[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 12693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5143]


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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 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Survey of Construction--Questionnaire for Building Permit 
Official.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0125.
    Form Number(s): SOC-QBPO.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Burden Hours: 225.
    Number of Respondents: 900.
    Average Hours per Response: 15 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The information collected on the SOC-QBPO is 
necessary to carry out the sampling for the Survey of Housing Starts, 
Sales and Completions (OMB number 0607-0110), also known as the Survey 
of Construction (SOC). Government agencies and private companies use 
statistics from SOC to monitor and evaluate the large and dynamic 
housing construction industry.
    The SOC-QBPO is an electronic questionnaire. Census Bureau field 
representatives (FRs) use Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing 
(CAPI) to collect the data. The FRs use the SOC-QBPO to obtain 
information on the operating procedures of a permit office. This 
enables them to locate, classify, list, and sample building permits for 
residential construction. These permits are used as the basis for the 
sample selected for SOC. The Census Bureau also uses the information to 
verify and update the geographic coverage of permit offices.
    Failure to collect this information would make it difficult, if not 
impossible, to classify accurately and sample building permits for the 
SOC. The SOC produces data for two principal economic indicators: New 
Residential Construction (housing starts and housing completions) and 
New Residential Sales. Information from the SOC is also used in the 
estimation of the value of new residential construction put in place 
for the Census Bureau's data on construction spending.
    Affected Public: State, local or Tribal Government.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Section 182.
    OMB Desk Officer: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB Desk Officer either by fax (202-395-7245) 
or e-mail ([email protected]).

    Dated: March 3, 2011.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-5143 Filed 3-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P