64886 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 241 / Friday, December 14, 2001 / Notices

collected on an ongoing, monthly basis,

so time series data will eventually

become available, allowing analysts to

identify changes in how people spend

their time.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is

particularly interested in comments

that:

• Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;

• Evaluate the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

• Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and

• Minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including through the

use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology,

e.g., permitting electronic submissions

of responses.

III. Current Action

Office of Management and Budget

clearance is being sought for the new

collection of the American Time Use

Survey. This survey will collect

information on how individuals in the

United States use their time. Collection

will be on a continuous, monthly basis.

The survey sample will be drawn from

households completing their final

month of interviews for the Current

Population Survey (CPS). Households

will be selected to ensure a

representative demographic sample, and

one individual from each household

will be selected to take part in one

Computer Assisted Telephone

Interview. The interview will ask

respondents to report all of their

activities for one pre-assigned 24-hour

day, the day prior to the interview. A

short series of summary questions and

CPS updates follows the core time diary

collection. After one full year of

collection, annual national estimates of

time use for an average weekday or

weekend day will be available.

Eventually, time series data will be

available.

Because the ATUS sample will be a

subset of households completing

interviews for the CPS, the same

demographic information collected from

that survey will be available for the

ATUS respondents. Comparisons of

activity patterns across characteristics

such as sex, race, age, and education of

the respondent, as well as the presence

of children and the number of adults

living in the respondent’s household

will be possible.

Type of Review: New Collection.

Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Title: American Time Use Survey.

OMB Number: 1220–NEW.

Affected Public: Individuals.

Total Respondents: 24,000.

Frequency: Monthly.

Total Responses: 24,000.

Average Time Per Response: 30

minutes.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 12,000

hours.

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):

$0.

Total Burden Cost (operating/

maintenance): $0.

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for Office of

Management and Budget approval of the

information collection request; they also

will become a matter of public record.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 7th day of

December, 2001.

Jesu ́ s Salinas,

Acting Chief, Division of Management

Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[FR Doc. 01–30855 Filed 12–13–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–28–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Proposed Collection, Comment

Request

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as

part of its continuing effort to reduce

paperwork and respondent burden,

conducts a pre-clearance consultation

program to provide the general public

and Federal agencies with an

opportunity to comment on proposed

and/or continuing collections of

information in accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This

program helps to ensure that requested

data can be provided in the desired

format, reporting burden (time and

financial resources) is minimized,

collection instruments are clearly

understood, and the impact of collection

requirements on respondents can be

properly assessed. The Bureau of Labor

Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments

concerning the proposed extension of

the ‘‘Producer Price Index Survey.’’ A

copy of the proposed information

collection request (ICR) can be obtained

by contacting the individual listed

below in the Addresses section of this

notice.

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted to the office listed in the

Addresses section of this notice on or

before February 12, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A.

Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, Division

of Management Systems, Bureau of

Labor Statistics, Room 3255, 2

Massachusetts Avenue, NE.,

Washington, DC 20212, telephone

number 202–691–7628 (this is not a toll

free number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer,

telephone number 202–691–7628. (See

ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Producer Price Index (PPI), one of

the Nation’s leading economic

indicators, is used as a measure of price

movements, as an indicator of

inflationary trends, for inventory

valuation, and as a measure of

purchasing power of the dollar at the

primary-market level. It is also used for

market and economic research and as a

basis for escalation in long-term

contracts and purchase agreements.

PPI data provide a description of the

magnitude and composition of price

change within the economy, and serve

a wide range of governmental needs.

These monthly indexes are closely

followed and are viewed as sensitive

indicators of the economic environment.

Price data are vital in helping both the

President and Congress set fiscal

spending targets. Producer prices are

monitored by the Federal Reserve Board

Open Market Committee to help decide

monetary policy. Federal policy-makers

at the Department of Treasury and the

Council of Economic Advisors use these

statistics to help form and evaluate

monetary and fiscal measures, and to

help interpret the general business

environment. Furthermore, dollardenominated measures of economic

performance, such the Gross Domestic

Product, require accurate price data in

order to convert nominal-dollar values

to constant-dollar values. Inflation-free

national income accounting figures are

vital to fiscal and monetary policymakers when setting objectives and

targets. In addition, it is common to find

one or more PPIs, alone or in

combination with other measures, used

to escalate the delivered price of goods

for government purchases.

In addition to governmental uses, PPI

data are used by the private sector.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 241 / Friday, December 14, 2001 / Notices 64887

Private industry uses PPI data for

contract escalation. For one particular

method of tax-related Last-In-First-Out

(LIFO) inventory accounting, the

Internal Revenue Service suggests that

firms use PPI data for making

calculations. Private businesses make

extensive use of industrial-price data for

planning and operating. Price trends are

used to assess market conditions. Firms

commonly compare the prices they pay

for material inputs and the prices they

receive for products that they make and

sell with changes in similar PPIs.

