30_day notice

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 241 / Monday, December 18, 2023 / Notices
Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means of communication for
program information (e.g., Braille, large
print, audiotape, American Sign
Language, etc.) should contact the
responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET
Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and
TTY) or contact USDA through the
Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339.
Additionally, program information may
be made available in languages other
than English.
Equal opportunity practices in
accordance with USDA’s policies will
be followed in all appointments to the
Board. To ensure that the
recommendations of the Board have
taken in account the needs of the
diverse groups served by USDA,
membership shall include to the extent
possible, individuals with demonstrated
ability to represent minorities, women
and persons with disabilities. USDA is
an equal opportunity provider,
employer, and lender.
Dated: December 12, 2023.
Cikena Reid,
USDA Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023–27669 Filed 12–15–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau

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Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Manufacturers’ Shipments,
Inventories, and Orders Survey
The Department of Commerce will
submit the following information
collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication
of this notice. We invite the general
public and other Federal agencies to
comment on proposed, and continuing
information collections, which helps us
assess the impact of our information
collection requirements and minimize
the public’s reporting burden. Public
comments were previously requested
via the Federal Register on July 18,
2023, during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30
days for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau,
Department of Commerce.
Title: Manufacturers’ Shipments,
Inventories, and Orders Survey.
OMB Control Number: 0607–0008.
Form Number(s): M–3(SD).

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Type of Request: Regular submission,
Request for an Extension, without
Change, of a Currently Approved
Collection.
Number of Respondents: 5,000.
Average Hours per Response: 20
minutes.
Burden Hours: 20,000.
Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census
Bureau is requesting an extension of the
currently approved collection for the
Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories,
and Orders (M3) survey. This survey
collects monthly data from domestic
manufacturers on Form M–3 (SD),
which is mailed at the end of each
month. Data requested are shipments,
new orders, unfilled orders, and
inventories by stage of fabrication. It is
currently the only survey that provides
broad-based monthly statistical data on
the economic conditions in the
domestic manufacturing sector. The
survey is designed to measure current
industrial activity and to provide an
indication of future production
commitments. The value of shipments
measures the value of goods delivered
during the month by domestic
manufacturers. Estimates of new orders
serve as an indicator of future
production commitments and represent
the current sales value of new orders
received during the month, net of
cancellations. Substantial accumulation
or depletion of backlogs of unfilled
orders measures excess (or deficient)
demand for manufactured products. The
level of inventories, especially in
relation to shipments, is frequently used
to monitor the business cycle.
The M3 survey has been conducted
monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau
since 1957. The Advance Report on
Durable Goods, Manufacturers’
Shipments, Inventories and Orders is an
advance snapshot of the current value of
manufacturing in the U.S. It is available
about 18 working days after each month.
The M3 survey also produces the Full
Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments,
Inventories and Orders. This report
details information on the durable goods
industries and includes the non-durable
goods industries. In addition, the Full
Report captures late receipts, and is
available about 23 working days after
each month.
In October 2021, we accelerated total
manufacturing and the nondurable
manufacturing aggregate estimates to the
same time as the Advance Report on
Durable Goods Manufacturers’
Shipments, Inventories and Orders by
creating an advance high-level report of
total manufacturing. This exception to
the normal procedure was initially
approved by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) in September 2021

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and has been subsequently extended
annually through means of a separately
submitted memo. This exception has
permitted the public release of
preliminary monthly data on shipments
and inventories of total manufacturing
under the provisions of the OMB’s
Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 on the
Compilation, Release and Evaluation of
Principal Federal Economic Indicators.
The Census Bureau requests that
provisions for the early release of total
manufacturing shipments and
inventories be included in this
clearance, thereby eliminating the need
for a separate memo requesting annual
re-approval from OMB for the early
release. Accelerating the nondurable
release provides data users with early
access to total manufacturing estimates
ahead of the Full Report, giving them an
early snapshot of the direction of this
critical indicator.
Additionally, in September 2024, we
plan to include additional nondurable
goods industry level data, to provide
more detailed estimates at the advance
time.
The M3 survey provides an essential
component of the current economic
indicators needed for assessing the
evolving status of the economy and
formulating economic policy. The Office
of Information and Regulatory Affairs
(OIRA), Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) has designated this
survey as a principal federal economic
indicator. The shipments and
inventories data are essential inputs to
the gross domestic product (GDP). The
orders data are direct inputs to The
Conference Board Leading Economic
Index (LEI), which is a composite index
of ten key elements designed to monitor
the business cycle (https://
www.conference-board.org/data/
bcicountry.cfm?cid=1). The GDP and the
LEI would be incomplete without these
data. Businesses and consumers
generally place orders for durable goods
when they are confident the economy is
improving. A durable goods report
showing an increase in orders is a sign
that the economy is trending upwards.
Durable goods orders tell investors what
to expect from the manufacturing sector,
a major component of the economy. The
M3 survey also provides valuable and
timely domestic manufacturing data for
economic planning and analysis to
business firms, trade associations,
research and consulting agencies, and
academia.
The data are used for analyzing shortand long-term trends, both in the
manufacturing sector and as related to
other sectors of the economy. The data
on the value of shipments, especially
when adjusted for change in

