Annual Business Survey, 26653-26654 [2018-12356]
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 111 / Friday, June 8, 2018 / Notices
(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.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the
Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018–12365 Filed 6–7–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–07–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of the Census
[Docket Number 180402335–8335–01]
Annual Business Survey
Bureau of the Census,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of determination.
AGENCY:
Notice is hereby given that
the Bureau of the Census (Census
Bureau) has determined that it is
conducting the Annual Business Survey
(ABS) of domestic nonfarm employer
businesses in 2018. We have determined
that data to be collected in this survey
are needed to aid the efficient
performance of essential governmental
functions and have significant
application to the needs of the public
and industry. The ABS will provide the
only comprehensive federal data on
owner demographics and business
characteristics, including financing
research and development (for
microbusinesses), and innovation. The
data derived from this survey are not
publicly available from
nongovernmental or other governmental
sources.
ADDRESSES: The Census Bureau will
make the reporting instructions
available to the organizations included
in the survey. Additional copies are
available upon written request to the
Director, 4600 Silver Hill Road, U.S.
Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233–
0101.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nick
Orsini, Assistant Director for Economic
Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, 5H160,
Washington, DC 20233, Telephone:
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:53 Jun 07, 2018
Jkt 241001
301–763–2558; Email: Nick.Orsini@
census.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In an
effort to improve the measurement of
business dynamics in the United States,
the Census Bureau, with support from
the National Science Foundation (NSF),
plans to conduct the Annual Business
Survey (ABS). The ABS is a new survey
designed to combine Census Bureau
firm-level survey collections to reduce
respondent burden and simultaneously
increase data quality and operational
efficiencies. The ABS replaces the
following collections: The five-year
Survey of Business Owners (SBO)
(Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) control number 0607–0943) for
employer businesses; the Annual
Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE) (OMB
control number 0607–0986); and the
Business Research and Development
and Innovation for Microbusinesses
(BRDI–M) form, a component of the
Business Research and Development
and Innovation Survey, BRDI–S (OMB
control number 0607–0912). The ABS
also replaces the innovation questions,
formerly asked in the BRDI–S.
ABS estimates will include the
number of employer firms and their
sales/receipts, annual payroll, and
employment by gender, ethnicity, race,
and veteran status as well as research
and development and innovation and
various other relevant topics. The ABS
will be conducted jointly by the Census
Bureau and the National Center for
Science and Engineering Statistics
within the NSF. It is planned for five
reference years (2017–2021). Title 13,
United States Code (U.S.C.), Sections
8(b), 131, and 182, Title 42, U.S.C,
Sections 1861–1875 (National Science
Foundation Act of 1950, as amended),
and Section 505 of the America
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010
(42 U.S.C. 1862p) authorize this
collection. Sections 224 and 225 of Title
13, U.S.C., require responses from
sampled firms.
The ABS covers all domestic nonfarm
employer businesses filing Internal
Revenue Service tax forms as individual
proprietorships, partnerships, or any
type of corporation, and with receipts of
$1,000 or more. The ABS will sample
approximately 850,000 employer
businesses for the benchmark survey
year 2017, with data collection taking
place in 2018. Annually for survey years
2018 to 2021, the survey sample will be
reduced to approximately 300,000
employer businesses to reduce the
burden on the respondents. The Census
Bureau will use administrative data to
estimate the owner demographics such
that each firm is placed into one of nine
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
26653
frames for sampling: American Indian,
Asian, Black or African American,
Hispanic, Non-Hispanic White Men,
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific
Islander, Some Other Race, Publicly
Owned Businesses, and Women Owned
Businesses. The sample would be
stratified by state, industry, and frame.
The Census Bureau will select
companies with certainty based on
volume of sales, payroll, number of paid
employees or industry classification. All
certainty cases are sure to be selected
and represent only themselves.
The ABS will provide continuing and
timely national statistical data for the
period between economic censuses. The
data collected will be within the general
scope and nature of those inquiries
covered in the economic census. The
next economic census is being
conducted currently for the reference
year 2017. Government program
officials, industry organization leaders,
economic and social analysts, business
entrepreneurs, and domestic and foreign
researcher in academia, business, and
government will use statistics from the
new ABS. More details on expected uses
of the statistics from the new ABS are
found in the Notice of Consideration for
the ABS published in the Federal
Register on October 24, 2017 (82 FR
49175).
