16706 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 57 / Thursday, March 24, 2022 / Notices 

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9618. 

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Agenda 

I. Welcome and Roll Call 

II. Approval of Minutes 

III. Discussion: Civil Rights Topics 

IV. Public Comment 

V. Next Steps 

VI. Adjournment 

Dated: March 21, 2022. 

David Mussatt, 

Supervisory Chief, Regional Programs Unit. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06259 Filed 3–23–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

[Docket Number 220228–0062] 

Urban Area Criteria for the 2020 

Census—Final Criteria 

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of final program criteria. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides the 

Census Bureau’s final criteria for 

defining urban areas based on the 

results of the 2020 Decennial Census. 

This notice also provides a summary of 

comments received in response to the 

proposed criteria published in the 

Federal Register on February 19, 2021, 

as well as the Census Bureau’s 

responses to those comments. The 

Census Bureau delineates urban areas 

after each decennial census by applying 

specified criteria to decennial census 

and other data. Since the 1950 Census, 

the Census Bureau has reviewed and 

revised these criteria, as necessary, for 

each decennial census in order to 

improve the classification of urban areas 

by taking advantage of newly available 

data and advancements in geographic 

information processing technology. 

DATES: The Census Bureau will begin 

implementing the criteria as of March 

24, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Vincent Osier, 

Geography Division, U.S. Census 

Bureau, via email at geo.urban@

census.gov. Phone: 301–763–1128. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Census Bureau’s urban-rural 

classification is fundamentally a 

delineation of geographical areas, 

identifying individual urban areas as 

well as the rural portion of the nation. 

The Census Bureau’s urban areas 

represent densely developed territory, 

and encompass residential, commercial, 

and other non-residential urban land 

uses. The boundaries of this urban 

footprint have been defined using 

measures based primarily on population 

counts and residential population 

density, and also on criteria that 

account for non-residential urban land 

uses, such as commercial, industrial, 

transportation, and open space that are 

part of the urban landscape. Since the 

1950 Census, when the Census Bureau 

first defined densely settled urbanized 

areas of 50,000 or more people, the 

urban area delineation process has 

addressed non-residential urban land 

uses through criteria designed to 

account for commercial enclaves, 

special land uses such as airports, and 

densely developed noncontiguous 

territory. 

In developing criteria for delineating 

urban areas, the Census Bureau uses an 

objective approach that is designed to 

meet the needs of a broad range of 

analysts and users interested in the 

definition of and data for urban and 

rural communities for statistical 

purposes. The Census Bureau 

recognizes that some federal and state 

agencies use the Census Bureau’s urbanrural classification for allocating 

program funds, setting program 

standards, and implementing aspects of 

their programs. The agencies that use 

the classification and data for such 

nonstatistical uses should be aware that 

the changes to the urban area criteria 

also might affect the implementation of 

their programs. 

While the Census Bureau is not 

responsible for the use of its urban-rural 

classification in nonstatistical programs, 

we will work with tribal, federal, state, 

or local agencies as well as stakeholders, 

as appropriate, to ensure understanding 

of our classification. Agencies using the 

classification for their programs must 

ensure that the classification is 

appropriate for their use. 

I. Summary of Changes Made to the 

2020 Census Urban Area Criteria 

The following table compares the 

final 2020 Census urban area criteria 

with those that were proposed in the 

Federal Register on February 19, 2021 

(86 FR 10237). 


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Criteria Proposed 2020 criteria Final 2020 criteria 

Identification of Initial Urban Area Cores ........... Census block housing unit density of 385. 

Use of land cover data to identify territory 

with a high degree of imperviousness.

Aggregation of census blocks with a housing 

unit density of 425. Use of land cover data 

to identify territory with a high degree of imperviousness. 

Minimum Qualifying Threshold ........................... An area will qualify as urban if it contains at 

least 4,000 housing units or has a population of at least 10,000.

An area will qualify as urban if it contains at 

least 2,000 housing units or has a population of at least 5,000. 

Types of Urban Areas ........................................ Urban areas will no longer be distinguished 

as either an ‘‘urbanized area’’ or an ‘‘urban 

cluster.’’ All qualifying areas will be designated ‘‘urban areas.’’.

Urban areas will no longer be distinguished 

as either an ‘‘urbanized area’’ or an ‘‘urban 

cluster.’’ All qualifying areas will be designated ‘‘urban areas.’’ 

Inclusion of Group Quarters ............................... Census blocks containing group quarters adjacent to already qualified blocks will be included.Census blocks containing group quarters and 

a population density of at least 500 adjacent to already qualified blocks will be included. 

Inclusion of Noncontiguous Territory via Hops 

and Jumps.

Maximum hop distance 0.5 miles, maximum 

jump distance 1.5 miles, and no hops after 

jumps. Intervening, low density blocks are 

not included in the urban area.

Maximum hop distance 0.5 miles, maximum 

jump distance 1.5 miles, and no hops after 

jumps. Intervening, low density blocks are 

not included in the urban area. 

Inclusion of Noncontiguous Territory Separated 

by Exempted Territory.

Bodies of water and wetlands as identified in 

land cover data. The intervening, low density blocks of water or wetlands are not included in the urban area.

Bodies of water and wetlands as identified in 

the land cover data. The intervening, low 

density blocks of water or wetlands are not 

included in the urban area. 

Low-Density Fill .................................................. N/A ................................................................... Contiguous census blocks added to already 

qualifying territory with a housing unit density of 200. 

Inclusion of Airports ............................................ Currently functioning airport within a distance 

of 0.5 miles to the urban area that is a 

qualified cargo airport or has an annual 

enplanement of at least 2,500 passengers.

Currently functioning airport within a distance 

of 0.5 miles to the urban area that is a 

qualified cargo airport or has an annual 

enplanement of at least 2,500 passengers. 

Additional Nonresidential Urban Territory .......... Inclusion of groups of census blocks with a 

high degree of imperviousness and that are 

within 0.25 miles of an urban area.

Inclusion of groups of census blocks with a 

high degree of imperviousness and that are 

within 0.5 miles of an urban area, and have 

a total area of at least 0.15 square miles. 

Inclusion of groups of census blocks with at 

least 1,000 jobs (per Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) data) 

and that are within 0.5 miles of an urban 

area. 

Inclusion of Enclaves ......................................... Additional census blocks added when surrounded solely by qualifying land territory or 

by both land that qualified for inclusion in 

the urban area and water.

Additional census blocks added when surrounded solely by qualifying land territory or 

by both land that qualified for inclusion in 

the urban area and water. 

Inclusion of Indentations .................................... N/A ................................................................... 3.5 square mile maximum area of the territory 

within the indentation to be added to the 

urban area. 

Merging Block Aggregations .............................. N/A ................................................................... Merge qualifying territory from separately defined 2020 Census urban areas that do not 

contain a high-density nucleus and are 

within 0.25 miles of a qualifying urban area. 

Identification of Agglomerations ......................... N/A ................................................................... Identify qualifying areas that contain a highdensity nucleus with a housing unit density 

of 1,275 and at least 2,000 housing units or 

5,000 persons. 

Splitting Large Agglomerations .......................... Potential splits and merges are identified 

using Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics worker flow data between 2010 

Census urban area pairs. If necessary, split 

location is guided by commuter-based communities.

Potential splits and merges are identified 

using Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics worker flow data between 2010 

Census urban area pairs. If necessary, split 

location is guided by commuter-based communities. 

