[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 163 (Friday, August 22, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44638-44641]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22332]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of the Census
[Docket No. 970728183-7183-01]
Census Designated Place (CDP) Program for Census 2000--Final
Criteria
AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of final program.
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SUMMARY: Census designated places (CDPs) are statistical geographic
entities, defined for each decennial census, consisting of a closely
settled, locally recognized concentration of population that is
identified by name. The Census Bureau uses CDPs to tabulate and publish
data for localities that otherwise would not be identified as places in
the decennial census data products.
Although not as numerous as incorporated places, CDPs have been
important geographic entities since the Census Bureau first introduced
them for the 1950 census. In 1990, more than 29 million people in the
United States lived in CDPs. To determine the inventory of CDPs, the
Census Bureau offers a program to local participants, such as American
Indian tribal officials and locally identified agencies, whereby they
can review and update the geographic definition of CDPs defined during
the previous census and suggest new CDPs according to criteria
developed and promulgated by the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau then
reviews the resulting CDP delineations for conformance to these
criteria. The Census Bureau does not take into account nor attempt to
anticipate any nonstatistical uses that may be made of CDPs, nor will
the Census Bureau modify the definition of CDPs to meet the
requirements of any nonstatistical program.
The Census Bureau is publishing final criteria for the delineation
of CDPs for Census 2000. These criteria will apply to the 50 states,
American Indian and Alaska Native areas, Puerto Rico, and all other
Island Areas in Census 2000 except American Samoa.1 The
Census Bureau may modify, or, if necessary, reject any CDP that does
not meet the criteria announced in this notice. The Census Bureau also
may define CDPs in instances where clear evidence of a place exists,
but for which local officials did not submit boundaries.
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\1\ There are no CDPs in American Samoa because incorporated
villages cover its entire territory and population.
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In addition to the criteria, this notice includes a description of
the changes from the previous criteria and a list of definitions of key
terms used in the criteria.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The CDP criteria for Census 2000 become effective
September 22, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Joel Morrison, Chief, Geography
Division, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC 20233-7400, telephone
(301) 457-1132, or e-mail ([email protected]).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CDP delineation criteria have evolved
over the decades in response to census practices and the preferences of
data users. After each decennial census, the Census Bureau, in
consultation with data users, reviews and revises these criteria. Then,
before the next decennial census, the Census Bureau offers state,
tribal, and local officials an opportunity to correct, update, and
otherwise improve the universe of CDPs.
In July and August 1995, the Census Bureau issued invitations to
local groups and agencies to participate in the delineation of
statistical geographic entities for Census 2000. These included
regional planning agencies, councils of governments, county planning
agencies, officials of American Indian tribes, and officials of the 12
nonprofit Alaska Native Regional Corporations.
By early 1998, the Census Bureau will provide program participants
with maps and detailed guidelines for delineating CDPs for Census 2000.
Response To Comments
The Census Bureau issued a Notice of Proposed Program and Request
for Comments in the Federal Register (61 FR 29524) on Tuesday, June 11,
1996. That notice solicited comments on the proposed criteria changes
for delineating CDPs for Census 2000. The Census Bureau received
comments from eight individuals, including academic geographers;
representatives of governmental agencies at the Federal, state, and
local levels; a private consultant; and a representative of a public
interest group. All comments pertained to the minimum population
threshold for qualification as a CDP. Specific recommendations for
minimum thresholds varied from 100 to 500 residents, but all agreed
that the proposed minimum threshold of 1,000 residents for CDPs located
outside urbanized areas (UAs) was too high for most rural communities
to qualify for recognition.
Upon further analysis, the Census Bureau determined that it could
no longer conceptually support the maintenance of specific population
thresholds for CDP qualification and, accordingly, has eliminated
population as a criterion for qualification. This change will enhance
the Census Bureau's ability to provide data relating to a wide variety
of unincorporated places, especially in small rural communities,
throughout the United States, about which previous censuses are mute.
[[Page 44639]]
Classification
This notice was determined to be not significant for purposes of
Executive Order 12866.
The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation,
Department of Commerce, certified to the Chief Counsel, Small Business
Administration, that this notice will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The notice sets forth
the criteria for the delineation of Census Designated Places (CDPs).
The criteria will be used to determine geographic boundaries for
collecting data for Census 2000. The Census Bureau uses CDPs to
tabulate and publish data for localities that otherwise would not be
identified as places in the decennial census data products. Thus,
because the delineation of CDPs is solely for statistical purposes to
enable the Census Bureau to tabulate and publish data for Census 2000,
it will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number
of small entities.
Final Program Requirements
A. Criteria for Delineating CDPs for Census 2000
The Census Bureau announces the following criteria for use in
determining the areas which will qualify for designation as CDPs for
Census 2000.