Public Comments
The Census Bureau published a
Notice of Consideration for the ABS in
the Federal Register on October 24,
2017 (82 FR 49175). We received one
comment. The commenter suggested
that the Census Bureau take the
following actions:
(1) Determine the cost and benefits of
the survey and consider whether the
benefits outweigh the costs;
(2) If the benefits outweigh the cost,
consider how to minimize the cost
imposed on the businesses participating
in the survey;
(3) If, after conducting the cost-benefit
analysis and examining the means for
minimizing the cost imposed on survey
participants, the Census Bureau
nevertheless wishes to proceed with the
survey, publish a revised notice that
includes a cost-benefit analysis and an
explanation of steps taken to minimize
the costs on businesses forced to
participate in the survey; and
(4) Eliminate the survey
discrimination based on gender,
ethnicity, race, and age.
Census Bureau Response to the Public
Comment
The Census Bureau agrees that costs
and benefits should be analyzed and
weighed, and has already carried out
E:\FR\FM\08JNN1.SGM
08JNN1
26654
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 111 / Friday, June 8, 2018 / Notices
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
this analysis, concluding that the value
of information produced by the ABS
outweighs the costs. The Census Bureau
submitted a request to OMB on January
5, 2018, formally requesting approval of
the ABS under the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA). The request
included information about the cost to
administer the ABS and the cost
imposed on respondents in terms of
their time to respond. The request also
documented the many uses of the data.
The request demonstrated that the ABS
has practical utility, i.e., that the value
of information produced outweighs the
cost. As noted in the Paperwork
Reduction Act section below, OMB
approved the ABS on March 7, 2018
(OMB control number 0607–1004).
Furthermore, the ABS will provide
data required by Executive Order 11458
(March 5, 1969), ‘‘Prescribing
Arrangements for Developing and
Coordinating a National Program For
Minority Business Enterprise’’ (https://
www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=
60475). Executive Order 11458
prompted the Census Bureau to create
the Survey of Minority Business
Enterprises (SMOBE) and the Survey of
Women Business Enterprises (SWOBE).
The data previously collected in these
two surveys was later collected in the
SBO and the ASE, surveys that the ABS
will now replace. Without the ABS,
there will be no survey that complies
with the executive order. The Minority
Business Development Agency and
Small Business Administration also rely
on the Census Bureau to annually
produce these data, including data on
business ownership by gender,
ethnicity, race, and veteran status as
well as economic characteristics of
businesses.
The Census Bureau has designed the
ABS survey to collect the required data
while balancing the burden on
businesses. The ABS is designed to
combine Census Bureau firm-level
collections to reduce respondent
burden, increase data quality, reduce
operational costs, and operate more
efficiently.
Paperwork Reduction Act
Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, no person is required to respond
to, nor shall a person be subject to a
penalty for failure to comply with a
collection of information subject to the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C., Chapter
45) unless that collection of information
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. In accordance with the PRA,
OMB approved the ABS under OMB
control number 0607–1004 on March 7,
2018.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:53 Jun 07, 2018
Jkt 241001
Based upon the foregoing, I have
directed that the current mandatory
business surveys be conducted for the
purpose of collecting these data.
Dated: May 31, 2018.
Ron S. Jarmin,
Associate Director for Economic Programs,
Performing the Non-Exclusive Functions and
Duties of the Director, Bureau of the Census.
[FR Doc. 2018–12356 Filed 6–7–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–07–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A–570–010]
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic
Products From the People’s Republic
of China: Notice of Court Decision Not
in Harmony With Final Determination
of the Less Than Fair Value
Investigation
Enforcement and Compliance,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On May 25, 2018, the United
States Court of International Trade (the
Court) entered final judgment sustaining
the final results of the second remand
redetermination by the Department of
Commerce (Commerce) pertaining to the
antidumping duty (AD) investigation of
certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic
products from the People’s Republic of
China (China). Commerce is notifying
the public that the final judgment in this
case is not in harmony with Commerce’s
final determination in the AD
investigation of certain crystalline
silicon photovoltaic products from
China.
DATES: Applicable June 4, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eli
Lovely, AD/CVD Operations, Office IV,
Enforcement and Compliance—
International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20230; telephone (202) 482–1593.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
AGENCY:
Background
Subsequent to the December 23, 2014,
publication of the Final Determination
in the AD investigation of certain
crystalline silicon photovoltaic products
from China,1 and the February 18, 2015
publication of the AD order,2
1 See Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic
Products from the People’s Republic of China: Final
Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value, 79
FR 76970 (December 23, 2014) (Final
Determination).
