Statistical Policy Directive: Release and Dissemination of Statistical Products Produced by Federal Statistical Agencies, 42266-42269 [E7-14908]
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 1, 2007 / Notices
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET
Statistical Policy Directive: Release
and Dissemination of Statistical
Products Produced by Federal
Statistical Agencies
Office of Management and
Budget, Executive Office of the
President.
ACTION: Notice of solicitation of
comments.
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AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Under 44 U.S.C. 3504(e), the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) is soliciting public comment on
a proposal to issue a new Statistical
Policy Directive for the release and
dissemination of statistical products
produced by Federal statistical agencies.
In its role as coordinator of the Federal
statistical system, 44 U.S.C. 3504(e)
requires OMB, among other
responsibilities, to ensure the efficiency
and effectiveness of the system as well
as the integrity, objectivity, impartiality,
utility, and confidentiality of
information collected for statistical
purposes. It also requires OMB to
develop and oversee the
implementation of Governmentwide
policies, principles, standards, and
guidelines concerning the presentation
and dissemination of statistical
information. The 2001 Information
Quality Act (Pub. L. 106–554, Sec.
1(a)(3) [title V, Sec. 515], Dec. 21, 2000,
114 Stat. 2763, 2763A–153, 44 U.S.C.
Section 3516 note) similarly requires
OMB, as well as all other Federal
agencies, to maximize the quality,
objectivity, utility, and integrity of
information, including statistical
information, provided to the public.
To operate efficiently and effectively,
our democracy relies on the flow of
objective, credible statistics to support
the decisions of governments,
businesses, households, and other
organizations. Any loss of trust in the
integrity of the Federal statistical system
and its products could lessen
respondent cooperation with Federal
statistical surveys, decrease the quality
of statistical system products, and foster
uncertainty about the validity of
measures our Nation uses to monitor
and assess its performance and progress.
To further support the quality and
integrity of Federal statistical
information, OMB is proposing a new
Statistical Policy Directive designed to
preserve and enhance the objectivity
and transparency, in fact and in
perception, of the processes used to
release and disseminate the
Government’s statistical products. The
procedures in the proposed directive are
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intended to ensure that statistical data
releases adhere to data quality standards
through equitable, policy-neutral, and
timely release of information to the
general public. Additional discussion of
the proposal and a draft of the directive
may be found in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section below. OMB is
seeking public comment on the
desirability of issuing the proposed
directive as well as suggestions to
improve its clarity, efficiency, and
usefulness.
DATES: Effective Date: To ensure
consideration, all comments must be
received in writing on or before October
1, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Please send all comments
on this proposal to: Katherine K.
Wallman, Chief Statistician, Office of
Management and Budget, 10201 New
Executive Office Building, Washington,
DC 20503, telephone number: (202)
395–3093, fax number: (202) 395–7245.
You may send comments via e-mail to
DisseminationDirective@omb.eop.gov
with subject Comments0107. Because of
delays in the receipt of regular mail,
respondents are encouraged to use
electronic communications. All
comments submitted in response to this
notice will be made available to the
public, including by posting them on
OMB’s Web site. For this reason, please
do not include in your comments
information of a confidential nature,
such as sensitive personal information
or proprietary information.
Electronic Availability: This
document is available on the Internet on
the OMB Web site at http://
www.omb.gov/inforeg/ssp/
dissemination.
Availability of Comment Materials: In
addition to posting on the OMB Web
site, paper copies of all comments
received will be available for public
viewing at the Office of Management
and Budget, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) during
normal business hours, 9 a.m. to 5:30
p.m., in 10201 New Executive Office
Building, 725 17th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20503. Please call
Mabel Echols at (202) 395–3094 to make
an appointment if you wish to view the
comments received in response to this
notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul
Bugg, 10201 New Executive Office
Building, Washington, DC 20503, e-mail
address: pbugg@omb.eop.gov with
subject Dissemination Directive,
telephone number: (202) 395–3095, fax
number: (202) 395–7245.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Trust in
the accuracy, objectivity, and reliability
of Federal statistics is essential to the
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ongoing and increasingly complex
policy and planning needs of
governmental and private users of these
products. Consequently, there has been
a long-standing concern about the need
to maintain public confidence in the
objectivity of Federal statistics. For
example, in 1962, the President’s
Committee to Appraise Employment
and Unemployment Statistics, stated:
The need to publish the information in a
nonpolitical context cannot be
overemphasized. * * * a sharper line should
be drawn between the release of the statistics
and their accompanying explanation and
analysis, on the one hand, and the more
general type of policy-oriented comment
which is a function of the official responsible
for policy making, on the other.
In 1971, the Nixon Administration
was widely criticized for the way it
publicly characterized some Bureau of
Labor Statistics unemployment data at
the time of their release. In response, the
Congress instituted the monthly Joint
Economic Committee hearings on the
unemployment rate and OMB issued
Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 to
provide guidance to Executive branch
agencies on the compilation and release
of Principal Federal Economic
Indicators. Directive No. 3 provides for
the designation of statistical series that
provide timely measures of economic
activity as Principal Economic
Indicators, and requires prompt but
orderly release of such indicators. The
stated purposes of Directive No. 3 are to
preserve the time value of the economic
indicators, strike a balance between
timeliness and accuracy, provide for
periodic evaluation of each indicator,
prevent early access to information that
may affect financial and commodity
markets, and preserve the distinction
between the policy-neutral release of
data by statistical agencies and their
interpretation by policy officials.
