Announcing Discontinuation of the DOL Lock-Up Facility for Participating News Media Organizations With Pre-Release Access to Statistical Information, 31810-31812 [2020-11297]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 102 / Wednesday, May 27, 2020 / Notices
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—Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the Bureau of Justice
Statistics, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
—Evaluate the accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
—Evaluate whether and if so how the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected can be
enhanced; and
—Minimize the burden of the collection
of information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms
of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of
responses.
Overview of this information
collection:
(1) Type of Information Collection:
Reinstatement of the Law Enforcement
Management and Administrative
Statistics (LEMAS) Survey, with
changes, a previously approved
collection for which approval has
expired.
(2) The Title of the Form/Collection:
2020 Law Enforcement Management
and Administrative Statistics Survey.
(3) The agency form number, if any,
and the applicable component of the
Department sponsoring the collection:
The form number for the questionnaire
is CJ–44. The applicable component
within the Department of Justice is the
Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the Office
of Justice Programs.
(4) Affected public who will be asked
or required to respond, as well as a brief
abstract:
Respondents will be general purpose
state, county and local law enforcement
agencies (LEAs), including local and
county police departments, sheriff’s
offices, and primary state law
enforcement agencies. Since 1987, BJS
has collected information about the
personnel, policies, and practices of law
enforcement agencies via the Law
Enforcement Management and
Administrative Statistics (LEMAS)
survey. This core survey, which has
been administered every 4 to 6 years,
has been used to produce nationally
representative estimates on the
demographic characteristics of sworn
personnel, hiring practices, operations,
equipment, technology, and agency
policies and procedures. BJS plans to
publish this information in reports and
reference it when responding to queries
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from the U.S. Congress, Executive Office
of the President, the U.S. Supreme
Court, state officials, international
organizations, researchers, students, the
media, and others interested in criminal
justice statistics.
(5) An estimate of the total number of
respondents and the amount of time
estimated for an average respondent to
respond: An agency-level survey will be
sent to approximately 3,500 LEA
respondents. At the time of the 60-day
notice, the expected burden was about
2.33 hours per respondent. Based on
additional analysis of cognitive
interviewing results, the expected
burden placed on these respondents is
about 2.5 hours.
(6) An estimate of the total public
burden (in hours) associated with the
collection: At the time of the 60-day
notice, there was an estimated 8,155
total burden hours associated with this
collection. With the burden update to
about 2.5 hours per respondent, there
are an estimated 8,750 total burden
hours associated with this collection.
If additional information is required
contact: Melody Braswell, Department
Clearance Officer, United States
Department of Justice, Justice
Management Division, Policy and
Planning Staff, Two Constitution
Square, 145 N Street NE, 3E.405A,
Washington, DC 20530.
Dated: May 21, 2020.
Melody Braswell,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S.
Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2020–11319 Filed 5–26–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–18–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Announcing Discontinuation of the
DOL Lock-Up Facility for Participating
News Media Organizations With PreRelease Access to Statistical
Information
Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Department of Labor
(DOL) plans to discontinue use of the
lock-up facility currently available for
participating news media organizations
to access statistical information prior to
official release time. This Federal
Register Notice supersedes the previous
Notice issued on February 7, 2020,
which announced the DOL’s intent to
eliminate use of electronic devices in
the lock-up room. As a result of the
COVID–19 pandemic, use of the lock-up
SUMMARY:
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facility has been indefinitely suspended
since March 20, 2020, and timely and
orderly distribution of DOL statistical
information has been accomplished at
official release time through DOL
websites, social media channels, and
email subscription lists. This
notification announces the permanent
discontinuation of the DOL lock-up
facility effective June 3, 2020, regardless
of whether the current restrictions in
place as a result of the COVID–19
pandemic remain necessary as of that
date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael Trupo, Deputy Assistant
Secretary, Office of Public Affairs, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Ave. NW, Washington, DC; 202–693–
4676; trupo.michael@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) is responsible for the
development and oversight of
Government-wide policies, principles,
standards, and guidelines concerning
statistical information presentation and
dissemination, as well as the timely
release of statistical data. OMB has
issued a series of Statistical Policy
Directives (SPDs) to guide agencies in
their dissemination of statistical
products to ensure timely and equitable
distribution of data to the public. Each
of these SPDs describes the fundamental
statistical-system principle of equitable
and timely dissemination of statistical
information to the public. See, e.g., SPD
No. 1, Fundamental Responsibilities of
Federal Statistical Agencies and
Recognized Statistical Units (Dec. 2,
2014) (‘‘The objectivity of the
information released to the public is
maximized by making information
available on an equitable, policyneutral, transparent, timely, and
punctual basis’’); SPD No. 3,
Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of
Principal Federal Economic Indicators
(Sept. 25, 1985) (emphasizing the
importance of releasing Principal
Federal Economic Indicators (PFEIs) to
the public in a fair and orderly manner);
SPD No. 4, Release and Dissemination
of Statistical Products Produced by
Federal Statistical Agencies (Mar. 7,
2008) (‘‘Statistical agencies must ensure
that all users have equitable and timely
access to data that are disseminated to
the public.’’). In short, equitable and
timely dissemination of statistical
information is a core principle of
Federal statistical policy.
