30 Day FRN SPD 15

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 134 / Friday, July 12, 2024 / Notices

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persons are not required to respond to
the collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Title: 2024 Census of Horticultural
Specialties.
OMB Control Number: 0535–0236.
Summary of Collection: The census of
horticultural specialties is one of a
series of census special studies for the
census of agriculture which provides
more detailed statistics relating to a
specific subject. The census of
horticultural specialties is an integral
part of the 2022 Census of Agriculture
and is conducted under the authority of
the Census of Agriculture Act of 1997
(Pub. L. 105–113). The law requires that
the Secretary of Agriculture conduct a
census of agriculture in 1998 and every
fifth year following 1998. The Census of
Horticultural Specialties has been
conducted periodically since 1898 to
show how the industry has changed
over time. Since 1950 it has been
conducted approximately every 10
years. Growing data needs to make
policy decisions concerning the
horticulture industry have prompted a
request from the Secretary of
Agriculture and Congress to conduct
this survey every 5 years beginning with
the 2014 survey as a follow-on to the
Census of Agriculture. It is the only
source of detailed and consistent data
on horticultural crop production and
sales by type of plant at both State and
national levels. The horticultural
specialties census includes operations
growing and selling $10,000 or more of
horticultural specialty crops. The
sampling of small operations with sales
between $1,000 and $10,000 is used as
an indicator of how many small
operations have increased their sales
since the 2022 Census of Agriculture
was conducted.
Need and Use of the Information: The
primary objective of the horticultural
specialties census is to obtain a
comprehensive and detailed picture of
the horticultural sector of the economy.
It is the only source of detailed
production and sales data at the
national level. The continuation of this
census will allow for bench marking of
changes to the industry. The census of
horticultural specialties will include
statistics on number and value of plants
grown and sold, the value of land,
buildings, machinery and equipment,
selected production expenses,
marketing channels, hired labor, area
used for production, and type of
structure. Without the census of
horticultural specialties, government
policy makers and planners would lack

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valuable information needed to
accomplish their missions. Instead, they
would have to rely on assumptions and
guess work to determine policy.
This is a reinstatement with change,
of the Census of Horticultural
Specialties survey to be conducted as a
follow-on survey to the 2022 Census of
Agriculture.
Description of Respondents: Farms;
Business or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 40,000.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 51,677.
Levi S. Harrell,
Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officer.

2015 (80 FR 52245), and the notice of
availability for the draft EIS was
published in the Federal Register on
August 11, 2017 (82 FR 37583).
Dated: July 3, 2024.
Keith Lannom,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest
System.
[FR Doc. 2024–15122 Filed 7–11–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
[Docket Number: 240708–0186]
X–RIN 0607–XC078

[FR Doc. 2024–15349 Filed 7–11–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–20–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Superior National Forest; Minnesota;
Superior National Forest School Trust
Land Exchange Project; Withdrawal of
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Forest Service, Agriculture
(USDA).
ACTION: Notice; withdrawal.
AGENCY:

The Superior National Forest
is withdrawing its draft environmental
impact statement (EIS) for the Superior
National Forest School Trust Land
Exchange Project. The Superior National
Forest’s decision to withdraw the draft
EIS is based on several issues that arose
with the original exchange. Through
consideration of public comments and
consultation from local Tribes, a variety
of viewpoints on the exchange proposal
were considered. These considerations
informed a decision by the State of
Minnesota to withdraw its request for a
land exchange. Because the State of
Minnesota has withdrawn their request,
the draft EIS is being canceled.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions concerning this notice should
be directed to Superior National Forest
Supervisor, Thomas Hall, by phone at
218–626–4302 or by email at
thomas.hall@usda.gov. Individuals who
use telecommunication devices for the
deaf or hard of hearing may call the
Federal Information Relay Service at
800–877–8339, 24 hours a day, every
day of the year, including holidays. For
more information, see the project
website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/
project/superior/?project=45943.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
original notice of intent was published
in the Federal Register on August 28,
SUMMARY:

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American Community Survey Timeline
for Implementing Updated 2024 Race
and Ethnicity Data Standards
Census Bureau, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for public
comment.
AGENCY:

The American Community
Survey (ACS) collects race and ethnicity
data from respondents according to the
standards outlined by the U.S. Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in
Statistical Policy Directive No.15 (SPD
15). In March 2024, OMB issued
updates to SPD 15 that must be
implemented into all Federal
information collections that collect data
on race and ethnicity as soon as possible
but no later than March 28, 2029. The
Department of Commerce invites the
public to comment on the timeline for
the adoption of these updated standards
for the ACS.
DATES: To ensure consideration,
comments must be received on or before
August 12, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments by
email to acso.pra@census.gov. Please
reference ACS SPD 15 in the subject line
of your comments. Comments may also
be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
www.regulations.gov under the docket
established for this request for
comment, USBC–2024–0020. Click the
‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete the
require fields, and enter or attach your
comments. All comments received are
part of the public record. No comments
will be posted to https://
www.regulations.gov for public viewing
until after the comment period has
closed. Comments will generally be
posted without change. All Personally
Identifiable Information (for example,
name and address) voluntarily
SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 134 / Friday, July 12, 2024 / Notices
submitted by the commenter may be
publicly accessible. Do not submit
Confidential Business Information or
otherwise sensitive or protected
information. You may submit
attachments to electronic comments in
Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF
file formats.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection
activities should be directed to Nicole
Butler, ADC for Data Collection, U.S.
Census Bureau, (301) 763–3928,
nicole.butler@census.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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I. Background
The ACS is an ongoing monthly
survey that collects detailed housing
and socioeconomic data from a sample
of about 3.54 million addresses in the
United States and about 36,000
addresses in Puerto Rico, where it is
known as the Puerto Rico Community
Survey (PRCS), each year. The ACS also
collects detailed socioeconomic data
from about 170,900 residents living in
group quarters (GQ) facilities in the
United States and Puerto Rico. Resulting
tabulations from this data collection are
provided every year. The ACS allows
the Census Bureau to provide timely
and relevant housing and
socioeconomic statistics, even for low
levels of geography.
The Census Bureau developed the
ACS to collect and update demographic,
social, economic, and housing data
every year that are essentially the same
as the ‘‘long-form’’ data that the Census
Bureau formerly collected once a decade
as part of the decennial census. Federal
and State government agencies use such
data to evaluate and manage Federal
programs and to distribute funding for
various programs that include food
stamp benefits, transportation dollars,
and housing grants. State, county,
Tribal, and community governments,
nonprofit organizations, businesses, and
the general public use information such
as housing quality, income distribution,
journey-to-work patterns, immigration
data, and regional age distributions for
decision-making and program
evaluation. The ACS is the only source
of comparable data about social,
economic, housing, and demographic
characteristics for small areas and small
subpopulations across the nation and in
Puerto Rico.
The ACS program provides estimates
annually for all states and all medium
and large cities, counties, and
metropolitan areas. For smaller areas
and population groups, it takes five
years to accumulate enough data to