In 1973, the American Statistical
Association—Federal Statistics Users’
Conference Committee on the Integrity
of Federal Statistics reported that:
Nothing could undermine the politician
and implementation of his policy
recommendations as much as an
accumulated and intense public distrust in
the statistical basis for the decisions which
the policy-maker must inevitably make, or in
the figures by which the results of these
decisions are measured. Unless definite
action is taken to maintain public confidence
in Federal statistics and in the system
responsible for their production, there will be
growing tendencies to distrust leadership.
With respect to trust in the Federal
statistical system, President George
H.W. Bush stated in 1990:
It is of paramount importance to this
Administration that these fundamental
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principles of the Federal statistical system
are strictly maintained so that the accuracy
and integrity of Government data are not
threatened.
In 1995, the Congress reauthorized the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), which
makes OMB responsible, among other
requirements, for coordination of the
Federal statistical system to ensure the
integrity, objectivity, impartiality,
utility, and confidentiality of
information collected for statistical
purposes.
In 1996, the United States was a
charter subscriber to the International
Monetary Fund’s Special Data
Dissemination Standard (SDDS), which
guides over 60 member nations in the
provision of their economic and
financial data to the public. The
elements of the SDDS for access,
integrity, and quality emphasize
transparency in the compilation and
dissemination of statistics. For example,
• To support ready and equal access,
the SDDS prescribes (a) advance
dissemination of release calendars and
(b) simultaneous release to all interested
parties.
• To assist users in assessing the
integrity of the data disseminated under
the SDDS, the SDDS requires (a) The
dissemination of the terms and
conditions under which official
statistics are produced and
disseminated; (b) the identification of
internal government access to data
before release; (c) the identification of
ministerial commentary on the occasion
of statistical release; and (d) the
provision of information about revision
and advance notice of major changes in
methodology.
• To assist users in assessing data
quality, the SDDS requires (a) The
dissemination of documentation on
statistical methodology and (b) the
dissemination of component detail,
reconciliations with related data, and
statistical frameworks that make
possible cross-checks and checks of
reasonableness.
In 2001, the Congress passed the
Information Quality Act, which directs
OMB to issue Government-wide
information quality guidelines to ensure
the ‘‘quality, objectivity, utility, and
integrity’’ of all information, including
statistical information, disseminated by
Federal agencies.
In 2005, the National Research
Council (NRC) of the National Academy
of Sciences published the third edition
of its Principles and Practices for a
Federal Statistical Agency, which
enumerates three principles and eleven
core practices for Federal statistical
agencies. The principles address: (1)
Relevance to policy issues, (2)
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credibility among data users, and (3)
trust among data providers. Among the
essential core practices, the NRC lists a
strong measure of independence, wide
dissemination of data, and commitment
to quality and professional standards of
practice.
The Principles and Practices report
states that a credible and effective
statistical organization:
* * * must be, and must be perceived to
be, free of political interference and policy
advocacy. * * * Without the credibility that
comes from a strong degree of independence,
users may lose trust in the accuracy and
objectivity of the agency’s data, and data
providers may become less willing to
cooperate with agency requests. * * * [A
statistical agency] must be impartial and
avoid even the appearance that its collection,
analysis, and reporting processes might be
manipulated for political purposes* * *.
Elements of an effective dissemination
program include: A variety of avenues for
data dissemination, chosen to reach as broad
a public as reasonably possible; procedures
for release of information that preclude
actual or perceived political interference;
adherence to predetermined release
schedules for important indicators serves to
prevent even the appearance of manipulation
of release dates for political purposes.
In May 2006, the National Science
Board, which is charged with serving as
adviser to the President and Congress on
policy matters related to science and
engineering research and education,
concluded that:
A clear distinction should be made
between communicating professional
research results and data versus the
interpretation of data and results in a context
that seeks to influence, through the injection
of personal viewpoints, public opinion or the
formulation of public policy. Delay in taking
these actions may contribute to a potential
loss of confidence by the American public
and broader research community regarding
the quality and credibility of Government
sponsored scientific research results.
Moreover, in June 2006, the
Government Accountability Office
issued a report on Data Quality that
finds that expanded use of key
dissemination practices would further
safeguard the integrity of Federal
statistical data. This report discusses the
desirability of OMB’s issuing a new
Statistical Policy Directive that extends
dissemination procedures similar to
those of the NRC’s recommended
practices and the long-standing
Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 on the
Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of
Principal Federal Economic Indicators
more broadly to encompass a larger set
of Federal statistical products.
The proposed Statistical Policy
Directive, presented below, extends the
applicable processes of the NRC’s
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recommended practices and Statistical
Policy Directive No. 3, which applies
only to Principal Federal Economic
Indicators, to a greater range of Federal
statistical products. The proposed
directive seeks to address concerns with
equitable, policy-neutral, and timely
release and dissemination of generalpurpose statistical information to the
public and to reinforce the integrity and
transparency of the processes used to
produce and release the Nation’s
statistical products. (The proposed
directive is not intended to address
other issues relating to statistical
products, such as the appropriate
funding levels for statistical activities
and the policy decisions regarding what
kinds of data an agency should collect
and maintain, as well as the
corresponding intra-governmental
reporting relationships.) OMB welcomes
comments on the desirability of issuing
the proposed directive as well as
suggestions to improve its clarity,
efficiency, and usefulness.
Susan E. Dudley,
Administrator, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs.