2 See Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic
Products from the People’s Republic of China:
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
SolarWorld Americas, Inc. (SolarWorld),
the petitioner, filed a complaint with
the Court challenging, among other
things, Commerce’s determination that
South African import data under
subheading 8548.10, of the United
States Harmonized Tariff Schedule
(HTS), constituted the best available
information for valuing Changzhou
Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd.’s (Trina)
byproduct offset for scrapped solar
modules.3
In Jinko Solar I, the Court remanded
Commerce’s use of South African
import data under HTS subheading
8548.10, to value Trina’s byproduct
offset for scrapped solar modules when
calculating normal value. The Court
found that Commerce did not
adequately explain how its decision was
reasonable in light of the record as a
whole.4 Further, the Court found that
two arguments made before the Court
constituted post hoc rationalizations
and directed Commerce to make those
rationalizations explicit and identify
supporting evidence for them, if either
of the rationalizations informed
Commerce’s decision to rely on HTS
subheading 8548.10 to value Trina’s
byproduct offset for scrapped solar
modules.5
On August 2, 2017, Commerce issued
its First Remand Results, in which it
determined that it would continue to
value Trina’s byproduct offset for
scrapped solar modules with South
African import data under HTS 8548.10
and explained its decision to do so.6
The Court, in Jinko Solar II, held that
Commerce’s determination remained
unsupported by substantial evidence
and that Commerce did not explain how
its selected surrogate value was a
representative surrogate value for the
scrapped modules.7 The Court directed
Commerce to reconsider or further
explain its decision to use South
African import data under HTS
subheading 8548.10 to value the
byproduct offset for scrapped solar
Antidumping Duty Order; and Amended Final
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and
Countervailing Duty Order, 80 FR 8592 (February
18, 2015).
3 See SolarWorld’s Complaint, No. 15–00086, ECF
No. 10 (CIT April 17, 2015).
4 See Jinko Solar Co., Ltd. v. United States, 229
F. Supp. 3d 1333, 1353–1355 (CIT 2017) (Jinko
Solar I).
5 Id. at 1355.
6 See Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant
to Court Remand, Jinko Solar Co., Ltd. v. United
States, Court No. 15–00080, Slip Op. 17–62 (Court
of International Trade May 18, 2017) (August 2,
2017) (First Remand Results).
7 See Jinko Solar Co., Ltd. v. United States, 279
F. Supp. 3d 1253, 1261–1264 (CIT 2017) (Jinko
Solar II).
E:\FR\FM\08JNN1.SGM
08JNN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 111 (Friday, June 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26653-26654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12356]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of the Census
[Docket Number 180402335-8335-01]
Annual Business Survey
AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of determination.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Bureau of the Census (Census
Bureau) has determined that it is conducting the Annual Business Survey
(ABS) of domestic nonfarm employer businesses in 2018. We have
determined that data to be collected in this survey are needed to aid
the efficient performance of essential governmental functions and have
significant application to the needs of the public and industry. The
ABS will provide the only comprehensive federal data on owner
demographics and business characteristics, including financing research
and development (for microbusinesses), and innovation. The data derived
from this survey are not publicly available from nongovernmental or
other governmental sources.
ADDRESSES: The Census Bureau will make the reporting instructions
available to the organizations included in the survey. Additional
copies are available upon written request to the Director, 4600 Silver
Hill Road, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233-0101.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nick Orsini, Assistant Director for
Economic Programs, U.S. Census Bureau, 5H160, Washington, DC 20233,
Telephone: 301-763-2558; Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In an effort to improve the measurement of
business dynamics in the United States, the Census Bureau, with support
from the National Science Foundation (NSF), plans to conduct the Annual
Business Survey (ABS). The ABS is a new survey designed to combine
Census Bureau firm-level survey collections to reduce respondent burden
and simultaneously increase data quality and operational efficiencies.
The ABS replaces the following collections: The five-year Survey of
Business Owners (SBO) (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control
number 0607-0943) for employer businesses; the Annual Survey of
Entrepreneurs (ASE) (OMB control number 0607-0986); and the Business
Research and Development and Innovation for Microbusinesses (BRDI-M)
form, a component of the Business Research and Development and
Innovation Survey, BRDI-S (OMB control number 0607-0912). The ABS also
replaces the innovation questions, formerly asked in the BRDI-S.
ABS estimates will include the number of employer firms and their
sales/receipts, annual payroll, and employment by gender, ethnicity,
race, and veteran status as well as research and development and
innovation and various other relevant topics. The ABS will be conducted
jointly by the Census Bureau and the National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics within the NSF. It is planned for five reference
years (2017-2021). Title 13, United States Code (U.S.C.), Sections
8(b), 131, and 182, Title 42, U.S.C, Sections 1861-1875 (National
Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended), and Section 505 of the
America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p)
authorize this collection. Sections 224 and 225 of Title 13, U.S.C.,
require responses from sampled firms.