1. General Characteristics
The purpose of the CDP program is to identify and delineate
boundaries for closely settled, named, unincorporated communities that
generally contain a mixture of residential, commercial, and retail
areas similar to those found in incorporated places of similar sizes.
Although the Census Bureau realizes that places of all sizes and levels
of functionality exist throughout the United States, it is not the
intent of the CDP program to identify apartment complexes and
residential subdivisions in densely settled areas or small crossroads
in rural areas. The ideal CDP will differ from an incorporated city,
town, village, or borough only in regard to legal status and
recognition within its respective state. Each CDP will contain an
identifiable core area. For the purposes of the CDP criteria, the term
``core area'' is defined as the area that is associated strongly with
the CDP name and contains the majority of the CDP's population and
housing as well as commercial structures and economic activity.
In rural areas, the core may be a crossroads around which are found
a cluster of houses, commercial structures, and perhaps a post office
that provide the place identity for the surrounding countryside. In
more urban areas, the core may be a larger area consisting of a mixture
of residential and commercial structures focused on a particular point
or extending along transportation corridors. We ask that participants
in the CDP program consider the level of influence that the community
has on surrounding areas; the relationship with, and possible existence
within, a larger named place; and the relative importance within the
county, town, or township.
2. Names
A CDP must have a locally recognized name. A CDP name, however, may
not duplicate the name of an adjacent or nearby incorporated place. It
is permissible to change the name of a 1990 CDP if the new name
provides a better identification of the community.
3. Geographic Relationships
a. A CDP may not be located in more than one state or state
equivalent, nor may a CDP cross the boundaries of an American Indian
reservation (AIR), trust land, or a tribal jurisdiction statistical
area (TJSA). A CDP may be located in more than one county.
b. A CDP may not be located partially or entirely within an
incorporated place or another CDP.
c. A CDP may not be coextensive with an Alaska Native village
statistical area (ANVSA). A CDP and an ANVSA, however, may overlap
territory provided that the two entities are distinguishable by name.
d. A CDP may not be coextensive with any higher-level geographic
area recognized by the Census Bureau, such as county subdivisions,
counties, AIRs, TJSAs, and states. Exceptions will be made for
Arlington County, VA, as well as areas such as, but not limited to,
towns in the New England states, New York, and Wisconsin and townships
in Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey that generally are
perceived of as places, tend to provide municipal-style services, and
exhibit urban-type population density patterns over much, if not all,
of the land area of the entity.
e. The Census Bureau will not accept plans that delineate ``wall-
to-wall'' CDPs within a county. That is, CDPs may not cover all or most
of the land area within a county.
4. Boundaries
a. A CDP encompasses, as far as possible, all the surrounding,
closely settled territory associated with the place name. A CDP must
comprise a reasonably compact and continuous land area internally
accessible to all points by road; the only exceptions are:
Where parts of a CDP are separated by a narrow corridor of
incorporated territory.
Where the topography or geographic patterns of settlement
are not compact, but are irregularly shaped. Two parts of a CDP,
however, may not be separated by a body of water over which there are
no bridges or ferry connections, with the exception of small islands
located in a lake or river within or adjacent to the main body of the
CDP.
b. The boundaries of a CDP always are census block boundaries.
Features chosen to form CDP boundaries must be the nearest acceptable
features bounding the core area of the CDP (as defined in Section A.1.
above). CDP boundaries should follow visible, perennial natural and
cultural features such as roads, rivers, canals, railroads, above-
ground high-tension power lines, and so forth. In addition to these
features, the following also are acceptable as CDP boundaries:
All incorporated place boundaries.
All minor civil division (MCD) boundaries (generally towns
and townships) in Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and
Vermont.
Some MCD boundaries in Illinois (townships only, not
election precincts), Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri
(governmental townships only), Nebraska (townships only, not election
precincts), North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Barrio, barrio-pueblo, and subbarrio boundaries in Puerto
Rico, census subdistrict boundaries in the Virgin Islands, municipal
district boundaries in the Northern Mariana Islands, and election
district boundaries in Guam.
AIR and trust land boundaries.
ANVSA and Alaska Native Regional Corporation boundaries
(at the discretion of the Census Bureau insofar as such boundaries are
unambiguous for allocating living quarters as part of census
activities).
When features listed above are not available for selection, the
Census Bureau, at its discretion, may approve other nonstandard visible
features, such as ridge lines, pipelines, intermittent streams, fence
lines, and so forth. Additionally, the Census Bureau may accept, on a
case-by-case basis, the boundaries of selected nonstandard and
potentially nonvisible features, such as the boundaries of National
Parks and Forests, military reservations, cemeteries, or other special
land-use properties and the straight-line
[[Page 44640]]
extensions of visible features or other lines of sight.
