60-day FRN (1220-0012) published

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 197 / Friday, October 9, 2020 / Notices
(‘‘CWA’’), 33 U.S.C. 1319 and 1344,
against Defendant D.R. Horton, Inc.
(‘‘Defendant’’) for discharging pollutants
into waters of the United States in
Manatee County, Florida without
authorization, in violation of Section
301(a) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1311(a).
The proposed Consent Decree resolves
these allegations by requiring the
Defendant to perform mitigation and
pay a civil penalty.
The Department of Justice will accept
written comments relating to this
proposed Consent Decree for thirty (30)
days from the date of publication of this
Notice. Please address comments to
Martin McDermott, United States
Department of Justice, Environmental
Defense Section, Post Office Box 7611,
Washington, DC 20044–7611, and refer
to United States v. D.R. Horton, Inc., DJ
#90–5–1–1–21336.
The proposed Consent Decree may be
examined at the Clerk’s Office, United
States District Court for the Middle
District of Florida, Tampa Division, Sam
M. Gibbons United States Courthouse,
801 North Florida Avenue, Tampa, FL
33602. In addition, the proposed
Consent Decree may be examined
electronically at http://www.justice.gov/
enrd/consent-decrees.
Cherie Rogers,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental
Defense Section, Environment and Natural
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2020–22383 Filed 10–8–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Information Collection Activities,
Comment Request
Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

The Department of Labor, as
part of its continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent burden,
conducts a pre-clearance consultation
program to provide the general public
and Federal agencies with an
opportunity to comment on proposed
and/or continuing collections of
information in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This
program helps to ensure that requested
data can be provided in the desired
format, reporting burden (time and
financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly
understood, and the impact of collection
requirements on respondents can be

SUMMARY:

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properly assessed. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments
concerning the proposed revision of the
Quarterly Census of Employment and
Wages Program. A copy of the proposed
information collection request can be
obtained by contacting the individual
listed below in the Addresses section of
this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted to the office listed in the
Addresses section of this notice on or
before December 8, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Carol
Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, Division
of Management Systems, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 2
Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington,
DC 20212. Written comments also may
be transmitted by email to BLS_PRA_
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer,
202–691–7628 (this is not a toll free
number). (See ADDRESSES section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Quarterly Census of Employment
and Wages (QCEW) program, a Federal/
State cooperative effort, produces
monthly employment and quarterly
wage information. It is a by-product of
quarterly reports submitted to State
Workforce Agencies (SWAs) by
employers subject to State
Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws.
The collection of these data is
authorized by 29 U.S.C. 1, 2. The QCEW
data, which are compiled for each
calendar quarter, provide a
comprehensive business name and
address file with employment and wage
information for employers subject to
State UI laws. Similar data for Federal
Government employers covered by the
Unemployment Compensation for
Federal Employees program also are
included. These data are submitted to
the BLS by all 50 States, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands. The BLS summarizes these data
to produce totals for all counties,
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs),
the States, and the nation. The QCEW
program provides a virtual census of
nonagricultural employees and their
wages, with about 54 percent of the
workers in agriculture covered as well.
The QCEW program is a
comprehensive and accurate source of
data on the number of establishments,
monthly employment, and quarterly
wages, by industry, at the six-digit
North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) level, and at the
national, State, MSA, and county levels.
The QCEW series has broad economic

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significance in measuring labor trends
and major industry developments, in
time series analyses and industry
comparisons, and in special studies
such as analyses of establishments,
employment, and wages by size of
establishment.
II. Current Action
Office of Management and Budget
clearance is being sought for the
Quarterly Census of Employment and
Wages (QCEW) program.
The QCEW program is implementing
improvements to the methods used to
impute data for missing employer
reports starting in October 2020. The
current method of imputation estimates
the current month’s employment or
current quarterly wages by applying the
change from a year earlier to the
previous month’s reported employment
and/or quarterly wages. A drawback to
this procedure is that it uses the data
from a year earlier, which may not
reflect current economic conditions.
BLS anticipates that the number of nonresponding employers will be
substantially higher than usual in the
second quarter of 2020, as a result of the
business response to the coronavirus
(COVID–19) pandemic. Existing
imputation methods would likely
understate the impact of the pandemic
on the US economy. BLS has conducted
research on improvements to its
imputation methodology and will
implement these improvements with the
first release of data for the second
quarter of 2020.
The QCEW program is the only
Federal statistical program that provides
information on establishments, wages,
tax contributions and the number of
employees subject to State UI laws and
the Unemployment Compensation for
the Federal Employees program. The
consequences of not collecting QCEW
data would be grave to the Federal
statistical community. The BLS would
not have a sampling frame for its
establishment surveys; it would not be
able to publish as accurate current
estimates of employment for the US,
States, and metropolitan areas; and it
would not be able to publish quarterly
census totals of local establishment
counts, employment, and wages. The
Bureau of Economic Analysis would not
be able to publish as accurate personal
income data in a timely manner for the
U.S., States, and local areas. Finally, the
Department of Labor’s Employment
Training Administration would not
have the information it needs to
administer the Unemployment
Insurance Program.

