Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2024 / Notices 11873 

1Public comments received in response to the 

April 2019 FRN are available at 

www.regulations.gov/document/OMB-2019-0001- 

0001/comment. 

Comments and submissions are 

posted without change at http://

www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA 

cautions commenters about submitting 

personal information such as social 

security numbers and dates of birth. 

Although all submissions are listed in 

the http://www.regulations.gov index, 

some information (e.g., copyrighted 

material) is not publicly available to 

read or download from this website. All 

submissions, including copyrighted 

material, are available for inspection 

and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. 

Information on using the http://

www.regulations.gov website to submit 

comments and access the docket is 

available at the website’s ‘‘User Tips’’ 

link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at 

(202) 693–2350, (TTY (877) 889–5627) 

for information about materials not 

available from the website, and for 

assistance in using the internet to locate 

docket submissions. 

V. Authority and Signature 

James S. Frederick, Deputy Assistant 

Secretary of Labor for Occupational 

Safety and Health, directed the 

preparation of this notice. The authority 

for this notice is the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506 

et seq.) and Secretary of Labor’s Order 

No. 8–2020 (85 FR 58393). 

Signed at Washington, DC, on February 9, 

2024. 

James S. Frederick, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for 

Occupational Safety and Health. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03128 Filed 2–14–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–26–P 

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND 

BUDGET 

Update of Statistical Policy Directive 

No. 3: Compilation, Release, and 

Evaluation of Principal Federal 

Economic Indicators—Changing 

Timing of Public Comments by 

Employees of the Executive Branch 

AGENCY: Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, Executive 

Office of the President. 

ACTION: Notice of adoption of a revised 

Statistical Policy Directive No. 3. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) announces the 

adoption of a revised Statistical Policy 

Directive No. 3: Compilation, Release, 

and Evaluation of Principal Federal 

Economic Indicators (Directive No. 3). 

The procedures in Directive No. 3, 

published in 1985, were designed to 

ensure equitable, policy-neutral, and 

timely release and dissemination of 

Principal Federal Economic Indicators. 

The goals of Directive No. 3 remain 

sound; this Notice announces the 

adoption of procedures consistent with 

these goals to reflect advances in 

communication technologies and 

methods. OMB has solely modified the 

provision, ‘‘employees of the Executive 

Branch shall not comment publicly on 

the data until at least one hour after the 

official release time,’’ by replacing ‘‘one 

hour’’ with ‘‘thirty minutes.’’ This 

change reduces the delay after official 

release time before commentary from 

employees of the Executive Branch, 

while retaining a necessary time delay 

between policy-neutral release of the 

official statistics and subsequent 

Executive Branch interpretations of this 

statistical data. 

DATES: Effective Date: The effective date 

of this Directive is February 19, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Please send correspondence 

about OMB’s decision to Dominic 

Mancini, Office of Management and 

Budget, New Executive Office Building, 

Washington, DC 20503, or email 

Statistical_Directives@omb.eop.gov with 

the subject ‘‘More Info: Directive No. 3.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Karin Orvis, Office of Management and 

Budget, telephone 202-395-5989, email 

Statistical_Directives@omb.eop.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Summary: Under the Budget and 

Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31 

U.S.C. 1104(d)) and the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

3504(e)) (the PRA), the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

announces a change of one provision 

within Statistical Policy Directive No. 3: 

Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of 

Principal Federal Economic Indicators 

(50 FR 38932, Sept. 25, 1985) (Directive 

No. 3). In particular, OMB modifies the 

provision in Directive No. 3, 

‘‘employees of the Executive Branch 

shall not comment publicly on the data 

until at least one hour after the official 

release time,’’ by replacing ‘‘one hour’’ 

with ‘‘thirty minutes.’’ 

Background: Directive No. 3’s 

purposes are ‘‘to preserve the time 

value’’ of the Principal Federal 

Economic Indicators (PFEIs), ‘‘strike a 

balance between timeliness and 

accuracy,’’ ‘‘prevent early access to 

information that may affect financial 

and commodity markets,’’ and ‘‘preserve 

the distinction between the policyneutral release of data by statistical 

agencies and their interpretation by 

policy officials.’’ Directive No. 3 also 

provides for the periodic evaluation of 

each indicator. Directive No. 3 remains 

a robust, comprehensive source of 

guidance for Federal statistical agencies 

and recognized statistical units 

producing PFEIs. The government and 

private sector widely watch and heavily 

rely upon these statistical series as 

indicators of the current condition and 

direction of the economy. 

The procedures in Directive No. 3, 

published in 1985, were designed to 

ensure equitable, policy-neutral, and 

timely release and dissemination of 

PFEIs. The goals of Directive No. 3 

remain sound, and OMB has not 

changed them. In furtherance of these 

goals, OMB retains a minimum time 

period that Executive Branch employees 

must wait after the policy-neutral 

release of the data before Executive 

Branch employees can comment on 

those data. 