Assigning Urban Area Titles ............................... Clear, unambiguous title based on commonly 

recognized place names derived from incorporated places, census designated places, 

minor civil divisions, and the Geographic 

Names Information System.

Clear, unambiguous title based on commonly 

recognized names of places within the highdensity nuclei, derived from incorporated 

places, census designated places, minor 

civil divisions, and the Geographic Names 

Information System. 

II. History 

Over the course of a century defining 

urban areas, the Census Bureau has 

introduced conceptual and 

methodological changes to ensure that 

the urban-rural classification keeps pace 

with changes in settlement patterns and 

with changes in theoretical and 

practical approaches to interpreting and 


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1The central place concept was not necessary for 

urban area delineation and the resulting list of 

qualified central places largely duplicated the list 

of principal cities identified by the Metropolitan 

and Micropolitan Statistical Area standards. There 

was no conceptual reason to continue identifying 

two slightly different lists of cities and other places 

that were central to their respective regions. 

understanding the definition of urban 

areas. Prior to the 1950 Census, the 

Census Bureau primarily defined 

‘‘urban’’ as any population, housing, 

and territory located within 

incorporated places with a population 

of 2,500 or more. That definition was 

easy and straightforward to implement, 

requiring no need to calculate 

population density; to understand and 

account for actual settlement patterns 

on the ground in relation to boundaries 

of legal/administrative units; or to 

consider densely settled populations 

existing outside incorporated 

municipalities. For much of the first 

half of the twentieth century, that 

definition was adequate for defining 

‘‘urban’’ and ‘‘rural’’ in the United 

States, but by 1950 it became clear that 

it was incomplete. 

Increasing suburbanization, 

particularly outside the boundaries of 

large incorporated places led the Census 

Bureau to adopt the urbanized area 

concept for the 1950 Census. At that 

time, the Census Bureau formally 

recognized that densely settled 

communities outside the boundaries of 

incorporated municipalities were just as 

‘‘urban’’ as the densely settled 

population inside those boundaries. 

Outside urbanized areas of 50,000 or 

more people, the Census Bureau 

continued to recognize urban places 

with at least 2,500 and less than 50,000 

persons. This basic conceptual approach 

to identifying urban areas remained in 

effect through the 1990 Census, 

although with some changes to criteria 

and delineation methods. 

The Census Bureau adopted six 

substantial changes to its urban area 

criteria for the 2000 Census: 

• Defining urban clusters using the 

same criteria as urbanized areas. 

• Disregarding incorporated place 

and census designated place (CDP) 

boundaries when defining urbanized 

areas and urban clusters. 

• Adopting 500 persons per square 

mile (PPSM) as the minimum density 

criterion for recognizing some types of 

urban territory. 

• Increasing the maximum jump 

distance for linking densely developed 

territory separated from the main body 

of the urban area by intervening low 

density territory from 1.5 to 2.5 miles. 

This recognized the prospect that larger 

clusters of non-residential urban uses 

might offset contiguity of densely 

settled territory. 

• Introducing the hop concept to 

provide an objective basis for 

recognizing that nonresidential urban 

uses, such as small commercial areas or 

parks, create small gaps between 

densely settled residential territory, but 

are part of the pattern of urbanization. 

• Adopting a zero-based approach to 

defining urban areas. 

For the 2010 Census, the Census 

Bureau adopted moderate changes and 

enhancements to the criteria to improve 

upon the classification of urban and 

rural areas while continuing to meet the 

objective of a uniform application of 

criteria nationwide. These changes 

were: 

• Use of census tracts as analysis 

units in the initial phase of delineation. 

• Use of land use/land cover data 

from the National Land Cover Database 

(NLCD) to identify qualifying areas of 

non-residential urban land uses. 

• Qualification of airports for 

inclusion in urban areas. 

• Elimination of the designation of 

central places within urban areas.1

• Requirement for minimum 

population residing outside institutional 

group quarters. 

• Splitting large urban 

agglomerations. 

The conceptual and criteria changes 

adopted for both the 2000 and 2010 

Censuses, as well as the history of the 

Census Bureau’s urban and rural 

classification, are discussed in more 

detail in the document ‘‘A Century of 

Delineating a Changing Landscape: The 

Census Bureau’s Urban and Rural 

Classification, 1910 to 2010,’’ available 

at https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/ 

reference/ua/Century_of_Defining_

Urban.pdf. 

III. Summary of Comments Received in 

Response to Proposed Criteria 

The notice published in the Federal 

Register on February 19, 2021 (86 FR 

10237) requested comments on 

proposed criteria for delineating the 

2020 Census urban areas. The Census 

Bureau received 106 responses directly 

related to the proposed Urban Area 

Criteria. Responses were received from 

regional planning and nongovernmental 

organizations, municipal and county 

officials, Members of Congress, state 

governments, federal agencies, and 

individuals. The criteria in Section V of 

this document reflect changes made in 

response to the comments and 

suggestions received on the proposed 

criteria for delineating the 2020 Census 

urban areas. 

Comments Expressing General Support 

or Opposition 

The Census Bureau received ten 

comments that expressed general 

support or general opposition to the 

proposed criteria without specifying any 

particular aspect of the criteria. Five 

commenters expressed general 

opposition; five commenters offered 

general support. 

Comments Pertaining To Increasing the 

Minimum Threshold To Qualify 

The Census Bureau received twentynine comments regarding the proposal 

to increase the minimum threshold to 

qualify as urban to 10,000 persons or 

4,000 housing units. Twenty-seven 

commenters expressed concern about 

the increase, citing loss of statistical 

continuity for small communities. Two 

commenters supported increasing the 

minimum threshold. 

Comments Pertaining to Proposed 

Exclusion of Hop/Jump Corridors From 

Urban Areas 

The Census Bureau received nineteen 

comments regarding the proposal to 

exclude hop/jump corridors from an 

urban area. Seventeen commenters 

expressed concern, citing issues related 

to the complex, multipiece urban areas 

that would result. Two commenters 

supported excluding the hop/jump 

corridors. 

Comments Pertaining to Proposed 

Criteria To Cease Distinguishing Types 

of Urban Areas 

The Census Bureau received sixteen 

comments regarding the proposal to 

cease distinguishing types of urban 

areas. Thirteen commenters expressed 

concern about the loss of distinction 

between Urban Clusters and Urbanized 

Areas (though this is only a change in 

terminology—it still will be possible to 

distinguish between different sizes of 

urban areas based on population). Three 

commenters supported the proposal to 

cease distinguishing types of urban 

areas. 

Comments Pertaining to Housing Unit 

Density 

The Census Bureau received fifty-five 

comments regarding the proposed 

criteria to utilize housing unit density. 

Twenty-six commenters expressed 

concern about using housing unit 

density instead of population density. 

Eight commenters supported using 

housing unit density. 

Twenty commenters expressed 

concern that the minimum housing unit 

density threshold of 385 housing units 

per square mile (HPSM) was too high. 

One commenter supported the 


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minimum housing unit density of 385 

HPSM. 

Comments Pertaining to Proposed 

Criteria for Splitting Large Urban 

Agglomerations 

The Census Bureau received five 

comments regarding the proposed 

criteria for splitting large urban area 

agglomerations or the use of the 

Longitudinal Employer-Household 

Dynamics (LEHD) data. Three 

commenters supported the proposed 

criteria; two commenters expressed 

concern. 