Since the mid-1980s, consistent with
these SPDs, DOL agencies have
provided pre-release data access to news
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organizations, as a courtesy, under strict
embargoes (known as ‘‘lock-ups’’) for
PFEIs. PFEIs are a set of designated
economic data series (e.g., the
Employment Situation or Consumer
Price Index) that have significant
commercial value and may affect the
movement of commodity and financial
markets upon release. DOL, in its
discretion, has employed lock-ups for
the release of limited non-PFEI data (i.e.,
Unemployment Insurance Weekly
Claims). Although not required to do so,
DOL in 1988 constructed a special lockup facility to provide pre-release access
to news media organizations. DOL took
steps to enhance the security of the
lock-up facility, including in 1992 and
again in 2011–2012. These lock-ups
have provided participating media
organizations a period of time (typically
30 minutes) to review data prior to the
official release time. At the official
release time, DOL has opened the
communication lines within the facility,
allowing the press to transmit their
articles or tables of data to the public.
For many years, dissemination
through the lock-up process served as
one of several effective methods to assist
the government in getting information to
the public. But today, with increased
communication and technology
capabilities utilized by the government,
the media, and the general public, this
particular method is no longer necessary
and discontinuation of the lock-up best
ensures the equitable and timely
dissemination of statistical information
consistent with OMB’s guidance.
Continuing security, resource, and
equity concerns also outweigh any
benefits of the current process.
DOL’s Inspector General has noted
concerns with the current press lock-up
process, including in reports dated
January 2, 2014 (17–14–001–03–315)
and March 25, 2016 (17–16–001–01–
001) and in every subsequent SemiAnnual OIG Report to Congress.
Specifically, DOL Inspector General
Report 17–14–001–03–315 states that
the lock-up ‘‘unintentionally creates an
unfair competitive advantage for certain
news organizations and their clients’’:
Pre-release access of DOL-generated
economic data is intended to serve the
general public by ensuring that news reports
about the data are accurate. To that end, the
media are given access to the data in advance
of the public release to facilitate their ability
to analyze and ask questions about the data
as they prepare their news stories. However,
the intended purpose of ensuring accurate
news reports must be weighed against the
inequitable trading advantage that a lock-up
can potentially create. Several news
organizations that participate in the DOL
press lock-up are able to profit from their
presence in the lock-up by selling, to traders,
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high speed data feeds of economic data
formatted for computerized algorithmic
trading. Because these news organizations
have pre-release access, they are able to preload the data . . . allowing their clients to get
this information faster than the general
public, which has to wait to download the
data after it gets posted to the Department of
Labor websites.