In April 2019, OMB published in the 

Federal Register a request for comments 

on a proposal to reduce the duration of 

the prohibition of commentary by 

employees of the Executive Branch 

following the PFEI release from one 

hour to something shorter, including the 

consideration of the option of having no 

delay at all (84 FR 14682, Apr. 11, 

2019). OMB received sixteen in-scope 

comments in response to that Notice. 

All in-scope commenters strongly 

supported either a retention of the onehour delay, or a delay of some duration, 

after official release time before 

employees of the Executive Branch 

could comment on the PFEI releases, 

with no commenters in support of 

removing the delay entirely.1

In August 2023, OMB published in 

the Federal Register a request for public 

comments on an updated proposal to 

reduce the duration of the prohibition of 

commentary by employees of the 

Executive Branch following the PFEI 

release from one hour to 30 minutes. 

OMB noted that it agreed with the 

previous comments on this issue 

submitted in 2019 and understood that 

maintaining some delay as part of 

Directive No. 3 continues to be 

important to maintain the bright line 

between the release of data and any 

commentary on such data by Executive 

Branch officials. OMB noted that it was 

considering this updated proposal 

because, while the delay is important to 

ensuring a bright line between the data 

release and the Executive Branch’s 

policy interpretation, since 1985 there 

have been many changes in the way the 

public communicates, as well as in how 

the relevant statistical agencies 

disseminate information. For example, 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
11874 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2024 / Notices 

2See, e.g., American Economic Association 

Committee on Economic Statistics, Comment 

#0009; Anonymous, Comment #0012. 

3See Council of Econ. Advisers, The Timing of 

Market Reactions to Data Releases, The White 

House (Feb. 14, 2024), https://www.whitehouse.gov/ 

wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CEA-PFEIAnalysis.pdf. 

4See Off. of Mgmt. & Budget, The Timing of Press 

Publications After High-Profile PFEI Data Releases, 

The White House (Feb. 14, 2024), https://

www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ 

OMB-PFEI-Press.pdf. 

5See, e.g., Bureau of Labor Statistics, Comment 

#0007; American Statistical Association, Comment 

#0006; Stefanie R. Schmidt, Comment #0004; 

Michael Ravnitzky, Comment #0002, Anonymous, 

Comment #0012. 

in addition to more traditional means of 

dissemination (e.g., newspaper or 

radio), agencies now disseminate and 

the public interacts with data releases 

through the internet, including through 

websites, social media platforms, and 

other applications. These newer 

dissemination platforms in particular 

offer nearly instantaneous access to any 

information supplied by the agencies 

producing the PFEI data, including the 

data releases. These platforms can also 

offer direct attribution of the data to the 

agencies that produce it; these agencies 

are required to meet data quality 

standards and are trusted to implement 

those requirements. OMB noted that 

these advances in the timing and 

attribution of dissemination can 

contribute to the ability of the public to 

fully digest the data releases sooner than 

when such dissemination methods were 

not available. 

In addition, OMB noted that the 

public generally communicates and 

interacts differently now than in 1985. 

In particular, various platforms exist 

now that allow the public to interact 

seconds after a new data release comes 

out. This means that for these PFEI data 

releases, non-Executive Branch actors 

are engaging in dialogue almost 

immediately following the official 

release time and can be offering 

perspectives on the meaning of the data. 

Under the 1985 Directive No. 3, this 

dialogue lacks any Executive Branch 

interpretation until at least one hour 

after the data’s official release time. 

OMB notes that discussion by nonExecutive Branch employees about the 

PFEI data release starts immediately 

following the release, and as such, by 

the time 30 minutes has passed, a robust 

discussion is already well underway. By 

reducing the period to 30 minutes, 

Executive Branch officials could enter 

the dialogue earlier. OMB noted that it 

believes that this change is likely to lead 

to a more robust discussion without 

compromising the underlying principles 

of Directive No. 3, including the benefits 

of having some time delay. OMB did not 

consider any other alternatives in the 

August 2023 proposal. 

OMB sought comments from all 

interested parties, including data users, 

businesses, organizations, and the 

media. OMB specifically solicited 

comments from the public about the 

proposal to change the delay from one 

hour to 30 minutes, including whether 

such a change could still meet the goals 

of Directive No. 3 to ensure equitable, 

policy-neutral, and timely release and 

dissemination of PFEIs. OMB also 

requested input on whether to maintain 

the one-hour delay. 

More background and history on the 

policies of Directive No. 3 can be found 

in the August 2023 Federal Register 

Notice (88 FR 58316), available at 

https://www.federalregister.gov/ 

documents/2023/08/25/2023-18313/ 

statistical-policy-directive-no-3- 

compilation-release-and-evaluation-ofprincipal-federal-economic, and April 

2019 Federal Register Notice (84 FR 

14682) (April 2019 FRN), available at 

www.federalregister.gov/documents/ 

2019/04/11/2019-07172/statisticalpolicy-directive-no-3-compilationrelease-and-evaluation-of-principalfederal-economic. 

