OMB Support Statement May 1 revision MAF TIGER

PART A - JUSTIFICATION

Question 1. Necessity of the Information Collection

The Census Bureau requests approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of the generic clearance for a number of activities it plans to conduct to update its Master Address File (MAF) and maintain the linkage between the MAF and the Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) database of address ranges and associated geographic information. The Census Bureau plans to use the MAF/TIGER database (MTdb) for post-Census 2010 evaluations and as a sampling frame for the American Community Survey and our other demographic current surveys. The TIGER component of the MTdb is a geographic system that maps the entire country in Census Blocks with applicable address ranges or living quarters location information.

The generic clearance for the past three years has proved to be very beneficial to the Census Bureau. The generic clearance allowed us to utilize our limited resources on actual operational planning and development of procedures. The extension will be especially beneficial over the upcoming three years by enabling us to focus on the efforts to improve procedures for the future 2020 Census and to continue updating the MAF.

We will follow the protocol of past generic clearances: 30 days before the scheduled start date of each census activity, we will provide the Department of Commerce’s Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and the OMB with a detailed background on the activity, estimates of respondent burden and samples of pertinent forms. After the close of each fiscal year, we will also file a year-end summary report with OMB, presenting the results of each activity conducted.

The following sections describe the activities to be included under the clearance. The Census Bureau has conducted these activities (or similar ones) previously and the respondent burden remains relatively unchanged from one time to another.

Demographic Area Address Listing (DAAL)

The Demographic Area Address Listing (DAAL) program encompasses the geographic area updates for the Community Address Updating System (CAUS) and the area and group quarters frame listings for many ongoing demographic surveys (the Current Population Survey, the Consumer Expenditures Survey, etc.), and any other operations which choose to use the Automated Listing and mapping System (ALMI) for evaluations, assessments, or to collect updates for the MTdb. The CAUS program is designed to address quality concerns relating to areas with high concentrations of non-city-style addresses the MAF receives from the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File. The ongoing demographic surveys, as part of the 2000 Sample Redesign Program, used the MAF as one of several sources of addresses from which they selected their samples. In fiscal year 2010, the DAAL operation accessed a job aid used in the 2010 Address Canvassing operation to identify units in small multi-unit structures. The DAAL program is a cooperative effort among many divisions at the Census Bureau; it includes automated listing software, systems, and procedures that will allow us to conduct listing operations in a dependent manner based on information contained in the MAF.

The DAAL operations will be conducted on an ongoing basis in potentially any county across the country. Field Representatives (FRs) will canvass selected Census 2010 tabulation blocks to improve the address list in areas where substantial address changes may have occurred that have not been added to the MAF through regular update operations, and/or in blocks in the area or group quarters frame sample for the demographic surveys. FRs will update existing address information, and, when necessary, contact individuals to collect accurate location and mailing address information. In general, contact will occur only when the FR is adding a unit to the address list, and/or the individual's address is not posted or visible to the FR. There is no pre-determined or scripted list of questions asked as part of this listing operation. If an address is not posted or visible to the FR, the FR will ask about the address of the structure, the mailing address, and, in some instances, the year the structure was built. If the occupants of these households are not at home, the FR may attempt to contact a neighbor to determine the best time to find the occupants at home and/or to obtain the correct address information. At group quarters, a facility manager is usually contacted to collect information concerning the facility.

DAAL is an ongoing operation. Listing assignments are distributed quarterly with the work conducted throughout the time period. We expect that DAAL listing operation will be conducted throughout the entire time period of the extension.

2020 Census Research and Testing Program

The 2020 Census Research and Testing program will conduct tests from FY 13 through FY 15 to research methodologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the 2020 Census. Among the research is Test 22, a test that will mainly involve the newly developed MAF error model. The goal of the MAF error project is to determine the components of MAF error and to develop an error model for use in measuring MAF quality. The MAF error project will use data from existing programs as well as data from Test 22 to validate the recommended solution. Test 22 is currently scheduled to be conducted in fiscal year 2014.

The MAF error project is a cooperative effort among many divisions at the Census Bureau; it includes automated software, systems, and procedures that will allow us to measure the quality of the MAF. Test 22 is currently a one-time project scheduled for fiscal year 2014. Enumerators (Listers) will canvass blocks to provide complete list of residential addresses. Listers will enter an address status for every address based on what they found out during the visit. Listers will also visit addresses not listed on our address lists and add them. They will record address information and address statuses on the address lists. Subsequent analysis will determine the coverage of the address files, which will allow for the creation of coverage measures.

The listed activities are not exhaustive of all activities that may be performed under this generic clearance. We will follow the approved procedure when submitting any additional activities not specially listed here.

The activities to be conducted under this clearance are authorized by Title 13 United States Code, Sections 141 and 193.

Question 2. Needs and Uses

All activities described above directly support the Census Bureau’s efforts to update the MAF and the TIGER database on a regular basis so that they will be available for use in conducting and evaluating statistical programs the Census Bureau undertakes on a monthly, annual or periodic basis.