Comments Pertaining to Proposed Jump 

Criteria 

The Census Bureau received fortyseven comments regarding the proposed 

jump criteria designed to include 

noncontiguous, but qualifying territory 

within an urban area. Of these, six 

commenters supported lowering the 

maximum jump distance threshold from 

2.5 to 1.5 miles. Forty-one commenters 

favored no change to the 2.5-mile 

maximum jump distance threshold. 

Reasons for retention of the 2.5-mile 

maximum jump distance provided by 

these commenters included retaining 

consistency with the 2010 Census urban 

area delineation, the ability to account 

for future urbanization and extended 

suburbanization, and mitigation of the 

presence of undevelopable land not 

identified by the Census Bureau. 

Comments Pertaining to Proposed Use 

of Census Blocks as Building Blocks 

The Census Bureau received seven 

comments regarding the proposed use of 

the census block as the analysis unit (or 

geographic building block) during the 

delineation of the initial urban area 

core. These commenters expressed 

concern that the use of census blocks 

instead of census tracts would lead to 

the shrinking of the population and 

geographic area of urban areas. 

Comments Pertaining to Proposed 

Criteria for Indentations 

The Census Bureau received ten 

comments regarding proposed criteria to 

no longer include low-density territory 

located within indentations formed 

during the Urban Area Delineation 

Process. These commenters opposed the 

proposed criteria, citing the jagged 

nature of the urban area boundaries 

without the smoothing that occurs by 

including indentations. 

Comments Pertaining to Proposed 

Criteria To Qualify Territory Containing 

a High Degree of Impervious Surface 

The Census Bureau received nine 

comments regarding the proposed use of 

the National Land Cover Database 

(NLCD) to assist in identifying and 

qualifying as urban, sparsely populated 

urban-related territory associated with a 

high degree of impervious surface. 

These commenters expressed concern 

about the vintage of the data. 

Comments Pertaining to Nonstatistical 

Uses of Urban Areas 

Additional comments expressed 

concern that the Census Bureau does 

not acknowledge or consider any 

nonstatistical uses of urban areas when 

developing delineation criteria. These 

commenters also suggested delaying the 

delineation of urban areas until 

provisions are adopted that would 

prevent adverse impacts on programs 

and funding formulas relating to urban 

areas as currently defined. 

In response to the comments received 

regarding the nonstatistical uses of 

Census urban areas, the Census Bureau 

recognizes that some federal and state 

agencies use the Census Bureau’s urbanrural classification for allocating 

program funds, setting program 

standards, and implementing aspects of 

their programs. The Census Bureau 

remains committed to an objective, 

equitable, and consistent nationwide 

urban area delineation, and thus 

identifies these areas for the purpose of 

tabulating and presenting statistical 

data. This provides data users, analysts, 

and agencies with a baseline set of areas 

from which to work, as appropriate. 

Given the many programmatic and often 

conflicting or competing uses for Census 

Bureau-defined urban areas, the Census 

Bureau cannot attempt to take each such 

use into account or assess the relative 

value of any particular use. The Census 

Bureau is committed to working with 

stakeholders, as appropriate, to promote 

understanding of our classification. 

Comments Pertaining to Retention of the 

2010 Urban Area Criteria 

Three commenters specifically 

requested that territory defined as urban 

in the 2010 Census continue to be 

defined as urban for the 2020 Census. 

Six commenters requested that the 2010 

criteria be used to define urban areas for 

the 2020 Census. 

Comments Pertaining to Local Input of 

Urban Area Boundaries 

Eight commenters expressed concern 

that there are no provisions in the 

delineation criteria for local input and 

requested the opportunity to review and 

comment on the definition of individual 

urban areas before boundaries become 

final. 

Comments Pertaining to Census Block 

Boundaries 

The Census Bureau received ten 

comments regarding the block 

boundaries on the edges of urban 

development. Commenters expressed 

concern that these blocks are often a 

mix of urban and rural characteristics 

and are often large in scale, potentially 

leading to their exclusion from an urban 

area. 

Comments Pertaining to the Delineation 

Process 

Commenters also expressed concern 

about the automated and inflexible 

nature of the delineation process and 

suggested that the extent of each urban 

area should be evaluated individually. 

The Census Bureau also received 

comments expressing concern that the 

proposed delineation criteria do not 

consider local zoning laws, topography, 

and municipal boundaries. 

The Census Bureau’s urban area 

criteria for the 2020 Census consists of 

a single set of rules that allow for 

application of automated processes 

based on the input of standardized 

nationwide datasets that yield 

consistent results. Rather than defining 

areas through a process of accretion over 

time, the criteria also provide a better 

reflection of the distribution of 

population, housing, and other uses and 

how they reflect the current state of 

urbanization. 

Comments Pertaining to the Urban Area 

Program Timeline 

The Census Bureau received twentysix requests for the extension of the 

public comment period on the proposed 

urban area delineation criteria to further 

assess its potential impacts. Additional 

comments expressed difficulty in 

predicting results of changes to criteria 

as published in the Federal Register on 

February 19, 2021 (86 FR 10237) and 

requested clarification of the proposed 

urban area delineation criteria. 

The delineation and production of 

urban areas and their associated data are 

scheduled to begin after the release of 

the Decennial Census block-level 

population and housing counts to 

ensure sufficient time to delineate and 

review the urban area definitions and 

prepare geographic information files in 

time for tabulation and inclusion in 

statistical data products from both the 

2020 Census and the American 

Community Survey (ACS). Adherence to 

this schedule prevented any attempts 

toward a test delineation using all the 

proposed 2020 urban area criteria for 

the entire United States, Puerto Rico, 

and the Island Areas, thus prohibiting 


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the availability of nation-wide, realworld examples without showing 

preference to any particular location. 

Further, this schedule also dictated that 

the development of the delineation 

software coincided with the 

development of the proposed and the 

final criteria. 

IV. Changes to the Proposed Urban 

Area Criteria for the 2020 Census 

This section of the notice provides 

information about the Census Bureau’s 

decisions on changes that were 

incorporated into the Urban Area 

Criteria for the 2020 Census in response 

to the many comments received. These 

decisions benefited greatly from public 

participation as the Census Bureau took 

into account the comments received in 

response to the proposed criteria 

published in the Federal Register on 

February 19, 2021 (86 FR 10237), as 

well as comments received during 

webinars, conference presentations, 

consultations with professional 

geographers and other social scientists 

who work with and define urban and 

rural concepts and classifications, 

meetings with federal, state, and local 

officials and other users of data for 

urban areas, and additional research and 

investigation conducted by Census 

Bureau staff. 

The changes made to the proposed 

criteria in Section III of the published in 

the Federal Register on February 19, 

2021, ‘‘Urban Areas for the 2020 

Census-Proposed Criteria’’ (86 FR 

10237), are as follows: 

1. In Section III, subsection A, the 

Census Bureau modifies the minimum 

criteria for an area to qualify as an urban 

area. The territory must encompass at 

least 2,000 housing units or at least 

5,000 persons, decreased from 4,000 

housing units or 10,000 persons as 

proposed. 