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 241 / Monday, December 18, 2023 / Notices

inventories, measure current levels of
production. New orders figures serve as
an indicator of future production
commitments. Changes in the level of
unfilled orders, because of excess or
shortfall of new orders compared with
shipments, are used to measure the
excess (or deficiency) in the demand for
manufactured products. Changes in the
level of inventories and the relation of
these to shipments are used to project
future movements in manufacturing
activity. These statistics are valuable for
analysts of business cycle conditions,
including members of the Council of
Economic Advisers (CEA), the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA), the Federal
Reserve Board (FRB), the Department of
the Treasury, The Conference Board,
business firms, trade associations,
private research and consulting
agencies, and the academic community.
Frequency: Monthly.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Title 13, United
States Code, Sections 131, 182, and 193.
This information collection request
may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov.
Follow the instructions to view the
Department of Commerce collections
currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of the
publication of this notice on the
following website www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain. Find this
particular information collection by
selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function and
entering either the title of the collection
or the OMB Control Number 0607–0008.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs,
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023–27722 Filed 12–15–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–07–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES

Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Survey of Housing Starts,
Sales, and Completions
The Department of Commerce will
submit the following information
collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of

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1995, on or after the date of publication
of this notice. We invite the general
public and other Federal agencies to
comment on proposed, and continuing
information collections, which helps us
assess the impact of our information
collection requirements and minimize
the public’s reporting burden. Public
comments were previously requested
via the Federal Register on August 3,
2023, during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30
days for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau,
Department of Commerce.
Title: Survey of Housing Starts, Sales,
and Completions.
OMB Control Number: 0607–0110
Form Number(s): SOC–QI/SF.1 and
SOC–QI/MF.1.
Type of Request: Regular submission,
request for an extension, without
change, of a currently approved
collection.
Number of Respondents: We collect
data for approximately 21,363 new
buildings a year. A builder or owner
may be contacted several times based on
how long the construction project takes.
We estimate the average number of
times we need to contact the builder or
owner is between 7 and 8 times. The
total number of responses annually is
161,412.
Average Hours per Response: 5
minutes.
Burden Hours: 13,451.
Needs and Uses: The U. S. Census
Bureau is requesting an extension of the
currently approved collection for the
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and
Completions, otherwise known as the
Survey of Construction (SOC). The SOC
is co-sponsored by the U.S. Census
Bureau and the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development
(HUD).
Government agencies and private
companies use statistics from SOC to
monitor and evaluate the large and
dynamic housing construction industry.
Data for two principal economic
indicators are produced from the SOC:
New Residential Construction (housing
starts and housing completions) and
New Residential Sales. In addition, a
number of other statistical series are
produced, including extensive
information on the physical
characteristics of new residential
buildings, and indexes measuring rates
of inflation in the price of new
buildings. These statistics are based on
a sample of residential buildings in
permit-issuing places and a road
canvass in a sample of land areas not
covered by building permit systems.
Census Bureau field representatives
(FRs) mail forms to new respondents to

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complete. A few days later, the FRs
either call or visit the respondents to
enter their survey responses into a
laptop computer using Computer
Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)
software. The respondents are home
builders, real estate agents, rental
agents, or new homeowners of sampled
residential buildings. FRs contact
respondents multiple times based on the
number of projects in the sample and
the number of months required to
complete the project.
The Census Bureau uses the
information collected in the SOC to
publish estimates of the number of new
residential housing units started, under
construction, completed, and the
number of new houses sold and for sale.
The Census Bureau also publishes many
financial and physical characteristics of
new housing units. Government
agencies use these statistics to evaluate
economic policy, measure progress
towards the national housing goal, make
policy decisions, and formulate
legislation. For example, the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve
System uses data from this survey to
evaluate the effect of interest rates. The
Bureau of Economic Analysis uses the
data in developing the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). The private sector uses
the information for estimating the
demand for building materials and the
many products used in new housing
and to schedule production,
distribution, and sales efforts. The
financial community uses the data to
estimate the demand for short-term
(construction loans) and long-term
(mortgages) borrowing.
Frequency: Monthly.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: The Census Bureau is
authorized under title 13, United States
Code, sections 131 and 182 to collect
information, and under title 13 section
8(b) to perform survey work for other
agencies, including HUD. HUD is
authorized under title 12 U.S.C.,
sections 1701z–1 and 1701z–2g to
collect or obtain information on new
residential buildings.
This information collection request
may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov.
Follow the instructions to view the
Department of Commerce collections
currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of the
publication of this notice on the
following website www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain. Find this
particular information collection by
selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or

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