Statistical Policy Directive No. XX;
Release and Dissemination of Statistical
Products Produced by Federal
Statistical Agencies
Authority and Purpose
This Directive provides guidance to
Federal statistical agencies on the
release and dissemination of statistical
products. The Directive is issued under
the authority of the Budget and
Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31
U.S.C. 1104(d)), the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3504(e)), and Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) policies including the
Information Quality Act guidelines (67
FR 8451–8460) and OMB Circular No.
A–130. Under the Information Quality
Act (PL. 106–554; H.R. 5658, Section
515, 114 Stat. 2763A–153 to 2763A–154
(2000), 44 U.S.C. Section 3516 note) and
associated guidelines, agencies are to
maximize the quality, objectivity,
utility, and integrity of information,
including statistical information,
provided to the public. This includes
making information available on an
equitable and timely basis. The
procedures in this Directive are
intended to ensure that statistical data
releases adhere to data quality standards
through equitable, policy-neutral, and
timely release of information to the
general public.
Introduction
Statistics produced by the Federal
Government are used to shape policies,
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manage and monitor programs, identify
problems and opportunities for
improvement, track progress, and
measure change. These statistics must
meet high standards of reliability,
accuracy, timeliness, and objectivity in
order to provide a sound and efficient
basis for decisions and actions by
governments, businesses, households,
and other organizations. These data
must be objective and free of bias in
their presentation and available to all in
forms that are readily accessible and
understandable.
To be collected and used efficiently,
statistical products must gain and
preserve the trust of the respondent and
user communities; data must be
collected and distributed free of any
perceived or actual partisan
intervention. Widespread recognition of
the Federal statistical system’s policyneutral data collection and
dissemination fosters such trust. This
trust, in turn, engenders greater
cooperation from respondents and
higher quality statistics for data users.
1. Scope. This Statistical Policy
Directive applies to the full range of
statistical products disseminated by
Federal statistical agencies or units.
However, the Directive excludes
coverage of the Principal Federal
Economic Indicators addressed in
Statistical Policy Directive No. 3,
Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of
Principal Federal Economic Indicators,
which have their own established
release and evaluation procedures.
Unless otherwise specified in statute,
statistical agencies or units are directly
and solely responsible for the content,
quality, and dissemination of their
products. When implementing this
Directive, statistical agencies must
follow all relevant Statistical Policy
Directives and guidance including the
principles and practices presented in
OMB’s Information Quality Guidelines
and Statistical Policy Directives
providing standards and guidelines for
statistical surveys.
2. Statistical Products. Statistical
products are, generally, information
dissemination products that are
published or otherwise made available
for public use that describe, estimate,
forecast, or analyze the characteristics of
groups, customarily without identifying
the persons, organizations, or individual
data observations that comprise such
groups. Statistical products include
general-purpose tabulations, analyses,
projections, forecasts, or other statistical
reports. For purposes of this Directive,
a ‘‘statistical press release’’ is an
announcement to media of a statistical
product release that contains the title,
subject matter, release date, and Internet
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address of, and other availability
information about, the statistical
product, and may include any executive
summary information or key findings
section as shown in the statistical
product. A statistical press release
announcing or presenting statistical data
is defined as a statistical product and is
covered by the provisions of this
Directive. Federal statistical agencies or
units may issue their statistical products
in printed and/or electronic form, but
must provide access to them on their
Internet sites. Agencies should assess
the needs of data users and provide a
range of products to address those needs
by whatever means practicable.
Information to help users interpret data
accurately, including transparent
descriptions of the sources and
methodologies used to produce the data,
must be equitably available for Federal
statistical products. These products
shall contain or reference appropriate
information on the sources,
methodologies, and limitations of the
data as well as other information such
as explanations of other related
measures to assist users in the
appropriate treatment and interpretation
of the data.
3. Statistical Agencies or Units. As
defined by the Confidential Information
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act
of 2002 (116 STAT. 2963), a Federal
statistical agency is an organizational
unit of the executive branch whose
activities are predominantly the
collection, compilation, processing, or
analysis of information for statistical
purposes. Statistical purpose means the
description, estimation, or analysis of
the characteristics of groups,
customarily without identifying the
persons, organizations, or individual
data observations that comprise such
groups, as well as researching,
developing, implementing, maintaining,
or evaluating methods, administrative or
technical procedures, or information
resources that support such purposes. A
statistical agency or unit may be labeled
an administration, bureau, center,
division, office, service, or similar title,
so long as it is recognized as a distinct
entity. When a statistical agency
provides services for a separate
sponsoring agency on a reimbursable
basis, the provisions of this Directive
normally shall apply to the sponsoring
agency.
4. Timing of Release. The timing of
the release of statistical products,
including statistical press releases,
regardless of physical form or
characteristic, shall be the sole
responsibility of the statistical agency or
unit that is directly responsible for the
content, quality, and dissemination of
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the data. Agencies should strive to
minimize the interval between the
period to which the data refer and the
date when the product is released to the
public.
5. Notification of Release. Prior to the
beginning of the calendar year, the
releasing statistical agency shall
annually provide the public with a
schedule of when each regular or
recurring statistical product is expected
to be released during the upcoming
calendar year by publishing it on its
Web site. Agencies must issue any
revisions to the release schedule in a
timely manner on their Web sites.
6. Dissemination. Statistical agencies
must ensure that all users have
equitable and timely access to data that
are disseminated to the public. If there
are revisions to the data after an initial
release, notification must also be given
to the public about these changes in an
equitable and timely manner. A
statistical agency should strive for the
widest, most accessible, and appropriate
dissemination of its statistical products
and ensure transparency in its
dissemination practices by providing
complete documentation of its
dissemination policies on its Web site.
