03-21142. Submission For OMB Review; Comment Request

DOC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).

Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.

Title: 2003 Report of Organization (Company Organization Survey).

Form Number(s): NC-99001.

Agency Approval Number: 0607-0444.

Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Burden: 133,917 hours.

Number of Respondents: 55,000.

Avg Hours Per Response: 2 hours and 26 minutes.

Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is requesting a revision of the currently approved Company Organization Survey (COS) data collection for the 2003 survey year. We will include questions on research and development activities performed by the company. We are also requesting an extension of the current expiration date to November 2004 (the existing date is November 2003) in order to complete the data collection for the 2003 COS.

The Census Bureau conducts the annual COS in order to update and maintain a central, multipurpose Business Register (BR). In particular, the COS supplies critical information on the composition, organizational structure, and operating characteristics of multi-establishment enterprises. The BR provides sampling populations and enumeration lists for the Census Bureau's economic surveys and censuses, and it serves as an integral part of the statistical foundation underlying those programs. The BR also provides establishment data that serve as the basis for the annual County Business Patterns (CBP) statistical series. The CBP reports present data on number of establishments, first quarter payroll, annual payroll, and mid-March employment summarized by industry and employment size class for the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, counties, and county-equivalents.

COS inquiries to each of the 55,000 multi-establishment enterprises will include questions on ownership or control by a domestic parent, ownership or control by a foreign parent, and ownership of foreign affiliates. Additional COS inquiries will apply to approximately 1.2 million establishments operated by these 55,000 enterprises. These additional inquiries will list an inventory of establishments and request updates to the inventory, including additions, deletions, and changes to Federal Employer Identification number, name and address, and industrial classification. Further, the additional inquiries will collect the following basic operating data for each listed establishment: end-of-year operating status, mid-March employment, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit institutions; farms; state, local or tribal government.

Frequency: Annually.

Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.

Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 182, 195, 224, and 225.

OMB Desk Officer: Susan Schechter, [phone].

Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, [phone], Department of Commerce, room 6625, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at [e-mail]).

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to Susan Schechter, OMB Desk Officer either by fax [phone]) or e-mail ([e-mail]).

Dated: August 13, 2003.

Madeleine Clayton,

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.