[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3830-3831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1132]



[[Page 3829]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part IX





Office of Management and Budget





-----------------------------------------------------------------------



Provisional Guidance on the Implementation of the 1997 Standards for 
Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2001 / 
Notices  

[[Page 3830]]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Provisional Guidance on the Implementation of the 1997 Standards 
for Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity

AGENCY: Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB), Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: OMB is announcing the availability of ``Provisional Guidance 
for the Implementation of the 1997 Standards for Federal Data on Race 
and Ethnicity,'' and soliciting public comment on any aspects of the 
document for a period of 60 days. The document is close to 200 pages 
and thus is not being reproduced in the Federal Register. It is 
available electronically on the OMB web site at the following address: 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/inforeg/index.html#SP--go to Data on Race 
and Ethnicity, or in paper form from OMB at the address below. This 
updated material supercedes and replaces the draft provisional guidance 
that OMB made available on its web site in February 1999.

DATES: Written comments should be received by OMB by March 19, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send comments to: Katherine K. Wallman, Chief 
Statistician, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10201 New Executive 
Office Building, 725 17th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20503; fax: 
(202) 395-7245.
    Electronic Availability and Addresses: This Federal Register Notice 
is available electronically from the OMB web site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/fedreg/index.html. Federal Register Notices also 
are available electronically from the U.S. Government Printing Office 
web site: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzann Evinger at telephone 202-395-
7315; or E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the Federal Register for October 30, 
1997, OMB announced ``Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and 
Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity,'' which revised the 
standards originally adopted in 1977. (See 62 FR 58781--58790 for 
background on revisions that were adopted). This classification 
provides a minimum set of five categories for data on race (American 
Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native 
Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and White) and two categories for 
data on ethnicity (Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino). In 
addition to changes in the categories and terminology, the 1997 
standards require that agencies provide the opportunity for individuals 
to choose more than one racial category if they wish to reflect 
multiple racial heritages.
    Since this change in policy that permits reporting of more than 
race was announced, considerable attention has been given to the 
question of how data on multiple race responses would be tabulated. 
Federal agencies and other users of data on race and ethnicity 
requested guidance on how to implement several aspects of the 1997 
standards.
    OMB issued some preliminary tabulation guidance as part of the 
October 30, 1997 Federal Register Notice. In addition, for the past 
several years the Tabulation Working Group of the Interagency Committee 
for the Review of Standards for Data on Race and Ethnicity has been 
considering tabulation and other implementation issues and working to 
develop additional guidance. This group of statistical and policy 
experts drawn from the Federal agencies that generate or use data on 
race and ethnicity produced draft provisional guidance that OMB issued 
on its web site in February 1999. The provisional guidance being 
announced today is a substantially updated version of the earlier 
guidance. It reflects public comments on the earlier draft as well as 
the Tabulation Working Group's further research and deliberations on 
the issues.
    The guidance presented in this document is intended for any Federal 
agencies or organizational units that maintain, collect, or present 
data on race and ethnicity for Federal statistical purposes, program 
administrative reporting, or civil rights compliance reporting. To 
foster comparability across data collections carried out by various 
agencies, it is useful for those agencies to report responses of more 
than one race using some standardized tabulations or formats.
    The guidance briefly explains why the tabulation guidelines are 
needed, reviews the general guidance issued when the standards were 
adopted in October 1997, and provides information on the criteria used 
in developing the guidelines. The guidance also addresses a larger set 
of implementation questions that have emerged during the working 
group's deliberations. Thus, the guidance addresses: collecting data on 
race and ethnicity using the 1997 standards, including sample 
questions; tabulating Census 2000 data as well as data on race and 
ethnicity collected in surveys and from administrative records; using 
data on race and ethnicity in applications such as legislative 
redistricting, civil rights monitoring and enforcement, and population 
estimates; and comparing data under the 1997 and the 1977 standards 
when conducting trend analyses. The 1997 standards are reproduced in 
Appendix A to the guidance. Appendix B provides OMB Bulletin No. 00-02, 
Guidance on Aggregation and Allocation of Data on Race for Use in Civil 
Rights Monitoring and Enforcement.'' Appendix C provides the full 
report with tables (85 pages) on how data collected under the 1997 
standards might be meaningfully compared to data collected under the 
1977 standards. Including the appendices, the full document is close to 
200 pages.
    This guidance is necessarily provisional pending the availability 
of data from Census 2000 and other data systems as the 1997 standards 
are implemented. The guidance provides a general framework and is not 
intended to cover every specific issue that agencies will encounter 
during their implementation of the 1997 standards. In some instances, 
for example, specific implementation issues are being addressed through 
OMB's review of data collections under the Paperwork Reduction Act. 
This guidance is expected to be reviewed and refined as Federal 
agencies and others gain experience with data collected under the 1997 
standards and as agencies address implementation issues in their 
respective programs.
    Below is the table of contents for the ``Provisional Guidance on 
the Implementation of the 1997 Standards for Federal Data on Race and 
Ethnicity.''

