Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; 2026 Operational Test in Support of the 2030 Census
AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.
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. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 30 days of public comment on the proposed request to OMB to update the ACS Methods Panel prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received on or before March 5, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by email to addc.2030.census.paperwork@census.gov. Please reference ‘‘2026 Operational Test in Support of the 2030 Census’’ in the subject line of your comments. You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC–2026–0034, to the Federal e- Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments received are part of the public record. No comments will be posted to http://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 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.
Needs and Uses: The 2026 Operational Test in Support of the 2030 Census (hereafter, ‘‘Test’’) is an American Community Survey (ACS) test using the ACS Methods Panel that is planned to help the Census Bureau prepare for the 2030 Census. The Test is not an end-to-end test of all operational work. Instead, it is a scaled- down version with appropriate adjustments of the selected aspects of the census. The Test will be conducted in two test sites—Spartanburg, SC and Huntsville, AL—which allows for testing in real world situations and on a larger scale than research simulations allow. The Test will test the viability of new and revamped systems and methods researched and developed for the census; to identify, document, and address potential challenges. Additionally, the Test will evaluate and assess the use of United States Postal Service (USPS) staff to increase efficiency in various capacities typically performed by temporary Census Bureau field workers. Some decisions, including names of operations and workload estimates for those operations, have yet to be made; however, at this time, the Census Bureau can present aspects of the test that affect the public.
Federal Register Notice – February 3, 2026:
Source: Federal Register