Summary of Comments: OMB 

received 12 public comments in 

response to the August 2023 FRN. None 

of the 12 public comments expressed 

support for making the change from one 

hour to 30 minutes. The public 

comments raised different substantive 

points for OMB to consider. All of the 

public comments are viewable at 

www.regulations.gov/document/OMB2023-0016-0001/comment. 

Response to Comments: 

OMB provides below responses to 

these comments, grouped by substantive 

points. 

(1) Comment: There is a need to 

provide evidence that consumers of 

information will understand the 

distinction between PFEI releases and 

commentary from employees of the 

Executive Branch. 

Certain commenters encouraged OMB 

to provide evidence that 30 minutes is 

a sufficient period of time to ensure 

understanding of the distinction 

between PFEI releases and commentary 

about those releases from employees of 

the Executive Branch.2

OMB Response: 

It is difficult to directly measure the 

degree of public understanding 

regarding the distinction between the 

PFEI data releases and commentary 

from employees of the Executive 

Branch, and the potential effects on that 

degree of understanding that could 

result from reducing the time delay from 

one hour to 30 minutes. As discussed 

below, OMB reviewed existing literature 

and a new analysis from the Council of 

Economic Advisers (CEA) and 

conducted some original analysis to 

estimate the potential effects of the 

change on market movements, news 

stories, and social media dissemination 

of such news. One commenter suggested 

analyzing the timing and content of 

social media posts to evaluate potential 

impact. Given the difficulty of accessing 

and analyzing that data, and taking into 

account that the analysis would also not 

be capable of directly estimating the 

impact on public understanding, OMB 

did not undertake this analysis. The 

information available to OMB on both 

market movements and the timing of 

news stories does not provide evidence 

that confusion about PFEI data releases 

and commentary from employees of the 

Executive Branch would be likely to 

result from a reduction in the delay 

period. 

OMB reviewed analysis conducted by 

CEA 3 on the response of market 

participants to PFEI releases. The CEA 

analysis and summary of other relevant 

literature reviewed by OMB suggest that 

markets absorb at least some of the PFEI 

release information quickly, in most 

cases within seconds of the release. 

OMB also conducted some analysis of 

news articles.4 OMB’s analysis suggests 

that news stories are typically posted 

well ahead of 30 minutes after the PFEI 

release. OMB did not find any evidence 

that a reduction in the delay for 

Executive Branch commentary has the 

potential to cause confusion. 

(2) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute 

period before Executive Branch 

employees can comment on PFEI 

releases could lead to public concerns 

about political interference or 

manipulation of data or could reduce 

public trust and confidence in the 

Federal statistical system. 

Some commenters noted that 

Directive No. 3 was adopted, in part, to 

address criticism of confusion resulting 

from the simultaneous release of 

statistical data and commentary from 

Executive Branch employees.5 While 

noting that social media and news 

networks can now instantly broadcast 

information to the public, these 

commenters expressed concern that 

narrowing the gap between the release 

of official PFEI data from statistical 

agencies and units and commentary 

from Executive Branch employees 

would lead to inferences of political 

interference or manipulation of data. 

Some commenters noted that 

accusations of improper political 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2024 / Notices 11875 

6American Economic Association Committee on 

Economic Statistics, Comment #0009 (citing Ben 

Casselman, ‘‘No, the Jobs Report Wasn’t Rigged. 

Here’s What Happened.,’’ The New York Times 

(June 8, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/ 

08/business/economy/jobs-report-data.html); 

Population Association of America and Association 

of Population Centers, Comment #0011; see also 

Patricia Cohen, ‘‘How Economic Data is Kept 

Politics-Free,’’ The New York Times (Nov. 3, 2016), 

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/business/ 

economy/unemployment-labor-department-datapolitics.html. 

7See, e.g., American Statistical Association, 

Comment #0006; National Association for Business 

Economics, Comment #0008; Population 

Association of America and Association of 

Population Centers, Comment #0011; Stefanie R. 

Schmidt, Comment #0004, Michael Ravnitzky, 

Comment #0002, Anonymous, Comment #0010. 

8See, e.g., American Statistical Association, 

Comment #0006; Erica L. Groshen, Comment #0003. 

9See, e.g., Joseph Plambeck, ‘‘From Jack Welch, 

a Conspiracy Theory,’’ The New York Times (Oct. 

5, 2012), https://archive.nytimes.com/ 

economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/from-jackwelch-a-conspiracy-theory/. 

10See, e.g., Ben Casselman, ‘‘No, the Jobs Report 

Wasn’t Rigged. Here’s What Happened.,’’ The New 

York Times (June 8, 2020), https://www.nytimes.

com/2020/06/08/business/economy/jobs-reportdata.html. 

