[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 119 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33214-33215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13454]


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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; Household Pulse Survey

    On March 18, 2021, the Department of Commerce received clearance 
from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 to conduct Phase 3.1 of the Household 
Pulse Survey (OMB No. 0607-1013, Exp. 10/31/23). The Household Pulse 
Survey was designed to meet a need for timely information associated 
with household experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.
    The Department is committed to ensuring that the data collected by 
the Household Pulse Survey continue to meet information needs as they 
may evolve over the course of the pandemic. This notice serves to 
inform of the Department's intent to submit an emergency clearance 
request to OMB to make some revisions to the Household Pulse Survey 
questionnaire. To ensure public burden is not increased, the revisions 
would reflect the removal of questions for which utility has declined 
over time, and the addition of topics based on public comment 
previously received and in consult with other Federal agencies. 
Removals include questions on Unemployment Insurance applications; 
Social Security Administration program receipt and application; Reasons 
for changed spending; Ride sharing/transit use; trips over 100 miles; 
Spending on groceries and prepared foods; Delayed and Forgone medical 
care; Child care; and K-12 computer use and internet access. 
Additionally, post-secondary education items will be held until closer 
to the fall terms. New questions focus on the Child Tax Credit; sexual 
orientation and gender identity (SOGI); rent/mortgage arrears; utility 
arrears and restrictions; summer catchup education activities for K-12; 
preventive health care for children; and application for Medicaid or 
exchange coverage. It is the Department's intention to commence data 
collection using the revised instrument on or about July 21, 2021. The 
Department invites 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 sought on the Household Pulse Survey via the Federal 
Register on May 19, 2020, June 3, 2020, February 1, 2021, and again on 
April 13, 2021. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments on the proposed revisions.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.
    Title: Household Pulse Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-1013.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Emergency Clearance Request.
    Number of Respondents: 3,150,000
    Average Hours per Response: 20 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 1,039,500.
    Needs and Uses: Data produced by the Household Pulse Survey are

[[Page 33215]]

designed to inform on a range of topics related to households' 
experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. Topics to date have included 
employment, facility to telework, travel patterns, income loss, 
spending patterns, food and housing security, access to benefits, 
mental health and access to care, intent to receive the COVID-19 
vaccine, and educational disruption (K-12 and post-secondary). The 
requested revision, if approved by OMB, will remove selected items from 
the questions for which utility has declined and add questions based on 
information needs expressed via public comment and in consult with 
other Federal agencies. The overall burden to the public will remain 
unchanged.
    The Household Pulse Survey was initially launched in April, 2020 as 
an experimental project (see https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products.html) under emergency clearance from the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) initially granted April 19, 2020; regular 
clearance was subsequently sought and approved by OMB on October 30, 
2020 (OMB No. 0607-1013; Exp. 10/30/2023).
    Affected Public: Households.
    Frequency: Households will be selected once to participate in a 20-
minute survey.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 8(b), 182 
and 196.
    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 0607-1013.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-13454 Filed 6-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P