Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 175 / Tuesday, September 14, 2021 / Notices 51111 

FNS will utilize these comments to 

adjust the information collection as 

necessary. 

Cynthia Long, 

Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19764 Filed 9–13–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Information Collection: Urban Forest 

Engagement in Atlanta, GA 

AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture 

(USDA). 

ACTION: Notice; request for comment. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

USDA Forest Service is seeking 

comments from all interested 

individuals and organizations on the 

extension with revisions of a currently 

approved information collection, Urban 

Forest Engagement in Atlanta, Georgia. 

DATES: Comments must be received in 

writing on or before November 15, 2021 

to be assured of consideration. 

Comments received after that date will 

be considered to the extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: Commenters are encouraged 

to submit comments by email, if 

possible. You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Email: cassandra.johnson@

usda.gov. 

• Mail: Cassandra Johnson Gaither, 

Forestry Sciences Lab, 320 Green Street, 

Athens, GA 30602. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Cassandra 

Johnson Gaither, Forestry Sciences Lab, 

320 Green Street, Athens, GA 30602. 

• Facsimile: (706) 559–4266. 

The public may inspect comments 

received at Forestry Sciences Lab, 320 

Green Street, Athens, GA 30602, during 

normal business hours. Visitors are 

encouraged to call ahead to (706) 559– 

4270 to facilitate entry to the building. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cassandra Johnson Gaither, USDA 

Forest Service, Southern Research 

Station, by phone at (706) 559–4270 or 

email at cassandra.johnson@usda.gov. 

Individuals who use telecommunication 

devices for the hearing-impaired (TDD) 

may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) 

at 1–800–877–8339 twenty-four hours a 

day, every day of the year, including 

holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Urban Forest Engagement in 

Atlanta, GA. 

OMB Number: 0596–0237. 

Expiration Date of Approval: February 

28, 2022. 

Type of Request: Extension with 

revisions of a currently approved 

information collection. 

Abstract: This information collection 

will continue to gather data on City of 

Atlanta residents’ interest in and 

engagement with the urban forest in the 

city. This information collection focuses 

more narrowly on urban forest patches, 

a collection or stand of trees, in public 

spaces. Engagement is defined as 

residents’ interest in and awareness of 

urban forest patches and resident 

participation in decisions about how the 

patches should be maintained or 

repurposed. The information collection 

also gathers data on social factors such 

as neighborhood transiency and 

perception of neighborhood conditions, 

conceptualized as collective efficacy 

and social cohesion. The neighborhood 

conditions data provides information on 

the broader context from which people 

make decisions about engaging with 

urban forest patches. If neighborhood 

transiency (i.e., frequent involuntary 

moving of people in and out of 

neighborhoods) is problematic in 

communities or people lack basic needs 

such as access to healthy foods or safe 

neighborhoods, it is unlikely that they 

would demonstrate a high degree of 

engagement with the city’s urban forest. 

This collection extends the existing 

information collection effort by 

examining the environmental justice 

implications of neighborhood-level 

decision making about the forest 

patches. Prior door-to-door data 

collection in south Atlanta 

neighborhoods revealed the presence of 

forest patches on vacant properties. 

However, there is little to no data on 

how residents perceive of these spaces 

or how residents might contribute to 

decision processes about the outcome of 

these spaces. This is an important 

question given the sites are providing 

ecological benefits such as stormwater 

mitigation. 

For the proposed data collection, 

survey questions were included on 

people’s awareness of forest patches on 

vacant properties near their 

neighborhoods and on potential barriers 

residents might face in contributing to 

decision making processes about the 

patches. Many contextual factors 

constrain people’s ability to engage in 

local-level environmental decision 

making, the procedural component of 

environmental justice. The data 

collected via this effort will provide 

important input on factors that might 

facilitate or constrain engagement and 

will inform the USDA Forest Service’s 

efforts to address Executive Order 

14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at 

Home and Abroad, and Executive Order 

12898, Federal Actions to Address 

Environmental Justice in Minority 

Populations and Low Income 

Populations. 

Data collection will center on south 

Atlanta neighborhoods adjacent to 

vacant land with forest patches. These 

neighborhoods are overwhelmingly 

African American, with poverty rates 

ranging from roughly 30 percent to 64 

percent. The neighborhoods are also 

near multiple transportation companies, 

the activities of which compromise air 

quality. 

The survey will be conducted at the 

household, using proportionate-guided 

random sampling where the survey is 

left for the appropriate respondent to 

complete and is picked up later by a 

survey administrator. This methodology 

limits contact between the surveyor and 

the household but provides the inperson contact that is helpful for 

increasing response rates which are 

considerably lower in minority 

communities. Survey administrators 

will include USDA Forest Service social 

scientists, neighborhood residents 

trained in door-to-door data collection 

methods, and university college 

students. Researchers with USDA Forest 

Service Research & Development staff 

will analyze the data. 

If the information proposed herein is 

not collected, the opportunity to address 

environmental justice from a procedural 

perspective will be missed. The 

information collection also will assist 

the Agency in better understanding how 

urban green spaces in southern cities 

impact residents’ quality of life. 

Comparatively fewer Forest Service led 

studies have examined this topic for 

these populations. 

Type of Respondents: City of Atlanta 

residents. 

Estimated Annual Number of 

Respondents: 600. 

Estimated Annual Number of 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 120 hours. 