11See, e.g., https://www.nass.usda.gov/ 

Publications/Reports_By_Date/index.php and 

https://twitter.com/usda_nass. 

12See, e.g., https://www.census.gov/economicindicators/calendar-listview.html and https://

twitter.com/uscensusbureau. 

13See, e.g., https://www.bea.gov/news/schedule 

and https://twitter.com/BEA_News. 

14See, e.g., https://www.eia.gov/ and https://

twitter.com/EIAgov. 

15See, e.g., https://www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm 

and https://twitter.com/BLS_gov. 

16See, e.g., https://www.federalreserve.gov/ 

data.htm and https://twitter.com/federalreserve. 

interference are regularly raised 

immediately following the release of 

PFEIs.6

Certain commenters expressed 

concerns that a shift from a one-hour 

period to a 30-minute period that must 

elapse before Executive Branch 

employees can comment on PFEI data 

releases could erode public trust and 

confidence in Federal statistics and 

statistical agencies and units.7

Relatedly, some of these commenters 

went on to express concerns that this 

shift could thereby reduce response 

rates to requests for information from 

Federal statistical agencies and units.8

OMB Response: OMB agrees that the 

failure to have a sufficient delay before 

Executive Branch employees comment 

on PFEI releases would be problematic 

and could lead to conflation of the 

statistical release and the commentary. 

However, OMB believes the evidence 

surveyed indicates that 30 minutes is a 

sufficient time delay for markets, the 

media, and members of the public to 

distinguish between the data release and 

commentary from Executive Branch 

employees. Whatever delay may have 

been necessitated by the state of 

technology in 1985, when Directive No. 

3 was issued, OMB believes that the 

speed at which information is 

disseminated today allows for 30 

minutes to be sufficient for these 

purposes. Conversely, OMB believes 

that the available evidence would not 

support a further reduction to a period 

of less than 30 minutes, and that a 

sufficient delay period remains critical 

to fulfilling the goals of Directive No. 3. 

OMB appreciates concerns that 

changing the one-hour period before 

employees of the Executive Branch can 

comment publicly on PFEIs to a 30- 

minute period could exacerbate the 

distrust that gives rise to accusations of 

improper political interference 

immediately following the release of 

PFEIs. However, OMB notes that 

prominent accusations of improper 

political interference tend to either 

immediately follow a surprising 

release 9 or gain traction much later on 

the basis of complicated technical 

details in the underlying reports.10

Commenters provided no evidence that 

Executive Branch employees’ 

commentary on PFEIs at the one-hour 

mark prompted such accusations. Thus, 

OMB does not believe that changing the 

time until Executive Branch employees 

can comment on PFEIs from one hour to 

30 minutes would affect such 

accusations. 

Members of the Congress, governors 

and other state elected officials, 

associations affiliated with political 

parties, candidates for political office, 

and others all begin commenting on 

PFEI releases in the minutes 

immediately following the release of 

PFEIs. As a result, public commentary 

from employees of the Executive Branch 

enters an already-saturated environment 

whether it begins 30 minutes or one 

hour after the PFEI release. OMB 

believes that such commentary, 

following others by a substantial gap in 

time, is not confused with official data 

releases. Thus, OMB believes that 

Executive Branch employees entering 

this dialogue sooner does not introduce 

additional costs, but only a potential 

public benefit from the quicker 

participation of Executive Branch 

employees in this dialogue. 

Another factor contributing to clarity 

is that Federal statistical agencies and 

units generally communicate PFEI 

releases directly, with links to official 

reports, through their websites, social 

media, email blasts, and other means 

(such as interactive dissemination tools 

and Application Programming Interfaces 

or APIs). Each of the agencies producing 

PFEIs post their releases on their official 

websites and many also operate social 

media accounts that post links to the 

PFEI data releases within minutes of 

their public availability, including the 

National Agricultural Statistics 

Service,11 Bureau of the Census,12

Bureau of Economic Analysis,13 Energy 

Information Administration,14 Bureau of 

Labor Statistics,15 and Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System.16 The social media accounts 

have tens of thousands to millions of 

followers, ensuring public access to 

official PFEI data within moments of 

each data release. 