5. Population Size
There are no minimum or maximum population thresholds for
recognition as a CDP for Census 2000.
6. Census Bureau Review and Qualification of CDPs
The Census Bureau may modify or, if necessary, reject any proposed
CDP that does not comply with the general characteristics as outlined
in Section A.1. above or with any other criteria as contained in this
notice. The Census Bureau also may define CDPs in instances where clear
evidence of a place exists, but for which local officials did not
submit boundaries. The Census Bureau does not take into account nor
attempt to anticipate any nonstatistical uses that may be made of CDPs,
nor will the Census Bureau modify the definition of CDPs to meet the
requirements of any nonstatistical program.
B. Changes in the Criteria for Census 2000
1. The Census Bureau has eliminated population size as a criterion
for CDP qualification. For Census 2000, the Census Bureau will
recognize any unincorporated community as a CDP, regardless of
population size, provided it meets other criteria as outlined in this
notice. This represents a significant change in the CDP criteria. Data
users should consider the implications that this change has on the
reliability of sample data reported for CDPs, especially those with
small populations.
2. The Census Bureau will simplify its data presentations by
eliminating any CDPs that are geographically coextensive with an ANVSA
having the same name. This will eliminate duplicate place names and
population totals that refer to the same geographic area. In 1990, 64
out of 217 ANVSAs were coextensive with a CDP. These ANVSAs can still
maintain their status for Census 2000, but not also as CDPs. The Census
Bureau will continue to recognize as separate CDPs those communities
that overlap the boundaries of ANVSAs, provided that the two entities
are distinguishable by name.
C. Reliability and Confidentiality of Sample Data for CDPs
Statistical Areas Program participants responsible for delineating
CDP boundaries, as well as users of Census 2000 data, should be aware
that data reported for CDPs with small population and housing unit
totals are subject to disclosure avoidance techniques designed to
maintain confidentiality of individual responses. In the past, minimum
population thresholds for most CDPs were high enough to provide
reasonably reliable data for the CDP. With the elimination of
population thresholds as a criterion for recognition, program
participants and data users must recognize that the population and
housing characteristics reported for small CDPs may be affected to a
greater extent by disclosure avoidance techniques and increased
variability compared to larger CDPs.
The potential pitfalls of very small (<1000 people) CDPs include:
1. Title 13, United States Code, requires the Census Bureau to
ensure the confidentiality of all individual responses. The Census
Bureau will apply a confidentiality edit to meet this legal mandate. A
small amount of uncertainty is added to the estimates of demographic
characteristics as a result. Small populations require more protection,
so there will likely be more uncertainty added to the census data. (The
edit maintains the basic demographic structure of the data.)
2. Sample data are subject to variability within geographic areas
of any population size, but greater variability occurs with smaller
populations. This is because the number of sample cases is smaller.
3. If a small CDP is formed and the characteristics of the housing
or demographics are homogeneous, the estimates may be fairly reliable.
To the extent that characteristics vary from house to house or person
to person, the data reliability is diminished.
D. Relationship Between CDPs and the Urban/Rural Classification
For previous censuses, the Census Bureau classified as urban any
CDP included within a UA as well as any CDP that contained 2,500 or
more residents and was located outside of a UA. As a result, some CDPs
(as well as some incorporated places) that had very low population
densities were classified as urban simply because their boundaries
encompassed at least 2,500 people. The Census Bureau's urban/rural
classification contains criteria for defining ``extended cities''--
incorporated places that are divided into sparsely settled (defined as
fewer than 100 people per square mile) rural portions and more densely
settled urban portions. No such provisions, however, existed for CDPs
that contained extensive areas of sparse settlement.
The Census Bureau currently is reviewing its urban/rural
classification for Census 2000. The definitions and criteria used for
the 1990 census are subject to change, although at this time no
decisions have been reached regarding urban/rural definitions and
criteria for Census 2000. Statistical Areas Program participants
defining CDPs should be aware, however, of the possibility that the
Census Bureau may adopt urban/rural criteria under which all
incorporated places and CDPs could be divided between densely settled
(urban) portions and sparsely settled (rural) portions. There is no
guarantee at this time that all land area included in a CDP for Census
2000 will be classified as urban (or rural) by the Census Bureau.
E. Data Access and Dissemination System
The Census Bureau is developing the Data Access and Dissemination
System (DADS) as a part of its efforts to facilitate access to and
dissemination of official demographic and economic information. This
interactive electronic system will be designed to allow timely access
to data generated by the various areas of the Census Bureau. Users of
the DADS will be able to view or download predefined data products or
to extract and tabulate data from existing databases. The DADS also
will provide the opportunity for data users to view and map features
contained within the Census Bureau's TIGER database.
