[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 134 (Thursday, July 14, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40746-40747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-13837]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Proposed Revisions to OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 1, 
Standards for Statistical Surveys, and OMB Statistical Policy Directive 
No. 2, Publication of Statistics

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the 
President.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of an ongoing effort to improve the quality, 
objectivity, utility, and integrity of information collected and 
disseminated by the Federal Government, the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) requests comments on the recommendations that it has 
received from the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM) 
Subcommittee on Standards for Statistical Surveys to update and revise 
OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 1, Standards for Statistical 
Surveys, and OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 2, Publication of 
Statistics. The guidance, which applies to all Federal agencies subject 
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, is intended to ensure that the 
results of statistical surveys sponsored by the Federal Government are 
as reliable and useful as possible. The FCSM Subcommittee's 
recommendations, which are available in their entirety on the OMB Web 
site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/statpolicy.html, are the 
result of a two-year comprehensive review of the current standards.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3504(e)(3).

DATES: To ensure consideration during the final decision-making 
process, written comments must be provided to OMB no later than 
September 12, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of 
mail, respondents are strongly encouraged to submit comments 
electronically to ensure timely receipt. We cannot guarantee that 
comments mailed will be received before the comment closing date. 
Electronic comments may be submitted to: Brian A. Harris-Kojetin at 
[email protected]. Please put the full body of your comments in the 
text of the electronic message and as an attachment. Please include 
your name, title, organization, postal address, telephone number, and 
e-mail address in the text of the message. Comments may also be 
submitted via facsimile to (202) 395-7245. Comments may be mailed to 
Brian Harris-Kojetin, PhD, Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10201, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Harris-Kojetin, PhD, Statistical 
and Science Policy Office, Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, NEOB, Room 10201, 725 17th 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503. Telephone: 202-395-3093.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Statistics collected and published by the Federal Government 
constitute a significant portion of the available information about the 
United States' economy, population, natural resources, environment, and 
public and private institutions. These data are used by the Federal 
Government and others as a basis for actions that affect people's lives 
and well-being. It is essential that they be collected, processed, and 
published in a manner that guarantees and inspires confidence in their 
reliability. The statistical programs of the Federal Government are 
decentralized among more than 70 agencies or organizational units. It 
is therefore also essential that, to the extent permitted by law, there 
be sufficient government-wide uniformity in statistical methods and 
practices to ensure the maximum usefulness of the statistics produced.
    The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA; 44 U.S.C. 3504) gives the 
Director of OMB broad responsibility for improving the usefulness of 
information collected, maintained, and disseminated by the Federal 
Government and for reducing the reporting burden on the public. Among 
the Director's functions under the PRA are statistical policy and 
coordination, which includes the development and implementation of 
``Government-wide polices, principles, standards, and guidelines 
concerning (a) statistical collection procedures and methods; (b) 
statistical data classification; (c) statistical information 
presentation and dissemination; (d) timely release of statistical data; 
and (e) such statistical data sources as may be required for the 
administration of Federal programs'' (44 U.S.C. 3504(e)(3)). The 
Administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in 
OMB has the responsibility to ``develop programs and prescribe 
regulations to improve the compilation, analysis, publication, and 
dissemination of statistical information by executive agencies'' (31 
U.S.C. 1104(d)).
    The proposal from the Federal Committee on Statistical 
Methodology's (FCSM) Subcommittee on Standards for Statistical Surveys 
provides revised guidance for designing, conducting, and disseminating 
statistical surveys and studies sponsored by Federal agencies. The 
standards and guidelines are intended to ensure that such surveys and 
studies are designed to produce reliable data as efficiently as 
possible and that methods are documented and results presented in a 
manner that makes the data as accessible and useful as possible.
    These revised standards and guidelines would replace OMB 
Statistical Policy Directives Nos. 1 and 2, on Standards for 
Statistical Surveys, and Standards for Publishing Statistics, 
respectively. These standards and guidelines were last revised in 1974

[[Page 40747]]

when they were issued as OMB Circular No. A-46, Exhibits A and B. The 
standards were reissued in 1977 as Statistical Policy Directives 1 and 
2 when the Statistical Policy Office was temporarily relocated to the 
Department of Commence, and their designation as Statistical Policy 
Directives remained when the statistical policy function was returned 
to OMB in 1981 under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.

Development and Review

    As part of ongoing efforts to improve the quality of information 
collected by the Federal Government and to update statistical standards 
and guidance, OMB requested in 2003 that agencies who were members of 
the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) nominate 
representatives to a new subcommittee formed under the aegis of the 
Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology. This subcommittee was 
asked to review Statistical Policy Directives Nos. 1 and 2 and to make 
recommendations for updating or revising these standards to reflect 
current best practices in Federal statistical agencies.
    The subcommittee reviewed the OMB directives, standards currently 
used by Federal statistical agencies, and standards and guidelines 
produced and disseminated by national statistical institutes in a 
number of other countries. The subcommittee also drew on interagency 
efforts by statistical agencies to develop a common framework for their 
activities in response to OMB's issuance of its Information Quality 
Guidelines (IQG) and the requirement that agencies issue their own IQGs 
(67 FR 8452-8460).
    The revised and updated standards and guidelines proposed by the 
subcommittee reflect the organizational framework that the statistical 
agencies used for their Information Quality Guidelines. They are the 
product of a careful and deliberate process to create a set of 
standards and guidelines that will address all key aspects of planning, 
conducting, processing, and disseminating Federal statistical surveys. 
Because OMB standards and guidelines must cover a broad range of 
applications, agencies are encouraged to develop their own more 
specific standards for the statistical surveys and studies they conduct 
or sponsor. The subcommittee provided initial draft standards and 
guidelines for review by the FCSM and then by the ICSP in 2004. The 
subcommittee addressed the comments it received at each stage and 
provided its recommendations to OMB in 2005.
    Issues for Comment: With this Notice, OMB requests comments on the 
recommendations it has received from the interagency FCSM Subcommittee 
on Standards for Statistical Surveys. The proposed standards and 
guidelines as well as the original Statistical Policy Directives Nos. 1 
and 2 are available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/statpolicy.html.
    OMB seeks comments from all interested parties on all aspects of 
these proposed standards and guidelines. In particular, OMB seeks 
comment on the merit of the proposed standards and guidelines both in 
technical terms and as statistical policy. These standards and 
guidelines should reflect best practices for Federal agencies and their 
contractors in conducting statistical surveys as well as sound policy 
for the Federal statistical system. OMB seeks comment on whether some 
provisions of this proposal should be modified or deleted to meet these 
goals. Finally, OMB seeks comment from affected agencies on the 
expected benefits and burdens of the proposed standards and guidelines.

John D. Graham,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 05-13837 Filed 7-13-05; 8:45 am]
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