Economic researchers and forecasters

also use the PPI. Price indexes are

widely used to probe and measure the

interaction of market forces. Some

examples of research topics that require

extensive price data include: The

identification of varying price

elasticities and the degree of cost passthrough in the economy, the

identification of potential lead and lag

structures among price changes, and the

identification of prices which exert

major impacts throughout market

structures. In the end, both policy and

business planning are affected by the

completeness of price trend

descriptions.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is

particularly interested in comments

that:

• Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;

• Evaluate the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

• Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and

• Minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including through the

use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology,

e.g., permitting electronic submissions

of responses.

III. Current Action

Office of Management and Budget

clearance is being sought for the

Producer Price Index Survey.

A description of recent and projected

improvements meant to improve data

completeness, increase efficiency, and

reduce overall respondent burden to the

maximum degree possible follows.

A. Disaggregation—Recent

modifications made to disaggregation

(i.e., item selection procedures) help to

better define a publication structure that

is: (1) Publishable in its entirety, (2)

meets user needs, (3) continuous, and

(4) permits meaningful classification of

current production. In order to obtain

and maintain publishability of an entire

structure, data are now collected using

a method where price-quotation

selection is spread across predetermined

product categories that correspond to

the publication cells for a Standard

Industrial Classification (SIC). The

design of the revised disaggregation

method nearly guarantees that the PPI

will collect enough price quotations to

populate more lightly weighted cells.

More heavily weighted (and populated)

cells will receive slightly fewer price

quotations than would have been

selected under the previous method. As

a result, indexes constituting the PPI’s

publication objectives are much more

likely to remain published over time.

(For a complete description, see

‘‘Change in PPI Publication Structures

for Resampled Industries Introduced in

January 1997,’’ PPI Detailed Report,

January 1997.)

B. Sampling—Recent modifications

made to sampling procedures permit the

PPI to update weights of industry

indexes without initiating a new set of

respondents. This process change is

called ‘‘recycling without resampling.’’

The PPI has also made it operationally

feasible to augment the sample of price

quotations for a single product line

within an SIC, rather than having to

initiate an entirely new set of

respondents when such needs arise.

These capabilities are major

breakthroughs, since they enable the PPI

program to reduce both data-collection

expenses and respondent burden, while

permitting efficient reallocation of

program resources. Volatile,

technologically sophisticated, and

never-before-sampled SICs may now be

updated or introduced into the PPI in a

timelier manner.

C. Publication—The PPI mission

includes a mandate requiring the

program work toward publication,

wherever possible, of output price

indexes for every four-digit industry

defined by the SIC Manual. Historically,

the PPI had been a family of indexes

focusing on the mining, manufacturing,

agriculture, and forestry sectors. This

publication mandate has resulted in

expansion of coverage into non-goods

producing sectors of the economy. PPI

sampling and data-collection

methodology have permitted systematic

retrieval of specific service-industry

classifications, and have resulted in the

publication of various four-digit SIC

aggregate indexes, as well as service-line

and detailed service-category price

indexes. The PPI currently publishes

about seventy-five industry-based

indexes for service-sector activities.

Over the preceding decade, the PPI has

introduced indexes encompassing

transportation, real estate, health, legal,

accounting, and many other servicebased industries. Industry expansion

continues on a regular basis, as funding

permits. Since 1999, the PPI has

introduced price indexes for SIC 6311

(Life insurance carriers), SIC 54 (Food

stores), SIC 59 (Retail trade), and SIC

6211 (Security brokers, dealers, and

investment banking companies).

D. NAICS Classification—At present,

sampling and data collection are

conducted according to the SIC Manual

system of organization. However, the

PPI survey has begun to make

modifications that will permit smooth

conversion to the North American

Industrial Classification System

(NAICS).

E. Electronic Data Collection—The

vast majority of data collected by the

BLS is confidential respondent

information. The BLS is currently

developing electronic data collection

procedures that will reduce respondent

burden and increase efficiency.

However, procedures must exist to

safeguard respondent information.

Transmission of data by e-mail presents

at least two types of security risks: The

data could be intercepted and/or altered

by unauthorized persons; and the data

are subject to inadvertent disclosure by

the use of incorrect group names and

accidental forwarding. Complete

elimination of e-mail for data collection

purposes likely would decrease

response and is not a feasible option.