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provide reliable estimates. Detailed,
statistical portraits of the social,
economic, housing, and demographic
characteristics for every community in
the nation are available each year
through one-year and five-year ACS
products.
The ACS collects detailed
socioeconomic data on over 40 topics,
including race and ethnicity. The list of
topics and questions can be found here:
https://www.census.gov/acs/www/
about/why-we-ask-each-question/.
Currently, race and ethnicity data are
collected and tabulated based on OMB’s
1997 Statistical Policy Directive No 15
(SPD 15) on Federal race and ethnicity
data standards. The standards provide a
common language to promote
uniformity and comparability for data
on race and ethnicity across Federal
data collections. OMB’s 2024 SPD 15
updates, consistent with OMB’s
established processes, were the result of
a review by a Federal Interagency
Technical Working Group, composed of
Federal career staff, that provided
recommendations to the Chief
Statistician of the United States. These
recommendations were based on
extensive research conducted by Federal
agencies and a robust stakeholder
engagement and public comment
process. OMB’s decisions closely follow
the evidence-based recommendations of
the Working Group and include
revisions to the guidance for measuring,
collecting, and tabulating information
on race and ethnicity, including:
• Collecting race and ethnicity
information using one combined
question,
• Adding Middle Eastern or North
African as a new minimum category,
• Requiring the collection of detailed
race and ethnicity categories as a
default,
• Updating terminology, definitions,
and question wording, and
• Guidance on data collection and
editing procedures and presentation of
race and ethnicity data.
The Census Bureau is now focused on
developing plans to implement the 2024
SPD 15 in its census and survey
programs, including the ACS.
II. Proposal
The Census Bureau has evaluated the
practicability of implementing the
updated race and ethnicity data
standards into either the 2026 ACS or
the 2027 ACS. Implementing the 2024
SPD 15 in the ACS as quickly as
possible is essential. As outlined below,
the Bureau’s assessment is that
implementation in the full suite of ACS
data products will be targeted for 2027,

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with dissemination of data products to
then begin in 2028.
Apart and independently from a 2027
ACS implementation of 2024 SPD 15,
the Census Bureau is also considering
utilizing bridging techniques, or
crosswalking, to produce a limited set of
experimental data products earlier than
the schedule outlined below. If deemed
feasible, these early experimental data
products would likely be a subset of
tables from the 5-year data products that
would reflect data from 2022–2026,
crosswalked with the updated race and
ethnicity data standards.
With regard to the 2024 SPD 15
implementation, the Census Bureau
expects the positive impacts of updated
race and ethnicity data that align with
the revised standards will go far in
improving the available information
about the demographic makeup and
socioeconomic characteristics of our
country and our diverse communities.
In order to realize the positive impact of
more accurate race and ethnicity data,
the quality and integrity of the ACS
implementation must be ensured. The
Census Bureau has conducted an
assessment of what would be necessary
to implement the 2024 SPD 15 in the
ACS in either: (a) the 2026 ACS with
dissemination of data products to then
begin in 2027, or (b) the 2027 ACS with
dissemination of data products to then
begin in 2028. This assessment
considered multiple factors such as:
• The amount of additional time
needed for ACS activities to ensure
accurate implementation. The most
challenging tasks include revising and
testing procedures for processing data
and developing updated data products.
• Necessary scope and schedule
changes for competing ongoing highpriority projects. The Census Bureau has
a number of critical data modernization
projects underway that are expected to
use many of the same resources needed
for implementation of the 2024 SPD 15
in the ACS.
• The need and timing for additional
expert resources. Implementing the
2024 SPD 15 in the ACS requires the
availability of dedicated resources with
subject matter expertise.
• When and how to obtain external
stakeholder feedback on Census Bureau
implementation plans. Transparent
engagement with stakeholders is highly
valued and will inform deliberations.
Based on the current assessment of
cost, risk, and benefit, the Census
Bureau proposes implementing the
updated race and ethnicity data
standards into the 2027 ACS data
collection cycle. Implementing the 2024
SPD 15 as quickly as possible must be
balanced against the risks of major

