Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Redistricting Data Program, 79888-79889 [2024-22451]

Agencies

• Census Bureau
• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79888-79889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22451]


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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; Redistricting Data Program

    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 May 6, 2024, during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.
    Title: Redistricting Data Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0988.
    Form Number(s): Certification Forms (4), Verification Forms (2) and 
Feedback Form.
     Phase 4 Certification Form (States with Multiple 
Congressional Districts).
     Phase 4 Certification Form (States with a Single 
Congressional District).
     Phase 4 Certification Form (District of Columbia).
     Phase 4 Certification Form (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico).
     Phase 4 Verification Form (Congressional Districts).
     Phase 4 Verification Form (State Legislative Districts).
     RDP Feedback Form
    Type of Request: Regular submission, request for a revision of a 
currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents:
     Solicitation of Non-Partisan Liaisons: 52.
     Collection of Post-2020 Census Congressional and State 
Legislative District Plans: 52.
     Block Boundary Suggestion Project (BBSP) Delineation 
Phase: 52.
     BBSP Verification Phase: 52.
     Feedback: 52.
    Average Hours per Response:
     Solicitation of Non-Partisan Liaisons: 6 hours.
     Collection of Post-2020 Census Congressional and State 
Legislative District Plans: 8 hours.
     BBSP Delineation Phase: 124 hours.
     BBSP Verification Phase: 62 hours.
     Feedback: 1 hour.
    Burden Hours: 10,452.
     Solicitation of Non-Partisan Liaisons: 312 hours.
     Collection of Post-2020 Census Congressional and State 
Legislative District Plans: 416 hours.
     BBSP Delineation Phase: 6,448 hours.
     BBSP Verification Phase: 3,224 hours.
     Feedback: 52 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The Redistricting Data Program (RDP) is executed 
under the provisions of title 13, section 141(c) of the United States 
Code (U.S.C.). Under the provisions of Public Law 94-171, as amended 
(title 13, United States Code (U.S.C.), section 141(c)), the Secretary 
of Commerce, who designates this responsibility to the Director of the 
Census Bureau, is required to provide the ``officers or public bodies 
having initial responsibility for the legislative apportionment or 
districting of each state'' with the opportunity to ``identify the 
geographic areas'' (e.g., Voting Districts (wards and election 
precincts), congressional and state legislative districts, census 
blocks) ``for which specific tabulations of population are desired'' 
and to deliver those counts in a timely manner.
    The Solicitation of Non-Partisan Liaisons occurs by mail (U.S. 
Postal Service) beginning in January 2025 and includes follow up emails 
to the governors and the majority and minority legislative leadership 
in the 50 states, the District of Columbia (DC), and the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico (PR). Non-partisan liaisons are appointed through a 
response to that solicitation letter mailed or emailed to the Census 
Bureau and signed by the legislative leadership. Once appointed, the 
liaisons serve as the primary point of contact for the Census Bureau to 
execute the Collection of Post-2020 Census Congressional and State 
Legislative District Plans and the BBSP. Additionally, once the 
liaisons have been appointed, they serve as liaisons through the entire 
RDP, ending in 2035.
    Liaisons are emailed an invitation to submit any updates to their 
Post-2020 Census Congressional and State Legislative Districts in 2025. 
This collection is performed every two years. Changes are submitted to 
the Census Bureau electronically using email to confirm changes or no 
changes and the Census Bureau's secure online data sharing portal to 
submit their boundary and data updates when necessary. This process is 
the same as that used for the prior collection in 2024.
    Liaisons are emailed an invitation to participate in the 
delineation cycle of the BBSP in 2026 and the verification cycle of the 
BBSP in 2027. Changes are submitted to the Census Bureau electronically 
using email to report no changes (during the verification cycle) and 
the Census Bureau's secure online data sharing portal to submit their 
BBSP updates. The BBSP has not appreciably changed since it last 
occurred from 2016-2017 as a part of the 2020 RDP.
    These activities directly support the Census Bureau's efforts to 
comply with Public Law 94-171 by providing states, DC, and PR the 
opportunity to identify

[[Page 79889]]

the small area tabulations they need for legislative redistricting and 
by supplying them with that data in a timely manner. Participation is 
strictly voluntary. The states, DC, and PR are the only authorities 
that can choose where and how to draw their district boundaries.
    In addition, these activities assist in maintaining the Master 
Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and 
Referencing (MAF/TIGER) System, in partnership with tribal, state, and 
local governments nationwide. Because tribal, state, and local 
governments have current knowledge of, and data about, where housing 
growth and change are occurring in their jurisdictions, their input 
into the overall development of geographic data for the Census Bureau 
makes a vital contribution. Similarly, those governments are in the 
best position to work with local geographic boundaries, and they 
benefit from accurate address and geographic data.
    The Census Bureau is adding a feedback component to its geographic 
partnership programs to allow for the solicitation of feedback to 
improve the administration of the respective program and potentially 
reduce the future burden. Liaisons may be asked to provide their 
feedback on materials, method(s) of data collection, manner of 
communications, and the usability of the program applications and 
tools.
    Affected Public: State and local governments.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Public Law 94-171, as amended (title 13, U.S.C., 
section 141(c)).
    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 0607-0988.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-22451 Filed 9-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P