In addition, OMB is aware that there 

have been unexpected and unforeseen 

delays in the release of PFEI data before 

(see more information below). Such 

delays in the release of the PFEI data 

can introduce confusion with the public 

and Executive Branch employees about 

when Executive Branch employees are 

authorized to comment on PFEI data 

release, and the delays themselves can 

introduce perceptions of improper 

influence with the PFEI data simply 

because of the unknown reasons at the 

time for the delays. When such delays 

occur, the requirement still holds that 

Executive Branch employees shall not 

comment until at least 30 minutes after 

the release of the PFEI data, not the 

scheduled release time. However, in 

these instances, making sure Executive 

Branch employees are aware of the 

delay and the updated time at which 

they can comment is important to 

ensure the commentary does not 

precede the release of PFEI data. OMB 

plans to work with statistical agencies 

and units that produce PFEIs to ensure 

that the CEA Chair is aware of any 

significant delays in PFEI releases. The 

CEA Chair, consistent with Directive 

No. 3, plays an important role in 

coordinating official responses to PFEI 

releases, and can help to inform 

Executive Branch employees of such 

delays. All Executive Branch employees 

that comment on PFEI releases have an 

ongoing obligation to ensure that they 

are in compliance with Directive No. 3, 

including if necessary attending to the 

effect of a delay in the release of a PFEI 

before commenting on the data release. 

For context, OMB is aware that short 

delays (e.g., of less than two minutes) in 

the release of PFEI data are common. 

However, OMB is also aware that there 

have been unexpected and unforeseen 

longer delays in releasing the PFEI data. 

Over the last 10 years, out of the over 

3,700 PFEI data releases, OMB is aware 

of five that occurred unexpectedly 30 

minutes or more after the scheduled 

release time (with the longest known 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
11876 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2024 / Notices 

17Anonymous, Comment #0005. 

18One other PFEI releases before the market 

opens, at 9:15 a.m. ET. This means the 30-minute 

period would occur after the market opens. 

19See, e.g., Lei Gao, Yufeng Han, Sophia Zhengzi 

Li, and Guofu Zhou, ‘‘Market Intraday Momentum,’’ 

Journal of Financial Economics 129, no. 2 (2018): 

394–414. 

20Michael Ravnitzky, Comment #0002. 

21Michael Ravnitzky, Comment #0002. 

22American Statistical Association, Comment 

#0006. 

23American Statistical Association, Comment 

#0006; National Association for Business 

Economics, Comment #0008. 

unexpected delay being 2 hours). While 

a problem, this is not a fundamentally 

different problem regardless of whether 

the period before employees of the 

Executive Branch can comment on PFEI 

data releases is one hour or 30 minutes. 

OMB emphasizes that even in the event 

of an unforeseen delay in the PFEI data 

release the 30-minute period before 

employees of the Executive Branch can 

comment still applies. That is, the 30- 

minute period starts after the release of 

the PFEI data, not following the timing 

of the intended release of the PFEI. 

(3) Comment: In some cases, a shift 

from a one-hour period to a 30-minute 

period will result in Executive Branch 

employees commenting before the stock 

market opens. 

One commenter argued that allowing 

employees of the Executive Branch to 

comment before the stock market 

generally opens (in the 9:00–9:30 a.m. 

ET period for PFEIs that are released at 

8:30 a.m. ET) may confuse markets.17

OMB Response: Of the 35 PFEIs 

designated by OMB, currently 15 have 

release times at 8:30 a.m. ET.18 As noted 

previously, data indicate that futures 

markets may fully price PFEI data 

releases quickly, with price jumps being 

completed within minutes following the 

release of several PFEIs. Conversely, one 

of the advantages of data releases in the 

pre-market opening period is that the 

price effect can be fully integrated 

before market opening. Conventional 

wisdom holds that allowing important 

news to be processed before markets 

open allows for concentrated trading in 

the first few minutes after market with 

greater liquidity, given that market 

makers generally unload inventory at 

market close to avoid exposure to the 

risk of overnight price shifts, and 

shields ordinary investors from the 

volatility of news integration in futures 

markets.19 By allowing Executive 

Branch employees to comment on PFEI 

releases in the pre-market opening 

period (for those PFEIs released at 8:30 

a.m. ET), the market-moving effects of 

such commentary, should such 

commentary incidentally have any 

market-moving effects, can be fully 

priced in before market open. 

Conversely, the current one-hour period 

causes commentary to coincide with 

market open. In this way, for those 15 

PFEI releases that currently release 

ahead of market open, shifting the 

period from one hour to 30 minutes 

could be modestly beneficial. 

(4) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute 

period before Executive Branch 

employees can comment on PFEI 

releases increases the likelihood of not 

catching errors in PFEI releases. 

One commenter raised concerns that 

a shift from a one-hour to a 30-minute 

period that must elapse before Executive 

Branch employees can comment on 

PFEI releases could increase the 

likelihood of data errors or other forms 

of miscommunication relating to PFEIs 

as a result of less time for data 

verification or clarification.20

OMB Response: OMB emphasizes that 

this change does not affect any of the 

error-checking work that precedes the 

publication of PFEIs; it also does not 

affect clarifications by authorized 

agency personnel during the 30-minute 

period before other Executive Branch 

employees can comment on PFEI 

releases. Given the evidence described 

above that market activity may fully 

price PFEI releases within seconds, as 

discussed previously, there is no 

evidence to suggest that subsequent data 

correction or clarification is a 

substantial concern. Further, Federal 

statistical agencies and units work hard 

to ensure that data releases are accurate 

at the time of release. It is also not clear 

why having Federal employees 

comment on erroneous data before a 

correction as noted is worse than 

market, media, and other commentary 

on that same erroneous data before 

correction. The nature of correcting data 

is that such reactions will need to be 

revised, in the event that a correction 

occurs. 

