83 FR 53849 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2020 Census Post-Enumeration Survey Independent Listing Operation

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 207 (October 25, 2018)

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 83, Number 207 (Thursday, October 25, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53849-53850]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23268]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2020 Census 
Post-Enumeration Survey Independent Listing Operation

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 December 24, 2018.

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]). You may also submit comments, identified by Docket 
number USBC-2018-0015, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments received are part of the public 
record. No comments will be posted to http://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, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Robin A. Pennington, U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 
Silver Hill Road, Room 2H465, Washington, DC 20233, 301-763-8132 (or 
via the internet at [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    As in previous censuses, the Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) for the 
2020 Census will be conducted to provide estimates of census net 
coverage error and components of census coverage (such as correct 
enumerations, omissions, and erroneous enumerations, including 
duplicates) for housing units and people living in housing units (see 
Definition of Terms) for the United States and Puerto Rico, excluding 
remote Alaska. These coverage estimates provide insight into the 
quality and coverage of census results, which can be used to improve 
future censuses. The primary sampling unit is the Basic Collection Unit 
(BCU), which is the smallest unit of collection geography for 2020 
Census listing operations. As in the past, the PES operations and 
activities must be conducted separate from and independent of the other 
2020 Census operations.
    The Independent Listing operation is the first field operation in 
the PES process. It will be conducted to obtain a complete inventory of 
all the housing unit addresses within the PES sample of BCUs in the 
United States (excluding remote Alaska) and in Puerto Rico before the 
2020 Census enumeration commences. Group quarters addresses will not be 
listed as they are out of scope for PES.
    During the Independent Listing operation, field staff, referred to 
as ``listers,'' will canvass every street, road, or other place where 
people might live in their assigned BCUs and construct a list of 
housing units using an automated data collection instrument on a 
laptop. The laptop will contain the data collection instrument with 
digital maps of the area that needs to be canvassed. Listers will 
attempt to contact a member of each housing unit they encounter on 
their route. If someone answers, the lister will provide a 
Confidentiality Notice and ask about the address in order to collect 
the address information, as appropriate. To ensure all units at an 
address are properly listed, the lister will then ask if there are any 
additional vacant or occupied units in the structure or on the 
property. If there are additional units, the lister will collect and 
update that information. To be classified as a separate unit, they must 
meet the housing unit definition requirement of having direct access 
from outside or through a common hallway, and must either have someone 
living there or be intended for occupancy, even if vacant at the time 
of the Independent Listing operation. Mobile homes and trailers, both 
in a park and not in a park, will also be listed, including any empty 
lots or pads in the parks in the BCU. Finally, any occupied camper, 
recreational vehicle, van, boat, tent or other location where people 
are living during the listing operation will also be listed as a 
housing unit.
    If the lister does not find anyone at home after several attempts, 
he or she will try to collect the information from a proxy or add any 
found addresses to the address list by observation as a last resort. 
Listers will also identify the location of each housing unit by 
collecting map spots (i.e., Global Positioning System (GPS) 
coordinates). The lister will also collect information on the status of 
each housing unit, such as occupied, vacant, under construction, empty 
trailer park, etc. Completed Independent Listing BCUs will be 
automatically reviewed for abnormal characteristics (such as GPS 
information indicating that the lister was far from the units they were 
listing). BCUs with unusual characteristics may be subject to quality 
control wherein quality control listers return to the field to check a 
portion of units to ensure that the work performed meets Census Bureau 
quality standards.
    Following the completion of listing for each BCU, the addresses are 
computer and clerically matched, on a flow basis, against the list of 
addresses considered valid for the census. Addresses that remain 
unmatched or have unresolved address status after matching will be sent 
to the Initial Housing Unit Followup operation, during which listers 
collect additional information that might allow a resolution of any 
differences between the Independent Listing and census address list 
results. Cases will also be sent to the field to resolve potential 
duplicates and unresolved housing unit

[[Page 53850]]

status. The questions and procedures to be used in the Initial Housing 
Unit Followup phase of the Post-Enumeration Survey in the 2020 Census 
and all subsequent Post-Enumeration Survey phases will be published in 
separate Federal Register Notices.
    The 2020 Census Evaluations and Experiments program will also be 
using the results of this PES Independent Listing for an evaluation, in 
conjunction with 2020 Census operations. The specific activities for 
this evaluation will be described in detail in future Federal Register 
Notices for additional 30-day comment periods for both the 2020 PES 
Independent Listing and the 2020 Census. These will be considered as 
substantive changes to both approved OMB packages.

II. Method of Collection

    Independent Listing field staff will use the Census Bureau's 
Listing and Mapping Application (LiMA) software on government furnished 
laptop devices.

Definition of Terms

    Components of Census Coverage--The components of census coverage 
include correct enumerations, erroneous enumerations, whole-person 
imputations, and omissions. Correct enumerations are people or housing 
units that were correctly enumerated in the census. Erroneous 
enumerations are people or housing units that were enumerated in the 
census but should not have been. Examples of erroneous enumerations are 
duplicates, nonexistent housing units or people, and people or housing 
units that were enumerated in the wrong place. Omissions are people and 
housing units that were not correctly enumerated in the census but 
should have been. Lastly, whole-person imputations are census records 
for which all of the demographic characteristics were imputed. Many of 
these imputations represent people in housing units where we knew the 
household count but did not obtain sufficient information about the 
people residing at the housing unit.
    Net Coverage Error--Reflects the difference between the true 
population and the census count. If the census count was less than the 
actual number of people or housing units in the population, then we say 
there was an undercount. If the census count was more than the actual 
number of people or housing units in the population, then we say there 
was an overcount.
    For more information about the Post-Enumeration Survey Program, 
please visit the following page of the Census Bureau's website: https://www.census.gov/coverage_measurement/post-enumeration_surveys/.
    For more information about the Evaluations and Experiments Program, 
please visit the following document in the Census Bureau's 2020 Census 
Memo Series: 2020 Census Evaluations and Experiments.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-XXXX.
    Form Number: NA.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 565,000 Housing Units (HUs) for 
Independent Listing and 85,000 HUs for Independent Listing Quality 
Control.
    Estimated Time per Response: 5 min.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 54,167 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $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: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, U.S. Code, Sections 141 and 193.

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.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-23268 Filed 10-24-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P