[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 73 (Friday, April 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22501-22503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-08149]


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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; The American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community Survey

    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 September 14, 2021 during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: The American Community Survey and The Puerto Rico Community 
Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0810.
    Form Number(s): ACS-1, ACS-1(SP), ACS-1(PR), ACS-1(PR)SP, ACS-
1(GQ),

[[Page 22502]]

ACS-1(PR)(GQ), GQFQ, ACS CAPI (HU), ACS RI (HU), AGQ QI, and AGQ RI.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension, 
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 3,576,000 for household respondents; 20,100 
for contacts in Group Quarters; 170,900 persons in Group Quarters; 
22,875 households for reinterview; and 1,422 Group Quarters contacts 
for reinterview. The total estimated number of respondents is 
3,791,297. This estimate accurately accounts for Puerto Rico samples 
sizes and responses. The number of respondents were incorrectly listed 
as 3,775,200 on the 60-day Federal Register Notice.
    Average Hours per Response: 40 minutes for the average household 
questionnaire; 15 minutes for a Group Quarters facility questionnaire; 
25 minutes for a Group Quarters person questionnaire; 10 minutes for a 
household reinterview; 10 minutes for a Group Quarter-level 
reinterview.
    Burden Hours: 2,384,000 for household respondents; 5,025 for 
contacts in Group Quarters; 71,208 for Group Quarters residents; 3,813 
households for reinterview; and 237 Group Quarters contacts for 
reinterview. The estimate is an annual average of 2,464,283 burden 
hours. This burden estimate accurately accounts for Puerto Rico sample 
sizes and responses. On the 60-day Federal Register Notice the burden 
hours were incorrectly listed as 2,443,366.
    Needs and Uses: There continues to be a need for current data 
describing lower geographic areas and subpopulations. The Census Bureau 
developed a methodology to collect and update demographic, social, 
economic, and housing data every year that are essentially the same as 
the ``long-form'' data that the Census Bureau formerly collected once a 
decade as part of the decennial census. The American Community Survey 
(ACS) blends the strength of small area estimation with the high 
quality of current surveys. The ACS is an ongoing monthly survey that 
collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data from about 3.5 million 
addresses in the United States and about 36,000 addresses in Puerto 
Rico each year. The ACS also collects detailed socioeconomic data from 
about 170,000 residents living in group quarters facilities in the 
United States and about 900 in Puerto Rico. The ACS is now the only 
source of comparable data about social, economic, housing, and 
demographic characteristics for small-areas and small subpopulations 
across the Nation and in Puerto Rico. Every community in the nation 
continues to receive a detailed, statistical portrait of its social, 
economic, housing, and demographic characteristics each year through 
one-year and five-year ACS products.
    To collect the ACS data, the Census Bureau uses a multiple mode 
contact strategy. These modes include mail, internet, telephone, and 
personal visit. 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 the Census Bureau does 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 a letter 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, 
the nonresponse followup data collection mode.
    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 
computer-assisted personal interviewing. A small sample of respondents 
from the nonresponse follow-up data collection interview are 
recontacted for quality assurance purposes.
    For sample housing units in the Puerto Rico Community Survey, 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 computer-assisted personal interviewing. A small sample of 
respondents from the nonresponse follow-up data collection interview 
are recontacted for quality assurance purposes.
    The Census Bureau employs a different strategy to collect data from 
Group Quarters. The Census Bureau defines Group Quarters as places 
where people live or stay, in a group living arrangement that is owned 
or managed by an entity or organization providing housing and/or 
services for the residents, such as college/university student housing, 
residential treatment centers, skilled nursing facilities, group homes, 
military barracks, correctional facilities, workers' group living 
quarters and Job Corps centers, and emergency and transitional 
shelters. The Census Bureau collects data for Group Quarters primarily 
through personal interview. The Census Bureau will obtain the facility 
information by conducting a personal visit interview with a Group 
Quarters contact. During this interview, the Census Bureau obtains 
roster of residents and randomly selects them for person-level 
interviews. During the person-level phase, a field representative uses 
a computer-assisted personal interviewing instrument to collect 
detailed information for each sampled resident. Field representatives 
also have the option to distribute a bilingual (English/Spanish) 
questionnaire to residents for self-response if unable to complete a 
computer-assisted personal interviewing interview. A small sample of 
respondents are recontacted for quality assurance purposes.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 141 and 193, and 221.
    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

[[Page 22503]]

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 0607-0810.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2022-08149 Filed 4-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P