Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Public Employment and Payroll Forms, 51303-51304 [2014-20426]

Agencies

• Census Bureau
• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 167 (Thursday, August 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51303-51304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20426]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Public 
Employment and Payroll Forms

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before October 27, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at jjessup@doc.gov).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Paul W. Villena, Acting Chief, Employment and 
Benefit Statistics Branch, Governments Division, U.S. Census Bureau, 
Washington, DC 20233-6800 (301-763-7286 or Paul.W.Villena@census.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau plans to request clearance for the forms 
necessary to conduct the public employment and payroll program, which 
consists of an annual collection of information and a quinquennial 
collection in a census environment in years ending in ``2'' or ``7''. 
During the upcoming three years, we intend to conduct the 2015 Annual 
Survey of Public Employment & Payroll, the 2016 Annual Survey of Public 
Employment & Payroll, and the 2017 Census of Governments: Employment.
    Under Title 13, Section 161, of the United States Code, the 
Secretary of Commerce is authorized to conduct the public employment 
and payroll program, which collects and disseminates data by function 
for full-time and part-time employees, payroll, and number of part-time 
hours worked. The number and content of the data items collected are 
the same in the annual and census cycles.

[[Page 51304]]

    The burden hours we will request are based on the expected 2015 and 
2016 Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll mail out of 16,432 
forms for each survey year, and the expected 2017 Census of 
Governments: Employment mail-out of 99,726 forms. In addition, burden 
hours include data received via data arrangements, which are explained 
in further detail within the method of collection section.
    The state and local government statistics produced cover national, 
state, and local aggregates on various functions with comparative 
detail for individual governments for the pay period that includes 
March 12. The public employment and payroll program provides the only 
comprehensive count of employees and payrolls of state and local 
governments.
    The Census Bureau provides this employment data to the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis for constructing the functional payrolls in the 
public sector of the Gross Domestic Product; payroll being the single 
largest component of current operations. The public employment and 
payroll program has increasingly been used as the base for reimbursable 
programs conducted by the Census Bureau for other Federal agencies such 
as: (1) The government portion of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 
commissioned by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to 
provide timely, comprehensive information about health care use and 
costs in the United States, and (2) the Criminal Justice Expenditure 
and Employment Survey, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics 
(BJS), which provides criminal justice expenditure and employment data 
on spending and personnel levels.
    Statistics are produced as data files in electronic formats. The 
program has disseminated comprehensive and comparable governmental 
statistics since 1940.
    The users of the public employment and payroll program data include 
Federal agencies, state and local governments and related 
organizations, public interest groups, and many business, market, and 
private research organizations.

II. Method of Collection

    An estimated 21,000 state agencies, county governments, 
consolidated city-county governments, independent cities, towns, 
townships, special district governments, and public school systems 
designated for the 2015 or 2016 Annual Survey of Public Employment & 
Payroll will be sent an appropriate form or their data will be 
collected through a data sharing arrangement between the Census Bureau 
and the governmental unit. Approximately 104,000 governmental units 
designated for the 2017 Census of Governments: Employment will either 
be sent an appropriate form or their data will be collected through a 
data sharing arrangement between the Census Bureau and the governmental 
unit.
    The Census Bureau developed central collection arrangements with 
state and large local government officials to collect the data from 
their dependent agencies and report to us as a central respondent. 
Based on the 2012 Census of Governments: Employment, these arrangements 
eliminate the need for a mail canvass of approximately 3,777 state 
agencies and 616 school systems. The arrangements reduce burden by 
greatly reducing the number of people who have to complete a form as 
the data are acquired from a centralized source instead of from 
multiple sources. Currently, the Census Bureau has central collection 
arrangements with forty-six states and four local school district 
governments. The Census Bureau continues to expand the conversion of 
paper submissions into electronic formats, for both individual units 
and central collection units.
    All form types can be completed on the Internet. For the 2013 
Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll, approximately 73.1 
percent of the governmental units that completed the questionnaire used 
the Census Bureau's Web site.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0452.
    Form Number(s): E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4, E-5, E-6, E-7, E-8, E-9, E-10.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: State and local governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 44,197.
    Estimated Time per Response: The average for all forms is 50 
minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 36,831.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section 161.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: August 22, 2014.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-20426 Filed 8-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P