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 197 / Friday, October 9, 2020 / Notices

III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is
particularly interested in comments
that:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility.
• Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used.
• Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected.
• Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submissions
of responses.
Title of Collection: Quarterly Census
of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
Program.
OMB Number: 1220–0012.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: State Governments.
Total Respondents: 53.
Frequency: Quarterly.
Total Responses: 212.
Average Time per Response: 3,875
hours.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
821,600 hours.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the request for Office of
Management and Budget approval of the
information collection request; they also
will become a matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC, October 2,
2020.
Eric Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management
Systems.
[FR Doc. 2020–22366 Filed 10–8–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–24–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Information Collection Activities;
Comment Request
Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

The Department of Labor, as
part of its continuing effort to reduce

SUMMARY:

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17:26 Oct 08, 2020

Jkt 253001

paperwork and respondent burden,
conducts a pre-clearance consultation
program to provide the general public
and Federal agencies with an
opportunity to comment on proposed
and/or continuing collections of
information in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This
program helps to ensure that requested
data can be provided in the desired
format, reporting burden (time and
financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly
understood, and the impact of collection
requirements on respondents can be
properly assessed. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments
concerning the proposed extension of
‘‘Cognitive and Psychological
Research.’’ A copy of the proposed
information collection request can be
obtained by contacting the individual
listed below in the Addresses section of
this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted to the office listed in the
addresses section of this notice on or
before December 8, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora
Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080,
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE,
Washington, DC 20212. Written
comments also may be transmitted by
email to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
telephone number 202–691–7628 (this
is not a toll free number). (See
ADDRESSES section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’
Behavioral Science Research Center
(BSRC) conducts theoretical, applied,
and evaluative research aimed at
improving the quality of data collected
and published by the Bureau. Since its
creation in 1988, the BSRC has
advanced the study of survey methods
research, approaching issues of nonsampling error within a framework that
draws heavily on the theories and
methods of the cognitive, statistical, and
social sciences. The BSRC research
focuses primarily on the assessment of
survey instrument design and survey
administration, as well as on issues
related to interviewer training, the
interaction between interviewer and
respondent in the interview process,
and the usability of data-collection
instruments by both interviewers and
respondents. Improvements in these
areas result in greater accuracy and
response rates of BLS surveys,

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frequently reduce costs in training and
survey administration, and further
ensure the effectiveness of the Bureau’s
overall mission.
II. Current Action
Office of Management and Budget
clearance is being sought for ‘‘Cognitive
and Psychological Research.’’ The
purpose of this request for clearance by
the BSRC is to conduct cognitive and
psychological research designed to
enhance the quality of the Bureau’s data
collection procedures and overall data
management. The BLS is committed to
producing the most accurate and
complete data within the highest quality
assurance guidelines. The BSRC was
created to aid in this effort and it has
demonstrated the effectiveness and
value of its approach. Over the next few
years, demand for BSRC consultation is
expected to remain high as approaches
are explored and tested for dealing with
increasing nonresponse in key Bureau
surveys. Moreover, as the use of webbased surveys continues to grow, so too
will the need for careful tests of
instrument design and usability,
human-computer interactions, and the
impact of multiple modes on data
quality. The BSRC is uniquely equipped
with both the skills and facilities to
accommodate these demands.
The extension of the accompanying
clearance package reflects an attempt to
accommodate the increasing interest by
BLS program offices and other agencies
in the methods used, and the results
obtained, by the BSRC. This package
reflects planned research and
development activities for FY2021
through FY2023, and its approval will
enable the continued productivity of a
state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary
program of behavioral science research
to improve BLS survey methodology.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is
particularly interested in comments
that:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility.
• Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used.
• Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected.
• Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the

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