The aforementioned report further
recommends that BLS and ETA ‘‘. . .
implement a strategy designed to
eliminate any competitive advantage
that news organizations present in the
lock-up and/or their clients may have;
or, absent a viable solution, consider
discontinuing the use of the press lockup that provides news organizations
pre-release access.’’ Some media lockup attendees continue to post online
advertisements claiming that their
clients are advantaged by their lock-up
attendance.1
To protect the integrity of our data
releases and to ensure dissemination of
key economic data in an equitable,
timely, secure, and cost-effective
manner, as of June 3, 2020, DOL will
permanently discontinue use of the
lock-up facility, regardless of whether
the restrictions that are currently in
place as a result of the COVID–19
pandemic remain necessary as of that
date. Discontinuing use of the lock-up
facility eliminates the risk of premature
disclosure of the data by the press or as
a result of the lock-up embargo process,
and eliminates the risk of providing an
unfair competitive advantage to lock-up
participants and their clients compared
to the rest of the public due to the
preparation time provided by the
media’s early access to the data. BLS
and ETA will continue to make their
data available to the general public
immediately upon their 8:30AM Eastern
Time release through the Web and other
sources.
II. Action
As a result of the COVID–19
pandemic, the DOL lock-up facility is
currently closed, and will remain closed
at least through June 3, 2020. In an effort
to protect the integrity of our data and
1 For example, as recently as May 12, 2020, the
Associated Press advertised on their event-driven
data page that users can ‘‘[g]et the lowest-latency
delivery of economic release from Washington DC
lock-ups’’ and that their ‘‘low-latency delivery of
economic releases, coupled with [their] machinereadable format of [their] entire text news output,
gives firms the data they need to make informed,
split-second decisions.’’ See Associated Press,
Microseconds Matter, https://www.ap.org/discover/
event-driven-data (last visited May 12, 2020). See
also Dow Jones, Calendar Live, https://
professional.dowjones.com/newswires/calendarlive/ (last visited May 12, 2020) (advertising that
they can provide ‘‘[s]ub-second updates on actual
data from government lockups, banks, industry, and
trade groups’’).
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31811
ensure fairness in the dissemination of
statistical information, DOL plans to
permanently discontinue use of the DOL
lock-up facility starting on June 3, 2020.
After that date, regardless of any
restrictions that may remain in place as
a result of the COVID–19 pandemic,
DOL will no longer provide credentialed
press early access to the economic data
under embargo conditions in a lock-up.
Instead, data will be released to the
general public all at once, through
online publication. The purpose of this
action is to ‘‘ensure that all users have
equitable and timely access to data that
are disseminated to the public,’’ as
noted in OMB SPD No. 4.
The previously proposed policy
change to suspend the use of electronic
devices in the lock-up room (see 85 FR
7333), was designed to retain the
media’s ability to publish accurate and
informed stories shortly after the
embargo was lifted. During the
suspension of the media lock-up room
for the ongoing COVID–19 pandemic,
however, the media demonstrated their
ability to produce informed and
accurate articles within minutes of the
electronic release to the BLS website
despite not having early access to the
data at all.
Furthermore, DOL invests significant
personnel and financial resources to
administer and staff the lock-up facility,
ensure that data products are created
and transported to the lock-up facility,
and secure the lock-up facility.
Discontinuing lock-ups, as opposed to
merely eliminating use of electronic
devices, will enable DOL to cease these
expenditures while also eliminating
entirely any possibility of a breach from
the lock-up room. As explained in more
detail below, the recent COVID–19
experience demonstrates that DOL can
eliminate the overhead and risk of lockup rooms altogether without degrading
the quality or timeliness of media
coverage.
At the appropriate scheduled times,
BLS and ETA will provide access to
official news releases on the agency
websites. In addition, the agencies will
issue releases through social media and
to email subscribers. Agencies will
continue to respond to questions about
the data from the public, including the
media, following the releases.
III. Necessity of Action
When DOL first used embargoed data
releases in the mid-1980s, media
dissemination was an equitable and
timely method to get data to the public.
Today, technology and the internet
permit the public and interested data
users to obtain releases for themselves.
However, unlike media organizations in
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 102 / Wednesday, May 27, 2020 / Notices
the lock-up facility, internet users are
not allowed to digest data 30 minutes
before the official release time. Internet
users are also disadvantaged relative to
lock-up participants to the extent that
internet postings may lag slightly
behind lock-up transmissions.
