8804 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 15, 2012 / Notices 

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: Manufacturers’ Shipments, 

Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey. 

OMB Control Number: 0607–0008. 

Form Number(s): M–3(SD). 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Burden Hours: 17,200. 

Number of Respondents: 4,300. 

Average Hours Per Response: 20 

minutes. 

Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census 

Bureau is requesting an extension of the 

currently approved collection for the 

Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, 

and Orders (M3) survey. This survey 

collects monthly data from domestic 

manufacturers on Form M–3 (SD), 

which is mailed at the end of each 

month. Data requested are shipments, 

new orders, unfilled orders, and 

inventories by stage of fabrication. The 

M3 is currently the only survey that 

provides broad-based monthly statistical 

data on the economic conditions in the 

domestic manufacturing sector. The 

survey is designed to measure current 

industrial activity and to provide an 

indication of future production 

commitments. The value of shipments 

measures the value of goods delivered 

during the month by domestic 

manufacturers. Estimates of new orders 

serve as an indicator of future 

production commitments and represent 

the current sales value of new orders 

received during the month, net of 

cancellations. Substantial accumulation 

or depletion of backlogs of unfilled 

orders measures excess (or deficient) 

demand for manufactured products. The 

level of inventories, especially in 

relation to shipments, is frequently used 

to monitor the business cycle. 

This survey provides an essential 

component of the current economic 

indicators needed for assessing the 

evolving status of the economy and 

formulating economic policy. The Office 

of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has designated this survey as a 

principal federal economic indicator. 

The shipments and inventory data are 

essential inputs to the gross domestic 

product (GDP), while the orders data are 

direct inputs to the leading economic 

indicator series. The GDP and the 

economic indicator series would be 

incomplete without these data. The 

survey also provides valuable and 

timely domestic manufacturing data for 

economic planning and analysis to 

business firms, trade associations, 

research and consulting agencies, and 

academia. 

The data are used for analyzing shortand long-term trends, both in the 

manufacturing sector and as related to 

other sectors of the economy. The data 

on value of shipments, especially when 

adjusted for change in inventory, 

measure current levels of production. 

New orders figures serve as an indicator 

of future production commitments. 

Changes in the level of unfilled orders, 

because of excess or shortfall of new 

orders compared with shipments, are 

used to measure the excess (or 

deficiency) in the demand for 

manufactured products. Changes in the 

level of inventories and the relation of 

these to shipments are used to project 

future movements in manufacturing 

activity. These statistics are valuable for 

analysts of business cycle conditions 

including members of the Council of 

Economic Advisers (CEA), the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis (BEA), the Federal 

Reserve Board (FRB), the Department of 

the Treasury, business firms, trade 

associations, private research and 

consulting agencies, and the academic 

community. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit. 

Frequency: Monthly. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: Title 13, United 

States Code, Sections 131, 182, 193, and 

224. 

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

Copies of the above information 

collection proposal can be obtained by 

calling or writing Jennifer Jessup, 

Departmental Paperwork Clearance 

Officer, (202) 482–0336, Department of 

Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 

jjessup@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 email (bharrisk@omb.eop.gov). 

Dated: February 10, 2012. 

Glenna Mickelson, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3496 Filed 2–14–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign-Trade Zones Board 

[Docket 9–2012] 

Foreign-Trade Zone 202—Los Angeles, 

CA; Application for Reorganization and 

Expansion Under Alternative Site 

Framework 

An application has been submitted to 

the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board 

(the Board) by the Board of Harbor 

Commissioners of the City of Los 

Angeles, grantee of FTZ 202, requesting 

authority to reorganize and expand the 

zone under the alternative site 

framework (ASF) adopted by the Board 

(74 FR 1170, 1/12/2009 (correction 74 

FR 3987, 1/22/2009); 75 FR 71069– 

71070, 11/22/2010). The ASF is an 

option for grantees for the establishment 

or reorganization of general-purpose 

zones and can permit significantly 

greater flexibility in the designation of 

new ‘‘usage-driven’’ FTZ sites for 

operators/users located within a 

grantee’s ‘‘service area’’ in the context of 

the Board’s standard 2,000-acre 

activation limit for a general-purpose 

zone project. The application was 

submitted pursuant to the Foreign-Trade 

Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a81u), and the regulations of the Board 

(15 CFR part 400). It was formally filed 

on February 9, 2012. 

FTZ 202 was approved on July 14, 

1994 (Board Order 693, 59 FR 37464, 

07/22/1994), and expanded or 

reorganized on August 26, 1996 (Board 

Order 842, 61 FR 46763, 09/5/1996), on 

July 9, 1999 (Board Order 1043, 64 FR 

38887, 07/20/1999), on April 30, 2004 

(Board Order 1331, 69 FR 26065–26066, 

05/11/2004), on April 24, 2009 (Board 

Order 1616, 74 FR 21623–21624, 05/8/ 

2009), on December 20, 2010 (Board 

Order 1732, 76 FR 86–87, 01/03/2011), 

and, on August 12, 2011 (Board Order 

1779, 76 FR 53115, 08/25/2011). 

The zone project currently consists of 

20 sites located in Los Angeles, San 

Bernardino and Riverside Counties as 

follows: Site 1 (2,775 acres total)—Port 

of Los Angeles Harbor Complex, San 

Pedro; Site 2 (1.5 acres)—1 World Way, 

Los Angeles International Airport (1 

acre) and 5540 W. 104th Street, Los 

Angeles (0.5 acres); Site 4 (353.6 

acres)—within the 438-acre Carson 

Dominguez Technology Center south of 

the Artesia Freeway, between the 

Harbor Freeway and I–710, Carson and 

Rancho Dominguez; Site 5 (6.13 acres)— 

3Plus Logistics, 20250 S. Alameda 

Street, Rancho Dominguez (sunset 4/30/ 

2014); Site 7 (93 acres)—within the 140- 

acre Pacific Gateway Center, at the 

southwest corner of the San Diego 


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