The statistical agency is responsible for
ensuring that this documentation
remains accurate by reviewing and
updating it regularly so that it reflects
the agency’s current dissemination
practices.
In unusual circumstances, the
requirement that all users initially have
equitable and timely access to statistical
products may be waived by the
releasing statistical agency if the head of
the agency determines that the value of
a particular type of statistical product,
such as health or safety information, is
so time-sensitive to specific
stakeholders that normal procedures to
ensure equitable and timely access to all
users would unduly delay the release of
urgent findings to those to whom the
information is critical. All such
instances must be reported to OMB
within 30 calendar days of the agency’s
waiver determination.
Agencies should use a variety of
vehicles to attain a data dissemination
program designed to reach data users in
an equitable and timely manner.
Agencies must publish statistical
products available to the public on their
Web sites and may also provide them in
printed or other electronic formats. In
undertaking any dissemination of
statistical products, agencies must
continue to ensure that they have
fulfilled their responsibilities to
preserve the confidentiality and security
of respondent data. When appropriate to
facilitate in-depth research, and feasible
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in the presence of resource constraints,
statistical agencies should provide
public access to microdata files with
secure safeguards to protect the
confidentiality of individuallyidentifiable responses and with readily
accessible documentation, metadata, or
other means to facilitate user access to
and manipulation of the data.
Statistical agencies are encouraged to
use a variety of forums and strategies to
release their statistical products. These
include conferences, exhibits,
presentations, workshops, list serves,
the Government Printing Office, public
libraries, and outreach to the media
including news conferences and
statistical press releases as well as
media briefings to improve the media’s
understanding of the data and the
quality and extent of media coverage of
the statistics.
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a. Outreach to the Media
To accelerate and/or expand the
dissemination of data to the public,
statistical agencies are encouraged to
issue a statistical press release when
releasing their products. To maintain a
clear distinction between statistical data
and policy interpretations of such data,
the statistical press release must be
produced and issued by the statistical
agency and must provide a policyneutral description of the data; it must
not include policy pronouncements. To
the extent that any policy
pronouncements are to be made
regarding the data, those
pronouncements are to be made by
Federal executive policy officials, not by
the statistical agency. Accordingly,
these policy officials may issue separate
independent statements on the data
being released by the statistical agency,
and these officials may review the draft
statistical press release to ensure that it
does not include policy
pronouncements.
In cases in which the statistical unit
currently relies on its parent agency for
the public affairs function, the statistical
agency should coordinate with public
affairs officials from the parent
organization on the dissemination
aspects of the statistical press release
process, including planning and
scheduling of annual release dates.
b. Pre-Release Access to Final Statistical
Products
To support the goal of maximizing the
public’s access to quality data, statistical
agencies may provide pre-release access
to their final statistical products. A
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statistical product is final when the
releasing statistical agency determines
that the product fully meets the agency’s
data quality standards and requires no
further changes. The purpose of prerelease access is to foster improved
public understanding of the data when
they are first released and the accuracy
of any initial commentary about the
information contained in the product.
Pre-release access to final statistical
products may be provided under
embargo or through secure pre-release
access. The releasing statistical agency
determines which final statistical
products will be made available under
these pre-release provisions and which
method of pre-release will be employed.
c. Embargo
Embargo means that pre-release
access is provided with the explicit
acknowledgement of the receiving party
that the information cannot be further
disseminated or used in any
unauthorized manner before a specific
date and time.
The statistical agency may grant prerelease access via an embargo under the
following conditions:
1. The agency shall establish
arrangements and impose conditions on
the granting of an embargo that are
necessary to ensure that there is no
unauthorized dissemination or use.
2. The agency shall ensure that any
person or organization granted access
under an embargo has been fully
informed of, and has acknowledged
acceptance of, these conditions.
3. In all cases, pre-release access via
an embargo shall precede the official
release time only to the extent necessary
for an orderly release of the data.
4. If an embargo is broken, the agency
must release the data to the public
immediately.
d. Secure Pre-Release Access
For some data that are particularly
sensitive or move markets, statistical
agency heads may choose to provide
secure pre-release access. Secure prerelease access means that pre-release
access is provided only within the
confines of secure physical facilities
with no external communications
capability. When the head of a releasing
statistical agency determines that secure
pre-release access is required, the
agency shall provide pre-release access
to final statistical products only when it
uses secure pre-release procedures.
7. Announcement of Changes in Data
Series. Statistical agencies shall
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announce, in an appropriate and
accessible manner as far in advance of
the change as possible, significant
planned changes in data collection,
analysis, or estimation methods that
may affect the interpretation of their
data series. In the first report affected by
the change, the agency must include a
complete description of the change and
its effects and place the description on
its Internet site, if the report is not
otherwise available there.
8. Revisions and Corrections of Data.
For some statistical products, statistical
agencies produce preliminary estimates
or initial releases that will subsequently
be updated and finalized. Whenever
preliminary data are released, they must
be identified as preliminary and the
release must indicate that an updated or
final revision is expected. In applicable
cases, the expected date of such
revisions must be included. Reference to
the preliminary release and appropriate
explanations of the methodology and
reasons for the revisions must be
provided or referenced in any updated
or final releases.
Consistent with each agency’s
information quality guidelines,
statistical agencies must also establish a
policy for handling unscheduled
corrections due to previously
unrecognized errors. Agencies have an
obligation to alert users as quickly as
possible to any such changes, to explain
corrections or revisions that result from
any unscheduled corrections, and to
make appropriate changes in all product
formats—including statistical press
releases.
