Bureau of the Census 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) publishes this notice to announce that the Director of the Census Bureau has determined the need to conduct the 2011 Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS). ARTS covers employer firms with establishments located in the United States and classified in the Retail Trade and/or Accommodation and Food Services sectors as defined by the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Through this survey, the Census Bureau will collect data covering annual sales, annual e-commerce sales, year-end inventories held inside and outside the United States, total operating expenses, purchases, accounts receivables, and, for selected industries, merchandise line sales, and percent of e-commerce sales to customers located outside the United States. These data are collected to provide a sound statistical basis for the formation of policy by various government agencies. Results will be available for use for a variety of public and business needs such as economic and market analysis, company performance, and forecasting future demand.

As required by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, this notice publishes the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) Director's determinations as to which political subdivisions are subject to the minority language assistance provisions of the Act. As of this date, those jurisdictions that are listed as covered by Section 203 have a legal obligation to provide the minority language assistance prescribed by the Act.

The Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) is giving notice of a joint meeting of the Census Advisory Committees (CACs) on the African American Population, the American Indian and Alaska Native Populations, the Asian Population, the Hispanic Population, and the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Populations. The Committees will address issues related to the American Community Survey, the 2010 Decennial Census, and early 2020 Census planning. The five Census Advisory Committees on Race and Ethnicity will meet in plenary and concurrent sessions on October 6-7, 2011. Last-minute changes to the schedule are possible, which could prevent giving advance public notice of schedule adjustments.

This notice announces the Bureau of the Census' (hereafter, Census Bureau's) final criteria for defining urban areas based on the results of the 2010 Decennial Census (the term ``urban area'' as used throughout this notice refers generically to urbanized areas of 50,000 or more population and urban clusters of at least 2,500 and less than 50,000 population). This notice also provides a summary of comments received in response to proposed criteria published in the August 24, 2010, Federal Register (75 FR 52174), as well as the Census Bureau's response to those comments. The Census Bureau's urban-rural classification is fundamentally a delineation of geographic areas, identifying both individual urban areas and the rural areas of the nation. The Census Bureau's urban areas represent densely developed territory, and encompass residential, commercial, and other nonresidential urban land uses. The Census Bureau delineates urban areas after each decennial census by applying specified criteria to decennial census and other data. Since the 1950 Census, the Census Bureau has reviewed and revised these criteria, as necessary, for each decennial census. The revisions over the years reflect the Census Bureau's desire to improve the classification of urban and rural territory to take advantage of newly available data, as well as advancements in geographic information processing technology.

The Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) is giving notice of a joint meeting of the Census Advisory Committees (CACs) on the African American Population, the American Indian and Alaska Native Populations, the Asian Population, the Hispanic Population, and the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Populations. The Committees will address issues related to the American Community Survey, the 2010 Decennial Census, and early 2020 Census planning. The five Census Advisory Committees on Race and Ethnicity will meet in plenary and concurrent sessions on April 28-29, 2011. Last-minute changes to the schedule are possible, which could prevent giving advance public notice of schedule adjustments.

On May 26, 2010, the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) published in the Federal Register an initial notice relating to the 2010 Census Count Question Resolution (CQR) Program (75 FR 29508). This notice provides final information concerning the CQR Program. The CQR Program will address requests for corrections to the 2010 Census count of housing units and/or group quarters (GQs) and associated population, based on three types of challenges (1) boundary, (2) geocoding, and (3) coverage. The CQR Program is not a mechanism or process to challenge or revise the population counts sent to the President by December 31, 2010, which are used to apportion the U.S. House of Representatives. The Census Bureau will accept challenges between June 1, 2011, and June 1, 2013, and will review challenges in the order they are received.

The U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau) proposes to amend its regulations to reflect new export reporting requirements. Specifically, the Census Bureau is proposing to require mandatory filing of export information through the Automated Export System (AES) or through AESDirect for all shipments of used self-propelled vehicles, temporary exports and household goods. The Census Bureau is also proposing to modify the postdeparture filing program by changing the filing time frame from ten (10) calendar days to five (5) calendar days and only allowing postdeparture reporting for approved commodities. In addition to the new export reporting requirements and the modifications to the postdeparture filing program, the proposed rule would make remedial changes to the FTR to improve clarity and to correct errors. These changes are discussed in detail in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.