Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions, 51268-51269 [2023-16584]

Agencies

• Census Bureau
• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 148 (Thursday, August 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51268-51269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16584]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites 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

[[Page 51269]]

reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of 
public comment on the proposed extension of the Survey of Housing 
Starts, Sales, and Completions, prior to the submission of the 
information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before October 2, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference Survey of Housing 
Starts, Sales, and Completions in the subject line of your comments. 
You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2023-
0005, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
All comments received are part of the public record. No comments will 
be posted to https://www.regulations.gov for public viewing until after 
the comment period has closed. Comments will generally be posted 
without change. All Personally Identifiable Information (for example, 
name and address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be 
publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. You may submit 
attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe 
PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
William Abriatis, U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, 
(301) 763-3686, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The U.S. Census Bureau plans to request a three-year extension of 
the current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of the 
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales and Completions, also known as the 
Survey of Construction (SOC). The SOC collects monthly data on new 
residential construction from a sample of owners or builders. The 
Census Bureau uses the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) 
electronic questionnaires SOC-QI/SF.1 and SOC-QI/MF.1 to collect data 
on start and completion dates of construction, physical characteristics 
of the structure (floor area, number of bathrooms, type of heating 
system, etc), and if applicable, date of sale, sales price, and type of 
financing. The SOC provides widely used measures of construction 
activity, including the economic indicators Housing Starts and Housing 
Completions, which are from the New Residential Construction series, 
and New Residential Sales. The current clearance for this survey is 
scheduled to expire on March 31, 2024.
    We sample approximately 1,780 new buildings each month 
(approximately 21,363 per year). We inquire about the progress of each 
building multiple times until it is completed (and a sales contract is 
signed, if it is a single-family house that is built for sale). For 
single-family buildings, we conduct an average of 8.2 interviews and 
for multifamily buildings, we conduct an average of 6.4 interviews. The 
total number of interviews conducted from 2020 through 2022 was 
averaged and for single-family buildings is approximately 112,471 
annually and for multifamily buildings is about 48,941 annually. Each 
interview takes 5 minutes on average. Therefore, the total annual 
burden is 13,451 hours.

II. Method of Collection

    The Census Bureau uses its field representatives to collect the 
data. The field representatives conduct interviews to obtain data.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0110.
    Form Number(s): SOC-QI.SF.1 and SOC-QI/MF.1.
    Type of Review: Regular submission. Request for an Extension 
without Change of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 21,363.
    Estimated Time per Response: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 13,451.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0. (This is not the cost of 
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for 
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to 
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services 
required specifically by the collection.)
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 131 and 182.

IV. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-16584 Filed 8-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P