9. Granting of Exceptions. Prior to
taking any action that may violate the
provisions of this Directive, the head of
a releasing statistical agency shall
consult with OMB’s Administrator for
Information and Regulatory Affairs. If
the Administrator determines that the
action is in violation of the provisions
of this Directive, the head of the
releasing statistical agency may apply
for an exception. The Administrator
may authorize exceptions to the
provisions in sections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8
of this Directive. Any agency requesting
an exception must demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the Administrator that the
proposed exception is necessary and is
consistent with the purposes of this
Directive.
[FR Doc. E7–14908 Filed 7–31–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110–01–P
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[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 1, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42266-42269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-14908]
[[Page 42265]]
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Part IV
Office of Management and Budget
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Statistical Policy Directive: Release and Dissemination of Statistical
Products Produced by Federal Statistical Agencies; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 1, 2007 /
Notices
[[Page 42266]]
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Statistical Policy Directive: Release and Dissemination of
Statistical Products Produced by Federal Statistical Agencies
AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the
President.
ACTION: Notice of solicitation of comments.
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SUMMARY: Under 44 U.S.C. 3504(e), the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) is soliciting public comment on a proposal to issue a new
Statistical Policy Directive for the release and dissemination of
statistical products produced by Federal statistical agencies. In its
role as coordinator of the Federal statistical system, 44 U.S.C.
3504(e) requires OMB, among other responsibilities, to ensure the
efficiency and effectiveness of the system as well as the integrity,
objectivity, impartiality, utility, and confidentiality of information
collected for statistical purposes. It also requires OMB to develop and
oversee the implementation of Governmentwide policies, principles,
standards, and guidelines concerning the presentation and dissemination
of statistical information. The 2001 Information Quality Act (Pub. L.
106-554, Sec. 1(a)(3) [title V, Sec. 515], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat.
2763, 2763A-153, 44 U.S.C. Section 3516 note) similarly requires OMB,
as well as all other Federal agencies, to maximize the quality,
objectivity, utility, and integrity of information, including
statistical information, provided to the public.
To operate efficiently and effectively, our democracy relies on the
flow of objective, credible statistics to support the decisions of
governments, businesses, households, and other organizations. Any loss
of trust in the integrity of the Federal statistical system and its
products could lessen respondent cooperation with Federal statistical
surveys, decrease the quality of statistical system products, and
foster uncertainty about the validity of measures our Nation uses to
monitor and assess its performance and progress.
To further support the quality and integrity of Federal statistical
information, OMB is proposing a new Statistical Policy Directive
designed to preserve and enhance the objectivity and transparency, in
fact and in perception, of the processes used to release and
disseminate the Government's statistical products. The procedures in
the proposed directive are intended to ensure that statistical data
releases adhere to data quality standards through equitable, policy-
neutral, and timely release of information to the general public.
Additional discussion of the proposal and a draft of the directive may
be found in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. OMB is seeking
public comment on the desirability of issuing the proposed directive as
well as suggestions to improve its clarity, efficiency, and usefulness.
DATES: Effective Date: To ensure consideration, all comments must be
received in writing on or before October 1, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Please send all comments on this proposal to: Katherine K.
Wallman, Chief Statistician, Office of Management and Budget, 10201 New
Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, telephone number:
(202) 395-3093, fax number: (202) 395-7245. You may send comments via
e-mail to DisseminationDirective@omb.eop.gov with subject Comments0107.
Because of delays in the receipt of regular mail, respondents are
encouraged to use electronic communications. All comments submitted in
response to this notice will be made available to the public, including
by posting them on OMB's Web site. For this reason, please do not
include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as
sensitive personal information or proprietary information.
Electronic Availability: This document is available on the Internet
on the OMB Web site at http://www.omb.gov/inforeg/ssp/dissemination.
Availability of Comment Materials: In addition to posting on the
OMB Web site, paper copies of all comments received will be available
for public viewing at the Office of Management and Budget, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) during normal business hours,
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., in 10201 New Executive Office Building, 725 17th
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503. Please call Mabel Echols at (202)
395-3094 to make an appointment if you wish to view the comments
received in response to this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Bugg, 10201 New Executive Office
Building, Washington, DC 20503, e-mail address: pbugg@omb.eop.gov with
subject Dissemination Directive, telephone number: (202) 395-3095, fax
number: (202) 395-7245.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Trust in the accuracy, objectivity, and
reliability of Federal statistics is essential to the ongoing and
increasingly complex policy and planning needs of governmental and
private users of these products. Consequently, there has been a long-
standing concern about the need to maintain public confidence in the
objectivity of Federal statistics. For example, in 1962, the
President's Committee to Appraise Employment and Unemployment
Statistics, stated:
The need to publish the information in a nonpolitical context
cannot be overemphasized. * * * a sharper line should be drawn
between the release of the statistics and their accompanying
explanation and analysis, on the one hand, and the more general type
of policy-oriented comment which is a function of the official
responsible for policy making, on the other.
In 1971, the Nixon Administration was widely criticized for the way
it publicly characterized some Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment
data at the time of their release. In response, the Congress instituted
the monthly Joint Economic Committee hearings on the unemployment rate
and OMB issued Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 to provide guidance
to Executive branch agencies on the compilation and release of
Principal Federal Economic Indicators. Directive No. 3 provides for the
designation of statistical series that provide timely measures of
economic activity as Principal Economic Indicators, and requires prompt
but orderly release of such indicators. The stated purposes of
Directive No. 3 are to preserve the time value of the economic
indicators, strike a balance between timeliness and accuracy, provide
for periodic evaluation of each indicator, prevent early access to
information that may affect financial and commodity markets, and
preserve the distinction between the policy-neutral release of data by
statistical agencies and their interpretation by policy officials.
