71610 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 231 / Tuesday, December 2, 2014 / Notices 

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND 

BUDGET 

Statistical Policy Directive No. 1: 

Fundamental Responsibilities of 

Federal Statistical Agencies and 

Recognized Statistical Units 

AGENCY: Executive Office of the 

President, Office of Management and 

Budget. 

ACTION: Notice of final decision. 

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 Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) is issuing Statistical 

Policy Directive No. 1, Fundamental 

Responsibilities of Federal Statistical 

Agencies and Recognized Statistical 

Units. This Directive affirms the 

fundamental responsibilities of Federal 

statistical agencies and recognized 

statistical units in the design, collection, 

processing, editing, compilation, 

storage, analysis, release, and 

dissemination of statistical information. 

On May 21, 2014, OMB published a 

Notice of solicitation of comments on a 

draft of this Directive in the Federal 

Register (79 FR 29308, May 21, 2014). 

Eight respondents sent comments in 

regard to the notice. Careful 

consideration was given to all 

comments. The disposition of the 

comments as well as the final Directive 

are presented in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. 

In its role as coordinator of the 

Federal statistical system under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, OMB, among 

other responsibilities, is required to 

ensure the efficiency and effectiveness 

of the system as well as the integrity, 

objectivity, impartiality, utility, and 

confidentiality of information collected 

for statistical purposes. OMB is also 

charged with developing and overseeing 

the implementation of Governmentwide principles, policies, standards, and 

guidelines concerning the development, 

presentation, and dissemination of 

statistical information. The Information 

Quality Act (Pub. L. 106–554, Division 

C, title V, Sec. 515, Dec. 21, 2000; 114 

Stat. 2763A–153 to 2763A–154) requires 

OMB, as well as all other Federal 

agencies, to maximize the objectivity, 

utility, and integrity of information, 

including statistical information, 

provided to the public. 

To operate efficiently and effectively, 

the Nation relies on the flow of 

objective, credible statistics to support 

the decisions of individuals, 

households, governments, businesses, 

and other organizations. Any loss of 

trust in the accuracy, objectivity, or 

integrity of the Federal statistical system 

and its products causes uncertainty 

about the validity of measures the 

Nation uses to monitor and assess its 

performance, progress, and needs by 

undermining the public’s confidence in 

the information released by the 

Government. Although the Federal 

Government has taken a number of 

legislative and executive actions, 

informed by national and international 

practice, to maintain public confidence 

in Federal statistics, the actual 

implementation in the form of standards 

and practices can involve a wide range 

of managerial and technical challenges. 

Therefore, to support the quality and 

objectivity of Federal statistical 

information, OMB is issuing a new 

Statistical Policy Directive to affirm the 

long-acknowledged, fundamental 

responsibilities of Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units 

in the design, collection, processing, 

editing, compilation, storage, analysis, 

release, and dissemination of statistical 

information. Additional discussion of 

the Directive, together with the 

Directive itself, may be found in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below. 

DATES: Effective Date: The effective date 

of this Directive is December 2, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Please send any questions 

about this Directive to: Katherine K. 

Wallman, Chief Statistician, Office of 

Management and Budget, 10201 New 

Executive Office Building, Washington, 

DC 20503, telephone number: (202) 

395–3093, FAX number: (202) 395– 

7245. You may also send questions via 

Email to DirectiveNo1@omb.eop.gov. 

Because of delays in the receipt of 

regular mail related to security 

screening, use of electronic 

communications is encouraged. 

Electronic Availability: This 

document is available on the Internet on 

the OMB Web site at www.omb.gov/

inforeg/ssp/DirectiveNo1Final. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Park, 10201 New Executive 

Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, 

Email address: jpark@omb.eop.gov with 

subject Directive No. 1: Fundamental 

Responsibilities of Federal Statistical 

Agencies and Recognized Statistical 

Units, telephone number: (202) 395– 

9046, FAX number: (202) 395–7245. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Nation relies on the flow of credible 

statistics to support the decisions of 

individuals, households, governments, 

businesses, and other organizations. 

Any loss of trust in the relevance, 

accuracy, objectivity, or integrity of the 

Federal statistical system and its 

products can foster uncertainty about 

the validity of measures our Nation uses 

to monitor and assess performance, 

progress, and needs. 

Definitions: The terms, Federal 

statistical agencies and recognized 

statistical units, statistical activities, 

statistical purpose, relevance, 

objectivity, accuracy, and 

confidentiality, as used in this section, 

are defined within the text of the 

Statistical Policy Directive in the 

subsequent section. 

Scope: The Federal statistical system 

comprises over 100 programs that 

engage in statistical activities. However, 

this Directive specifically applies to the 

following Federal statistical agencies 

and recognized statistical units: 

—Bureau of Economic Analysis 

(Department of Commerce); 

—Bureau of Justice Statistics 

(Department of Justice); 

—Bureau of Labor Statistics 

(Department of Labor); 

—Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

(Department of Transportation); 

—Census Bureau (Department of 

Commerce); 

—Economic Research Service 

(Department of Agriculture); 

—Energy Information Administration 

(Department of Energy); 

—National Agricultural Statistics 

Service (Department of Agriculture); 

—National Center for Education 

Statistics (Department of Education); 

—National Center for Health Statistics 

(Department of Health and Human 

Services); 

—National Center for Science and 

Engineering Statistics (National 

Science Foundation); 

—Office of Research, Evaluation, and 

Statistics (Social Security 

Administration); 

—Statistics of Income Division 

(Department of the Treasury); 

—Microeconomic Surveys Unit, Federal 

Reserve Board; 

—Center for Behavioral Health Statistics 

and Quality, Substance Abuse and 

Mental Health Services 

Administration (Department of Health 

and Human Services); 

—National Animal Health Monitoring 

System, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (Department of 

Agriculture); and 

—Federal statistical agencies and 

statistical units newly recognized by 

OMB after the issuance of this 

Directive as agencies or organizational 

units of the Executive Branch whose 

principal missions are statistical 

activities. 

