Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions
| Published date | 03 September 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 54980 |
| Record Number | 2020-19477 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Census Bureau |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 172 (Thursday, September 3, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 172 (Thursday, September 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54980-54981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19477]
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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; Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions
AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Information Collection, request for comment.
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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 Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and
Completions, 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 2, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to [email protected]. Please reference Survey of Housing
Starts, Sales, and Completions in the subject line of your comments.
You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2020-
0021, to the Federal e-Rulemaking 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
William Abriatis, U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division,
(301) 763-3686, or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The U.S. Census Bureau plans to request a three-year extension of
the current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of the
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales and Completions, also known as the
Survey of Construction (SOC). The SOC collects monthly data on new
residential construction from a sample of owners or builders. The
Census Bureau uses the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)
electronic questionnaires SOC-QI/SF.1 and SOC-QI/MF.1 to collect data
on start and completion dates of construction, physical characteristics
of the structure (floor area, number of bathrooms, type of heating
system, etc), and if
[[Page 54981]]
applicable, date of sale, sales price, and type of financing. The SOC
provides widely used measures of construction activity, including the
economic indicators Housing Starts and Housing Completions, which are
from the New Residential Construction series, and New Residential
Sales. The current clearance for this survey is scheduled to expire on
April 30, 2021.
We sample about 1,800 new buildings each month (21,600 per year).
We inquire about the progress of each building multiple times until it
is completed (and a sales contract is signed, if it is a single-family
house that is built for sale). For single-family buildings, we conduct
an average of 8 interviews and for multifamily buildings, we conduct an
average of 6 interviews. The total number of interviews conducted in
2019 for single-family buildings is about 109,900 and for multifamily
buildings is about 48,300. Each interview takes 5 minutes on average.
Therefore, the total annual burden is 13,183 hours.
II. Method of Collection
The Census Bureau uses its field representatives to collect the
data. The field representatives conduct interviews to obtain data.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0607-0110.
Form Number(s): SOC-QI.SF.1 and SOC-QI/MF.1.
Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for an Extension,
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit organizations.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 21,600.
Estimated Time per Response: 5 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 13,183.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0. (This is not the cost of
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services
required specifically by the collection.)
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section 131 and 182.
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-19477 Filed 9-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