2. In Section III, subsection B, the 

Census Bureau modifies the criteria to 

utilize multiple housing unit densities: 

1,275 housing units per square mile 

(HPSM), 425 HPSM, and 200 HPSM. In 

response to comments stating that 385 

HPSM was too high for a minimum 

threshold, and further testing of the 

impacts of complex multipiece urban 

areas, the Census Bureau adjusts the 

delineation criteria to include multiple 

housing unit density thresholds at 

different stages of the process. The 

addition of a high-density threshold of 

1,275 HPSM ensures each urban area 

contains a core. Including a low density 

fill of 200 HPSM will reduce the 

number of individual pieces of an urban 

area while accommodating for the 

irregular nature of census block size that 

affects the density calculations. 

3. In Section III, subsection B.1, the 

Census Bureau modifies the criteria to 

utilize a housing unit density of 425 

instead of 385 HPSM. 

4. In Section III, subsection B.1, the 

Census Bureau clarifies the criteria 

regarding which areas are considered 

‘‘Initial Urban Core.’’ An Initial Urban 

Core must contain at least 500 housing 

units. 

5. In Section III, subsection B.2, the 

Census Bureau removes the section 

related to the ‘‘Inclusion of Group 

Quarters.’’ Blocks containing group 

quarters can qualify in multiple steps of 

the criteria. 

6. In Section III, subsection B.3, the 

Census Bureau removes all references to 

‘‘385 housing units or more.’’ 

7. In Section III, subsection B.3, the 

Census Bureau removes the reference to 

‘‘all urban area cores that have a 

housing unit count of 577 or more.’’ 

8. In Section III, subsection B.4, the 

Census Bureau clarifies references to the 

land cover data used in determining 

exempted territory. The Census Bureau 

will use the most current land cover 

data from the National Land Cover 

Database (NLCD) or Coastal Change 

Analysis Program (C–CAP) High 

Resolution Land Cover for any given 

area to better represent land use/land 

cover conditions at the time of the 

delineation. 

9. In Section III, subsection B.5, the 

Census Bureau clarifies when the 

enclave criteria are applied. Enclaves 

will be added after development of the 

Initial Urban Cores and again after the 

addition of nonresidential territory. This 

process recognizes that some census 

blocks that are internal and integral to 

an urban area may have few or no 

housing units and little impervious 

surface, such as census blocks 

containing urban parkland. 

10. In Section III, subsection B.6, the 

Census Bureau removes the criteria for 

the ‘‘Inclusion of Airports’’ and includes 

it within subsection B.7, ‘‘Additional 

Nonresidential Urban Territory.’’ 

11. In Section III, subsection B.7, the 

Census Bureau adds criteria to include 

additional nonresidential census blocks 

that contain at least 1,000 commuter 

destinations (in a three-year average) 

and are within 0.5 miles of already 

qualifying territory. 

12. In Section III, subsection B.8, the 

Census Bureau clarifies and simplified 

the criteria for splitting large 

agglomerations. 

13. In Section III, subsection B.9, the 

Census Bureau modifies the criteria to 

include the most populous place name 

of the high-density nucleus. 

14. In Section III, subsection B.9, the 

Census Bureau modifies the criteria for 

secondary names to utilize housing unit 

counts rather than population counts. 

The sections of the proposed criteria 

referenced above do not appear in the 

same order in Section V of this final 

notice due to the reorganization of 

existing criteria sections and the 

addition of new criteria sections. The 

following table provides a crosswalk of 

the criteria sections that were proposed 

in the Federal Register on February 19, 

2021 (86 FR 10237) to the criteria 

sections of the final criteria in this 

notice. 

Section name Proposed 2020 

criteria 

Final 2020 

criteria 

Identification of Initial Urban Area Cores .......................................................................................................... Section III, B.1 .. Section V, B.1 

Inclusion of Group Quarters .............................................................................................................................. Section III, B.2 .. Section V, B.1 

Inclusion of Noncontiguous Territory via Hops and Jumps .............................................................................. Section III, B.3 .. Section V, B.2 

Inclusion of Noncontiguous Territory Separated by Exempted Territory .......................................................... Section III, B.4 .. Section V, B.3 

Low-Density Fill ................................................................................................................................................. N/A ................... Section V, B.4 

Inclusion of Airports ........................................................................................................................................... Section III, B.6 .. Section V, B.5 

Additional Nonresidential Urban Territory ......................................................................................................... Section III, B.7 .. Section V, B.5 

Inclusion of Enclaves ......................................................................................................................................... Section III, B.5 .. Section V, B.6 

Inclusion of Indentations .................................................................................................................................... N/A ................... Section V, B.7 

Merging of Eligible Block Aggregations ............................................................................................................. N/A ................... Section V, B.8 

Identification of Urban Area Agglomerations ..................................................................................................... N/A ................... Section V, B.9 

Splitting Large Agglomerations .......................................................................................................................... Section III, B.8 .. Section V, B.10 

Assigning Urban Area Titles .............................................................................................................................. Section III, B.9 .. Section V, B.11 


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2For Census Bureau purposes, the United States 

includes the 50 States and the District of Columbia. 

3A census block is the smallest geographic area 

for which the Census Bureau tabulates data and is 

an area normally bounded by visible features, such 

as streets, rivers or streams, shorelines, and 

railroads, and by nonvisible features, such as the 

boundary of an incorporated place, minor civil 

division, county, or other 2020 Census tabulation 

entity. 

4The Census Bureau has found in testing that 

territory with an impervious surface level less than 

20 percent results in the inclusion of road and 

structure edges, and not the actual roads or 

buildings themselves. 

V. Urban Area Criteria for the 2020 

Census 

The criteria outlined herein apply to 

the United States,2 Puerto Rico, and the 

Island Areas of American Samoa, the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin 

Islands. The Census Bureau will utilize 

the following criteria and characteristics 

to identify the areas that will qualify for 

designation as urban areas for use in 

tabulating data from the 2020 Census, 

the American Community Survey 

(ACS), the Puerto Rico Community 

Survey, and potentially other Census 

Bureau censuses and surveys. 

A. 2020 Census Urban Area Definitions 

For the 2020 Census, an urban area 

will comprise a densely developed core 

of census blocks 3 that meet minimum 

housing unit density requirements, 

along with adjacent territory containing 

non-residential urban land uses as well 

as other lower density territory included 

to link outlying densely settled territory 

with the densely settled core. To qualify 

as an urban area, the territory identified 

according to the criteria must 

encompass at least 2,000 housing units 

or at least 5,000 persons. The term 

‘‘rural’’ encompasses all population, 

housing, and territory not included 

within an urban area. 

1. As a result of the urban area 

delineation process, an incorporated 

place or census designated place (CDP) 

may be partly inside and partly outside 

an urban area. Further, any census 

geographic areas, with the exception of 

census blocks, may be partly within and 

partly outside an urban area. 

2. All criteria based on land area, 

housing unit density, and population, 

reflect the information contained in the 

Census Bureau’s Master Address File/ 

Topologically Integrated Geographic 

Encoding and Referencing (MAF/ 

TIGER) Database (MTDB) at the time of 

the delineation. All density calculations 

include only land; the areas of water 

contained within census blocks are not 

used in density calculations. Housing 

unit, population, and worker flow data 

used in the urban area delineation 

process will be those published by the 

Census Bureau for all public and official 

uses. 

3. The Census Bureau will utilize 

multiple data sources in the 2020 Urban 

Area delineation. Worker-flows are 

calculated from the Longitudinal 

Employer-Household Dynamics OriginDestination Employment Statistics 

(LODES) data. Level of imperviousness 

is calculated from either the National 

Land Cover Database (NLCD) or Coastal 

Change Analysis Program (C–CAP) High 

Resolution Land Cover. The Census 

Bureau will utilize the most recent data 

available from either data source for any 

given area. 