Developments in high-speed algorithmic
trading technology have also raised
concerns about the possible impact of
unequal access to sensitive economic
data. As discussed above, DOL’s
Inspector General has issued multiple
reports with findings that the current
press lock-up ‘‘creates an unfair
competitive advantage for certain news
organizations and their clients.’’
It was never the intent of DOL in
establishing the lock-up facility to
provide a financial windfall to paying
clients of credentialed media
organizations, or to allow credentialed
media organizations to profit off of the
privilege of early access to government
data. DOL does not wish to facilitate
those practices. Although DOL
understands that certain high-frequency
trading firms may retain some advantage
in faster ingestion and downloading of
government data even after the lock-up
process is discontinued, DOL itself will
no longer have any role in facilitating
such an advantage.
It is no longer necessary to use the
credentialed news media to help the
Department disseminate DOL’s
statistical data widely because the
internet permits the public and
interested users to obtain releases for
themselves. Discontinuing the lock-up
will not disadvantage the lock-up
participants; it will merely remove the
advantage they currently enjoy. In the
time since the OIG recommendations
were issued, BLS and ETA have devoted
significant resources to introducing
improved technologies to ensure data
are posted and accessible on their
websites immediately following the
official release time. When the COVID–
19 pandemic required the closure of the
media lock-up in March of 2020, these
improved technologies allowed BLS and
ETA to disseminate the data
immediately and widely to the public
without incident and without providing
early access to lock-up participants.
Specifically, the March Employment
Situation report, released on April 3,
2020 without a lock-up, demonstrates
that the BLS website can serve all
interested users in the seconds after
release time with little or no
degradation in response time and a
negligible error rate. The same holds
true for the Unemployment Insurance
Weekly Claims Reports issued since
March 20, 2020. Stories in the press
covering the March data were available
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to the public only slightly later—and, in
at least one case, actually earlier—than
they were a month earlier when a lockup was held. Given this success over the
past two months, DOL now believes it
can continue to disseminate the data to
the public, including the media, in a
timely manner. DOL will therefore
discontinue the use of the lock-up
facility to allow all parties, including
the media, commercial entities, and the
public, equitable and timely access to
our most important statistical data.
IV. Result
By permanently discontinuing the
lock-up facility as of June 3, 2020, DOL
intends to protect the integrity of its
data and enable dissemination of news
releases in an equitable, secure, and
cost-effective manner so that all
information is available to the public
and the media at the official release
time.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau
of Economic Analysis and U.S. Census
Bureau are also committed to the secure,
timely, and equitable release of all data.
As such, for the reasons stated in this
notice, both Bureaus will also
discontinue embargoed media lock-ups
at the Department of Labor’s facility and
will continue to release their data
securely through their websites.
https://www.msha.gov/regsinfo.htm or
https://www.regulations.gov [Docket
Number: MSHA–2018–0015].
Email Notification: To subscribe to
receive email notification when MSHA
publishes rulemaking documents in the
Federal Register, go to https://
www.msha.gov/subscriptions.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Roslyn B. Fontaine, Acting Director,
Office of Standards, Regulations, and
Variances, MSHA, at fontaine.roslyn@
dol.gov (email), 202–693–9440 (voice),
or 202–693–9441 (fax). These are not
toll-free numbers.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Cancellation of Program Policy Letter
Signed at Washington, DC, this 19th day of
May 2020.
William W. Beach,
Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
On July 29, 2019, MSHA published in
the Federal Register a PPL to clarify
requirements in 30 CFR 57.11050,
Escapeways and Refuges, together with
a request for public comment (84 FR
36623). The PPL was intended to assist
MNM mine operators with guidance on
the placement of escapeways and
refuges that underground miners need
to use in emergency situations. On
October 10, 2019, MSHA also held a
public stakeholder meeting to ensure
that the public would have additional
opportunities to provide feedback. After
reviewing all the comments received
during both the public comment period
and the stakeholder meeting, MSHA has
now determined that the clarification in
this PPL is not needed. Therefore,
MSHA cancels the PPL.
