Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Quarterly Services Survey, 7527-7528 [2021-01936]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 18 / Friday, January 29, 2021 / Notices
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modified the Employment and Training
(E&T) Program so that States’ efforts are
now focused on a particular segment of
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) population—ablebodied adults without dependents
(ABAWDs).
Requests for Additional E&T Funds: 7
CFR 273.7(d)(1)(i)(D) provides that if a
State agency will not expend all of the
funds allocated to it for a fiscal year,
FNS will reallocate unexpended funds
to other State agencies during the fiscal
year or the subsequent fiscal year as
FNS considers appropriate and
equitable. After FNS makes initial E&T
allocations, under 7 CFR 273.7(d)(1)(i),
State agencies may request additional
E&T funds if needed. FNS will
reallocate available funds (e.g., funds
that are unallocated or funds that are
allocated but will not be spent) in a fair
and equitable manner.
Retention and Custody of Records.
Under 7 CFR 277.12 (1) and (2), all
financial records, supporting
documents, statistical records,
negotiated contracts, and all other
records pertinent to program funds shall
be maintained for three years from the
date of submission of the annual
financial status report or if any
litigation, claim, or audit is started
before the expiration of the three-year
period, the applicable records shall be
retained until these have been resolved.
Need and Use of the Information: FNS
will review requests about their E&T
programs so that the Department can
monitor State performance to ensure
that the program is being efficiently and
economically operated. Without the
information, FNS would be unable to
make adjustments or allocate
exemptions in accordance with the
statute.
Description of Respondents: State,
Local, or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 53.
Frequency of Responses:
Recordkeeping; Reporting: Occasionally;
Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 50.
Ruth Brown,
Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021–01994 Filed 1–28–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–30–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:43 Jan 28, 2021
Jkt 253001
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Quarterly Services Survey
The Department of Commerce will
submit the following information
collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication
of this notice. We invite 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. Public
comments were previously requested
via the Federal Register on August 20,
2020 during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30
days for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
Title: Quarterly Services Survey.
OMB Control Number: 0607–0907.
Form Number(s): QSS–1A, QSS–1E,
QSS–1PA, QSS–1PE, QSS–2A, QSS–2E,
QSS–3A, QSS–3E, QSS–3SA, QSS–3SE,
QSS–5A, QSS–5E, QSS–4A, QSS–4E,
QSS–4FA, QSS–4FE, QSS–4SA, QSS–
4SE.
Type of Request: Regular submission,
Request for an Extension, without
Change, of a Currently Approved
Collection.
Number of Respondents: 22,500.
Average Hours per Response: 10
minutes: QSS–1A, QSS–1E, QSS–1PA,
QSS–1PE, QSS–2A, QSS–2E, QSS–3A,
QSS–3E, QSS–3SA, QSS–3SE, QSS–5A,
QSS–5E. 15 minutes: QSS–4A, QSS–4E,
QSS–4FA, QSS–4FE, QSS–4SA, QSS–
4SE.
Burden Hours: 19,300.
Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census
Bureau requests an extension, without
change of the Quarterly Services Survey
(QSS). In the 1980s, it was determined
that the service economy, despite its
growing importance and share of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), was not
adequately covered by the existing
federal statistical programs. At the time,
the only services data available came
from the Service Annual Survey (SAS)
and the quinquennial Economic Census,
therefore the decision was made to
create a new principal economic
indicator designed to expand upon the
Census Bureau’s existing annual survey.
The QSS was first released in 2004,
making it the first new U.S. federal
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
7527
government economic indicator in 30
years. The QSS is now a major source
for the development of quarterly GDP
and an indicator of short-term economic
change.
The initial scope of the QSS was
driven primarily by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA) priorities and
what the budget initiative would allow.
The goal was to begin covering the most
dynamic sectors of the service economy
for which BEA had little to no alternate
source data. In the wake of the dot-com
bubble in the early 2000s, it was clear
that information services and high-tech
industries needed to be a priority as
BEA experienced major revisions to
their GDP estimates as annual data came
in later. So, at the time it was launched,
QSS produced estimates for just three
North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) sectors (51, 54, and 56).
Shortly after the Financial Crisis in
2007–2008, QSS received approval to
expand the scope of the survey to match
that of the Economic Census of Services.
A major part of this expansion would
provide for tracking of the Financial
sector which, of course, was now in the
spotlight. Between 2009 and 2010, QSS
underwent a multi-phased expansion,
increasing the total coverage from three
to eleven NAICS sectors.
QSS expanded yet again in 2012 to
cover the Accommodation subsector
which was the only remaining service
industry with no sub-annual coverage.