The DADS will enable users to select unique user-defined geographic
areas from an on-screen map image by drawing polygons or circles or
selecting predefined census areas such as census blocks, block groups,
or census tracts. Users will be able to define as well as tabulate and
download data for a variety of geographic areas, provided the
selections conform to Title 13 requirements protecting the
confidentiality of individual responses (see Section C. above). User-
defined selections may consist of (but are not limited to) geographic
areas, such as neighborhoods, housing subdivisions, soil conservation
districts, special taxation districts, central business districts, and
so forth, that are not part of the Census Bureau's standard geographic
hierarchy.
The DADS will offer flexibility in defining these geographic areas
interactively by allowing data users to choose and modify boundaries
for unincorporated places as desired, rather than having to conform to
a predefined census geographic area. The Census Bureau recommends the
use of this user-defined functionality within DADS to create geographic
entities, such as neighborhoods, or to obtain census data for housing
subdivisions. Many planned communities have component parts
[[Page 44641]]
known locally by name for which data users need census data. The Census
Bureau has developed the DADS to fulfill this need, allowing the CDP
program to continue to recognize the larger unincorporated community.
Definitions of Key Terms
Alaska Native village statistical area (ANVSA)--The densely settled
extent of an Alaska Native village (ANV). The ANV is a type of local
governmental unit that constitutes an association, band, clan,
community, tribe, or village recognized pursuant to the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act of 1972.
American Indian reservation (AIR)--An American Indian entity with
boundaries established by treaty, statute, and/or executive or court
order and over which American Indians have governmental jurisdiction.
Designations such as colonies, communities, pueblos, rancherias,
reservations, and reserves apply to AIRs.
Census block--A small area bounded by visible features such as
streets, roads, streams, and railroad tracks and by nonvisible
boundaries such as city, town, township, and county limits, property
lines, and short, imaginary extensions of streets and roads.
Coextensive--Descriptive of two or more geographic entities that
cover exactly the same area, with all boundaries conjoint.
Housing unit--A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a mobile
home or trailer, a group of rooms, or a single room occupied as a
separate living quarter or, if vacant, intended for occupancy as a
separate living quarter. Separate living quarters are those in which
the occupants live separately from any other individuals in the
building and which have direct access from outside the building or
through a common hall. For vacant units, the criteria of separateness
and direct access are applied to the intended occupants whenever
possible. If that information cannot be obtained, the criteria are
applied to the previous occupants.
Incorporated place--A type of governmental unit, incorporated under
state law as a city, town (except in New England, New York, and
Wisconsin), borough (except in Alaska and New York), or village, having
legally prescribed limits, powers, and functions.
Island area--An entity, other than a state or the District of
Columbia, under the jurisdiction of the United States. For Census 2000,
this will include American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands,
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and several small
islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The Census Bureau
treats each Island Area as the statistical equivalent of a state.
Minor civil division (MCD)--The primary governmental or
administrative division of a county in 28 states, Puerto Rico and the
Island Areas having legal boundaries, names, and descriptions. The
several types of MCDs are identified by a variety of terms, such as
town, township, and district, and include both functioning and
nonfunctioning governmental units. In some states, some or all of the
incorporated places also constitute MCDs.
Nonvisible feature--A map feature that is not visible, such as a
city or county boundary, a property line running through space, a short
imaginary extension of a street or road, or a point-to-point line.
Statistical geographic entity--Any specially defined geographic
entity or combination of entities, such as a block group, CDP, or
census tract, for which the Census Bureau tabulates data. Statistical
entity boundaries are not legally defined and the entities have no
governmental standing.
Tribal jurisdiction statistical area (TJSA)--A statistical entity
delineated for the decennial census by American Indian tribal officials
in Oklahoma. A TJSA encompasses the area that includes the American
Indian population over which a tribe has jurisdiction.
Urbanized area (UA)--An area consisting of a central place(s) and
adjacent urban fringe that together have a minimum residential
population of at least 50,000 people and generally an overall
population density of at least 1,000 persons per square mile. The
Census Bureau uses published criteria to determine the qualification
and boundaries of UAs at the time of each decennial census or from the
results of a special census during the intercensal period.
Visible feature--A map feature that can be seen on the ground, such
as a street or road, railroad track, power line, stream, shoreline,
fence, ridge, or cliff.
Dated: August 1, 1997.
Martha Farnsworth Riche,
Director, Bureau of the Census.
[FR Doc. 97-22332 Filed 8-21-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P