[FR Doc. 2020–11297 Filed 5–26–20; 8:45 am]
(Authority: 30 U.S.C. 811)
BILLING CODE 4510–24–P
David G. Zatezalo,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety
and Health Administration.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
[FR Doc. 2020–11300 Filed 5–26–20; 8:45 am]
Mine Safety and Health Administration
BILLING CODE 4520–43–P
[Docket No. MSHA–2018–0015]
Escapeways and Refuges in
Underground Metal and Nonmetal
Mines
Mine Safety and Health
Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice of cancellation; Program
Policy Letter.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
AGENCY:
The Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA) cancels a
Program Policy Letter (PPL) that was
issued on July 29, 2019 to provide
guidance on escapeways and refuges
used by underground metal and
nonmetal miners in emergency
situations.
SUMMARY:
Cancellation as of May 27, 2020.
ADDRESSES:
Federal Register Publications: Access
rulemaking documents electronically at
DATES:
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[Docket No. OSHA–2009–0035]
The Ethylene Oxide (EtO) Standard;
Extension of the Office of Management
and Budget’s (OMB) Approval of
Information Collection (Paperwork)
Requirements
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
AGENCY:
OSHA solicits public
comments concerning the proposal to
extend the Office of Management and
Budget’s (OMB) approval of the
information collection requirements
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31810-31812]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11297]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Announcing Discontinuation of the DOL Lock-Up Facility for
Participating News Media Organizations With Pre-Release Access to
Statistical Information
AGENCY: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) plans to discontinue use of the
lock-up facility currently available for participating news media
organizations to access statistical information prior to official
release time. This Federal Register Notice supersedes the previous
Notice issued on February 7, 2020, which announced the DOL's intent to
eliminate use of electronic devices in the lock-up room. As a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic, use of the lock-up facility has been
indefinitely suspended since March 20, 2020, and timely and orderly
distribution of DOL statistical information has been accomplished at
official release time through DOL websites, social media channels, and
email subscription lists. This notification announces the permanent
discontinuation of the DOL lock-up facility effective June 3, 2020,
regardless of whether the current restrictions in place as a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic remain necessary as of that date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Trupo, Deputy Assistant
Secretary, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC; 202-693-4676;
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is responsible for the
development and oversight of Government-wide policies, principles,
standards, and guidelines concerning statistical information
presentation and dissemination, as well as the timely release of
statistical data. OMB has issued a series of Statistical Policy
Directives (SPDs) to guide agencies in their dissemination of
statistical products to ensure timely and equitable distribution of
data to the public. Each of these SPDs describes the fundamental
statistical-system principle of equitable and timely dissemination of
statistical information to the public. See, e.g., SPD No. 1,
Fundamental Responsibilities of Federal Statistical Agencies and
Recognized Statistical Units (Dec. 2, 2014) (``The objectivity of the
information released to the public is maximized by making information
available on an equitable, policy-neutral, transparent, timely, and
punctual basis''); SPD No. 3, Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of
Principal Federal Economic Indicators (Sept. 25, 1985) (emphasizing the
importance of releasing Principal Federal Economic Indicators (PFEIs)
to the public in a fair and orderly manner); SPD No. 4, Release and
Dissemination of Statistical Products Produced by Federal Statistical
Agencies (Mar. 7, 2008) (``Statistical agencies must ensure that all
users have equitable and timely access to data that are disseminated to
the public.''). In short, equitable and timely dissemination of
statistical information is a core principle of Federal statistical
policy.
Since the mid-1980s, consistent with these SPDs, DOL agencies have
provided pre-release data access to news
[[Page 31811]]
organizations, as a courtesy, under strict embargoes (known as ``lock-
ups'') for PFEIs. PFEIs are a set of designated economic data series
(e.g., the Employment Situation or Consumer Price Index) that have
significant commercial value and may affect the movement of commodity
and financial markets upon release. DOL, in its discretion, has
employed lock-ups for the release of limited non-PFEI data (i.e.,
Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims). Although not required to do so,
DOL in 1988 constructed a special lock-up facility to provide pre-
release access to news media organizations. DOL took steps to enhance
the security of the lock-up facility, including in 1992 and again in
2011-2012. These lock-ups have provided participating media
organizations a period of time (typically 30 minutes) to review data
prior to the official release time. At the official release time, DOL
has opened the communication lines within the facility, allowing the
press to transmit their articles or tables of data to the public.