The BLS is pursuing technological

solutions to increase the security of email transmission. In the interim,

however, short-term restrictions in email use are needed to reduce the risks

of disclosing confidential data. Effective

November 16, 2001, the BLS authorized

the use of e-mail for collection of

confidential data through a pilot test

conducted by the BLS National

Compensation Survey. Policies

regarding: (1) Communication of

confidential respondent information

within the BLS, (2) BLS contacts with

government agencies participating in

BLS statistical surveys, and, (3) BLS

contacts with respondents were also

updated. These revised policies permit

limited use of e-mail in communications

pertaining to confidential respondent

information outside the BLS pilot study

being conducted by National

Compensation Survey. E-mail

64888 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 241 / Friday, December 14, 2001 / Notices

communication between the BLS and

respondents containing confidential

data can now occur if the following

conditions are met: (1) It is necessary, as

a last resort, to obtain a usable response,

and the transmission contains the

fewest data elements necessary. (2)

Purely logistical information, although

it could tend to disclose an individual

respondent’s identification, may be

exchanged with individual respondents

(or potential respondents) using regular

Internet e-mail if doing so promotes the

efficiency of survey collection and is

acceptable to the respondent. (3) E-mail

must only be used as a data collection

mechanism if it is necessary to obtain

cooperation from the respondent. (4) No

group names are to be used when

addressing an e-mail message

containing confidential data. Whenever

confidential communications occur, the

BLS e-mail must include the ‘‘BLS

Statement to Respondent in the Use of

Electronic Data transmission,’’ which

states the inherent risks to information

confidentiality.

Type of Review: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Title: Producer Price Index Survey.

OMB Number: 1220–0008.

Affected Public: Business and other

for-profit.

Form Total respondents Frequency Total responses

Average

time per

response

(minutes)

Estimated

total burden

(hours)

BLS 1810A, A1, B, C, C1, and E .................................................................... 1,585 Once ........ 6,340 120 12,680

BLS 473P ......................................................................................................... 26,250 Monthly .... 1,260,000 18 378,000

Totals ........................................................................................................ 27,835 .................. 1,266,340 ................ 390,680

Estimated Total Burden Hours:

390,680 hours.

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):

$0.

Total Burden Cost (operating/

maintenance): $0.

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for Office of

Management and Budget approval of the

information collection request; they also

will become a matter of public record.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 7th day of

December, 2001.

Jesu ́ s Salinas,

Acting Chief, Division of Management

Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[FR Doc. 01–30892 Filed 12–13–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–24–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration

Proposed Extension of Information

Collection Request Submitted for

Public Comment; Application for

EFAST Electronic Signature and Codes

for EFAST Transmitters and Software

Developers

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the

Department), as part of its continuing

effort to reduce paperwork and

respondent burden, conducts a

preclearance consultation program to

provide the general public and other

federal agencies with an opportunity to

comment on proposed and continuing

collections of information in accordance

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

This program helps to ensure that

requested data is provided in the

desired format, reporting burden (time

and financial resources) is minimized,

collection instruments are clearly

understood, and the impact of collection

requirements on respondents can be

properly assessed.

By this notice, the Department is

soliciting comments concerning the

Application for EFAST Electronic

Signature and Codes for EFAST

Transmitters and Software Developers

(Form EFAST–1). A copy of the

proposed information collection request

(ICR) can be obtained by contacting the

office listed below in the addresses

section of this notice. The proposed

Form EFAST–1 is also available for

viewing and downloading through the

Department of Labor’s Internet site

(http://www.efast.dol.gov).

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted to the office listed in the

addresses section below on or before

February 12, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are

invited to submit written comments

regarding the collection of information.

Send comments to Gerald B. Lindrew,

Office of Policy and Research, U.S.

Department of Labor, Pension and

Welfare Benefits Administration, 200

Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N–

5647, Washington, DC 20210.

Telephone: (202) 693–8414; Fax: (202)

219–4745. These are not toll-free

numbers.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Under part 1 of Title I of the

Employee Retirement Income Security

Act of 1974 (ERISA), Title IV of ERISA,

and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

as amended, administrators of pension

and welfare benefit plans (collectively,

employee benefit plans) subject to those

provisions and employers sponsoring

certain fringe benefit plans and other

plans of deferred compensation are

required to file returns/reports annually

concerning the financial condition and

operations of the plans. These reporting

requirements are satisfied generally by

filing the Form 5500 Series in

accordance with its instructions and the

related regulations.

Beginning with the 1999 plan year,

the Agency announced the availability

of computer scannable forms and the

development of electronic filing

technologies. The computer scannable

formats were developed to facilitate the

implementation of a computerized

system designed to process the Form

5500 and the IRS Form 5500–EZ—the

ERISA Filing and Acceptance System,

or EFAST. The Form 5500 and Form

5500–EZ may also be filed electronically

via modem, magnetic tape, floppy

diskette, or CD–ROM.

In order to participate in the

electronic filing program, applicants are

required to submit an Application for

EFAST Electronic Signature and Codes

for EFAST Transmitters and Software

Developers (Form EFAST–1), the subject

of this ICR. Applicants who may file the

Form EFAST–1 include: (1) Individuals

applying for an electronic signature to

sign a Form 5500 or 5500–EZ as, or on

behalf of, plan administrators,

employers/plan sponsors, or Direct

Filing Entities (DFEs) using modem,

magnetic tape, floppy diskette, or CD–

ROM to file electronically; (2)

transmitters (a company, trade,

business, or other person) applying for

codes to transmit Forms 5500 and/or