52448 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 196 / Tuesday, October 13, 2009 / Notices 

VI. Award Administration Information 

A. Award Notices 

Successful applicants will receive 

notification for funding from the USDA 

Rural Development State Office. 

Applicants must comply with all 

applicable statutes and regulations 

before the grant award will be approved. 

Unsuccessful applications will receive 

notification by mail. Grantees must 

further comply with applicable 

provisions of 7 CFR parts 3015, 3016, 

3019, and 3052. 

VII. Agency Contacts 

For general questions about this 

announcement, please contact your 

USDA Rural Development State Office 

identified in this Notice. 

VIII. Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, the paperwork burden 

has been cleared by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

OMB Control Number 0570–0022. 

Nondiscrimination Statement: 

‘‘The U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its 

programs and activities on the basis of race, 

color, national origin, age, disability, and 

where applicable, sex, marital status, familial 

status, parental status, religion, sexual 

orientation, genetic information, political 

beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an 

individual’s income is derived from any 

public assistance program. (Not all 

prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication of 

program information (Braille, large print, 

audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and 

TDD). 

To file a complaint of discrimination write 

to USDA, Director, Office of Adjudication 

and Compliance, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250–9410 

or call (800) 795–3272 (voice) or (202) 720– 

6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity 

provider, employer, and lender.’’ 

Dated: September 23, 2009. 

Judith A. Canales, 

Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–24611 Filed 10–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35). 

Agency: U.S. Census Bureau. 

Title: American Community Survey 

Methods Panel Tests. 

Form Number(s): ACS–1, ACS–1(SP), 

ACS–1PR, ACS–1PR(SP), ACS 

CATI(HU), ACS CAPI(HU). 

OMB Control Number: 0607–0936. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Burden Hours: 92,422. 

Number of Respondents: 169,667. 

Average Hours per Response: 28 

minutes. 

Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census 

Bureau requests authorization from the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) to conduct the American 

Community Survey (ACS) Methods 

Panel tests. 

Given the rapid demographic changes 

experienced in recent years and the 

strong expectation that such changes 

will continue and accelerate, the oncea-decade data collection approach to a 

census is no longer acceptable as a 

source for the housing and socioeconomic data collected on the census 

long-form. To meet the needs and 

expectations of the country, the Census 

Bureau developed the ACS. This survey 

collects detailed socioeconomic data 

every month and provides tabulations of 

these data on a yearly basis. The ACS 

allows the Census Bureau to provide 

more timely and relevant housing and 

socio-economic data while also 

reducing operational risks in the census 

by eliminating the long-form historically 

given to one in every six addresses. 

Full implementation of the ACS 

includes an annual sample of 

approximately three million residential 

addresses a year in the 50 states and the 

District of Columbia, and another 36,000 

addresses in Puerto Rico. A sample this 

large allows for annual production and 

release of single-year estimates for areas 

with a population of 65,000 or more. 

Lower levels of geography require 

aggregates of three and five years’ worth 

of data in order to produce estimates of 

comparable reliability to the census 

long-form. However, an ongoing data 

collection effort with an annual sample 

of this magnitude requires that the ACS 

continue research, testing and 

evaluations aimed at improving ACS 

questionnaires content and related data 

collection materials. In addition, the 

ACS Methods Panel during the 2010– 

2012 period may include testing 

methods for increasing survey and 

operational efficiencies; alternative 

methods or procedures may be 

developed and evaluated that could 

potentially reduce the overall survey 

cost, lessen respondent burden, and 

improve response rates. At this time, 

specific plans are in place to propose 

three methods panel tests: A content 

reinterview study, the 2010 ACS 

Content Test, and an Internet Mode 

Test. Since the ACS Methods Panel is 

designed to address emerging issues, we 

may conduct additional testing as 

needed. Testing would focus on 

methods for reducing data collection 

costs or testing new questions that have 

an urgent need to be included on the 

ACS. 

During Census 2000, a content 

reinterview study (CRS) was conducted 

in conjunction with the long form, 

which the ACS now replaces. The 

decennial CRS was an evaluation of the 

quality of the data collected in the 

census, focusing on response bias and 

simple response variance (reliability). 

The Census Bureau proposes to design 

and implement a CRS to look at the 

current ACS production questions on an 

ongoing basis. This will allow for the 

identification of problems with 

reliability. Results from the CRS will 

provide data users with concrete data 

quality measures (such as reliability or 

bias measures) for each ACS item. 

The ACS CRS will allow the Census 

Bureau to continuously monitor the data 

quality of the ACS and identify 

questions that are currently unreliable 

or that may become unreliable due to 

changes in the survey climate (e.g., 

changes in policy that change the 

definition of what the ACS is trying to 

measure). The results from the CRS, 

generated on a yearly basis, would 

identify which questions require 

modifications and future testing via a 

content test, thus providing a more 

scientific approach to determining the 

need for content testing of current ACS 

items. The CRS will be conducted by 

telephone only with a small sample of 

cases that responded during production. 