(5) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute 

period before Executive Branch 

employees can comment on PFEI 

releases could cause confusion and lead 

to more noncompliant early 

commentary. 

One comment stated that changing the 

delay period before Executive Branch 

employees can comment on PFEI 

releases is likely to create confusion, 

and lead to a greater number of 

Executive Branch employees 

commenting before the period has 

elapsed. The commenter reasons that 

this could occur if an employee is 

traveling or working in a different time 

zone or due to the effects of Daylight 

Savings Time.21

OMB Response: OMB notes that there 

is nothing inherently more confusing 

from a compliance standpoint about a 

30-minute delay than a one-hour delay. 

Time zone differences and the effects of 

Daylight Savings Time could affect the 

appropriate local time when an 

Executive Branch employee is 

authorized to speak regardless of 

whether Directive No. 3 incorporated a 

one-hour period or a 30-minute period. 

As such, OMB does not believe that the 

potential for confusion provides a basis 

to prefer one period of time to another. 

(6) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute 

period before Executive Branch 

employees can comment on PFEI 

releases would lead to wider predissemination release of PFEIs within 

the Executive Branch. 

One commenter expressed concern 

that shifting the period during which 

employees of the Executive Branch 

cannot comment on PFEI releases from 

one hour to 30 minutes after the release 

would result in more Executive Branch 

employees having pre-release access to 

PFEI data, and in turn, increases the risk 

of premature release of PFEI data.22

OMB Response: OMB clarifies that it 

is not effectuating a change in the 

composition of individuals with prerelease access to PFEIs. Directive No. 3 

strictly limits the pre-release 

dissemination of PFEI data and 

enumerates specific conditions under 

which the agency producing the PFEI 

may grant others access to that 

information. These portions of the 

Directive are not being amended. 

(7) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute 

period before Executive Branch 

employees can comment on PFEI 

releases would lead to less time for 

Executive Branch employees to 

coordinate a response to the data 

release. 

Certain commenters expressed 

concern that shifting the period during 

which employees of the Executive 

Branch cannot comment on PFEI 

releases from one hour to 30 minutes 

would give Executive Branch employees 

less time to coordinate a response to the 

PFEI data prior to the expiration of this 

period.23

OMB Response: The President, 

through the CEA Chair, has access to the 

PFEI data as soon as it is available in 

advance of the publication of the PFEI, 

providing for time for the Chair to 

develop a response to the PFEI data. 

Typically, the Chair receives the prerelease PFEI data the afternoon before 

the scheduled release. OMB notes that 

the 30-minute period is merely a floor 

on how soon Executive Branch 

employees can comment and should 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2024 / Notices 11877 

additional discussion be necessary 

before commenting after 30 minutes has 

elapsed, employees can elect to 

withhold commentary until such a time 

as they are ready to comment. 

OMB decision: After reviewing the 

public comments, reviewing relevant 

literature, and examining media and 

market movements, OMB has 

determined that any costs of shifting the 

delay period from one hour to 30 

minutes are outweighed by the benefits 

discussed above. 

* * * * * 

The revised directive is published 

below. 

Richard L. Revesz, 

Administrator, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs. 

Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 

Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of 

Principal Federal Economic Indicators 

Statistical series that are widely 

watched and heavily relied upon by 

government and the private sector as 

indicators of the current condition and 

direction of the economy must meet 

high standards of accuracy and 

reliability. Because such data series 

have significant commercial value, may 

affect the movement of commodity and 

financial markets, or may be taken as a 

measure of the impact of government 

policies, public release must be prompt 

and according to an established, 

publicly available schedule. The 

purpose of the procedures outlined in 

this directive is to assure that these data 

series meet specific accuracy, release, 

and accountability standards. 

1. Designation of Principal Indicators. 

The Administrator for Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, will 

determine, after consultation with 

interested Federal agencies, the data 

series and estimates to be designated as 

principal Federal economic indicators 

and covered by this directive. The 

Administrator will review the 

designations annually. 

2. Prompt Release. The interval 

between the period to which the data or 

estimates refer and the date when the 

data or estimates are released to the 

public shall be as short as practicable. 

Agencies should compile and release 

series that are issued quarterly or more 

frequently within 22 working days of 

the end of the reference period. 