In 1973, the American Statistical Association--Federal Statistics
Users' Conference Committee on the Integrity of Federal Statistics
reported that:
Nothing could undermine the politician and implementation of his
policy recommendations as much as an accumulated and intense public
distrust in the statistical basis for the decisions which the
policy-maker must inevitably make, or in the figures by which the
results of these decisions are measured. Unless definite action is
taken to maintain public confidence in Federal statistics and in the
system responsible for their production, there will be growing
tendencies to distrust leadership.
With respect to trust in the Federal statistical system, President
George H.W. Bush stated in 1990:
It is of paramount importance to this Administration that these
fundamental
[[Page 42267]]
principles of the Federal statistical system are strictly maintained
so that the accuracy and integrity of Government data are not
threatened.
In 1995, the Congress reauthorized the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA), which makes OMB responsible, among other requirements, for
coordination of the Federal statistical system to ensure the integrity,
objectivity, impartiality, utility, and confidentiality of information
collected for statistical purposes.
In 1996, the United States was a charter subscriber to the
International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard
(SDDS), which guides over 60 member nations in the provision of their
economic and financial data to the public. The elements of the SDDS for
access, integrity, and quality emphasize transparency in the
compilation and dissemination of statistics. For example,
To support ready and equal access, the SDDS prescribes (a)
advance dissemination of release calendars and (b) simultaneous release
to all interested parties.
To assist users in assessing the integrity of the data
disseminated under the SDDS, the SDDS requires (a) The dissemination of
the terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced
and disseminated; (b) the identification of internal government access
to data before release; (c) the identification of ministerial
commentary on the occasion of statistical release; and (d) the
provision of information about revision and advance notice of major
changes in methodology.
To assist users in assessing data quality, the SDDS
requires (a) The dissemination of documentation on statistical
methodology and (b) the dissemination of component detail,
reconciliations with related data, and statistical frameworks that make
possible cross-checks and checks of reasonableness.
In 2001, the Congress passed the Information Quality Act, which
directs OMB to issue Government-wide information quality guidelines to
ensure the ``quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity'' of all
information, including statistical information, disseminated by Federal
agencies.
In 2005, the National Research Council (NRC) of the National
Academy of Sciences published the third edition of its Principles and
Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency, which enumerates three
principles and eleven core practices for Federal statistical agencies.
The principles address: (1) Relevance to policy issues, (2) credibility
among data users, and (3) trust among data providers. Among the
essential core practices, the NRC lists a strong measure of
independence, wide dissemination of data, and commitment to quality and
professional standards of practice.
The Principles and Practices report states that a credible and
effective statistical organization:
* * * must be, and must be perceived to be, free of political
interference and policy advocacy. * * * Without the credibility that
comes from a strong degree of independence, users may lose trust in
the accuracy and objectivity of the agency's data, and data
providers may become less willing to cooperate with agency requests.
* * * [A statistical agency] must be impartial and avoid even the
appearance that its collection, analysis, and reporting processes
might be manipulated for political purposes* * *.
Elements of an effective dissemination program include: A
variety of avenues for data dissemination, chosen to reach as broad
a public as reasonably possible; procedures for release of
information that preclude actual or perceived political
interference; adherence to predetermined release schedules for
important indicators serves to prevent even the appearance of
manipulation of release dates for political purposes.
In May 2006, the National Science Board, which is charged with
serving as adviser to the President and Congress on policy matters
related to science and engineering research and education, concluded
that:
A clear distinction should be made between communicating
professional research results and data versus the interpretation of
data and results in a context that seeks to influence, through the
injection of personal viewpoints, public opinion or the formulation
of public policy. Delay in taking these actions may contribute to a
potential loss of confidence by the American public and broader
research community regarding the quality and credibility of
Government sponsored scientific research results.
Moreover, in June 2006, the Government Accountability Office issued
a report on Data Quality that finds that expanded use of key
dissemination practices would further safeguard the integrity of
Federal statistical data. This report discusses the desirability of
OMB's issuing a new Statistical Policy Directive that extends
dissemination procedures similar to those of the NRC's recommended
practices and the long-standing Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 on
the Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of Principal Federal Economic
Indicators more broadly to encompass a larger set of Federal
statistical products.
The proposed Statistical Policy Directive, presented below, extends
the applicable processes of the NRC's recommended practices and
Statistical Policy Directive No. 3, which applies only to Principal
Federal Economic Indicators, to a greater range of Federal statistical
products. The proposed directive seeks to address concerns with
equitable, policy-neutral, and timely release and dissemination of
general-purpose statistical information to the public and to reinforce
the integrity and transparency of the processes used to produce and
release the Nation's statistical products. (The proposed directive is
not intended to address other issues relating to statistical products,
such as the appropriate funding levels for statistical activities and
the policy decisions regarding what kinds of data an agency should
collect and maintain, as well as the corresponding intra-governmental
reporting relationships.) OMB welcomes comments on the desirability of
issuing the proposed directive as well as suggestions to improve its
clarity, efficiency, and usefulness.
