Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 50335 [2018-21697]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 194 (Friday, October 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 50335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21697]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Annual Capital Expenditures Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0782.
    Form Number(s): ACE-1(S), ACE-1(M), ACE-1(L), ACE-2.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 70,127.
    Average Hours per Response: 2 hours and 16 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 159,134.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau plans to conduct the 2018 
through 2020 Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES). This survey 
collects data on fixed assets and depreciation, sales and receipts, 
capitalized computer software, and capital expenditures for new and 
used structures and equipment. The ACES is the sole source of detailed 
comprehensive statistics on actual business spending for private non-
farm companies, organizations, and associations operating in the United 
States. Both employer and nonemployer companies are included in the 
survey.
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis is the primary Federal user of ACES 
data. BEA relies on ACES data to refine and evaluate annual estimates 
of investment in structures and equipment in the national income and 
product accounts, compile annual input-output tables, and compute gross 
domestic product by industry. The Federal Reserve Board uses these data 
to improve estimates of investment indicators for monetary policy. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics uses these data to improve estimates of 
capital stocks for productivity analysis. The Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services use these data for developing estimates of investment 
in private health care structures and equipment as a part of the 
National Health Expenditure Accounts. Industry analysts use these data 
for market analysis, economic forecasting, identifying business 
opportunities, product development, and business planning.
    Planned changes from the previous ACES are the elimination of 
detailed capital expenditures by type of structure and type of 
equipment. These data are collected in years ending in -2 and -7, 
concurrently with the Economic Census. They are not in scope of this 
notice, which covers ACES data collection for 2018 through 2020.
    The Census Bureau also plans to add questions on the dollar value 
of new and used robotics expenditures beginning with the 2018 survey. 
These questions will gauge prevalence of robotics use by detail North 
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 and 182.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-21697 Filed 10-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P