83 FR 54910 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 212 (November 1, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 212 (Thursday, November 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54910-54911]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23859]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0143.
    Form Number(s): F-10.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 100.
    Average Hours per Response: 45 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 300.
    Needs and Uses: The Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions, provides a 
rich source of data on public retirement systems administered by state 
and local governments in the United States. Data have been collected 
since 1968. Over 3.7 trillion dollars in public pension assets in the 
financial markets are controlled by a small number of large retirement 
systems. The Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions is used to collect 
data on the assets, revenues and expenditures of the 100 largest 
systems.
    This survey was initiated at the request of both the Council of 
Economic Advisers and the Federal Reserve Board. The most important 
information this survey provides is the quarterly change in composition 
of the securities holdings of the defined benefit public employee 
retirement systems component of the economy. The Federal Reserve Board 
uses these data to track the public sector portion of the Flow of Funds 
Accounts. Additionally, the data are used by a variety of government 
officials, academics, students and non-profit organizations to analyze 
trends in public employee retirement and the impact of retirement 
obligations on the fiscal well-being of state and local governments.
    Currently, we are requesting approval to conduct the 2019, 2020 and 
2021 Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions. Discussions with the Federal 
Reserve Board and data providers and literature review have revealed 
that there is little interest in the measurement of revenue and 
benefits on a quarterly basis. Many systems do not produce these data 
quarterly. Obtaining these data requires consultation with multiple 
offices and the finalization of these data often lag behind asset data. 
Additionally, there is burden on data providers to produce these data 
quarterly. Therefore, we are proposing a realignment of content. We 
request approval to modify the current questionnaire to focus on the 
asset base of public employee retirement systems and to remove 
questions pertaining to measurement of revenue and benefits from the 
quarterly program.
    The survey will provide greater focus on the asset composition of 
the largest systems. These data are already produced for existing 
internal and external needs, and most closely align with the needs of 
the Federal Reserve Board. Additionally, the related Annual Survey of 
Public Pensions (0607-0585) will continue to provide a robust 
collection of revenue and benefit data on a fiscal year basis. These 
data items are in demand on an annual basis and are already created for 
internal and external purposes by most all systems as they are required 
items in Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs).
    Summary tables of the information collected are released quarterly 
on the internet. Documentation and explanatory materials are also 
available on the internet site here: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/qspp.html.
    Affected Public: State, local or Tribal government.
    Frequency: Quarterly.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 161 and 182.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this

[[Page 54911]]

notice to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-23859 Filed 10-31-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P