We currently publish estimates based
on the 2012 NAICS. The QSS covers all
or parts of the following NAICS sectors:
Utilities (excluding government owned);
Transportation and warehousing (except
rail transportation and postal) services;
Information; Finance and insurance
(except funds, trusts, and other financial
vehicles); Real estate and rental and
leasing; Professional, scientific, and
technical services; Administrative and
support and waste management and
remediation services; Educational
services (except elementary and
secondary schools, junior colleges, and
colleges, universities, and professional
schools); Health care and social
assistance; Arts, entertainment, and
recreation; Accommodation; and Other
services (except public administration).
See Section 19 (NAICS Codes Affected)
for a list of all of the QSS industries.
The QSS provides the most current
official measures of total revenue and
percentage of revenue by class of
customer (for selected industries) on a
quarterly basis. In addition, the QSS
provides the most current official
quarterly measure of total expenses from
tax-exempt firms in industries that have
a large not-for-profit component. All
E:\FR\FM\29JAN1.SGM
29JAN1
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
7528
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 18 / Friday, January 29, 2021 / Notices
respondent data are received by mail,
telephone, or internet reporting.
The total revenue estimates produced
from the QSS provide current trends of
economic activity in the service
industry in the United States from
service providers with paid employees.
In addition to revenue, we also collect
total expenses from tax-exempt firms in
industries that have a large not-for-profit
component. Expenses provide a better
measure of the economic activity of
these firms. Expense estimates produced
by the QSS, in addition to inpatient
days and discharges for the hospital
industry, are used by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
to project and study hospital regulation,
Medicare payment adequacy, and other
related projects. For select industries in
the Arts, entertainment, and recreation
sector, the survey produces estimates of
admissions revenue.
Beginning with the release of 2016
fourth quarter estimates on February 17,
2017, the first Advance Quarterly
Services Report was released in an effort
to meet data users’ needs for more
timely data. Published approximately 50
days following the end of the quarter,
the Advance Quarterly Services Report
contains a snapshot of quarterly
estimates of revenue for selected sectors,
subsectors, and industries on a not
seasonally adjusted basis. Our research
found that these selected levels were
good predictors of the estimates
published in the full quarterly services
report.
Beginning with the release of 2019
first quarter estimates on May 17, 2019,
the Advance Quarterly Services Report
includes a seasonally adjusted estimate
for the Selected Services Total.
Additionally, with the release of 2019
fourth quarter estimates on March 12,
2020, the Quarterly Services Report now
includes 100 seasonally adjusted series.
Seasonal adjustment is the process of
estimating and removing seasonal
effects from a time series in order to
better reveal certain non-seasonal
features. Many data users prefer
seasonally adjusted data because they
want to see those characteristics that
seasonal movements tend to mask,
especially changes in the direction of
the series.
The notice in Federal Register on
August 20, 2020, Vol. 85, No. 162, pages
51406–51408) announcing our plans to
submit this request included
information on the possible upcoming
collection of a new module of business
expectation. At this time, research and
testing for an uncertainty pilot
collection is still underway; once any
concrete timeline is determined, a
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:43 Jan 28, 2021
Jkt 253001
request for this additional module will
be submitted.
Reliable measures of economic
activity are essential to an objective
assessment of the need for, and impact
of, a wide range of public policy
decisions. The QSS supports these
measures by providing the latest
estimates of service industry output on
a quarterly basis.
Currently, the U.S. Census Bureau
collects, tabulates, and publishes
estimates to provide, with measurable
reliability, statistics on domestic service
total revenue, total expenses, and
percentage of revenue by class of
customer for select service providers. In
addition, the QSS produces estimates
for inpatient days and discharges for
hospitals.
The BEA is the primary Federal user
of QSS results. The BEA utilizes the
QSS estimates to make improvements to
the national accounts for service
industries. In the National Income and
Product Accounts (NIPA), the QSS
estimates allow more accurate estimates
of both Personal Consumption
Expenditures (PCE) and private fixed
investment. For example, published
revisions to the quarterly NIPA
estimates are often the result of
incorporation of the latest source data
from the QSS. Revenue estimates from
the QSS are also used to produce
estimates of gross output by industry
that allow BEA to produce a much
earlier release of the gross domestic
product by industry estimates.
Estimates produced from the QSS are
used by the BEA as a component of
quarterly GDP estimates. The estimates
also provide the Federal Reserve Board
(FRB) and Council of Economic
Advisors (CEA) with timely information
on current economic performance. All
estimates collected from this survey are
used extensively by various government
agencies and departments on economic
policy decisions; private businesses;
trade organizations; professional
associations; academia; and other
various business research and analysis
organizations.
The CMS uses the QSS estimates to
develop hospital spending estimates in
the National Health Expenditure
Accounts. In addition, the QSS
estimates improve their ability to
analyze changes in spending trends for
hospitals and other healthcare services.