Comment Is Invited: Comment is 

invited on: (1) Whether this collection 

of information is necessary for the stated 

purposes and the proper performance of 

the functions of the Agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical or scientific utility; (2) the 

accuracy of the Agency’s estimate of the 

burden of the collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (3) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 


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51112 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 175 / Tuesday, September 14, 2021 / Notices 

on respondents, including the use of 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

All comments received in response to 

this notice, including names and 

addresses when provided, will be a 

matter of public record. Comments will 

be summarized and included in the 

submission request for Office of 

Management and Budget approval. 

Dated: September 9, 2021. 

Alexander L. Friend, 

Deputy Chief, Research & Development. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19766 Filed 9–13–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; American Community Survey 

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection, 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, 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. The purpose of this 

notice is to allow for 60 days of public 

comment on the proposed extension of 

the American Community Survey, prior 

to the submission of the information 

collection request (ICR) to OMB for 

approval. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, 

comments regarding this proposed 

information collection must be received 

on or before November 15, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments by 

email to acso.pra@census.gov. Please 

reference the American Community 

Survey in the subject line of your 

comments. You may also submit 

comments, identified by Docket Number 

USBC–2021–0019, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. All comments 

received are part of the public record. 

No comments will be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov for public viewing 

until after the comment period has 

closed. Comments will generally be 

posted without change. All Personally 

Identifiable Information (for example, 

name and address) voluntarily 

submitted by the commenter may be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

Confidential Business Information or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF 

file formats. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

specific questions related to collection 

activities should be directed to Dameka 

Reese, U.S. Census Bureau, American 

Community Survey Office, 301–763– 

3804, dameka.m.reese@census.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

Since its founding, the U.S. Census 

Bureau has balanced the demands of a 

growing country requiring information 

about its people and economy, with 

concerns for respondents’ 

confidentiality and the time and effort it 

takes respondents to answer questions. 

Beginning with the 1810 Census, 

Congress added questions to support a 

range of public concerns and uses, and 

over the course of a century, federal 

agencies requested to add questions 

about agriculture, industry, and 

commerce, as well as individuals’ 

occupation, ancestry, marital status, 

disabilities, place of birth and other 

topics. In 1940, the Census Bureau 

introduced the long-form census in 

order to ask more detailed questions to 

only a sample of the public. 

In the early 1990s, the demand for 

current, nationally consistent data from 

a wide variety of users led federal 

government policymakers to consider 

the feasibility of collecting social, 

economic, and housing data 

continuously throughout the decade. 

The benefits of providing current data, 

along with the anticipated decennial 

census benefits in cost savings, 

planning, improved census coverage, 

and more efficient operations, led the 

Census Bureau to plan the 

implementation of the continuous 

measurement survey, later called the 

American Community Survey (ACS). 

After years of testing, the ACS replaced 

the long form in 2005. The ACS is 

conducted throughout the United States 

and in Puerto Rico, where it is called 

the Puerto Rico Community Survey 

(PRCS). Each year a sample of 

approximately 3.5 million households 

and about 170,000 persons living in 

group quarters (GQ) in the United States 

are selected to participate in the ACS 

and PRCS. 

II. Method of Collection 

To encourage self-response in the 

ACS, the Census Bureau sends up to 

five mailings to housing units selected 

to be in the sample. The first mailing, 

sent to all mailable addresses in the 

sample, includes an invitation to 

participate in the ACS online and states 

that a paper questionnaire will be sent 

in a few weeks to those unable to 

respond online. The second mailing is 

a letter that reminds respondents to 

complete the survey online, thanks 

them if they have already done so, and 

informs them that a paper form will be 

sent at a later date if we do not receive 

their response. In a third mailing, the 

questionnaire package is sent only to 

those sample addresses that have not 

completed the online questionnaire 

within two weeks. The fourth mailing is 

a postcard that reminds respondents to 

respond and informs them that an 

interviewer may contact them if they do 

not complete the survey. A fifth mailing 

is sent to respondents who have not 

completed the survey within five weeks. 

This letter provides a due date and 

reminds the respondents to return their 

questionnaires to be removed from 

future contact. The Census Bureau will 

ask those who fill out the survey online 

to provide an email address, which will 

be used to send an email reminder to 

households that did not complete the 

online form. The reminder asks them to 

log back in to finish responding to the 

survey. If the Census Bureau does not 

receive a response or if the household 

refuses to participate, the address may 

be selected for computer-assisted 

personal interviewing (CAPI). 

Some addresses are deemed 

unmailable because the address is 

incomplete or directs mail only to a post 

office box. The Census Bureau currently 

collects data for these housing units 

using both online and CAPI. 

For sample housing units in the 

Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS), 

a different mail strategy is employed. 

The Census Bureau continues to use the 

previously used mail strategy with no 

references to an internet response 

option. The Census Bureau sends up to 

five mailings to a Puerto Rico address 

selected to be in the sample. The first 

mailing includes a prenotice letter. The 

second and fourth mailings include the 

paper survey. The third and fifth 

mailings serve as a reminder to respond 

to the survey. Puerto Rico addresses 

deemed unmailable because the address 

is incomplete or directs mail only to a 

post office box are collected by CAPI. 

The Census Bureau employs a 

different strategy to collect data from 

GQs. The Census Bureau defines GQs as 


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