[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 143 (Thursday, July 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 40805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16150]


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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; Report of Building or Zoning Permits Issued for New Privately-
Owned Housing Units

    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 May 7, 2021 during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.
    Title: Report of Building or Zoning Permits Issued for New 
Privately-Owned Housing Units.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0094.
    Form Number(s): C-404.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension, 
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 20,000 respondents providing a total of 
114,743 responses per year.
    Average Hours per Response: 9.22 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 17,625.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau conducts the Report of Building 
or Zoning Permits Issued for New Privately-Owned Housing Units, 
otherwise known as the Building Permits Survey (BPS) to collect data on 
new residential buildings from state and local permit-issuing offices. 
The key estimates from the survey are the numbers of new housing units 
authorized by building permits; data are also collected on the 
valuation of the housing units. Form C-404 specifically collects 
information on changes to the geographic coverage of the permit-issuing 
place, the number and valuation of new residential housing units 
authorized by building permits, and additional information on 
residential permits valued at $2 million or more, including, but not 
limited to, site address and type of building.
    The Census Bureau produces statistics used to monitor activity in 
the large and dynamic construction industry. Given the importance of 
this industry, several of the statistical series have been designated 
by the Office of Management and Budget as Principal Economic 
Indicators. Two such indicators are directly dependent on the key 
estimates from the BPS. For New Residential Construction (which 
includes Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits, Housing Starts, 
and Housing Completions), form C-404 is used to collect the estimate 
for Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits. For New Residential 
Construction and Sales, the number of housing units authorized by 
building permits is a key component utilized in the estimation of 
housing units started, completed, and sold.
    These statistics help state, local, and federal governments, as 
well as private industry, analyze this important sector of the economy. 
The building permit series are available monthly based on a sample of 
building permit offices, and annually based on the entire universe of 
permit offices. Published data from the survey can be found on the 
Census Bureau's website at www.census.gov/permits.
    Beginning January 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau is proposing to 
change the methodology for the tabulation of monthly Building Permit 
Survey. The methodology will change from a representative sample to a 
cutoff sample based on recent permit activity by jurisdiction.
    Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal government.
    Frequency: There are roughly 20,000 permit issuing jurisdictions in 
the United States. Slightly less than one-half of those permit offices 
are requested to report monthly. The remaining offices are surveyed 
annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, 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 0607-0094.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-16150 Filed 7-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P