The ABS covers all domestic nonfarm employer businesses filing
Internal Revenue Service tax forms as individual proprietorships,
partnerships, or any type of corporation, and with receipts of $1,000
or more. The ABS will sample approximately 850,000 employer businesses
for the benchmark survey year 2017, with data collection taking place
in 2018. Annually for survey years 2018 to 2021, the survey sample will
be reduced to approximately 300,000 employer businesses to reduce the
burden on the respondents. The Census Bureau will use administrative
data to estimate the owner demographics such that each firm is placed
into one of nine frames for sampling: American Indian, Asian, Black or
African American, Hispanic, Non-Hispanic White Men, Native Hawaiian and
Other Pacific Islander, Some Other Race, Publicly Owned Businesses, and
Women Owned Businesses. The sample would be stratified by state,
industry, and frame. The Census Bureau will select companies with
certainty based on volume of sales, payroll, number of paid employees
or industry classification. All certainty cases are sure to be selected
and represent only themselves.
The ABS will provide continuing and timely national statistical
data for the period between economic censuses. The data collected will
be within the general scope and nature of those inquiries covered in
the economic census. The next economic census is being conducted
currently for the reference year 2017. Government program officials,
industry organization leaders, economic and social analysts, business
entrepreneurs, and domestic and foreign researcher in academia,
business, and government will use statistics from the new ABS. More
details on expected uses of the statistics from the new ABS are found
in the Notice of Consideration for the ABS published in the Federal
Register on October 24, 2017 (82 FR 49175).
Public Comments
The Census Bureau published a Notice of Consideration for the ABS
in the Federal Register on October 24, 2017 (82 FR 49175). We received
one comment. The commenter suggested that the Census Bureau take the
following actions:
(1) Determine the cost and benefits of the survey and consider
whether the benefits outweigh the costs;
(2) If the benefits outweigh the cost, consider how to minimize the
cost imposed on the businesses participating in the survey;
(3) If, after conducting the cost-benefit analysis and examining
the means for minimizing the cost imposed on survey participants, the
Census Bureau nevertheless wishes to proceed with the survey, publish a
revised notice that includes a cost-benefit analysis and an explanation
of steps taken to minimize the costs on businesses forced to
participate in the survey; and
(4) Eliminate the survey discrimination based on gender, ethnicity,
race, and age.
Census Bureau Response to the Public Comment
The Census Bureau agrees that costs and benefits should be analyzed
and weighed, and has already carried out
[[Page 26654]]
this analysis, concluding that the value of information produced by the
ABS outweighs the costs. The Census Bureau submitted a request to OMB
on January 5, 2018, formally requesting approval of the ABS under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The request included information about
the cost to administer the ABS and the cost imposed on respondents in
terms of their time to respond. The request also documented the many
uses of the data. The request demonstrated that the ABS has practical
utility, i.e., that the value of information produced outweighs the
cost. As noted in the Paperwork Reduction Act section below, OMB
approved the ABS on March 7, 2018 (OMB control number 0607-1004).
Furthermore, the ABS will provide data required by Executive Order
11458 (March 5, 1969), ``Prescribing Arrangements for Developing and
Coordinating a National Program For Minority Business Enterprise''
(https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=60475). Executive Order 11458
prompted the Census Bureau to create the Survey of Minority Business
Enterprises (SMOBE) and the Survey of Women Business Enterprises
(SWOBE). The data previously collected in these two surveys was later
collected in the SBO and the ASE, surveys that the ABS will now
replace. Without the ABS, there will be no survey that complies with
the executive order. The Minority Business Development Agency and Small
Business Administration also rely on the Census Bureau to annually
produce these data, including data on business ownership by gender,
ethnicity, race, and veteran status as well as economic characteristics
of businesses.
The Census Bureau has designed the ABS survey to collect the
required data while balancing the burden on businesses. The ABS is
designed to combine Census Bureau firm-level collections to reduce
respondent burden, increase data quality, reduce operational costs, and
operate more efficiently.
Paperwork Reduction Act
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required
to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure
to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C., Chapter 45) unless
that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control
number. In accordance with the PRA, OMB approved the ABS under OMB
control number 0607-1004 on March 7, 2018.
Based upon the foregoing, I have directed that the current
mandatory business surveys be conducted for the purpose of collecting
these data.
Dated: May 31, 2018.
Ron S. Jarmin,
Associate Director for Economic Programs, Performing the Non-Exclusive
Functions and Duties of the Director, Bureau of the Census.
[FR Doc. 2018-12356 Filed 6-7-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