3. Release Schedule. The releasing 

agency is responsible for ensuring that 

the interested public is aware of the 

release time and date. The last report of 

each calendar year must contain the 

time and date of all reports in the 

upcoming year. In addition, each release 

will include an announcement of the 

time and date of the next release. The 

releasing agency shall provide a 

schedule of releases for the upcoming 

calendar year to the Statistical Policy 

Office, Office of information and 

Regulatory Affairs, by December 15. 

Changes in the release schedule may 

occur only if special, unforeseen 

circumstances arise. The releasing 

agency must announce and fully explain 

any schedule changes as soon as it has 

determined they are unavoidable. 

There should be one office in the 

agency that can provide the release 

schedule of all the agency’s economic 

indicators. The name, address, and 

telephone number of this office should 

be readily available to the public. 

Agencies shall establish and maintain 

one or two times of day for the release 

of their principal economic indicators 

and shall only release indicators at such 

designated times. 

4. Announcement of Changes. 

Agencies shall announce any planned 

change in data collection, analysis, or 

estimation methods that may affect the 

interpretation of a principal economic 

indicator as far in advance of the change 

as possible. The agency should include 

the announcement in a regular report of 

the economic indicator. When possible, 

a period of public comment should be 

provided between the announcement of 

an intended change and its 

implementation. At a minimum for 

quarterly and monthly series, the agency 

shall announce the change at least three 

reports before the first report affected by 

the change. For weekly and annual 

series, the announcement should 

precede the first report affected by the 

change by at least three months. In the 

first report affected by the change, the 

agency should include a complete 

description of the change and its 

impact. 

Agencies shall fully explain 

unforeseeable changes due to special 

circumstances as soon as they are 

known and in the first report affected by 

the change. 

5. Release Procedure. The statistical 

agency that produces each principal 

economic indicator shall issue it in a 

press release or other printed report. 

The agency shall issue a press release 

where this will significantly speed up 

the dissemination of data to the public. 

Each statistical agency shall be 

responsible for establishing procedures 

to assure that there is no premature 

release of information or data estimates 

during the time required for preparation 

of the public report. This includes the 

protection of public use data banks, 

which shall not receive any data or 

estimates until they are officially 

released. As soon as copies of materials 

for public release have been prepared, 

the agency shall physically secure them. 

Except for the authorized distribution 

described in this section, agencies shall 

ensure that no information or data 

estimates are released before the official 

release time. 

The agency will provide prerelease 

information to the President, through 

the Chairman of the Council of 

Economic Advisers, as soon as it is 

available. The agency may grant others 

prerelease access only under the 

following conditions: 

(a) The agency head must establish 

whatever security arrangements are 

necessary and impose whatever 

conditions on the granting of access are 

necessary to ensure that there is no 

unauthorized dissemination or use. 

(b) The agency head shall ensure that 

any person granted access has been fully 

informed of and agreed to these 

conditions. 

(c) Any prerelease of information 

under an embargo shall not precede the 

official release time by more than 30 

minutes. 

(d) In all cases, prerelease access shall 

precede the official release time only to 

the extent necessary for an orderly 

review of the data. 

All employees of the Executive 

Branch who receive prerelease 

distribution of information and data 

estimates as authorized above are 

responsible for assuring that there is no 

release prior to the official release time. 

Except for members of the staff of the 

agency issuing the principal economic 

indicator who have been designated by 

the agency head to provide technical 

explanations of the data, employees of 

the Executive Branch shall not comment 

publicly on the data until at least thirty 

minutes after the official release time. 

6. Preliminary Estimates and 

Revisions. Deciding when to release a 

principal economic indicator requires 

the balancing of accuracy and 

timeliness. Agencies should not 

withhold information needed to 

evaluate current economic conditions 

by imposing unnecessarily stringent 

accuracy requirements on preliminary 

estimates. However, agencies shall use 

the following guidelines when issuing 

and evaluating preliminary data and 

revisions: 

(a) Agencies shall clearly identify 

figures as preliminary or revised. 

(b) Agencies shall only release routine 

revisions of a principal economic 

indicator as part of the regular reporting 

schedule. 

(c) If the difference between 

preliminary and final aggregate figures 

is large relative to average period-toVerDate Sep<11>2014 18:36 Feb 14, 2024 Jkt 262001 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\15FEN1.SGM 15FEN1

khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
11878 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2024 / Notices 

period differences, the agency must 

either take steps to improve the 

accuracy of preliminary estimates or 

delay the release of estimates until a 

reliable estimate can be made. 

(d) If preliminary estimates show 

signs of a consistent bias (for example, 

if revisions are consistently in the same 

direction), the agency shall take steps to 

correct this bias. 

(e) Revisions occurring for routine 

reasons, such as benchmarking and 

updating of seasonality factors, shall be 

consolidated and released 

simultaneously. 

(f) Revisions occurring for other than 

routine reasons shall be fully explained 

and shall be released as soon as 

corrections can be completed. 