Second, in response to Federal 

agencies’ requests for new and revised 

ACS questions, the Census Bureau plans 

to conduct the 2010 ACS Content Test. 

Changes to the current ACS content and 

the addition of new content were 

identified through the Interagency 

Committee for the ACS and through 

recent legislative action. The primary 

objective of the 2010 ACS Content Test 

is to test whether changes to question 

wording, response categories, and 

redefinition of underlying constructs 

improve the quality of data collected. 

The Census Bureau proposes to evaluate 

changes to the questions, or for new 

questions, to compare the performance 

of question versions to each other as 

well as to other well-known sources of 

such information. The proposed topics 

for content testing are new questions to 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 196 / Tuesday, October 13, 2009 / Notices 52449 

measure computer and Internet access 

and usage, as well as parental place of 

birth and revisions to veteran’s 

identification and period of service, 

cash public assistance income, wages 

income and property income, and the 

Food Stamp program name. 

A third test, the ACS Internet 

ModeTest, is planned to determine the 

best methods for informing sample 

households about an ACS Internet 

response option and encouraging them 

to respond. By offering an Internet 

response option in the ACS, the Census 

Bureau is taking further steps to comply 

with the e-gov initiative and potentially 

reduce collection costs. The objectives 

of the Internet ModeTest include: 

potential improvement in self-response 

rates; potential cost savings if we can 

change the distribution of responses by 

mode (i.e., obtain more responses by 

Internet); and potential improvement in 

data quality including a potential 

reduction in item nonresponse. 

Two additional tests are currently 

planned. The specific details of these 

tests are not known at this time but 

would include an additional content 

test for new questions that have an 

urgent need to be included on the ACS 

as well as an additional test of new 

methods to address an emergent need. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households. 

Frequency: One time. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., 

sections 141, 193 and 221. 

OMB Desk Officer: Brian HarrisKojetin, (202) 395–7314. 

Copies of the above information 

collection proposal can be obtained by 

calling or writing Diana Hynek, 

Departmental Paperwork Clearance 

Officer, (202) 482–0266, Department of 

Commerce, Room 7845, 14th and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 

dhynek@doc.gov). 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB 

Desk Officer either by fax (202–395– 

7245) or e-mail (bharrisk@omb.eop.gov). 

Dated: October 6, 2009. 

Glenna Mickelson, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–24466 Filed 10–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). 

Agency: Bureau of Industry and 

Security (BIS). 

Title: License Transfer and Duplicate 

License Services. 

OMB Control Number: 0694–0126. 

Form Number(s): N/A. 

Type of Request: Regular submission 

(Extension). 

Burden Hours: 38. 

Number of Respondents: 110. 

Average Hours per Response: 15 to 30 

minutes. 

Needs and Uses: The information is 

needed to provide services to exporters 

who have either lost their original 

license and require a duplicate, or wish 

to transfer ownership of their approved 

license to another party. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. 

OMB Desk Officer: Jasmeet Seehra, 

(202) 395–3123. 

Copies of the above information 

collection proposal can be obtained by 

calling or writing Diana Hynek, 

Departmental Paperwork Clearance 

Officer, (202) 482–0266, Department of 

Commerce, Room 7845, 14th and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 

dHynek@doc.gov). 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to Jasmeet Seehra, OMB Desk 

Officer via the Internet at 

Jasmeet_K._Seehra@omb.eop.gov, or fax 

to (202) 395–5167. 

Dated: October 7, 2009. 

Gwellnar Banks, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–24502 Filed 10–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–33–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). 

Agency: Bureau of Industry and 

Security (BIS). 

Title: Commercial Encryption Items 

under Commerce Jurisdiction. 

OMB Control Number: 0694–0104. 

Form Number(s): N/A. 

Type of Request: Regular submission 

(Extension). 

Burden Hours: 8,090. 

Number of Respondents: 940. 

Average Hours per Response: 10 

minutes to 20 hours. 

Needs and Uses: The collection is 

necessary to provide technical and end 

user information for encryption items 

that are eligible for export under license 

exception or under licenses that 

authorize exports to various 

destinations. This collection provides 

technical information for programs 

related to encrypted communications. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. 

OMB Desk Officer: Jasmeet Seehra, 

(202) 395–3123. 

Copies of the above information 

collection proposal can be obtained by 

calling or writing Diana Hynek, 

Departmental Paperwork Clearance 

Officer, (202) 482–0266, Department of 

Commerce, Room 7845, 14th and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 

dHynek@doc.gov). 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to Jasmeet Seehra, OMB Desk 

Officer, via the Internet at 

Jasmeet_K._Seehra@omb.eop.gov, or fax 

to (202) 395–5167. 

Dated: October 7, 2009. 

Gwellnar Banks, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–24501 Filed 10–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–33–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

Proposed Information Collection; 

Comment Request; Generic Clearance 

for Master Address File (MAF) and 

Topologically Integrated Geographic 

Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) 

Update Activities 

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau. 

ACTION: Notice. 


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