30-day notice

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 21, 2021 / Notices
think that consumers will assume other
unlabeled components, such as soy
sauce or pasta, do not contain allergens.
Both the outer kit label and the meat or
poultry component must be fully
labeled in compliance with FSIS
labeling regulations. Therefore, the
outer kit label will bear a complete
ingredients statement that declares all
ingredients in each component within
the kit. These labeling requirements
were already explained in the previous
version of the guideline; therefore, FSIS
did not make any changes in response
to this comment.
Comment: One individual asked FSIS
to explain how the nutrition facts
declaration should be displayed on a
kit.
Response: A kit label bearing
nutrition facts may present this
information 1. centrally, based on the
prepared, assembled product; 2. with
separate panels for each component as
packaged; or 3. as one panel with
multiple columns for each component
as packaged. The nutrition labeling
requirements of 9 CFR 317.309 and
381.409 remain unchanged by this
guideline. FSIS did not make any
changes to the guideline based on this
comment. Based on FSIS
communications with these facilities,
they understand nutrition labeling
requirements.

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Labeling Verification
Comment: One firm that prepares kits
stated that the Agency should provide
clear communication to FSIS inspectors
to ensure the consistent application of
kit labeling policies.
Response: FSIS will issue a directive
to provide instructions to inspection
program personal for conducting
verification activities for kit products to
ensure compliance with FSIS
regulations.
Mandatory and Voluntary FSIS
Inspection
Comment: An FSIS employee
requested that FSIS clarify whether a kit
may be assembled under voluntary FSIS
inspection and, therefore, bear a USDA
inspection legend.
Response: FSIS clarified in the
guideline that the assembly of a kit
product as described in this guideline is
eligible for voluntary inspection as a
food inspection service under 9 CFR
350.3(c). FSIS also announced that,
going forward, it will no longer conduct
mandatory inspection services for such
kits, as the Agency determined that
providing inspection for these products
as a voluntary food inspection service is
the best use of Agency resources. After
publication of this notice, FSIS will

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provide instructions for firms currently
receiving mandatory inspection for such
products regarding the procedures and
timelines for withdrawing mandatory
inspection and the option to seek
voluntary inspection.
USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
In accordance with Federal civil
rights law and U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) civil rights
regulations and policies, the USDA, its
Agencies, offices, and employees, and
institutions participating in or
administering USDA programs are
prohibited from discriminating based on
race, color, national origin, religion, sex,
gender identity (including gender
expression), sexual orientation,
disability, age, marital status, family/
parental status, income derived from a
public assistance program, political
beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior
civil rights activity, in any program or
activity conducted or funded by USDA
(not all bases apply to all programs).
Remedies and complaint filing
deadlines vary by program or incident.
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.
To file a program discrimination
complaint, complete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form, AD–
3027, found online at https://
www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-aprogram-discrimination-complaint and
at any USDA office or write a letter
addressed to USDA and provide in the
letter all of the information requested in
the form. To request a copy of the
complaint form, call (866) 632–9992.
Submit your completed form or letter to
USDA by: (1) Mail: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Washington,
DC 20250–9410; (2) fax: (202) 690–7442;
or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.
USDA is an equal opportunity
provider, employer, and lender.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of
rulemaking and policy development is
important. Consequently, FSIS will
announce this Federal Register
publication online through the FSIS
web page located at: https://
www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register. FSIS

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also will make copies of this publication
available through the FSIS Constituent
Update, which is used to provide
information regarding FSIS policies,
procedures, regulations, Federal
Register notices, FSIS public meetings,
and other types of information that
could affect or would be of interest to
our constituents and stakeholders. The
Constituent Update is available on the
FSIS web page. Through the web page,
FSIS is able to provide information to a
much broader, more diverse audience.
In addition, FSIS offers an email
subscription service which provides
automatic and customized access to
selected food safety news and
information. This service is available at:
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe.
Options range from recalls to export
information, regulations, directives, and
notices. Customers can add or delete
subscriptions themselves and have the
option to password protect their
accounts.
Paul Kiecker,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021–20403 Filed 9–20–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Generic Clearance for
Emergency Economic Information
Collections
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 February 8,
2021 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: Generic Clearance for
Emergency Economic Information
Collections.
OMB Control Number: 0607–XXXX.

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 21, 2021 / Notices

Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission,
New Information Collection.
Number of Respondents: We estimate
the potential maximum number of
respondents to all EEIC’s in a given year
is 300,000.
Average Hours per Response: 10
minutes.
Burden Hours: 50,000.
Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census
Bureau requests Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) approval for a 3-year
period, for a new generic clearance that
provides the quick turn-around
necessary for conducting emergency
economic information collections (EEIC)
in response to unanticipated
international, national, or regional
declared emergencies or events of
national interest arising as a direct
result of declared emergencies having a
significant economic impact on U.S.
businesses and/or state or local
governments. The purpose of the
collections will be to gauge and monitor
the economic impact of such events on
U.S. businesses or organizations and
state or local governments.
The Coronavirus pandemic, in
addition to having devastating effects on
the health and wellbeing of the global
population, has had a profound effect
on the world economy. The Census
Bureau, in carrying out its mission to
serve as the nation’s leading provider of
quality data about its people and
economy, has sought to measure the
effect on U.S. businesses through
supplemental questions added to
several of its recurring business surveys
and a new special-purpose survey
meant to measure the effect of the
pandemic on small, employer owned
businesses—the Small Business Pulse
Survey (OMB number 0607–1014). Due
to the need to collect data on a timely
basis, the Census Bureau submitted
these requests to the Office of
Management and Budget under the
emergency processing provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).
Although that process allowed us to
implement the collections in a timely
manner, restrictions on the use of the
PRA emergency process to revise or
extend these collections hampered our
ability to remain agile and to collect
data on an ongoing basis as the
Pandemic continued throughout 2020
and beyond. We believe that a generic
clearance will benefit the Census
Bureau, the reporting public, and the
many stakeholders who will have great
need for information during times of
future unanticipated events.
Emergencies, once declared by the
authorized state or federal official or
entity, that could trigger the need for an

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EEIC may have global, national, or
regional impact on U.S. businesses and
governments, and include the following
examples:
—Pandemic or other health emergency
—Natural or manmade disaster
—Acts of war or terrorism
—Civil unrest or insurrection
Other events of national interest
arising as a direct result of declared
emergencies may also have a significant
impact on U.S. businesses or
governments. An example of a recent
such event is the computer chip
shortage which has resulted from labor
and resource shortages directly
stemming from the effects of the
Coronavirus pandemic. The computer
ship shortage has had a significant effect
on industries ranging from computer
manufacturing to automobile
production. Another example is the
need to monitor and track production
and exports of personal protective
equipment (PPE) and vaccines that arose
during the Coronavirus pandemic.
General categories of national interest
events arising as a direct result of
declared emergencies which could
trigger the need for an EEIC are:
—Economic crises
—Financial crises
—International geo-political instabilities
—Resource shortages
—Cyberterrorism
—New legislation passed as a direct
result of a declared emergency
A declared emergency or national
interest event arising as a direct result
of a declared emergency would need to
have a perceived impact on U.S.
businesses and/or state or local
governments in order for the Census
Bureau to collect EEIC information in
response.
EEIC questions may be included as
supplemental questions on existing
Census Bureau surveys or conducted as
new special-purpose surveys. The data
will be collected by paper or electronic
instruments, depending on the survey or
program.
The questions will be chosen from a
pretested Question Bank. For some
subjects, the Question Bank includes
specific questionnaire content. In other
cases, the Question Bank includes
topics which will then be addressed
with questions designed to meet data
needs that arise during a future
unknown event. Some questions have
been cognitively tested and should be
considered final; some may require
testing for final wording. Questions that
may require testing and refinement are
annotated in the Question Bank. As the
Question Bank matures with new or
revised content, the Census Bureau will
resubmit the bank for review.

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The Census Bureau will first obtain
approval for the generic clearance under
the regular processing provisions of the
PRA (the subject of this clearance
request). The clearance request defines
the scope and overall burden of
information collections to be conducted
under the generic clearance. As future
emergencies arise, the Census Bureau
will use the process defined below to
obtain approval for individual EEIC’s.
Clearance process for an EEIC:
1. Based on an emergency or national
interest event arising as a direct result
of a declared emergency, the Census
Bureau decides to conduct an EEIC.
2. The OMB–OIRA Desk officer is
notified of the EEIC immediately via
email, followed by receipt of the
‘‘Request for Emergency Economic
Information Collection’’ describing the
emergency or resulting national interest
event and the planned information
collection. The supplemental questions
or collection instrument will be
attached to the Request for EEIC.
3. The Request for EEIC will include
a date by which OMB approval is
required. The standard review time for
requests under this generic clearance
will be 10 days. However, a review time
of as few as 3 days may be requested.
Special justification for any review time
of less than 10 days will be included in
the Request for EEIC.
4. The OMB–OIRA desk officer
responds with approval or comments on
the proposed EEIC within the timeframe
specified in the Request for EEIC. OMB
may provide approval and comments
orally (followed by email for written
documentation) or by email directly to
the Census Bureau. This may occur
before the request is submitted and
received by OMB through the official
ICR tracking system. If no response is
received within the specified timeframe,
the information collection is considered
approved.
5. The Census Bureau maintains a
library of data collection instruments
that includes all final data collection
instruments conducted under this
generic clearance. This library and the
burden expended is submitted to OMB
quarterly as a non-substantive change to
the generic clearance.
6. EEICs will last a maximum of 9
months (this limit was stated as 6
months in the February 8, 2021 notice
and has since been increased to 9
months).
7. A new Request for EEIC may be
submitted under the generic clearance if
the Census Bureau determines the need
to revise an existing EEIC or to extend
the collection past the initial 9 months.
As data collections will be tailored to
the emergency, users of the data may

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 21, 2021 / Notices
vary, but may include: Federal, state, or
local officials charged with decisionmaking during the emergency; business
leaders and policymakers wishing to
develop plans to ameliorate the effects
of the emergency; academics and
members of the press wishing to study
and disseminate information about the
emergency; and the public. The data
collected will help us understand how
and why data we collect in our ongoing
surveys may be affected by the
emergency, as well as allow us to
disseminate data as part of existing
releases, new releases, or experimental
releases.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; State, Local, or
Tribal government; Federal government.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent’s Obligation:
Determinations about whether EEIC
questions will be mandatory or
voluntary will be made in consultation
with legal counsel. This information
will be included the Request for EEIC
submitted to OMB in advance of the
collection.
Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C.,
Sections 131, 161, and 182.
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 the title of the collection.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Chief Information Officer, Commerce
Department.
[FR Doc. 2021–20422 Filed 9–20–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–07–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

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Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Small Business Pulse Survey
The Department of Commerce will
submit the following information
collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for

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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 May 19,
2020 during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30
days for public comments.
Agency: Census Bureau, Department
of Commerce.
Title: Small Business Pulse Survey.
OMB Control Number: 0607–1014.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular Submission,
Request for a Revision of a Currently
Approved Collection.
Number of Respondents: 810,000
(22,500 responses per week for up to a
maximum of 36 weeks of collection).
Average Hours per Response: 6
minutes.
Burden Hours: 81,000 + 3 hours for
cognitive testing = 81,003.
Needs and Uses: Phase 1 of the Small
Business Pulse Survey was launched on
April 26, 2020 as an effort to produce
and disseminate high-frequency,
geographic- and industry-detailed
experimental data about the economic
conditions of small businesses as they
experience the coronavirus pandemic. It
is a rapid response endeavor that
leverages the resources of the federal
statistical system to address emergent
data needs. Given the rapidly changing
dynamics of this situation for American
small businesses, the Small Business
Pulse Survey has been successful in
meeting an acute need for information
on changes in revenues, business
closings, employment and hours
worked, disruptions to supply chains,
and expectations for future operations.
In addition, the Small Business Pulse
Survey provided important estimates of
federal program uptake to key survey
stakeholders.
Due to the ongoing nature of the
pandemic, the Census Bureau
subsequently conducted Phases 2
through 6 of the Small Business Pulse
Survey. The Office of Management and
Budget authorized clearance of Phase 6
of the Small Business Pulse Survey on
August 6, 2021. The Census Bureau now
seeks approval to conduct Phase 7 of the
Small Business Pulse Survey which will
occur over 9 weeks starting November
15, 2021.
The continuation of the Small
Business Pulse Survey is responsive to
stakeholder requests for high frequency

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data that measure the effect of changing
business conditions during the
Coronavirus pandemic on small
businesses. While the ongoing monthly
and quarterly economic indicator
programs provide estimates of dollar
volume outputs for employer businesses
of all size, the Small Business Pulse
Survey captures the effects of the
pandemic on operations and finances of
small, single location employer
businesses. As the pandemic continues,
the Census Bureau is best poised to
collect this information from a large and
diverse sample of small businesses.
It is hard to predict when a shock will
result in economic activity changing at
a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly
frequency. Early in the pandemic,
federal, state, and local policies were
moving quickly so it made sense to have
a weekly collection. The problem is that
while we are in the moment, we cannot
accurately forecast the likelihood of
policy action. In addition, we are not
able to forecast a change in the
underlying cause of policy actions: The
effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on
the economy. We cannot predict
changes in the severity of the pandemic
(e.g., will it worsen in flu season?) nor
future developments that will alleviate
the pandemic (e.g., vaccines or
treatments). In a period of such high
uncertainty, the impossibility of
forecasting these inflection points
underscores the benefits of having a
weekly survey. For these reasons, the
Census Bureau will proceed with a
weekly collection.
SBPS Phase 7 content includes the
core concepts seen throughout the SBPS
previous phases, such as overall impact,
business closures/openings, revenue
and employment changes, workplace
vaccine and testing requirements, and
business outlook. New business norms
questions 14–16 were introduced for
phase 6 and will continue to Phase 7.
Based on feedback from the Department
of Commerce’s chief economist, another
new business norm question was
developed. Question 17 was developed
to capture business changes not
included in question 14–16. The
responses to the new question are
captured through a select all that apply.
This question was cognitively tested
with six businesses. Additionally, in
anticipation of potential pandemic
reoccurrence with economic impact on
small businesses, we have included the
previous cash on hand question. To
balance out the questionnaire with these
new additions, we removed the question
inquiring about revenues from exports
and the open-ended question with 1000
characters. The remarks field at the end
of the survey will still be present.

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