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Background

A. Need for Tabulation Guidelines
B. General Guidelines for Tabulating Data on Race
C. Interpretation of Self-Reported Data on Race
D. Points of Clarification Regarding the 1997 Standards
E. Criteria Used in Developing the Tabulation Guidelines

Chapter 2. Collecting Data on Race and Ethnicity Using the 1997 
Standards

A. Developing Procedures for Data Collection
    1. Developing and Testing Self-Reported Race and Ethnicity 
Questions
    2. Developing and Testing Aggregate Reporting Forms
    3. Developing Field Instructions and Training Procedures
B. Processing Census 2000 Data Using the 1997 Standards

[[Page 3831]]

    1. Pre-editing Procedures
    2. Within-Household Imputation
    3. ``Hot Deck'' Imputation
    4. Substitution
    5. Group Quarters Editing
C. Evaluating Census 2000 Data on Race

Chapter 3. Tabulating Data on Race and Ethnicity Collected Using 
the 1997 Standards

A. Census 2000 Data
    1. Protection of Data Confidentiality
    2. Plans for Tabulations by Race and Ethnicity
    3. Overview of Plans for Data Products
    4. 100-Percent Data on Population Totals and Characteristics by 
Race and Ethnicity
    5. Sample Data on Population Characteristics by Race and 
Ethnicity
    6. Microdata Files
B. Survey and Administrative Records Data

Chapter 4. Using Data on Race and Ethnicity Collected Under the 
1997 Standards

A. Civil Rights Enforcement and Monitoring
    1. Redistricting
    2. Equal Employment Opportunity
    3. Equal Access to Education
    4. Enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
B. Intercensal Estimates and Vital Records
    1. Description of the Intercensal Population Estimates Program
    2. Uses of Population Estimates
    3. Methodology for Developing Intercensal Population Estimates
    4. Data Availability
    5. Comparability Issues
    6. Future Direction
C. Uniform Crime Reporting Program

Chapter 5. Comparing Data Collected Under the 1997 and the 1977 
Standards (Full Report at Appendix C)

A. Introduction
B. Methods for Bridging
    1. Framework
    2. Bridge Tabulation Methods
C. Methods of Evaluation
    1. Data Sources
    2. Advantages and Disadvantages of These Data Sources
    3. Description of New Analyses
D. Examination of the Results with Respect to the Evaluation 
Criteria
E. Weighting When Appropriate Population Controls Are Not Available
F. Strategies for Users
Appendix A. Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting 
Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (October 30, 1997)
Appendix B. OMB Bulletin No. 00-02, Guidance on Aggregation and 
Allocation of Data on Race for Use in Civil Rights Monitoring and 
Enforcement (March 9, 2000)
Appendix C. Bridge Report: Tabulation Options for Trend Analysis
    OMB would appreciate receiving views and comments on any aspects 
of the provisional guidance for implementing the 1997 standards for 
Federal data on race and ethnicity.

Sally Katzen,
Deputy Director for Management.
[FR Doc. 01-1132 Filed 1-12-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P