B. Urban Area Delineation Criteria 

The Census Bureau defines urban 

areas primarily based on housing unit 

density measured at the census blocklevel of geography. Three housing unit 

densities are used in the delineation— 

425 housing units per square mile 

(HPSM) to identify the initial core of 

urban block agglomerations and the 

cores of noncontiguous peripheral urban 

territory; 200 HPSM to expand the 

urban block agglomerations into less 

dense, but structurally connected 

portions of urban areas; and 1,275 

HPSM to identify the presence of 

higher-density territory representing the 

urban nucleus. 

1. Identification of Initial Urban Core 

The Census Bureau will begin the 

delineation process by identifying and 

aggregating contiguous census blocks to 

form Eligible Block Aggregations (EBAs) 

based on the following criteria: 

(a) The census block has a density of 

at least 425 HPSM; or 

(b) At least one-third of the census 

block consists of territory with an 

impervious level of at least 20 percent,4

and the census block is compact in 

nature as defined by a shape index. A 

census block is considered compact 

when the shape index is at least 0.185 

using the following formula: I = 4pA/P2

where I is the shape index, A is the area 

of the entity, and P is the perimeter of 

the entity; or 

(c) At least one-third of the census 

block consists of territory with an 

impervious level of at least 20 percent 

and at least 40 percent of its boundary 

is contiguous with qualifying territory; 

or 

(d) The census block contains a group 

quarter and has a block-level density of 

at least 500 persons per square mile 

(PPSM). 

The Census Bureau will apply criteria 

Steps B.1.a, B.1.b, B.1.c, and B.1.d above 

until there are no additional blocks to 

add to the EBA. If an EBA contains at 

least 500 housing units, it will be 

considered an Initial Urban Core, to 

which other qualifying areas may be 

added in subsequent steps of the 

criteria. Any ‘‘holes’’ (remaining 

nonqualifying territory surrounded by 

an Initial Urban Core) that are less than 

five square miles in area will qualify as 

urban via the criteria for inclusion of 

enclaves, as set forth below in Step 

B.6.a. 

2. Inclusion of Noncontiguous Territory 

via Hops and Jumps 

Any EBA created in Step B.1 that 

contains at least ten housing units or a 

group quarter in a block with at least 

500 PPSM may be added to an Initial 

Urban Core via a hop or a jump. 

Hops connect EBAs separated by no 

more than 0.5 miles of road 

connections. Multiple hops can occur 

along road connections between EBAs 

leading to an Initial Urban Core. After 

all hop connections are made, EBAs that 

contain one or more Initial Cores will be 

considered Core EBAs. 

The Census Bureau will then add 

additional EBAs via jump connections. 

Jumps are used to connect densely 

settled noncontiguous territory 

separated from the Core EBA by 

territory with low housing unit density. 

A jump can occur along a road 

connection that is greater than 0.5 miles 

but no more than 1.5 miles. Because it 

is possible that any given densely 

developed area could qualify for 

inclusion in multiple Core EBAs via a 

jump connection, the identification of 

jumps in an automated process starts 

with the Core EBA that has the highest 

number of housing units and continues 

in descending order based on the total 

housing units of each Core EBA. Once 

a Core EBA is added to another Core 

EBA via a jump, it becomes ineligible 

for any other jumps. 

The non-qualifying blocks along the 

road connection are not included in the 

delineation; therefore, Core EBAs that 

contain hop or jump connections will be 

noncontiguous aggregations. 

Those remaining EBAs that did not 

have an Initial Urban Core but contain 

the following will remain as candidates 

for inclusion in subsequent steps: 

• At least ten housing units, or 

• A group quarter and a block-level 

density of at least 500 PPSM. 

3. Inclusion of Noncontiguous Territory 

Separated by Exempted Territory 

The Census Bureau will identify and 

exempt territory in which residential 

development is substantially 

constrained or not possible due to either 


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5The Census Bureau found in testing that 

individual (or groups of) census blocks with a high 

degree of imperviousness with an area less than 

0.15 square miles tend to be more associated with 

road infrastructure features such as cloverleaf 

overpasses and multilane highways. 

6The three most recent years of available LODES 

data for each state are averaged for each census 

block. 

7Additional census blocks within eighty feet of 

the initial groups also qualifying as impervious, but 

failing the shape index, are also identified for 

review. 

8The annual passenger boarding data only 

includes primary, non-primary commercial service, 

and general aviation enplanements as defined and 

reported by the FAA Air Carrier Activity 

Information System. 

9Using the three most recent years of LODES 

data, mean worker-flow is the percent of all flows 

in an area of analysis that have their origin or 

destination in a different area of analysis. 

topographical or land use conditions. 

Such exempted territory offsets urban 

development due to particular land use, 

land cover, or topographic conditions. 

For the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau 

considers the following to be exempted 

territory: 

(a) Bodies of water (as defined by the 

Census Bureau, or classified as water in 

the land cover data); and 

(b) Wetlands (belonging to any 

wetlands classifications in the land 

cover data). 

When the hop and jump criteria in 

Step B.2 are applied, the qualifying hop 

or jump connections may be extended 

when the intervening non-qualifying 

blocks contain exempted territory, 

provided that: 

(c) The road connection across the 

exempted territory (located on both 

sides of the road) is no greater than five 

miles in length; and 

(d) The total length of the road 

connection between the Core EBA and 

the noncontiguous territory, including 

the exempt distance and non-exempt 

hop or jump distances, is also no greater 

than five miles. 

The intervening low housing unit 

density block or blocks and the block or 

blocks of water or wetlands are not 

included in the Core EBA. 

4. Low-Density Fill 

The Census Bureau will add 

contiguous territory to the Core EBAs 

where blocks have a density of at least 

200 HPSM. After the low-density fill is 

added, any EBA with fewer than 50 total 

housing units will be removed from the 

Core EBA with which it is associated. 

5. Additional Nonresidential Urban 

Territory (Including Airports) 

The Census Bureau will identify 

additional nonresidential urban territory 

that is noncontiguous, yet near the Core 

EBA. The Census Bureau will consider 

for inclusion all census blocks that: 

(a) Qualify as urban via the 

impervious surface criteria set forth in 

Steps B.1.b or B.1.c; and 

(b) Have a total area of at least 0.15 

square miles; 5 and 

(c) Are within 0.5 miles of a Core 

EBA. 

The Census Bureau will also include 

all census blocks that: 

(d) Contain a three-year average of at 

least 1,000 commuter destinations; 6 and 

(e) Are within 0.5 miles of a Core 

EBA. 

A final review of these census blocks 

and surrounding territory 7 will 

determine whether to include them in 

an EBA. 

The Census Bureau will then add 

census blocks that approximate the 

territory of airports, provided at least 

one of the blocks that represent the 

airport is within 0.5 miles of the edge 

of a Core EBA. An airport qualifies for 

inclusion if it is currently functional 

and one of the following (per the 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

Air Carrier Activity Information 

System.8): 

(a) Is a qualified cargo airport; or 

(b) Has an annual passenger 

enplanement of at least 2,500 in any 

year between 2011 and 2019. 

