / Notices 8761 

corporations, and government entities; 

to analyze business operations in 

comparison to similar firms, compute 

market share, and assess business 

growth and future prospects. Estimates 

produced on R&D and innovation may 

be used to compare R&D costs across 

industries, determine where R&D 

activity is conducted geographically, 

and identify the types of businesses 

with R&D; to contribute to the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis (BEA) system of 

national accounts; to increase 

investments in research and 

development, strengthen education, and 

encourage entrepreneurship; and to 

compare business innovation in the 

United States to other countries, 

including those in the European Union. 

Results of the research activities data 

collected from nonprofit organizations 

will be used to report updated, valid, 

and reliable estimates of U.S. nonprofit 

R&D in National Patterns of R&D 

Resources and BEA’s system of national 

accounts. 

The data collected by ABS will also 

be incorporated into the National 

Science Board’s biennial report, Science 

and Engineering Indicators (SEI). The 

R&D data from the nonprofit module 

will be reported in the Organization for 

Economic Cooperation and 

Development (OECD) periodic 

publications and for international 

comparisons of R&D efforts. NCSES also 

anticipates professional associations 

will use data from the nonprofit 

module. Likely users in this category 

include, but are not limited to, the 

Science Philanthropy Alliance, the 

Association of Independent Research 

Institutes, and the Health Research 

Alliance. 

Additional examples of data use 

include: 

• The Small Business Administration 

(SBA) and the Minority Business 

Development Agency (MBDA) to assess 

business assistance needs and allocate 

available program resources. 

• Local government commissions on 

small and disadvantaged businesses to 

establish and evaluate contract 

procurement practices. 

• Federal, state, and local government 

agencies as a framework for planning, 

directing, and assessing programs that 

promote the activities of disadvantaged 

groups. 

• The National Women’s Business 

Council to assess the state of women’s 

business ownership for policymakers, 

researchers, and the public at large. 

• Consultants and researchers to 

analyze long-term economic and 

demographic shifts, and differences in 

ownership and performance among 

geographic areas. 

• Individual business owners to 

analyze their operations in comparison 

to similar firms, compute their market 

share, and assess their growth and 

future prospects. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; Not-for-profit 

institutions. 

Frequency: Annually. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: Title 13, United 

States Code, Sections 8(b), 131, and 182; 

Title 42, United States Code, Section 

1861–76 (National Science Foundation 

Act of 1950, as amended); and Section 

505 within the America COMPETES 

Reauthorization Act of 2010 authorize 

this collection. Sections 224 and 225 of 

Title 13, United States Code, require a 

response from sampled firms. 

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 0607–1004. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02613 Filed 2–8–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Economic Development Administration 

Notice of Petitions by Firms for 

Determination of Eligibility To Apply 

for Trade Adjustment Assistance 

AGENCY: Economic Development 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice and opportunity for 

public comment. 

SUMMARY: The Economic Development 

Administration (EDA) has received 

petitions for certification of eligibility to 

apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance 

from the firms listed below. 

Accordingly, EDA has initiated 

investigations to determine whether 

increased imports into the United States 

of articles like or directly competitive 

with those produced by each of the 

firms contributed importantly to the 

total or partial separation of the firms’ 

workers, or threat thereof, and to a 

decrease in sales or production of each 

petitioning firm. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

LIST OF PETITIONS RECEIVED BY EDA FOR CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY TO APPLY FOR TRADE ADJUSTMENT

ASSISTANCE

[1/15/2021 through 1/26/2021] 

Firm name Firm address 

Date accepted 

for 

investigation 

Product(s) 

LaFox Screw Products, Inc ..................... 440 North Gilbert Street, South Elgin, IL 

60177.

1/21/2021 The firm manufactures metal screws. 

Dehen Jackets, Inc .................................. 1040 NE 44th Avenue, Portland, OR 

97213.

1/22/2021 The firm manufactures apparel. 

Competition Engineering, Inc .................. 975 Comstock Street, Marne, MI 49435 1/25/2021 The firm manufactures metal stamping 

dies. 


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