For many years, dissemination through the lock-up process served as
one of several effective methods to assist the government in getting
information to the public. But today, with increased communication and
technology capabilities utilized by the government, the media, and the
general public, this particular method is no longer necessary and
discontinuation of the lock-up best ensures the equitable and timely
dissemination of statistical information consistent with OMB's
guidance. Continuing security, resource, and equity concerns also
outweigh any benefits of the current process.
DOL's Inspector General has noted concerns with the current press
lock-up process, including in reports dated January 2, 2014 (17-14-001-
03-315) and March 25, 2016 (17-16-001-01-001) and in every subsequent
Semi-Annual OIG Report to Congress. Specifically, DOL Inspector General
Report 17-14-001-03-315 states that the lock-up ``unintentionally
creates an unfair competitive advantage for certain news organizations
and their clients'':
Pre-release access of DOL-generated economic data is intended to
serve the general public by ensuring that news reports about the
data are accurate. To that end, the media are given access to the
data in advance of the public release to facilitate their ability to
analyze and ask questions about the data as they prepare their news
stories. However, the intended purpose of ensuring accurate news
reports must be weighed against the inequitable trading advantage
that a lock-up can potentially create. Several news organizations
that participate in the DOL press lock-up are able to profit from
their presence in the lock-up by selling, to traders, high speed
data feeds of economic data formatted for computerized algorithmic
trading. Because these news organizations have pre-release access,
they are able to pre-load the data . . . allowing their clients to
get this information faster than the general public, which has to
wait to download the data after it gets posted to the Department of
Labor websites.
The aforementioned report further recommends that BLS and ETA ``. .
. implement a strategy designed to eliminate any competitive advantage
that news organizations present in the lock-up and/or their clients may
have; or, absent a viable solution, consider discontinuing the use of
the press lock-up that provides news organizations pre-release
access.'' Some media lock-up attendees continue to post online
advertisements claiming that their clients are advantaged by their
lock-up attendance.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For example, as recently as May 12, 2020, the Associated
Press advertised on their event-driven data page that users can
``[g]et the lowest-latency delivery of economic release from
Washington DC lock-ups'' and that their ``low-latency delivery of
economic releases, coupled with [their] machine-readable format of
[their] entire text news output, gives firms the data they need to
make informed, split-second decisions.'' See Associated Press,
Microseconds Matter, https://www.ap.org/discover/event-driven-data
(last visited May 12, 2020). See also Dow Jones, Calendar Live,
https://professional.dowjones.com/newswires/calendar-live/ (last
visited May 12, 2020) (advertising that they can provide ``[s]ub-
second updates on actual data from government lockups, banks,
industry, and trade groups'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To protect the integrity of our data releases and to ensure
dissemination of key economic data in an equitable, timely, secure, and
cost-effective manner, as of June 3, 2020, DOL will permanently
discontinue use of the lock-up facility, regardless of whether the
restrictions that are currently in place as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic remain necessary as of that date. Discontinuing use of the
lock-up facility eliminates the risk of premature disclosure of the
data by the press or as a result of the lock-up embargo process, and
eliminates the risk of providing an unfair competitive advantage to
lock-up participants and their clients compared to the rest of the
public due to the preparation time provided by the media's early access
to the data. BLS and ETA will continue to make their data available to
the general public immediately upon their 8:30AM Eastern Time release
through the Web and other sources.
II. Action
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOL lock-up facility is
currently closed, and will remain closed at least through June 3, 2020.
In an effort to protect the integrity of our data and ensure fairness
in the dissemination of statistical information, DOL plans to
permanently discontinue use of the DOL lock-up facility starting on
June 3, 2020. After that date, regardless of any restrictions that may
remain in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, DOL will no
longer provide credentialed press early access to the economic data
under embargo conditions in a lock-up. Instead, data will be released
to the general public all at once, through online publication. The
purpose of this action is to ``ensure that all users have equitable and
timely access to data that are disseminated to the public,'' as noted
in OMB SPD No. 4.