6. Inclusion of Enclaves 

The Census Bureau will add enclaves 

(nonqualifying area completely 

surrounded by area already qualified for 

inclusion) within an EBA or Core EBA, 

provided: 

(a) The area of the enclave is less than 

five square miles, or 

(b) All area of the enclave is more 

than a straight-line distance of 1.5 miles 

from a land block that is not part of the 

already qualified area. 

Additional enclaves will be identified 

and included within the EBA or Core 

EBA if: 

(c) The area of the enclave is less than 

5 square miles; and 

(d) The enclave is surrounded by both 

water and land that qualified for 

inclusion in the EBA or Core EBA; and 

(e) The length of the line of adjacency 

with the water is less than the length of 

the line of adjacency with the land. 

7. Inclusion of Indentations 

The Census Bureau will evaluate and 

include territory that forms an 

indentation within an urban area. 

To determine whether an indentation 

should be included in the urban area, 

the Census Bureau will identify a 

closure line, defined as a straight line no 

more than one mile in length, that 

extends from one point along the edge 

of the urban area across the mouth of 

the indentation to another point along 

the edge of the urban area. 

A census block located wholly or 

partially within an indentation will be 

considered for inclusion in the urban 

area, if the Census Bureau-defined 

internal point of the block is inside the 

closure line. The total aggregated area of 

these qualifying indentation blocks is 

compared to the area of a circle, the 

diameter of which is the length of the 

closure qualification line. The 

qualifying indentation block will be 

included in the urban area if it is at least 

four times the area of the circle and less 

than 3.5 square miles. 

If the aggregated area of the qualifying 

indentation blocks does not meet the 

criteria listed above, the Census Bureau 

will define successive closure lines 

within the indentation, starting at its 

mouth and working inward toward the 

base of the indentation, until the criteria 

for inclusion are met or it is determined 

that no portion of the indentation will 

qualify for inclusion. 

8. Merging of Eligible Block 

Aggregations 

After all criteria have been exhausted 

and the Core EBAs have been extended 

to their maximum size, Core EBAs will 

be merged where the following criteria 

are met: 

(a) The boundaries of two Core EBAs 

are within 0.25 miles of each other; and 

(b) Both Core EBAs have at least 1,000 

housing units or 2,500 persons; and 

(c) The three-year mean worker-flow 9

between the two Core EBAs is at least 

50 percent in at least one direction. 

9. Identification of Urban Area 

Agglomerations (UAA) 

After all qualifying EBA merges are 

completed, Core EBAs will be evaluated 

for high-density nuclei. A high-density 

nucleus is defined as a collection of 

blocks, with at least 500 housing units, 

where each census block has: 

(a) A density of at least 1,275 HPSM; 

or 

(b) At least one-third of the census 

block consists of territory with an 

impervious level of at least 20 percent,4

and the census block is compact in 

nature as defined by a shape index. A 

census block is considered compact 

when the shape index is at least 0.185 

using the following formula: I = 4pA/P2

where I is the shape index, A is the area 

of the entity, and P is the perimeter of 

the entity; or 

(c) At least one-third of the census 

block consists of territory an impervious 

level of at least 20 percent and at least 

40 percent of its boundary is contiguous 

with qualifying territory. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 57 / Thursday, March 24, 2022 / Notices 16713 

10Thomas, I., A. Adam, and A. Verhetsel. 

Migration and commuting interactions fields: A 

new geography with community detection 

algorithm? 2017. Belgeo. [Online], 4. http://

journals.openedition.org/belgeo/20507. Traag V.A. 

L. Waltman and N.J. van Eck. From Louvain to 

Leiden: Guaranteeing well-connected communities. 

2019. Scientific Reports. 9:5233. 

11 In situations where an urban area is only 

associated with one place name but is located in 

more than one state, the order of the state 

abbreviations will begin with the state within 

which the place is located and continue in 

descending order of population of each state’s share 

of the population of the urban area. 

Core EBAs will be considered Urban 

Area Agglomerations if they contain: 

(a) At least one high-density nucleus 

with at least 500 housing units in blocks 

with a density of at least 1,275 HPSM; 

and 

(b) At least 2,000 housing units or 

5,000 persons. 

All other remaining EBAs are 

removed from qualification. 

10. Splitting Large Agglomerations 

Population growth and development, 

coupled with the automated urban area 

delineation methodology used for the 

2020 Census, results in large Urban Area 

Agglomerations (UAAs) that encompass 

territory defined as separate urban areas 

for the 2010 Census. If such results 

occur, or if multiple Core EBAs were 

connected in Step B.6 (Low-Density 

Fill), the Census Bureau will apply split 

criteria. Due to differences in the 

availability of data, Steps B.10.a and 

B.10.b will apply only to the United 

States. Step B.10.c will apply to Puerto 

Rico and the Island Areas (American 

Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and 

the U.S. Virgin Islands). 

(a) Eligible UAAs. 

UAAs will be evaluated for splitting 

where the UAA: 

1. Encompasses territory defined as 

separate urban areas for the 2010 Census 

and those intersecting areas contain: 

a. At least 50 percent of the 

population of each of two or more urban 

areas for the 2010 Census. 

2. Encompasses territory where two or 

more Core EBAs were connected in Step 

B.6 (Low-Density Fill): 

a. Each of the Core EBAs, prior to Step 

B.6, meets the high-density nucleus 

qualification criteria outlined in Step 9; 

and 

b. Each of the Core EBAs, prior to 

Step B.6, has a mean internal workerflow of at least 25 percent. 

UAAs that meet the criteria above 

(Steps B.10.a.1 or B.10.a.2) will progress 

to the Split Boundary Assignment (Step 

B.10.b). The remaining UAAs will 

continue as a single urban area. 

(b) Split Boundary Assignment. 

Community detection is performed on 

the three most-recently available years 

of Longitudinal Employer-Household 

Dynamics Origin-Destination 

Employment Statistics (LODES) workerflow data, using unsupervised 

clustering, specifically the Leiden 

Algorithm,10 to identify commuterbased partitions. The Leiden Algorithm 

is first applied separately on each 

eligible UAA, then subsequent iterations 

are run on the resulting partitions to 

provide greater levels of spatial 

resolution to allow for relatively smaller 

areas to be added during UAA split 

boundary assignment. The resulting 

partitions of the third iteration are used 

to carry out the following steps, unless 

the Census Bureau determines doing so 

would not provide the best split 

boundary. 

Commuter-based partitions associated 

with only one intersecting area or one 

Core EBA meeting the criteria in Step 

B.10.a.1 or Step B.10.a.2, are grouped 

together to form component UAAs. 

Additionally, partitions are grouped or 

assigned to existing component UAAs 

if: 

1. The partition comprises at least 90 

percent of the population of an 

intersecting area or Core EBA; or 

2. At least 90 percent of the 

population of a partition is located 

within an intersecting area or Core EBA. 

The remaining partitions are: 

• Completely outside of 2010 urban 

territory; or 

• Completely within 2020 lowdensity fill; or 

• Within multiple intersecting areas 

or Core EBAs. 

These partitions will be assigned to 

the component UAA with which they 

have the greatest worker-flow 

relationship. 

Component UAAs are evaluated to 

ensure they have at least 25 percent 

mean internal worker-flow. Those that 

do not meet this threshold will merge 

with the component UAA with which 

they have the greatest worker-flow 

relationship. This process continues 

until all component UAAs have at least 

25 percent mean internal worker-flow 

and at least 5,000 persons. 