7. Granting of Exceptions. Prior to 

taking any action that may violate the 

provisions of this directive, the head of 

a releasing agency shall consult with the 

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 agency may apply 

for an exception. The Administrator 

may authorize exceptions to the 

provisions in sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 

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 the 

Directive. 

8. Performance Evaluation. Each 

agency that issues a principal Federal 

economic indicator shall submit a 

performance evaluation of that indicator 

to the Statistical Policy Office, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

every three years. A schedule for the 

performance evaluation of data series or 

estimates designated as principal 

Federal economic indicators will be 

prepared by the Statistical Policy Office. 

The evaluation shall address the 

following issues: 

(a) the accuracy and reliability of the 

series, e.g., the magnitude and direction 

of all revisions, the performance of the 

series relative to established 

benchmarks, and the proportion and 

effect of nonresponses or responses 

received after the publication of 

preliminary estimates; 

(b) the accuracy, completeness, and 

accessibility of documentation 

describing the methods used in 

compiling and revising the indicator; 

(c) the agency’s performance in 

meeting the designated release schedule 

and the prompt release objective of this 

directive; 

(d) the agency’s ability to avoid 

disclosure prior to the scheduled release 

time; 

(e) any additional issues that the 

Administrator for Information and 

Regulatory Affairs specifies in writing to 

the agency at least 6 months in advance 

of the scheduled submission date. 

The evaluation will be reviewed by 

the Administrator to determine whether 

the indicator is prepared and published 

in conformity with all OMB statistical 

policies, standards, and guidelines. A 

summary of the year’s evaluations and 

their reviews will be included in the 

annual report to Congress required by 

section 3514 of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96–511). 

[FR Doc. 2024–02972 Filed 2–14–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3110–01–P 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

[Notice: (24–010)] 

NASA Astrophysics Advisory 

Committee; Meeting 

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, the 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) announces a 

meeting of the Astrophysics Advisory 

Committee. This Committee reports to 

the Director, Astrophysics Division, 

Science Mission Directorate, NASA 

Headquarters. The meeting will be held 

for the purpose of soliciting, from the 

scientific community and other persons, 

scientific and technical information 

relevant to program planning. 

DATES: Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 10 

a.m.–5 p.m.; and Thursday, March 21, 

2024, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., eastern time. 

ADDRESSES: Meeting will be virtual. See 

Webex information below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

KarShelia Kinard, Science Mission 

Directorate, NASA Headquarters, 

Washington, DC 20546, (202) 358–2355 

or karshelia.kinard@nasa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As noted 

above, this meeting is virtual and will 

take place by dial-in and via Webex. 

Any interested person must use a touchtone phone to participate in this 

meeting. The Webex connectivity 

information for each day is provided 

below. For audio, when you join the 

Webex event, you may use your 

computer or provide your phone 

number to receive a call back, 

otherwise, call the U.S. toll conference 

number listed for each day. 

For Wednesday, March 20, 2024, the 

Webex information for attendees is: 

https://nasaenterprise.webex.com/nasa

enterprise/j.php?MTID=mc1f44fac

9dc4ce77af2322c57b0f99d7. The 

meeting number is: 2763 710 0487 and 

the meeting password is: Apac032024#. 

To join by telephone the numbers are, 

1–929–251–9612 or 1–415–527–5035. 

(Access Code: 2763 710 0487). 

For Thursday, March 21, 2024, the 

WebEx information for attendees is: 

https://nasaenterprise.webex.com/nasa

enterprise/j.php?MTID=m6a50aa286

a1ef9beacb18c8092f540be. The meeting 

number is: 2823 194 9794 and the 

meeting password is: Apac032124#. To 

join by telephone the numbers are 1– 

929–251–9612 or 1–415–527–5035 

(Access code: 2823 194 9794). 

The agenda for the meeting includes 

the following topics: 

—Astrophysics Division Update 

—Updates on Specific Astrophysics 

Missions 

—Discussion of Reports from the 

Program Analysis Groups 

The agenda will be posted on the 

Astrophysics Advisory Committee web 

page: https://beta.science.nasa.gov/ 

researchers/nac/science-advisorycommittees/apac/. 

The public may submit and upvote 

comments/questions ahead of the 

meeting through the website: APAC 

Spring Meeting—(3/19/2024)—NASA 

(cnf.io), or https://nasa.cnf.io/sessions/ 

dxmy/#!/dashboard, that will be opened 

for input on March 10, 2024. 

It is imperative that the meeting be 

held on these dates to accommodate the 

scheduling priorities of the key 

participants. 

Patricia Rausch, 

Advisory Committee Management Officer, 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03163 Filed 2–14–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

[Notice: (24–011)] 

NASA Planetary Science Advisory 

Committee; Meeting 

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, the 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) announces a 

meeting of the Planetary Science 

Advisory Committee. The meeting will 

be held for the purpose of soliciting, 

from the scientific community and other 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES