First Federal Register Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 66 / Monday, April 6, 2020 / Notices
this notice from the previous collection
of information.
III. Current Actions
This information collection request
concerns provisions for Qualification/
Certification Program Request for MSHA
Individual Identification Number
(MIIN). MSHA has updated the data
with respect to the number of
respondents, responses, burden hours,
and burden costs supporting this
information collection request from the
previous information collection request.
Type of Review: Extension, without
change, of a currently approved
collection.
Agency: Mine Safety and Health
Administration.
OMB Number: 1219–0143.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit.
Number of Respondents: 7,500.
Frequency: On occasion.
Number of Responses: 7,500.
Annual Burden Hours: 625 hours.
Annual Respondent or Recordkeeper
Cost: $75.
MSHA Forms: MSHA Form 5000–46,
Request for MSHA Individual
Identification Number (MIIN).
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized in the
request for Office of Management and
Budget approval of the proposed
information collection request; they will
become a matter of public record and
will be available at https://
www.reginfo.gov.
Sheila McConnell,
Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020–07062 Filed 4–3–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–43–P

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Comment Request; Survey
of Graduate Students and
Postdoctorates in Science and
Engineering
National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics, National Science
Foundation.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:

The National Center for
Science and Engineering Statistics
(NCSES) within the National Science
Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans
to request renewal of the Survey of
Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in
Science and Engineering (OMB Control
Number 3145–0062). In accordance with
the requirements of the Paperwork

jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES

SUMMARY:

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:47 Apr 03, 2020

Jkt 250001

Reduction Act of 1995, NSF is providing
opportunity for public comment on this
action. After obtaining and considering
public comments, NSF will prepare the
submission requesting that OMB
approve clearance of this collection for
three years.
DATES: Written comments on this notice
must be received by June 5, 2020 to be
assured of consideration. Comments
received after that date will be
considered to the extent practicable.
Send comments to the address below.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR
COMMENTS: Contact Suzanne H.

Plimpton, Reports Clearance Officer,
National Science Foundation, 2415
Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 18200,
Alexandria, VA 22314; telephone (703)
292–7556; or send email to splimpto@
nsf.gov. Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Information
Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–
8339, which is accessible 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
(including Federal holidays). You also
may obtain a copy of the data collection
instrument and instructions from Ms.
Plimpton.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: Survey of Graduate
Students and Postdoctorates in Science
and Engineering.
OMB Control Number: 3145–0062.
Expiration Date of Current Approval:
October 31, 2020.
Type of Request: Intent to seek
approval to extend an information
collection for three years.
Abstract: Established within NSF by
the America COMPETES
Reauthorization Act of 2010 § 505,
codified in the National Science
Foundation Act of 1950, as amended,
the National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics (NCSES) serves as
a central Federal clearinghouse for the
collection, interpretation, analysis, and
dissemination of objective data on
science, engineering, technology, and
research and development for use by
practitioners, researchers, policymakers,
and the public.
The Survey of Graduate Students and
Postdoctorates in Science and
Engineering (GSS), sponsored by the
NCSES within NSF and the National
Institutes of Health, is designed to
comply with legislative mandates by
providing information on the
characteristics of academic graduate
enrollments in science, engineering and
health fields. The GSS, which originated
in 1966 and has been conducted
annually since 1972, is a census of all
departments in science, engineering and
health (SEH) fields within academic

PO 00000

Frm 00038

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

19169

institutions with graduate programs in
the United States. This request to extend
the information collection for three
years is to cover the 2020, 2021, and
2022 GSS survey cycles. The
information collected by the GSS is
solicited under the authority of the
National Science Foundation Act of
1950, as amended and the America
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of
2010. Data collection starts each fall in
October and data are obtained primarily
through a Web survey. All information
will be used for statistical purposes
only. Participation in the survey is
voluntary.
The total number of respondents
surveyed in the 2020 survey cycle is
estimated to be 911 School
Coordinators. The GSS is the only
national survey that collects information
on the characteristics of graduate
enrollment and postdoctoral appointees
(postdocs) for specific SEH disciplines
at the department level. It collects
information on:
(1) Master’s and doctoral students’
ethnicity and race, citizenship, gender,
source and mechanism of financial
support (e.g., fellowships, traineeships,
assistantships) and enrollment status.
(2) Postdocs’ ethnicity and race,
citizenship, gender, source and
mechanism of financial support, type of
doctoral degree, and degree origin (U.S.
or foreign); and
(3) Other doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers’ gender and type of
doctoral degree.
To improve coverage of postdocs, the
GSS periodically collects information
on postdocs employed in Federally
Funded Research and Development
Centers (FFRDCs) by ethnicity and race,
gender, citizenship, source and
mechanism of financial support, and
field of research. This survey of
postdocs at FFRDCs will be conducted
as part of the 2021 GSS survey cycle.
The initial GSS data request is sent to
the designated respondent (School
Coordinator) at each academic
institution in the fall. The School
Coordinator may upload a file with the
requested data on the GSS website,
which will automatically aggregate the
data and populate the cells of the Web
survey instrument for each reporting
unit (departments, programs, research
centers, and health care facilities). This
method of data provision is called
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The
School Coordinator will be also able to
upload partial data (e.g., student
enrollment information) and delegate
the provision of other data (e.g.,
financial support information) to
appropriate reporting units at their
institution (unit respondents).

E:\FR\FM\06APN1.SGM

06APN1

19170

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 66 / Monday, April 6, 2020 / Notices

Institutions that do not want to use EDI
will be able to complete the survey
through manual entry of data in the Web
survey instrument as in the past.
Data are disseminated annually on the
NCSES website https://www.nsf.gov/
statistics/srvygradpostdoc in the form of
73 data tables, a 3 to 5 page InfoBrief,
and public use files (https://
www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/
pub_data.cfm). In addition, current and
historical data are available via the
NCSES Integrated Data Tool (https://
ncsesdata.nsf.gov/ids/?utm_
source=Main&utm_
medium=Main&utm_
campaign=Main).The Data Tool
combines GSS data with academic
sector data from both NCSES and the
National Center of Education Statistics
and allows for custom querying.
Use of the Information: The GSS data
are routinely provided to Congress and
other Federal agencies. The GSS
institutions themselves are major users
of the GSS data. Professional societies
such as the American Association of
Universities, the Association of
American Medical Colleges, and the
Carnegie Foundation are also major
users. Graduate enrollment and postdoc
data are often used in reports by the
national media. With the help of the
aforementioned NCSES Data Tool, NSF
reviews changing enrollment levels to:

Assess the effects of NSF initiatives,
track graduate student support patterns,
and analyze participation in science and
engineering fields for targeted groups by
discipline and for selected groups of
institutions. GSS data are also used in
two congressionally mandated NCSES
publications: Women, Minorities, and
Persons with Disabilities in Science and
Engineering (https://ncses.nsf.gov/
wmpd/) and the National Science
Board’s Science and Engineering
Indicators (https://ncses.nsf.gov/
indicators). In addition, the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) publish GSS
data annually in the NIH Data Book
https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/.
Expected Respondents: The GSS is an
annual census of all eligible academic
institutions in the U.S. with graduate
programs in science, engineering and
health fields. The response rate is
calculated based on the number of
reporting units (departments, programs,
research centers, and health care
facilities) that respond to the survey. For
reference, in 2018, the GSS population
was 19,592 units at 715 academic
institutions. Based on recent cycles
NCSES expects the annual response rate
to be around 99 percent.
Estimate of Burden: For each GSS
survey cycle, both School Coordinators
and unit respondents are asked to report
how long it took them to complete the

data collection. Coordinators at FFRDCs
are also asked about the hours required
complete the Web instrument
immediately after they submit the data.
In the past three GSS cycles (2016–2018
data collections), the average burden per
coordinator reported each cycle was
17.8 hours. However, burden varies
considerably across respondents. The
amount of time it takes to complete the
GSS data depends to a large degree on
the extent to which the school’s records
are centrally stored and computerized. It
also depends on whether the institution
uses manual data entry or EDI to
provide the GSS data, the number of
SEH reporting units that need to be
reported by the institution, and the
degree to which unit respondents
within the institution are used to collect
and report data.
To estimate burden for the next three
GSS data collection survey cycles (2020,
2021, and 2022), the GSS frame is split
by response method (EDI or manual
entry) and the number of reporting units
reported by the institution (more than
15 units are large reporters and 15 or
fewer units are small reporters). Table 1
presents burden estimates based on
observed institution reporting size and
burden reports collected from the 2018
GSS survey cycle.

TABLE 1—COMPOSITION AND REPORTED BURDEN OF THE 2018 GSS
Respondents
(# of school
coordinators)

Institution type

Percent of
all school
coordinators

Average
burden
(hours)

Total
burden
(hours)

More than 15 units, EDI ..................................................................................
More than 15 units, Manual data entry ...........................................................
15 or fewer units, EDI ......................................................................................
15 or fewer units, Manual data entry ...............................................................

318
42
363
178

35.3
4.7
40.3
19.8

37.7
41.2
8.3
9.0

11,989
1,730
3,013
1,602

Totals ........................................................................................................

901

100.0

20.3

18,334

The frame for the 2019 GSS includes
720 institutions comprising 822 schools
with 906 total School Coordinators
(some institutions utilize multiple
School Coordinators based on how they
are organized). To estimate the burden
for the 2020–2022 GSS survey cycles,
we assume a steady state in terms of the
use of EDI but based on recent cycles we
expect the number of School
Coordinators to increase by five each

cycle. New schools tend to have small
numbers of eligible units and students,
so the five coordinators are added to the
small school manual data entry
category. Thus, we expect to have 911
coordinators in 2020, 916 in 2021 and
921 in 2022. The estimated burden per
respondent is approximately 20 hours
per School Coordinator; the exact
number is based on the distributions
shown in Table 1, adjusted for the

additional coordinators. Given the
historically high levels of participation,
a 100 percent school response rate is
used in these estimates. Since the
FFRDC postdoc data collection will take
place in 2021, the estimated burden for
that year will increase by 73 hours from
43 FFRDCs (based on 100 percent
response rate in 2017 survey with the
average burden of 1.7 hours per FFRDC).

jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES

TABLE 2—GSS ESTIMATED RESPONSE BURDEN
Respondents
(# of School
Coordinators)

Category
Total burden for 2020 ..............................................................................................................................................
Total burden for 2021 ..............................................................................................................................................
GSS institutions ................................................................................................................................................

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:47 Apr 03, 2020

Jkt 250001

PO 00000

Frm 00039

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

E:\FR\FM\06APN1.SGM

06APN1

911
959
916

Total
burden
(hours)
18,424
18,542
18,469

19171

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 66 / Monday, April 6, 2020 / Notices
TABLE 2—GSS ESTIMATED RESPONSE BURDEN—Continued
Category

Respondents
(# of School
Coordinators)

FFRDCs ............................................................................................................................................................
Total burden for 2022 ..............................................................................................................................................
Potential future methodological studies (across all 3 survey cycles) .....................................................................

43
921
........................

73
18,514
1,000

Total estimated burden .....................................................................................................................................

2,791

56,480

Estimated average annual burden ..........................................................................................................................

930

18,827

The total estimated respondent
burden of the GSS, including 1,000
hours for potential methodological
studies to improve the survey
procedures, will be 56,480 hours over
the three-cycle survey clearance period.
NCSES may review and revise this
burden estimate based on completion
time data collected during the 2019 GSS
survey cycle, which is ongoing.
Comments: Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of NSF,
including whether the information shall
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of
NSF’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, use, and
clarity of the information on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology;
and (d) ways to 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.
Dated: April 1, 2020.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science
Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2020–07156 Filed 4–3–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT
Civil Service Retirement System;
Present Value Factors
Office of Personnel
Management.
ACTION: Notice.
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES

AGENCY:

The Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) is providing notice
of adjusted present value factors
applicable to retirees under the Civil
Service Retirement System (CSRS) who
elect to provide survivor annuity
benefits to a spouse based on post-

SUMMARY:

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:47 Apr 03, 2020

Jkt 250001

retirement marriage; to retiring
employees who elect the alternative
form of annuity, owe certain redeposits
based on refunds of contributions for
service ending before March 1, 1991, or
elect to credit certain service with
nonappropriated fund instrumentalities;
or, for individuals with certain types of
retirement coverage errors who can elect
to receive credit for service by taking an
actuarial reduction under the provisions
of the Federal Erroneous Retirement
Coverage Correction Act. This notice is
necessary to conform the present value
factors to changes in the economic and
demographic assumptions adopted by
the Board of Actuaries of the Civil
Service Retirement System.
DATES: The revised present value factors
apply to survivor reductions or
employee annuities that commence on
or after October 1, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Send requests for actuarial
assumptions and data to the Board of
Actuaries, care of Gregory Kissel, Senior
Actuary, Office of Healthcare and
Insurance, Office of Personnel
Management, Room 4316, 1900 E Street
NW, Washington, DC 20415.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Karla Yeakle, (202) 606–0299.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Several
provisions of CSRS require reduction of
annuities on an actuarial basis. Under
each of these provisions, OPM is
required to issue regulations on the
method of determining the reduction to
ensure that the present value of the
reduced annuity plus a lump-sum
equals, to the extent practicable, the
present value of the unreduced benefit.
The regulations for each of these
benefits provide that OPM will publish
a notice in the Federal Register
whenever it changes the factors used to
compute the present values of these
benefits.
Section 831.2205(a) of title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations, prescribes the
method for computing the reduction in
the beginning rate of annuity payable to
a retiree who elects an alternative form
of annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8343a. That
reduction is required to produce an

PO 00000

Frm 00040

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

Total
burden
(hours)

annuity that is the actuarial equivalent
of the annuity of a retiree who does not
elect an alternative form of annuity. The
present value factors listed below are
used to compute the annuity reduction
under section 831.2205(a) of title 5,
Code of Federal Regulations.
Section 831.303(c) of title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations, prescribes the use
of these factors for computing the
reduction to complete payment of
certain redeposits of refunded
deductions based on periods of service
that ended before March 1, 1991, under
section 8334(d)(2) of title 5, United
States Code; section 1902 of the
National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2010, Public Law 111–84.
Section 831.663 of Title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations, prescribes the use
of similar factors for computing the
reduction required for certain elections
to provide survivor annuity benefits
based on a post-retirement marriage
under section 8339(j)(5)(C) or (k)(2) of
title 5, United States Code. Under
section 11004 of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law
103–66, effective October 1, 1993, OPM
ceased collection of these survivor
election deposits by means of either a
lump-sum payment or installments.
Instead, OPM is required to establish a
permanent actuarial reduction in the
annuity of the retiree. This means that
OPM must take the amount of the
deposit computed under the old law
and translate it into a lifetime reduction
in the retiree’s benefit.
Subpart F of part 847 of title 5, Code
of Federal Regulations, prescribes the
use of similar factors for computing the
deficiency the retiree must pay to
receive credit for certain service with
nonappropriated fund instrumentalities
made creditable by an election under
section 1043 of Public Law 104–106.
Subpart I of part 847 of title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations, prescribes the use
of present value factors for employees
that elect to credit nonappropriated
fund instrumentality service to qualify
for immediate retirement under section
1132 of Public Law 107–107.

E:\FR\FM\06APN1.SGM

06APN1