The boundary between two urban 

areas may be modified to avoid splitting 

an incorporated place, CDP, or minor 

civil division (MCD) between two urban 

areas at the time of delineation or to 

follow a legal geographic boundary near 

the commuter-based partition boundary 

used to split the two urban areas. 

(c) Splitting Criteria for Puerto Rico 

and the Island Areas. 

As the LODES data are not available 

for Puerto Rico and the Island Areas, the 

Census Bureau will maintain the 2010 

split boundaries between qualified 

urban areas. These boundaries will be 

adjusted to the appropriate 2020 block 

boundaries. 

11. Assigning Urban Area Titles 

A clear, unambiguous title based on 

commonly recognized place names 

helps provide context for data users and 

ensures that the general location and 

setting of the urban area can be clearly 

identified and understood. The title of 

an urban area identifies the place that is 

the most populated within the highdensity nucleus of the urban area. All 

population and housing unit 

requirements for places (incorporated 

places or CDPs) and MCDs apply to the 

portion of the entity’s population that is 

within the specific urban area being 

named. 

The Census Bureau will use the 

following criteria to determine the title 

of an urban area: 

Primary Name: 

1. The most populous place within 

the high-density nuclei of an urban area 

that has a population of 2,500 or more 

will be listed first in the urban area title. 

Secondary Names: 

Up to two additional places, in 

descending order of housing unit count, 

may be included in the title of an urban 

area provided that: 

2. The place has 90,000 or more 

housing units; or 

3. The place has at least 1,000 housing 

units and that housing unit count is at 

least two-thirds of that of the urban 

portion of the place providing the 

primary name. 

If the high-density nuclei of an urban 

area do not contain a place of at least 

2,500 people, the Census Bureau will 

consider the name of the incorporated 

place, CDP, or MCD with the largest 

total population in the urban area, or a 

local name recognized for the area by 

the United States Geological Survey’s 

(USGS) Geographic Names Information 

System (GNIS), with preference given to 

names also recognized by the United 

States Postal Service (USPS). The urban 

area title will include the USPS 

abbreviation of the name of each state or 

statistically equivalent entity in which 

the urban area is located or extends. The 

order of the state abbreviations is the 

same as the order of the related place 

names in the urban area title.11

If a single place or MCD qualifies as 

the title of more than one urban area, 

the urban area with the largest 

population will use the name of the 

place or MCD. The smaller urban area 

will have a title consisting of the place 

or MCD name and the direction (such as 


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‘‘North’’ or ‘‘Southeast’’) of the smaller 

urban area as it relates geographically to 

the larger urban area with the same 

place or MCD name. 

If any title of an urban area duplicates 

the title of another urban area within the 

same state, or uses the name of an 

incorporated place, CDP, or MCD that is 

duplicated within a state, the name of 

the county that has most of the 

population of the largest place or MCD 

is appended, in parentheses, after the 

duplicate place or MCD name for each 

urban area. If there is no incorporated 

place, CDP, or MCD name in the urban 

area title, the name of the county having 

the largest total population residing in 

the urban area will be appended to the 

title. 

C. Definitions of Key Terms 

Census Block: A geographic area 

bounded by visible and/or invisible 

features shown on a map prepared by 

the Census Bureau. A census block is 

the smallest geographic entity for which 

the Census Bureau tabulates decennial 

census data. 

Census Designated Place (CDP): A 

statistical geographic entity 

encompassing a concentration of 

population, housing, and commercial 

structures that is clearly identifiable by 

a single name but is not within an 

incorporated place. CDPs are the 

statistical counterparts of incorporated 

places for distinct unincorporated 

communities. 

Census Tract: A small, relatively 

permanent statistical geographic 

subdivision of a county or county 

equivalent defined for the tabulation 

and publication of Census Bureau data. 

The primary goal of the census tract 

program is to provide a set of nationally 

consistent small, statistical geographic 

units, with stable boundaries that 

facilitate analysis of data across time. 

Contiguous: A geographic term 

referring to two or more areas that share 

either a common boundary or at least 

one common point. 

Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA): A 

statistical geographic entity defined by 

the U.S. Office of Management and 

Budget, consisting of the county or 

counties or equivalent entities 

associated with at least one core of at 

least 10,000 population, plus adjacent 

counties having a high degree of social 

and economic integration with the core 

as measured through commuting ties 

with the counties containing the core. 

Metropolitan and micropolitan 

statistical areas are the two types of core 

based statistical areas. 

Core Eligible Block Aggregation (Core 

EBA): A type of Eligible Block 

Aggregation that contains one or more 

Initial Urban Cores. 

Eligible Block Aggregation (EBA): 

Aggregations of census blocks that are 

eligible to qualify as urban according to 

housing unit count, density, group 

quarters, or degree of impervious 

surface. 

Enclave: A territory not qualifying as 

urban that is either completely 

surrounded by qualifying urban territory 

or surrounded by qualifying urban 

territory and water. 

Exempted Territory: A territory that is 

exempt from the urban area criteria 

because its extent is entirely of water or 

wetlands or an unpopulated road 

corridor that crosses water or wetlands. 

Group Quarters (GQs): A place where 

people live or stay, in a group living 

arrangement that is owned or managed 

by an entity or organization providing 

housing and/or services for the 

residents. These services may include 

custodial or medical care, as well as 

other types of assistance, and residency 

is commonly restricted to those 

receiving these services. This is not a 

typical household-type living 

arrangement. People living in GQs are 

usually not related to each other. GQs 

include such facilities as college 

residence halls, residential treatment 

centers, skilled nursing facilities, group 

homes, military barracks, correctional 

facilities, and workers’ dormitories. 

High-Density Nucleus: An aggregation 

of blocks with a high housing unit 

density or impervious level. 

Hop: A connection between Eligible 

Block Aggregations along a road 

connection of 0.5 miles or less in length. 

Impervious Surface: Man-made 

surfaces, such as rooftops, roads, and 

parking lots. 

Incorporated Place: A type of 

governmental unit, incorporated under 

state law as a city, town (except in New 

England, New York, and Wisconsin), 

borough (except in Alaska and New 

York), or village, generally to provide 

specific governmental services for a 

concentration of people within legally 

prescribed boundaries. 

Indentation: A recess in the boundary 

of an urban area produced by settlement 

patterns and/or water features resulting 

in a highly irregular urban area shape. 

The territory is likely to be affected by 

and integrated with qualifying urban 

territory. 

Initial Urban Core: An Eligible Block 

Aggregation that contains at least 500 

housing units defined at the first stage 

of delineation. 

Jump: A connection from one Core 

Eligible Block Aggregation to other 

Eligible Block Aggregations along a road 

connection that is greater than 0.5 miles, 

but less than or equal to 1.5 miles in 

length. 

Low-Density Fill: Territory with low 

housing unit density added to already 

qualifying area near the end of the 

delineation process to smooth out the 

resulting urban areas and mitigate the 

effects of increased block size in the 

peripheries of the urban landscape. 

MAF/TIGER (MTDB): Database 

developed by the Census Bureau to 

support its geocoding, mapping, and 

other product needs for the decennial 

census and other Census Bureau 

programs. The Master Address File 

(MAF) is an accurate and current 

inventory of all known living quarters 

including address and geographic 

location information. The Topologically 

Integrated Geographic Encoding and 

Referencing (TIGER) database defines 

the location and relationship of 

boundaries, streets, rivers, railroads, and 

other features to each other and to the 

numerous geographic areas for which 

the Census Bureau tabulates data from 

its censuses and surveys. 