The previously proposed policy change to suspend the use of
electronic devices in the lock-up room (see 85 FR 7333), was designed
to retain the media's ability to publish accurate and informed stories
shortly after the embargo was lifted. During the suspension of the
media lock-up room for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, however, the
media demonstrated their ability to produce informed and accurate
articles within minutes of the electronic release to the BLS website
despite not having early access to the data at all.
Furthermore, DOL invests significant personnel and financial
resources to administer and staff the lock-up facility, ensure that
data products are created and transported to the lock-up facility, and
secure the lock-up facility. Discontinuing lock-ups, as opposed to
merely eliminating use of electronic devices, will enable DOL to cease
these expenditures while also eliminating entirely any possibility of a
breach from the lock-up room. As explained in more detail below, the
recent COVID-19 experience demonstrates that DOL can eliminate the
overhead and risk of lock-up rooms altogether without degrading the
quality or timeliness of media coverage.
At the appropriate scheduled times, BLS and ETA will provide access
to official news releases on the agency websites. In addition, the
agencies will issue releases through social media and to email
subscribers. Agencies will continue to respond to questions about the
data from the public, including the media, following the releases.
III. Necessity of Action
When DOL first used embargoed data releases in the mid-1980s, media
dissemination was an equitable and timely method to get data to the
public. Today, technology and the internet permit the public and
interested data users to obtain releases for themselves. However,
unlike media organizations in
[[Page 31812]]
the lock-up facility, internet users are not allowed to digest data 30
minutes before the official release time. Internet users are also
disadvantaged relative to lock-up participants to the extent that
internet postings may lag slightly behind lock-up transmissions.
Developments in high-speed algorithmic trading technology have also
raised concerns about the possible impact of unequal access to
sensitive economic data. As discussed above, DOL's Inspector General
has issued multiple reports with findings that the current press lock-
up ``creates an unfair competitive advantage for certain news
organizations and their clients.''
It was never the intent of DOL in establishing the lock-up facility
to provide a financial windfall to paying clients of credentialed media
organizations, or to allow credentialed media organizations to profit
off of the privilege of early access to government data. DOL does not
wish to facilitate those practices. Although DOL understands that
certain high-frequency trading firms may retain some advantage in
faster ingestion and downloading of government data even after the
lock-up process is discontinued, DOL itself will no longer have any
role in facilitating such an advantage.
It is no longer necessary to use the credentialed news media to
help the Department disseminate DOL's statistical data widely because
the internet permits the public and interested users to obtain releases
for themselves. Discontinuing the lock-up will not disadvantage the
lock-up participants; it will merely remove the advantage they
currently enjoy. In the time since the OIG recommendations were issued,
BLS and ETA have devoted significant resources to introducing improved
technologies to ensure data are posted and accessible on their websites
immediately following the official release time. When the COVID-19
pandemic required the closure of the media lock-up in March of 2020,
these improved technologies allowed BLS and ETA to disseminate the data
immediately and widely to the public without incident and without
providing early access to lock-up participants. Specifically, the March
Employment Situation report, released on April 3, 2020 without a lock-
up, demonstrates that the BLS website can serve all interested users in
the seconds after release time with little or no degradation in
response time and a negligible error rate. The same holds true for the
Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Reports issued since March 20,
2020. Stories in the press covering the March data were available to
the public only slightly later--and, in at least one case, actually
earlier--than they were a month earlier when a lock-up was held. Given
this success over the past two months, DOL now believes it can continue
to disseminate the data to the public, including the media, in a timely
manner. DOL will therefore discontinue the use of the lock-up facility
to allow all parties, including the media, commercial entities, and the
public, equitable and timely access to our most important statistical
data.
IV. Result
By permanently discontinuing the lock-up facility as of June 3,
2020, DOL intends to protect the integrity of its data and enable
dissemination of news releases in an equitable, secure, and cost-
effective manner so that all information is available to the public and
the media at the official release time.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis and U.S.
Census Bureau are also committed to the secure, timely, and equitable
release of all data. As such, for the reasons stated in this notice,
both Bureaus will also discontinue embargoed media lock-ups at the
Department of Labor's facility and will continue to release their data
securely through their websites.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 19th day of May 2020.
William W. Beach,
Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2020-11297 Filed 5-26-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P