The CMS also uses the estimates in its
ten-year health spending forecast
estimates and in studies related to
Medicare policy and trends.
The Medicare Payment Advisory
Commission (MedPac) utilizes the QSS
estimates to assess payment adequacy in
the current Medicare program.
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
The FRB and the CEA use the QSS
information to better assess current
economic performance. In addition,
other government agencies, businesses,
and investors use the QSS estimates for
market research, industry growth,
business planning and forecasting.
Private sector data users and other
government agencies both benefit from
an earlier release of U.S. services data.
The Advance Quarterly Services Report
allows policymakers and private data
users to make data-driven decisions
sooner due to this high-level snapshot of
economic data. In addition, the release
also allows the BEA to incorporate
services data into the second estimate of
the GDP. Prior to the implementation of
the Advance Quarterly Services Report,
Quarterly Services Survey estimates
were incorporated in the third estimate
of GDP.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations.
Frequency: Quarterly.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
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 the
Department of Commerce collections
currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of the
publication of this notice on the
following website www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain. Find this
particular information collection by
selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function and
entering either the title of the collection
or the OMB Control Number 0607–0907.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Chief Information Officer, Commerce
Department.
[FR Doc. 2021–01936 Filed 1–28–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–07–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A–428–847, A–475–840]
Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks From
the Federal Republic of Germany and
Italy: Amended Final Antidumping
Duty Determination for the Federal
Republic of Germany and Antidumping
Duty Orders
Enforcement and Compliance,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
AGENCY:
E:\FR\FM\29JAN1.SGM
29JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 18 (Friday, January 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7527-7528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01936]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Quarterly Services Survey
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite 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. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on August 20, 2020 during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
Title: Quarterly Services Survey.
OMB Control Number: 0607-0907.
Form Number(s): QSS-1A, QSS-1E, QSS-1PA, QSS-1PE, QSS-2A, QSS-2E,
QSS-3A, QSS-3E, QSS-3SA, QSS-3SE, QSS-5A, QSS-5E, QSS-4A, QSS-4E, QSS-
4FA, QSS-4FE, QSS-4SA, QSS-4SE.
Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension,
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
Number of Respondents: 22,500.
Average Hours per Response: 10 minutes: QSS-1A, QSS-1E, QSS-1PA,
QSS-1PE, QSS-2A, QSS-2E, QSS-3A, QSS-3E, QSS-3SA, QSS-3SE, QSS-5A, QSS-
5E. 15 minutes: QSS-4A, QSS-4E, QSS-4FA, QSS-4FE, QSS-4SA, QSS-4SE.
Burden Hours: 19,300.
Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests an extension,
without change of the Quarterly Services Survey (QSS). In the 1980s, it
was determined that the service economy, despite its growing importance
and share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was not adequately covered
by the existing federal statistical programs. At the time, the only
services data available came from the Service Annual Survey (SAS) and
the quinquennial Economic Census, therefore the decision was made to
create a new principal economic indicator designed to expand upon the
Census Bureau's existing annual survey. The QSS was first released in
2004, making it the first new U.S. federal government economic
indicator in 30 years. The QSS is now a major source for the
development of quarterly GDP and an indicator of short-term economic
change.
The initial scope of the QSS was driven primarily by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA) priorities and what the budget initiative would
allow. The goal was to begin covering the most dynamic sectors of the
service economy for which BEA had little to no alternate source data.
In the wake of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s, it was clear that
information services and high-tech industries needed to be a priority
as BEA experienced major revisions to their GDP estimates as annual
data came in later. So, at the time it was launched, QSS produced
estimates for just three North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) sectors (51, 54, and 56).
Shortly after the Financial Crisis in 2007-2008, QSS received
approval to expand the scope of the survey to match that of the
Economic Census of Services. A major part of this expansion would
provide for tracking of the Financial sector which, of course, was now
in the spotlight. Between 2009 and 2010, QSS underwent a multi-phased
expansion, increasing the total coverage from three to eleven NAICS
sectors.
QSS expanded yet again in 2012 to cover the Accommodation subsector
which was the only remaining service industry with no sub-annual
coverage.
We currently publish estimates based on the 2012 NAICS. The QSS
covers all or parts of the following NAICS sectors: Utilities
(excluding government owned); Transportation and warehousing (except
rail transportation and postal) services; Information; Finance and
insurance (except funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles); Real
estate and rental and leasing; Professional, scientific, and technical
services; Administrative and support and waste management and
remediation services; Educational services (except elementary and
secondary schools, junior colleges, and colleges, universities, and
professional schools); Health care and social assistance; Arts,
entertainment, and recreation; Accommodation; and Other services
(except public administration). See Section 19 (NAICS Codes Affected)
for a list of all of the QSS industries. The QSS provides the most
current official measures of total revenue and percentage of revenue by
class of customer (for selected industries) on a quarterly basis. In
addition, the QSS provides the most current official quarterly measure
of total expenses from tax-exempt firms in industries that have a large
not-for-profit component. All
[[Page 7528]]
respondent data are received by mail, telephone, or internet reporting.
