80 FR 69936 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Census Employment Inquiry

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 218 (November 12, 2015)

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 218 (Thursday, November 12, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69936-69937]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-28704]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Census 
Employment Inquiry

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before January 11, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Richard Liquorie at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The BC-170 is used to collect information such as personal data and 
work experience from job applicants. Selecting officials review the 
information shown on the form to evaluate an applicant's eligibility 
for employment and to determine the best qualified applicants to fill 
Census jobs.
    The BC-170 is used throughout the census and intercensal periods 
for the special census, one time or recurring survey operations and 
other decennial pretests. The Census Bureau uses different versions of 
the BC-170 in various circumstances to collect appropriate data from 
applicants. Applicants completing the form BC-170D for a census related 
position are applying for temporary jobs in office and field positions 
(clerks, enumerators, recruiting assistants, supervisors) during the 
Decennial Census and Decennial Census Tests. In addition, the BC-170A 
may be used when applying for temporary/permanent office and field 
positions (clerks, field representatives, supervisors) on a recurring 
survey in one of the Census Bureau's six Regional Offices (ROs) 
throughout the United States. The Form BC-170B is used for special 
censuses for temporary field and office positions (enumerators, clerks, 
supervisors).
    The use of this form is limited to only situations which require 
the establishment of a temporary office and/or involve special, one-
time or recurring survey operations at one of the ROs. The form has 
been demonstrated to meet our recruitment needs for temporary workers 
and requires significantly less burden than the Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM) Optional Forms that are available for use by the 
public when applying for Federal positions. There are no proposed 
changes to the BC-170A and BC-170B.
    Changes to the BC-170D have been made to help support movement from 
a fully paper job application process to a mostly online job 
application process and to support changes to the selection and hiring 
processes for related positions. Specific changes include:
    1. Adding a Prior Work Experience section to collect information 
about prior work experience.
    2. Deleting background information that was previously collected at 
the time of application such as--convictions, imprisonment, probation, 
or parole in the last 7 years; convictions by a military court-martial 
in the past 7 years; current charges for any violation of the law; 
firings from any job for any reason, quitting after being told that you 
would be fired, leaving any job by mutual agreement because of specific 
problems, or debarred from Federal employment by the Office of 
Personnel Management or any other Federal agency during the past 5 
years; and delinquency on any Federal debt.
    3. Creating an optional section on the form for questions which are 
needed for research and evaluation purposes but not necessary for 
selection purposes. The optional section will collect the applicant's 
level of education, how the applicant found out about the job, and the 
information to help determine whether applicants may be willing and/or 
able to use their personal smartphone for work.
    4. Adding questions to gain more detail about current Federal, 
State, Local, or Tribal government employment, which could pose a 
conflict of interest with census jobs.

[[Page 69937]]

    5. Adding categories to clarify the type of work that an applicant 
might be interested in.
    6. Clarifying and updating instructions on the cover pages of the 
form and item specific instructions, and the privacy act statement.
    7. Reformatting/rewording questions/items for clarification 
purposes.
    8. Formatting of questions for collection on a paper form and 
electronic online job application.

II. Method of Collection

    The Census Bureau requests continued Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval for the BC-170A, BC-170B, and the BC-170D, Census 
Employment Inquiry, along with modifications to the paper form BC-170D 
and the implementation of an online job application process, which will 
collect the same information as presented on the BC-170D.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0139.
    Form Number(s): BC-170A, BC-170B, and BC-170D.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 70,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 17,500.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Chapter 1, Subchapter II.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: November 6, 2015.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-28704 Filed 11-10-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P