Information quality is an integral part of the pre-dissemination review of the information disseminated by the Census Bureau (fully described in the Census Bureau’s Information Quality Guidelines). Information quality is also integral to the information collections conducted by the Census Bureau and is incorporated into the clearance process required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Question 3. Use of Information Technology

Laptops and other electronic devices are used by the listers in collecting responses or data in some of the activities we conduct.

Question 4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

These activities do not duplicate information collected by any other agency. Further, there is no similar current information available that could be used or modified for these purposes.

Question 5. Minimizing Burden

Using the Delivery Sequence File provided by the U.S. Postal Service, along with address information provided by state, local and tribal governments, to update the MAF will allow us to verify existing information in appropriate areas instead of collecting all the information from the respondent, thereby reducing respondent burden. The interviews at individual households are very short and most often require only the address or physical location, plus householder name and telephone number for some operations.

Question 6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collections

Response to each of these activities is on a one-time basis. However, the activities will be conducted periodically in conjunction with census tests, dress rehearsals, and other interim census efforts to maintain a current and accurate list of addresses and geographic features. If these activities were not conducted, the accuracy of the MAF and the TIGER database would suffer, resulting in increased costs for, and problems in, conducting the decennial census and other Census Bureau statistical programs.

Question 7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances preventing the meeting of all guidelines

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Question 8. Consultations Outside the Agency

While planning for the mid-decade activities and the 2020 census, we have had consultations with outside parties, including the U.S. Postal Service. Consultations specific to the activities described above generally are not deemed necessary because the methodologies are well proven.

In an effort to collect public comments through public announcement, the pre-submission notice was published in the Federal Register, (Nov. 7, 2012, Vol. 77, No. 216, Pgs. 66794 – 66796.)

There were no public comments received.

Question 9. Paying Respondents

Respondents will not be paid or provided with gifts.

Question 10. Assurance of Confidentiality

All information tending to identify individuals will be held in strict confidence according to the provisions of Title 13, United States Code, Section 9. The Census Bureau staff on site will give a notice to each person contacted. Since some activities are mandatory and others are voluntary, separate notices will be used (see Attachments 1 and 2). The notices inform respondents about the operation and explain that any information given to the Census Bureau will be held in strict confidence. Additionally, the OMB number, expiration date, respondent burden and other required disclosures will be provided to respondents in these notices or by other means. Specific forms, notices, and any other respondent materials will be provided to the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and to OMB in advance of each activity conducted under the generic clearance.

Question 11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

None of the questions asked during the activities described above are of a sensitive nature and they should not pose any problem for respondents in that respect.

Question 12. Estimate of Hour Burden

The following table shows the calculation of estimated burden for FYs 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Activity	FY 2013 Respondents	FY 2014 Respondents	FY 2015 Respondents	Average Hours per Respondent	Responses Per Respondent	FY 2013 Burden Hours	FY 2014 Burden Hours	FY 2015 Burden Hours
DAAL TEST 22	CAUS 6,400 HHs 64 GQs DSMD 6,777 HHs 2, 688 GQs 60,000 HHs	CAUS 6,400 HHs 64 GQs DSMD 6,777 HHs 1,471 GQs	CAUS 64,000 HHs 640 GQs DSMD 6,777 HHs 1,471 GQs	3 min/HH 10 min/GQ DSMD 3 min/HH 10 min/GQ .05	1 1 1 1 1	CAUS 331 hrs. DSMD 787 hrs. .	CAUS 331 hrs. DSMD 584 hrs. 3,000 hrs	CAUS 3,307 hrs. DSMD 584 hrs.
Totals	73,177 HHs 2,752 GQs	13,177 HHs 1,535 GQs	70,777 HHs 2,111 GQs	3 min HH/ 10 min GQ	1 1	1,118hrs	3,915hrs	3,891 hrs

All estimates of burden per response are derived from the Census Bureau’s experience conducting the same or similar activities previously.

Question 13. Estimate of Cost Burden

There are no costs to respondents other than that of their time to respond. For government entities, the information requested is of the type and scope normally carried in records and no special hardware or accounting software or system is necessary to provide answers to this information collection. Therefore, respondents are not expected to incur any capital and start-up costs or system maintenance costs in responding. Further, purchasing of outside accounting or information collection services, if performed by the respondent, is part of usual and customary business practices and not specifically required for this information collection.

Question 14. Cost to Federal Government

The annual cost to the Federal Government associated with each activity will be provided in the letter to the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and the OMB that will precede the activity.

Question 15. Reason for Change in Burden

The numerous activities we conduct each fiscal year directly cause fluctuations in the burden hours we report.

Question 16. Project Schedule

The table in Question 12 and the description of each activity in Question 1 give an approximate time frame for each activity. A schedule for completing each activity will be provided in the letter to the OMB that will precede the activity.

Question 17. Request Not to Display Expiration Date

We will display the expiration date on the “Your Answers are Confidential” form given to respondents (see Attachment 1).

Question 18. Exceptions to the Certification

There are no exceptions.

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