The total revenue estimates produced from the QSS provide current
trends of economic activity in the service industry in the United
States from service providers with paid employees.
In addition to revenue, we also collect total expenses from tax-
exempt firms in industries that have a large not-for-profit component.
Expenses provide a better measure of the economic activity of these
firms. Expense estimates produced by the QSS, in addition to inpatient
days and discharges for the hospital industry, are used by the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to project and study hospital
regulation, Medicare payment adequacy, and other related projects. For
select industries in the Arts, entertainment, and recreation sector,
the survey produces estimates of admissions revenue.
Beginning with the release of 2016 fourth quarter estimates on
February 17, 2017, the first Advance Quarterly Services Report was
released in an effort to meet data users' needs for more timely data.
Published approximately 50 days following the end of the quarter, the
Advance Quarterly Services Report contains a snapshot of quarterly
estimates of revenue for selected sectors, subsectors, and industries
on a not seasonally adjusted basis. Our research found that these
selected levels were good predictors of the estimates published in the
full quarterly services report.
Beginning with the release of 2019 first quarter estimates on May
17, 2019, the Advance Quarterly Services Report includes a seasonally
adjusted estimate for the Selected Services Total. Additionally, with
the release of 2019 fourth quarter estimates on March 12, 2020, the
Quarterly Services Report now includes 100 seasonally adjusted series.
Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing seasonal
effects from a time series in order to better reveal certain non-
seasonal features. Many data users prefer seasonally adjusted data
because they want to see those characteristics that seasonal movements
tend to mask, especially changes in the direction of the series.
The notice in Federal Register on August 20, 2020, Vol. 85, No.
162, pages 51406-51408) announcing our plans to submit this request
included information on the possible upcoming collection of a new
module of business expectation. At this time, research and testing for
an uncertainty pilot collection is still underway; once any concrete
timeline is determined, a request for this additional module will be
submitted.
Reliable measures of economic activity are essential to an
objective assessment of the need for, and impact of, a wide range of
public policy decisions. The QSS supports these measures by providing
the latest estimates of service industry output on a quarterly basis.
Currently, the U.S. Census Bureau collects, tabulates, and
publishes estimates to provide, with measurable reliability, statistics
on domestic service total revenue, total expenses, and percentage of
revenue by class of customer for select service providers. In addition,
the QSS produces estimates for inpatient days and discharges for
hospitals.
The BEA is the primary Federal user of QSS results. The BEA
utilizes the QSS estimates to make improvements to the national
accounts for service industries. In the National Income and Product
Accounts (NIPA), the QSS estimates allow more accurate estimates of
both Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) and private fixed
investment. For example, published revisions to the quarterly NIPA
estimates are often the result of incorporation of the latest source
data from the QSS. Revenue estimates from the QSS are also used to
produce estimates of gross output by industry that allow BEA to produce
a much earlier release of the gross domestic product by industry
estimates.
Estimates produced from the QSS are used by the BEA as a component
of quarterly GDP estimates. The estimates also provide the Federal
Reserve Board (FRB) and Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) with timely
information on current economic performance. All estimates collected
from this survey are used extensively by various government agencies
and departments on economic policy decisions; private businesses; trade
organizations; professional associations; academia; and other various
business research and analysis organizations.
The CMS uses the QSS estimates to develop hospital spending
estimates in the National Health Expenditure Accounts. In addition, the
QSS estimates improve their ability to analyze changes in spending
trends for hospitals and other healthcare services. The CMS also uses
the estimates in its ten-year health spending forecast estimates and in
studies related to Medicare policy and trends.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac) utilizes the QSS
estimates to assess payment adequacy in the current Medicare program.
The FRB and the CEA use the QSS information to better assess
current economic performance. In addition, other government agencies,
businesses, and investors use the QSS estimates for market research,
industry growth, business planning and forecasting.
Private sector data users and other government agencies both
benefit from an earlier release of U.S. services data. The Advance
Quarterly Services Report allows policymakers and private data users to
make data-driven decisions sooner due to this high-level snapshot of
economic data. In addition, the release also allows the BEA to
incorporate services data into the second estimate of the GDP. Prior to
the implementation of the Advance Quarterly Services Report, Quarterly
Services Survey estimates were incorporated in the third estimate of
GDP.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
Frequency: Quarterly.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
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 the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB
Control Number 0607-0907.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-01936 Filed 1-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
