83 FR 9478 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 44 (March 6, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 6, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9478-9479]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04448]


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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: Survey of Residential Building or Zoning Permit Systems.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0350.
    Form Number(s): C-411(V), C-411(M), C-411(C).
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 2,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 15 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 500.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau is requesting an extension 
of a currently approved collection for Form C-411, ``Survey of 
Residential Building or Zoning Permit Systems.
    The Census Bureau produces statistics used to monitor activity in 
the large and dynamic construction industry. These statistics help 
state and local governments and the federal government, as well as 
private industry, to analyze this important sector of the economy. The 
accuracy of the Census Bureau statistics regarding the amount of 
construction authorized depends on data supplied by building and zoning 
officials throughout the country. The Census Bureau uses Form C-411 to 
obtain information from state and local building permit officials 
needed for updating the universe of permit-issuing

[[Page 9479]]

places which serves as the sampling frame for the Report of Privately-
Owned Residential Building or Zoning Permits Issued (OMB number 0607-
0094), also known as the Building Permits Survey (BPS), and the Survey 
of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (OMB number 0607-0110), also 
known as Survey of Construction (SOC). These two sample surveys provide 
widely used measures of construction activity, including the principal 
economic indicators New Residential Construction and New Home Sales. 
Data from the BPS and SOC are also used by the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis (BEA) in the calculation of estimates of the Residential Fixed 
Investment portion of the Nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 
addition, data from the BPS are used by the Census Bureau in the 
calculation of annual population estimates; these estimates are widely 
used by government agencies to allocate funding and other resources to 
local governments.
    The questions on Form C-411 pertain to the legal requirements for 
issuing building or zoning permits in the local jurisdictions. 
Information is obtained on such items as geographic coverage and types 
of construction for which permits are issued. We do not plan any 
changes to the information we collect on the C-411 forms.
    The appropriate form is sent to a jurisdiction when the Census 
Bureau has reason to believe that a new permit system has been 
established or an existing one has changed. This is based on 
information from a variety of sources including survey respondents, 
regional councils and the Census Bureau's Geography Division which 
keeps abreast of changes in corporate status.
    We use the information to verify the existence of new permit 
systems or changes to existing systems. Based on the information, the 
Census Bureau adds new permit-issuing places to the universe, delete 
places no longer issuing permits, and makes changes to the universe to 
reflect those places that have merged.
    Failure to maintain the universe of permit-issuing places would 
result in deficient samples and inaccurate statistics. This in turn 
jeopardizes the accuracy of the above mentioned economic indicators. 
These indicators are closely monitored by the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System and other economic policy makers because of the 
sensitivity of the housing industry to changes in interest rates.
    Affected Public: State, local or tribal government.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 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 notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-04448 Filed 3-5-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P