[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 134 (Friday, July 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57124-57126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15336]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau

[Docket Number: 240708-0186]
X-RIN 0607-XC078


American Community Survey Timeline for Implementing Updated 2024 
Race and Ethnicity Data Standards

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The American Community Survey (ACS) collects race and 
ethnicity data from respondents according to the standards outlined by 
the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Statistical Policy 
Directive No.15 (SPD 15). In March 2024, OMB issued updates to SPD 15 
that must be implemented into all Federal information collections that 
collect data on race and ethnicity as soon as possible but no later 
than March 28, 2029. The Department of Commerce invites the public to 
comment on the timeline for the adoption of these updated standards for 
the ACS.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments must be received on or before 
August 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference ACS SPD 15 in the 
subject line of your comments. Comments may also be submitted through 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov under the docket 
established for this request for comment, USBC-2024-0020. Click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the require fields, and enter or attach 
your comments. All comments received are part of the public record. No 
comments will be posted to https://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

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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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to Nicole Butler, ADC for Data Collection, U.S. Census Bureau, (301) 
763-3928, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The ACS is an ongoing monthly survey that collects detailed housing 
and socioeconomic data from a sample of about 3.54 million addresses in 
the United States and about 36,000 addresses in Puerto Rico, where it 
is known as the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS), each year. The ACS 
also collects detailed socioeconomic data from about 170,900 residents 
living in group quarters (GQ) facilities in the United States and 
Puerto Rico. Resulting tabulations from this data collection are 
provided every year. The ACS allows the Census Bureau to provide timely 
and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels 
of geography.
    The Census Bureau developed the ACS to collect and update 
demographic, social, economic, and housing data every year that are 
essentially the same as the ``long-form'' data that the Census Bureau 
formerly collected once a decade as part of the decennial census. 
Federal and State government agencies use such data to evaluate and 
manage Federal programs and to distribute funding for various programs 
that include food stamp benefits, transportation dollars, and housing 
grants. State, county, Tribal, and community governments, nonprofit 
organizations, businesses, and the general public use information such 
as housing quality, income distribution, journey-to-work patterns, 
immigration data, and regional age distributions for decision-making 
and program evaluation. The ACS is the only source of comparable data 
about social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics for 
small areas and small subpopulations across the nation and in Puerto 
Rico.
    The ACS program provides estimates annually for all states and all 
medium and large cities, counties, and metropolitan areas. For smaller 
areas and population groups, it takes five years to accumulate enough 
data to provide reliable estimates. Detailed, statistical portraits of 
the social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics for 
every community in the nation are available each year through one-year 
and five-year ACS products.
    The ACS collects detailed socioeconomic data on over 40 topics, 
including race and ethnicity. The list of topics and questions can be 
found here: https://www.census.gov/acs/www/about/why-we-ask-each-question/.
    Currently, race and ethnicity data are collected and tabulated 
based on OMB's 1997 Statistical Policy Directive No 15 (SPD 15) on 
Federal race and ethnicity data standards. The standards provide a 
common language to promote uniformity and comparability for data on 
race and ethnicity across Federal data collections. OMB's 2024 SPD 15 
updates, consistent with OMB's established processes, were the result 
of a review by a Federal Interagency Technical Working Group, composed 
of Federal career staff, that provided recommendations to the Chief 
Statistician of the United States. These recommendations were based on 
extensive research conducted by Federal agencies and a robust 
stakeholder engagement and public comment process. OMB's decisions 
closely follow the evidence-based recommendations of the Working Group 
and include revisions to the guidance for measuring, collecting, and 
tabulating information on race and ethnicity, including:
     Collecting race and ethnicity information using one 
combined question,
     Adding Middle Eastern or North African as a new minimum 
category,
     Requiring the collection of detailed race and ethnicity 
categories as a default,
     Updating terminology, definitions, and question wording, 
and
     Guidance on data collection and editing procedures and 
presentation of race and ethnicity data.
    The Census Bureau is now focused on developing plans to implement 
the 2024 SPD 15 in its census and survey programs, including the ACS.