Susan E. Dudley,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
Statistical Policy Directive No. XX; Release and Dissemination of
Statistical Products Produced by Federal Statistical Agencies
Authority and Purpose
This Directive provides guidance to Federal statistical agencies on
the release and dissemination of statistical products. The Directive is
issued under the authority of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act
of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 1104(d)), the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3504(e)), and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policies
including the Information Quality Act guidelines (67 FR 8451-8460) and
OMB Circular No. A-130. Under the Information Quality Act (PL. 106-554;
H.R. 5658, Section 515, 114 Stat. 2763A-153 to 2763A-154 (2000), 44
U.S.C. Section 3516 note) and associated guidelines, agencies are to
maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of
information, including statistical information, provided to the public.
This includes making information available on an equitable and timely
basis. The procedures in this Directive are intended to ensure that
statistical data releases adhere to data quality standards through
equitable, policy-neutral, and timely release of information to the
general public.
Introduction
Statistics produced by the Federal Government are used to shape
policies,
[[Page 42268]]
manage and monitor programs, identify problems and opportunities for
improvement, track progress, and measure change. These statistics must
meet high standards of reliability, accuracy, timeliness, and
objectivity in order to provide a sound and efficient basis for
decisions and actions by governments, businesses, households, and other
organizations. These data must be objective and free of bias in their
presentation and available to all in forms that are readily accessible
and understandable.
To be collected and used efficiently, statistical products must
gain and preserve the trust of the respondent and user communities;
data must be collected and distributed free of any perceived or actual
partisan intervention. Widespread recognition of the Federal
statistical system's policy-neutral data collection and dissemination
fosters such trust. This trust, in turn, engenders greater cooperation
from respondents and higher quality statistics for data users.
1. Scope. This Statistical Policy Directive applies to the full
range of statistical products disseminated by Federal statistical
agencies or units. However, the Directive excludes coverage of the
Principal Federal Economic Indicators addressed in Statistical Policy
Directive No. 3, Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of Principal
Federal Economic Indicators, which have their own established release
and evaluation procedures. Unless otherwise specified in statute,
statistical agencies or units are directly and solely responsible for
the content, quality, and dissemination of their products. When
implementing this Directive, statistical agencies must follow all
relevant Statistical Policy Directives and guidance including the
principles and practices presented in OMB's Information Quality
Guidelines and Statistical Policy Directives providing standards and
guidelines for statistical surveys.
2. Statistical Products. Statistical products are, generally,
information dissemination products that are published or otherwise made
available for public use that describe, estimate, forecast, or analyze
the characteristics of groups, customarily without identifying the
persons, organizations, or individual data observations that comprise
such groups. Statistical products include general-purpose tabulations,
analyses, projections, forecasts, or other statistical reports. For
purposes of this Directive, a ``statistical press release'' is an
announcement to media of a statistical product release that contains
the title, subject matter, release date, and Internet address of, and
other availability information about, the statistical product, and may
include any executive summary information or key findings section as
shown in the statistical product. A statistical press release
announcing or presenting statistical data is defined as a statistical
product and is covered by the provisions of this Directive. Federal
statistical agencies or units may issue their statistical products in
printed and/or electronic form, but must provide access to them on
their Internet sites. Agencies should assess the needs of data users
and provide a range of products to address those needs by whatever
means practicable. Information to help users interpret data accurately,
including transparent descriptions of the sources and methodologies
used to produce the data, must be equitably available for Federal
statistical products. These products shall contain or reference
appropriate information on the sources, methodologies, and limitations
of the data as well as other information such as explanations of other
related measures to assist users in the appropriate treatment and
interpretation of the data.
3. Statistical Agencies or Units. As defined by the Confidential
Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (116
STAT. 2963), a Federal statistical agency is an organizational unit of
the executive branch whose activities are predominantly the collection,
compilation, processing, or analysis of information for statistical
purposes. Statistical purpose means the description, estimation, or
analysis of the characteristics of groups, customarily without
identifying the persons, organizations, or individual data observations
that comprise such groups, as well as researching, developing,
implementing, maintaining, or evaluating methods, administrative or
technical procedures, or information resources that support such
purposes. A statistical agency or unit may be labeled an
administration, bureau, center, division, office, service, or similar
title, so long as it is recognized as a distinct entity. When a
statistical agency provides services for a separate sponsoring agency
on a reimbursable basis, the provisions of this Directive normally
shall apply to the sponsoring agency.
4. Timing of Release. The timing of the release of statistical
products, including statistical press releases, regardless of physical
form or characteristic, shall be the sole responsibility of the
statistical agency or unit that is directly responsible for the
content, quality, and dissemination of the data. Agencies should strive
to minimize the interval between the period to which the data refer and
the date when the product is released to the public.
5. Notification of Release. Prior to the beginning of the calendar
year, the releasing statistical agency shall annually provide the
public with a schedule of when each regular or recurring statistical
product is expected to be released during the upcoming calendar year by
publishing it on its Web site. Agencies must issue any revisions to the
release schedule in a timely manner on their Web sites.
6. Dissemination. Statistical agencies must ensure that all users
have equitable and timely access to data that are disseminated to the
public. If there are revisions to the data after an initial release,
notification must also be given to the public about these changes in an
equitable and timely manner. A statistical agency should strive for the
widest, most accessible, and appropriate dissemination of its
statistical products and ensure transparency in its dissemination
practices by providing complete documentation of its dissemination
policies on its Web site. The statistical agency is responsible for
ensuring that this documentation remains accurate by reviewing and
updating it regularly so that it reflects the agency's current
dissemination practices.
