Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Submission for OMB Review, 2703-2704 [2015-00736]

Agencies

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2703-2704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00736]


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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Submission for OMB Review

AGENCY: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

ACTION: Final notice of submission for OMB review--Extension with 
change: State and Local Government Information Report (EEO-4).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) hereby 
gives notice that it has submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) a request for a three-year extension with change of the 
State and Local Government Information Report (EEO-4). The EEOC is 
proposing revisions to the race and ethnicity categories on the EEO-4 
report to conform to OMB's Revisions to the Standards for the 
Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (October 30, 1997) 
(Revised Standards), as applied in OMB Bulletin No. 00-02, Guidance on 
Aggregation and Allocation of Data on Race for Use in Civil Rights 
Monitoring and Enforcement (March 9, 2000).

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be submitted on or before 
February 19, 2015.

ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR and applicable supporting documentation 
submitted to OMB for this review may be obtained from: Ronald Edwards, 
Director, Program Research and Surveys Division, Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission, 131 M Street NE., Room 4SW30F, Washington, DC 
20507. Comments on this final notice must be submitted to Chad A. 
Lallemand, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, 725 17th Street NW., Room 10235, New Executive 
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or electronically mailed to 
Chad_A._Lallemand@omb.eop.gov. Copies of comments should be sent to 
Bernadette Wilson, Acting Executive Officer, Executive Secretariat, 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,

[[Page 2704]]

131 M Street NE., Washington, DC 20507. As a convenience to commenters, 
the Executive Secretariat will accept comments totaling six or fewer 
pages by facsimile (``FAX'') machine. This limitation is necessary to 
assure access to the equipment. The telephone number of the fax 
receiver is (202) 663-4114. (This is not a toll-free number). Receipt 
of FAX transmittals will not be acknowledged, except that the sender 
may request confirmation of receipt by calling the Executive 
Secretariat staff at (202) 663-4070 (voice) or (202) 663-4074 (TTY). 
(These are not toll-free telephone numbers.) Instead of sending written 
comments to EEOC, you may submit comments and attachments 
electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting 
comments. All comments received through this portal will be posted 
without change, including any personal information you provide. Copies 
of comments submitted by the public to EEOC directly or through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal will be available for review, by advance 
appointment only, at the Commission's library between the hours of 9:00 
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time or can be reviewed at https://www.regulations.gov. To schedule an appointment to inspect the comments 
at EEOC's library, contact the library staff at (202) 663-4630 (voice) 
or (202) 663-4641 (TTY). (These are not toll-free numbers.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ronald Edwards, Director, Program 
Research and Surveys Division, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 
131 M Street NE., Room 4SW30F, Washington, DC 20507; (202) 663-4949 
(voice) or (202) 663-7063 (TTY). Requests for this notice in an 
alternative format should be made to the Office of Communications and 
Legislative Affairs at (202) 663-4191 (voice) or (202) 663-4494 (TTY).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EEOC has collected information from 
state and local governments with 100 or more full-time employees since 
1974. The Commission is proposing revisions to the EEO-4 report to 
conform with OMB's Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of 
Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (October 30, 1997) (Revised 
Standards), as applied in OMB Bulletin No. 00-02, Guidance on 
Aggregation and Allocation of Data on Race for Use in Civil Rights 
Monitoring and Enforcement (March 9, 2000). The revisions to the EEO-4 
report, Form 164, include the following race and ethnicity categories: 
Hispanic or Latino; White; Black or African American; Asian; Native 
Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; American Indian or Alaska Native; 
and Two or More Races.
    A notice that EEOC would be submitting this request was published 
in the Federal Register on August 27, 2014 allowing for a 60-day public 
comment period. There were no comments received from the public.

Overview of Current Information Collection

    Collection Title: State and Local Government Information Report 
(EEO-4).
    OMB--Number: 3046-0008.
    Frequency of Report: Biennial.
    Type of Respondent: State and local government jurisdictions with 
100 or more employees.
    Description of Affected Public: State and local governments 
excluding elementary and secondary public school districts.
    Number of Responses: 12,458.
    Reporting Hours: 89,188.
    Cost Burden: $21,600,000.
    Number of Forms: 1.
    Form Number: EEOC FORM 164.
    Federal Cost: $226,549.
    ABSTRACT: Section 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(c), requires employers to make and 
keep records relevant to a determination of whether unlawful employment 
practices have been or are being committed, to preserve such records 
and to produce reports as the Commission prescribes by regulation or 
order. Accordingly, the EEOC issued regulations at 29 CFR 1602.32-
1602.37 prescribing the reporting requirements for State and local 
governments. State and local governments with 100 or more employees 
have been required to submit EEO-4 reports since 1974 (biennially in 
odd-numbered years since 1993). The individual reports are 
confidential.
    EEO-4 data are used by the EEOC to investigate charges of 
discrimination against state and local governments and to provide 
information on the employment status of minorities and women. The data 
are shared with several other Federal agencies. Pursuant to section 
709(d) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-
8(d), as amended, EEO-4 data are shared with State and Local Fair 
Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs). Aggregated data are also used by 
researchers and the general public.
    Burden Statement: The estimated number of respondents included in 
the EEO-4 survey is 9,000 state and local governments. (These 9,000 
jurisdictions file about 12,458 reports based on the 2011 filing of the 
EEO-4.) Reports exceed jurisdictions due to the requirement for some to 
file separate reports by function. The changes discussed herein will 
increase respondent burden hours from 73,185 to 89,188 and EEOC costs 
from $187,500 to $226,549. The burden per report will be 7.16 hours.
    Estimated burden hours were calculated by multiplying the number of 
reports expected to be filed annually (12,458 in 2011) by the estimated 
average time to complete and submit each report (7.16 hours).
    These burden estimates are largely based on an assumption of paper 
reporting. However, the EEOC has made electronic filing much easier for 
employers required to file the EEO-4 Report. As a result, more 
jurisdictions are using this filing method. This development, along 
with the greater availability of human resource information software, 
is expected to have significantly reduced the actual burden of 
reporting, but empirical data in this area is lacking. Accordingly, 
efforts will be undertaken by the Commission to (1) develop more 
reliable estimates of reporting burdens given the significant increase 
in electronic filing and (2) to implement new approaches to make such 
reporting even less burdensome.
    The other new burden is the one-time cost of employers changing the 
manner in which they collect and store the new race and ethnicity 
changes as well as changes to computer programs and systems. There will 
be no cost for employers whose current systems are already designed to 
handle the full multiple race and ethnicity classifications, and we 
estimate that about ten percent of employers currently have this 
ability. The estimated cost for employers that will have to re-survey 
the workforce to comply with the new race and ethnicity changes is 
$21,600,000.

    Dated: January 9, 2015.

    For the Commission.
Jenny R. Yang,
Chair.
[FR Doc. 2015-00736 Filed 1-16-15; 8:45 am]
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