Metropolitan Statistical Area: A core 

based statistical area associated with at 

least one urban area that has a 

population of at least 50,000. The 

metropolitan statistical area comprises 

the central county or counties or 

equivalent entities containing the core, 

plus adjacent outlying counties having a 

high degree of social and economic 

integration with the central county or 

counties as measured through 

commuting. 

Micropolitan Statistical Area: A core 

based statistical area associated with at 

least one urban area that has a 

population of at least 10,000, but less 

than 50,000. The micropolitan statistical 

area comprises the central county or 

counties or equivalent entities 

containing the core, plus adjacent 

outlying counties having a high degree 

of social and economic integration with 

the central county or counties as 

measured through commuting. 

Minor Civil Division (MCD): The 

primary governmental or administrative 

division of a county or equivalent entity 

in 29 states and the Island Areas having 

legal boundaries, names, and 

descriptions. MCDs represent many 

different types of legal entities with a 

wide variety of characteristics, powers, 

and functions depending on the state 

and type of MCD. In some states, some 

or all of the incorporated places also 

constitute MCDs. 

Noncontiguous: A geographic term 

referring to two or more areas that do 

not share a common boundary or a 

common point along their boundaries, 

such that the areas are separated by 

intervening territory. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 57 / Thursday, March 24, 2022 / Notices 16715 

1See Certain Coated Paper Suitable for HighQuality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses 

from Indonesia: Countervailing Duty Order, 75 FR 

70206 (November 17, 2010) (Order). 

2See Initiation of Five-Year (Sunset) Reviews, 86 

FR 68220 (December 1, 2021). 

3See Domestic Interested Parties’ Letter, ‘‘FiveYear (‘Sunset’) Review Of Countervailing Duty 

Order On Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality 

Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses from 

Indonesia: Notice of Intent to Participate in Sunset 

Review,’’ dated December 15, 2021. 

4See Domestic Interested Parties’ Letter, ‘‘Second 

Five-Year (Sunset) Review of Countervailing Duty 

Order on Certain Coated Paper Suitable for HighQuality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses 

from Indonesia: Substantive Response to Notice of 

Initiation,’’ dated January 3, 2022. 

Nonresidential Urban Territory: 

Census blocks added to Eligible Block 

Aggregations where the levels of 

imperviousness, number of jobs, or the 

presence of an airport indicate they are 

urban in nature. 

Rural: Territory not defined as urban. 

Urban: Generally, densely developed 

territory, encompassing residential, 

commercial, and other non-residential 

urban land uses within which social 

and economic interactions occur. 

Urban Area: A statistical geographic 

entity consisting of a densely settled 

core created from census blocks and 

contiguous qualifying territory that 

together have at least 2,000 housing 

units or 5,000 persons. 

Urban Area Agglomeration (UAA): 

The resulting urban territory at the 

completion of the delineation process 

but prior to the application of split/ 

merge criteria. UAAs may be split or 

merged if they contain multiple 2010 

Urban Areas or multiple EBAs that 

connected in the process. 

Urban Cluster (UC): A retired 

statistical geographic entity type 

consisting of a densely settled core 

created from census tracts or blocks and 

contiguous qualifying territory that 

together have at least 2,500 persons but 

fewer than 50,000 persons. Urban 

clusters were not identified for the 2020 

census. 

Urbanized Area (UA): A retired 

statistical geographic entity type 

consisting of a densely settled core 

created from census tracts or blocks and 

adjacent densely settled territory that 

together have a minimum population of 

50,000 people. Urbanized areas were not 

identified for the 2020 census. 

Robert L. Santos, Director, Census 

Bureau, approved the publication of this 

Notice in the Federal Register. 

Dated: March 18, 2022. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06180 Filed 3–23–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

North American Free Trade Agreement 

(NAFTA), Article 1904; Binational Panel 

Review: Notice of Completion of Panel 

Review 

AGENCY: United States Section, NAFTA 

Secretariat, International Trade 

Administration, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of completion of panel 

review. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with Rules 78 

and 80 of the NAFTA Rules of 

Procedure for Article 1904 Binational 

Panel Reviews, the Large Residential 

Washers from Mexico (Secretariat File 

Number: USA–MEX–2019–1904–04) 

Panel Review was completed and the 

panelists were discharged from their 

duties effective March 21, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Vidya Desai, Acting United States 

Secretary, NAFTA Secretariat, Room 

2061, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20230, 202–482–5438. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Chapter 

19 of Article 1904 of NAFTA provides 

a dispute settlement mechanism 

involving trade remedy determinations 

issued by the Government of the United 

States, the Government of Canada, and 

the Government of Mexico. Following a 

Request for Panel Review, a Binational 

Panel is composed to review the trade 

remedy determination being challenged 

and issue a binding Panel Decision. For 

the complete NAFTA Rules of 

Procedure for Article 1904 Binational 

Panel Reviews, please see https://canmex-usa-sec.org/secretariat/agreementaccord-acuerdo/nafta-alena-tlcan/rulesregles-reglas/index.aspx?lang=eng. 

Dated: March 21, 2022. 

Vidya Desai, 

Acting U.S. Secretary, NAFTA Secretariat. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06283 Filed 3–23–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–GT–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–560–824] 

Certain Coated Paper Suitable for 

High-Quality Print Graphics Using 

Sheet-Fed Presses From Indonesia: 

Final Results of Expedited Second 

Sunset Review of the Countervailing 

Duty Order 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: As a result of this sunset 

review, the Department of Commerce 

(Commerce) finds that revocation of the 

countervailing duty (CVD) order on 

certain coated paper suitable for highquality print graphics using sheet-fed 

presses (certain coated paper) from 

Indonesia would be likely to lead to 

continuation or recurrence of 

countervailable subsidies at the levels 

indicated in the ‘‘Final Results of 

Review’’ section of this notice. 

DATES: Applicable March 24, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Alexander, AD/CVD Operations, 

Office VII, Enforcement and 

Compliance, International Trade 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 

(202) 482–4313. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 17, 2010, Commerce 

published its CVD order on certain 

coated paper from Indonesia in the 

Federal Register.1 On December 1, 

2021, Commerce published the notice of 

initiation of the second sunset review of 

the Order, pursuant to section 751(c) of 

the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 

Act).2 Commerce received a notice of 

intent to participate from the domestic 

interested parties within the deadline 

specified in 19 CFR 351.218(d)(1)(i).3

Verso Corporation and Sappi North 

America, Inc. claimed interested party 

status under section 771(9)(C) of the 

Act, as manufacturers of the domestic 

like product in the United States. The 

United Steel, Paper and Forestry, 

Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied 

Industrial and Service Workers 

International Union, AFL–CIO, CLC 

(USW) claimed interested party status 

under section 771(9)(D) of the Act, as a 

certified or recognized union that 

represents workers engaged in 

manufacturing the domestic like 

product and thus is a domestic 

interested party. 

Commerce received a substantive 

response from the domestic interested 

parties 4 within the 30-day deadline 

specified in 19 CFR 351.218(d)(3)(i). We 

received no substantive response from 

any other domestic or interested parties 

in this proceeding, nor was a hearing 

requested. 

On January 20, 2021, Commerce 

notified the U.S. International Trade 

Commission (ITC) that it did not receive 

an adequate substantive response from 


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