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errors. Information gathered through
this request for public comment will
allow the Census Bureau to update this
assessment to include additional costs,
risks, and benefits faced by non-Federal
users of ACS data. Implementing the
updated standards in 2027 would mean
that the first ACS 1-year estimates under
the updated standards would be
released in September 2028 for the 2027
ACS 1-year data. The first 5-year
estimates produced solely using the data
collected under the 2024 SPD 15 would
be available in the 2027–2031 ACS 5year data, scheduled for release in
December 2032. Should a determination
be made to instead implement the
updated standards in 2026, these release
dates would be moved up by one year.
For example, the first ACS 1-year data
using the updated standards would be
released in September 2027, and the
first ACS 5-year estimates would be
released for the 2026–2030 ACS data in
December 2031. Note that this
alternative schedule would align the 5year ACS estimates with the 2030
Decennial Census data.
Once the ACS program begins
collecting data using the updated race
and ethnicity data standards, the data
produced in the 5-year estimates will be
crosswalked to the updated race and
ethnicity groups until there are five
years of data collected in the updated
format. For example, the 2023–2027
ACS 5-year estimates would contain
data collected in years 2023 through
2026 using the 1997 SPD 15 and data
collected in 2027 using the 2024 SPD
15. In those 2023–2027 ACS 5-year
estimates, data collected in 2023
through 2026 would be crosswalked to
the updated race and ethnicity
categories, and data products would
comply with the 2024 SPD 15.
Crosswalking procedures would be
required for all data collected under the
1997 SPD 15 for each 5-year file
produced until there are a full 5 years
of data available that have been
collected under the 2024 SPD 15, as
follows:
• 2023–2027 5-Year Estimates:
Crosswalking required for years
2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
• 2024–2028 5-Year Estimates:
Crosswalking required for years
2024, 2025, 2026
• 2025–2029 5-Year Estimates:
Crosswalking required for years
2025, 2026
• 2026–2030 5-Year Estimates:
Crosswalking required for years
2026
• 2027–2031 5-Year Estimates: No
crosswalking required

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This data release schedule will impact
all data products that are cross-tabulated
by race and ethnicity.
III. Request for Comments
Pursuant to the terms of clearance for
the 2025 ACS, we are soliciting public
comments on the timeline to implement
the updated race and ethnicity
standards into the ACS. We are
interested in feedback about the impact
this update will have on data users,
researchers, and community
organizations if it is implemented in
either the 2026 ACS or the 2027 ACS in
light of our assessment of risks to data
quality.
Comments you submit in response to
this notice are a matter of public record.
Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you may ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Robert L. Santos, Director, Census
Bureau, approved the publication of this
Notice in the Federal Register.
Dated: July 9, 2024.
Shannon Wink,
Program Analyst, Policy Coordination Office,
U.S. Census Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2024–15336 Filed 7–11–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–07–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; Census Household Panel
Topical 10, Topical 11, and Topical 12
Operations
On May 14, 2024, the Department of
Commerce received clearance from the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 to
conduct the seventh, eighth, and ninth
Census Household Panel topical
operations (OMB No. 0607–1025, Exp.
6/30/26). The Census Household Panel
is designed to ensure availability of
frequent data collection for nationwide
estimates on a variety of topics for a
variety of subgroups of the population.
This notice serves to inform of the
Department’s intent to request clearance

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from OMB to conduct topical operations
10, 11, and 12.
The Topical 10 (August) survey will
include a roster experiment, and content
from the Household Pulse Survey (HPS)
to run in parallel with the HPS Phase
4.2. The September survey (Topical 11)
will include a test of the Survey of
Income and Program Participation’s
(SIPP) labor force, assets, and
homeownership items. For the October
topical questionnaire (Topical 12),
Household Pulse Survey content will be
repeated using longitudinal design
without the roster experiment. 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 6, 2023,
during a 60-day comment period. This
notice allows for an additional 30 days
for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
Title: Census Household Panel
Topical 10, Topical 11, and Topical 12
Operations.
OMB Control Number: 0607–1025.
Form Number(s): Not yet determined.
Type of Request: Request for a
Revision of a Currently Approved
Collection.
Number of Respondents: 10,354 panel
members.
Average Hours per Response: 4 hours
per year (20 minutes for monthly
collection).
Burden Hours: 41,375.
Needs and Uses: The Census
Household Panel is a probability-based
nationwide nationally-representative
survey panel designed to test the
methods to collect data on a variety of
topics of interest, and for conducting
experimentation on alternative question
wording and methodological
approaches. The goal of the Census
Household Panel is to ensure
availability of frequent data collection
for nationwide estimates on a variety of
topics and a variety of subgroups of the
population, meeting standards for
transparent quality reporting of the
Federal Statistical Agencies and the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB).
Panelists and households selected for
the Panel were recruited from the

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