In unusual circumstances, the requirement that all users initially
have equitable and timely access to statistical products may be waived
by the releasing statistical agency if the head of the agency
determines that the value of a particular type of statistical product,
such as health or safety information, is so time-sensitive to specific
stakeholders that normal procedures to ensure equitable and timely
access to all users would unduly delay the release of urgent findings
to those to whom the information is critical. All such instances must
be reported to OMB within 30 calendar days of the agency's waiver
determination.
Agencies should use a variety of vehicles to attain a data
dissemination program designed to reach data users in an equitable and
timely manner. Agencies must publish statistical products available to
the public on their Web sites and may also provide them in printed or
other electronic formats. In undertaking any dissemination of
statistical products, agencies must continue to ensure that they have
fulfilled their responsibilities to preserve the confidentiality and
security of respondent data. When appropriate to facilitate in-depth
research, and feasible
[[Page 42269]]
in the presence of resource constraints, statistical agencies should
provide public access to microdata files with secure safeguards to
protect the confidentiality of individually-identifiable responses and
with readily accessible documentation, metadata, or other means to
facilitate user access to and manipulation of the data.
Statistical agencies are encouraged to use a variety of forums and
strategies to release their statistical products. These include
conferences, exhibits, presentations, workshops, list serves, the
Government Printing Office, public libraries, and outreach to the media
including news conferences and statistical press releases as well as
media briefings to improve the media's understanding of the data and
the quality and extent of media coverage of the statistics.
a. Outreach to the Media
To accelerate and/or expand the dissemination of data to the
public, statistical agencies are encouraged to issue a statistical
press release when releasing their products. To maintain a clear
distinction between statistical data and policy interpretations of such
data, the statistical press release must be produced and issued by the
statistical agency and must provide a policy-neutral description of the
data; it must not include policy pronouncements. To the extent that any
policy pronouncements are to be made regarding the data, those
pronouncements are to be made by Federal executive policy officials,
not by the statistical agency. Accordingly, these policy officials may
issue separate independent statements on the data being released by the
statistical agency, and these officials may review the draft
statistical press release to ensure that it does not include policy
pronouncements.
In cases in which the statistical unit currently relies on its
parent agency for the public affairs function, the statistical agency
should coordinate with public affairs officials from the parent
organization on the dissemination aspects of the statistical press
release process, including planning and scheduling of annual release
dates.
b. Pre-Release Access to Final Statistical Products
To support the goal of maximizing the public's access to quality
data, statistical agencies may provide pre-release access to their
final statistical products. A statistical product is final when the
releasing statistical agency determines that the product fully meets
the agency's data quality standards and requires no further changes.
The purpose of pre-release access is to foster improved public
understanding of the data when they are first released and the accuracy
of any initial commentary about the information contained in the
product. Pre-release access to final statistical products may be
provided under embargo or through secure pre-release access. The
releasing statistical agency determines which final statistical
products will be made available under these pre-release provisions and
which method of pre-release will be employed.
c. Embargo
Embargo means that pre-release access is provided with the explicit
acknowledgement of the receiving party that the information cannot be
further disseminated or used in any unauthorized manner before a
specific date and time.
The statistical agency may grant pre-release access via an embargo
under the following conditions:
1. The agency shall establish arrangements and impose conditions on
the granting of an embargo that are necessary to ensure that there is
no unauthorized dissemination or use.
2. The agency shall ensure that any person or organization granted
access under an embargo has been fully informed of, and has
acknowledged acceptance of, these conditions.
3. In all cases, pre-release access via an embargo shall precede
the official release time only to the extent necessary for an orderly
release of the data.
4. If an embargo is broken, the agency must release the data to the
public immediately.
d. Secure Pre-Release Access
For some data that are particularly sensitive or move markets,
statistical agency heads may choose to provide secure pre-release
access. Secure pre-release access means that pre-release access is
provided only within the confines of secure physical facilities with no
external communications capability. When the head of a releasing
statistical agency determines that secure pre-release access is
required, the agency shall provide pre-release access to final
statistical products only when it uses secure pre-release procedures.
7. Announcement of Changes in Data Series. Statistical agencies
shall announce, in an appropriate and accessible manner as far in
advance of the change as possible, significant planned changes in data
collection, analysis, or estimation methods that may affect the
interpretation of their data series. In the first report affected by
the change, the agency must include a complete description of the
change and its effects and place the description on its Internet site,
if the report is not otherwise available there.
8. Revisions and Corrections of Data. For some statistical
products, statistical agencies produce preliminary estimates or initial
releases that will subsequently be updated and finalized. Whenever
preliminary data are released, they must be identified as preliminary
and the release must indicate that an updated or final revision is
expected. In applicable cases, the expected date of such revisions must
be included. Reference to the preliminary release and appropriate
explanations of the methodology and reasons for the revisions must be
provided or referenced in any updated or final releases.
Consistent with each agency's information quality guidelines,
statistical agencies must also establish a policy for handling
unscheduled corrections due to previously unrecognized errors. Agencies
have an obligation to alert users as quickly as possible to any such
changes, to explain corrections or revisions that result from any
unscheduled corrections, and to make appropriate changes in all product
formats--including statistical press releases.
9. Granting of Exceptions. Prior to taking any action that may
violate the provisions of this Directive, the head of a releasing
statistical agency shall consult with OMB's Administrator for
Information and Regulatory Affairs. If the Administrator determines
that the action is in violation of the provisions of this Directive,
the head of the releasing statistical agency may apply for an
exception. The Administrator may authorize exceptions to the provisions
in sections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of this Directive. Any agency requesting
an exception must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Administrator
that the proposed exception is necessary and is consistent with the
purposes of this Directive.
[FR Doc. E7-14908 Filed 7-31-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P