II. Proposal

    The Census Bureau has evaluated the practicability of implementing 
the updated race and ethnicity data standards into either the 2026 ACS 
or the 2027 ACS. Implementing the 2024 SPD 15 in the ACS as quickly as 
possible is essential. As outlined below, the Bureau's assessment is 
that implementation in the full suite of ACS data products will be 
targeted for 2027, with dissemination of data products to then begin in 
2028.
    Apart and independently from a 2027 ACS implementation of 2024 SPD 
15, the Census Bureau is also considering utilizing bridging 
techniques, or crosswalking, to produce a limited set of experimental 
data products earlier than the schedule outlined below. If deemed 
feasible, these early experimental data products would likely be a 
subset of tables from the 5-year data products that would reflect data 
from 2022-2026, crosswalked with the updated race and ethnicity data 
standards.
    With regard to the 2024 SPD 15 implementation, the Census Bureau 
expects the positive impacts of updated race and ethnicity data that 
align with the revised standards will go far in improving the available 
information about the demographic makeup and socioeconomic 
characteristics of our country and our diverse communities. In order to 
realize the positive impact of more accurate race and ethnicity data, 
the quality and integrity of the ACS implementation must be ensured. 
The Census Bureau has conducted an assessment of what would be 
necessary to implement the 2024 SPD 15 in the ACS in either: (a) the 
2026 ACS with dissemination of data products to then begin in 2027, or 
(b) the 2027 ACS with dissemination of data products to then begin in 
2028. This assessment considered multiple factors such as:
     The amount of additional time needed for ACS activities to 
ensure accurate implementation. The most challenging tasks include 
revising and testing procedures for processing data and developing 
updated data products.
     Necessary scope and schedule changes for competing ongoing 
high-priority projects. The Census Bureau has a number of critical data 
modernization projects underway that are expected to use many of the 
same resources needed for implementation of the 2024 SPD 15 in the ACS.
     The need and timing for additional expert resources. 
Implementing the 2024 SPD 15 in the ACS requires the availability of 
dedicated resources with subject matter expertise.
     When and how to obtain external stakeholder feedback on 
Census Bureau implementation plans. Transparent engagement with 
stakeholders is highly valued and will inform deliberations.
    Based on the current assessment of cost, risk, and benefit, the 
Census Bureau proposes implementing the updated race and ethnicity data 
standards into the 2027 ACS data collection cycle. Implementing the 
2024 SPD 15 as quickly as possible must be balanced against the risks 
of major

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errors. Information gathered through this request for public comment 
will allow the Census Bureau to update this assessment to include 
additional costs, risks, and benefits faced by non-Federal users of ACS 
data. Implementing the updated standards in 2027 would mean that the 
first ACS 1-year estimates under the updated standards would be 
released in September 2028 for the 2027 ACS 1-year data. The first 5-
year estimates produced solely using the data collected under the 2024 
SPD 15 would be available in the 2027-2031 ACS 5-year data, scheduled 
for release in December 2032. Should a determination be made to instead 
implement the updated standards in 2026, these release dates would be 
moved up by one year. For example, the first ACS 1-year data using the 
updated standards would be released in September 2027, and the first 
ACS 5-year estimates would be released for the 2026-2030 ACS data in 
December 2031. Note that this alternative schedule would align the 5-
year ACS estimates with the 2030 Decennial Census data.
    Once the ACS program begins collecting data using the updated race 
and ethnicity data standards, the data produced in the 5-year estimates 
will be crosswalked to the updated race and ethnicity groups until 
there are five years of data collected in the updated format. For 
example, the 2023-2027 ACS 5-year estimates would contain data 
collected in years 2023 through 2026 using the 1997 SPD 15 and data 
collected in 2027 using the 2024 SPD 15. In those 2023-2027 ACS 5-year 
estimates, data collected in 2023 through 2026 would be crosswalked to 
the updated race and ethnicity categories, and data products would 
comply with the 2024 SPD 15. Crosswalking procedures would be required 
for all data collected under the 1997 SPD 15 for each 5-year file 
produced until there are a full 5 years of data available that have 
been collected under the 2024 SPD 15, as follows:

 2023-2027 5-Year Estimates: Crosswalking required for years 
2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
 2024-2028 5-Year Estimates: Crosswalking required for years 
2024, 2025, 2026
 2025-2029 5-Year Estimates: Crosswalking required for years 
2025, 2026
 2026-2030 5-Year Estimates: Crosswalking required for years 
2026
 2027-2031 5-Year Estimates: No crosswalking required

    This data release schedule will impact all data products that are 
cross-tabulated by race and ethnicity.

III. Request for Comments

    Pursuant to the terms of clearance for the 2025 ACS, we are 
soliciting public comments on the timeline to implement the updated 
race and ethnicity standards into the ACS. We are interested in 
feedback about the impact this update will have on data users, 
researchers, and community organizations if it is implemented in either 
the 2026 ACS or the 2027 ACS in light of our assessment of risks to 
data quality.
    Comments you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. Before including your address, phone number, email 
address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you 
should be aware that your entire comment--including your personal 
identifying information--may be made publicly available at any time. 
While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.
    Robert L. Santos, Director, Census Bureau, approved the publication 
of this Notice in the Federal Register.

    Dated: July 9, 2024.
Shannon Wink,
Program Analyst, Policy Coordination Office, U.S. Census Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2024-15336 Filed 7-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P