Background: The Federal Government 

has taken a number of legislative and 


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1Examples of such laws are the Food Security Act 

of 1985 Sec. 1770, 7 U.S.C. 2276, as amended in 

Pub. L. 105–113 (Nov. 21, 1997) (National 

Agricultural Statistics Service), 13 U.S.C. 9 (Census 

Bureau), 42 U.S.C. 1873 (National Center for 

Science and Engineering Statistics), and the 

Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 

107–279, Nov. 5, 2002) (National Center for 

Education Statistics). 

2Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical 

Agency, National Research Council of the National 

Academies, Fifth edition, Committee on National 

Statistics, Constance F. Citro and Miron L. Straf, 

Editors, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences 

and Education. Washington, DC The National 

Academies Press (2013). 

executive actions, informed by national 

and international professional practice, 

to maintain public confidence in the 

relevance, accuracy, objectivity, and 

integrity of Federal statistics. 

Documents that provide or inform a 

common foundation for core statistical 

agency functions are outlined in the 

paragraphs below. Taken as a whole, 

these complementary documents 

contribute to an integrative framework 

guiding the production of Federal 

statistics, encompassing design, 

collection, processing, editing, 

compilation, storage, analysis, release, 

and dissemination. 

The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

makes OMB responsible, among other 

requirements, for coordination of the 

Federal statistical system. The purpose 

of this coordination is to ensure the 

integrity, objectivity, impartiality, 

utility, and confidentiality of 

information collected for statistical 

purposes. 

Title V of the E-Government Act of 

2002, the Confidential Information 

Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 

of 2002 (CIPSEA) (Pub. L. 107–347, title 

V; 116 Stat. 2962, Dec. 17, 2002) 

establishes uniform data protection 

requirements for Federal statistical 

collections, sets minimum standards for 

safeguarding confidential statistical 

information, and ensures the 

confidentiality of information collected 

exclusively for statistical purposes. 

OMB’s Implementation Guidance for 

Title V of the E-Government Act, 

Confidential Information Protection and 

Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 

(CIPSEA Implementation Guidance) (72 

FR 33362, June 15, 2007) supports 

public trust by standardizing the pledge 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units use when 

collecting information for statistical 

purposes from the public. It provides a 

uniform approach to protecting 

confidential information any time an 

agency pledges to keep confidential the 

information it collects exclusively for 

statistical purposes. This guidance also 

requires the application of sound 

scientific and statistical disclosure 

limitation techniques to minimize the 

risk of re-identification of survey 

respondents in statistical data products. 

Additional legislation requires 

maintaining the confidentiality of 

responses to agency-specific data 

collections.1

The Privacy Act of 1974 and the 

Privacy Act Implementation: Guidelines 

and Responsibilities (5 U.S.C. 552a; 40 

FR 28948, Jul. 9, 1975) establish a series 

of requirements to ensure that personal 

information about individuals collected 

by Federal agencies is limited to that 

which is legally authorized and 

necessary and is maintained in a 

manner that precludes unwarranted 

intrusions upon individual privacy. 

Section 208 of the E-Government Act of 

2002 (Pub. L. 107–347, 44 U.S.C. Ch 36, 

Dec. 17, 2002) requires agencies to 

conduct privacy impact assessments 

when they develop, procure, or use 

information technology to collect, 

maintain, or disseminate personally 

identifiable information. OMB’s Circular 

A–130 (revised Nov. 28, 2000) 

establishes policy for the management 

of Federal information resources, 

including certain privacy reporting and 

publication requirements. These statutes 

and policies promote public trust by 

establishing a common code of fair 

information practices that applies to all 

Federal agencies that collect 

information about individuals. 

Pursuant to the Information Quality 

Act, OMB has established guidelines 

that require each Federal agency to 

institute procedures to ensure the 

objectivity, utility, and integrity of 

information, including statistical 

information, provided to the public. 

OMB Government-wide Information 

Quality Guidelines (67 FR 8453, Jan. 3, 

2002) define objectivity, utility, and 

integrity in a manner consistent with 

use of these terms in the PRA. Each 

Federal agency, through the adoption or 

adaptation of these guidelines, 

maintains its commitment to use the 

best available science and statistical 

methods; subjects information, models, 

and analytic results to independent peer 

review by qualified experts, when 

appropriate; disseminates its data and 

analytic products with a high degree of 

transparency about the data and 

methods to facilitate their 

reproducibility by qualified third 

parties; and ensures that the 

presentation of information is 

comprehensive, informative, and 

understandable. 

OMB’s Standards and Guidelines for 

Statistical Surveys (71 FR 55522, Sept. 

22, 2006) describes specific practices 

that support the quality of design, 

collection, processing, production, 

analysis, review, and dissemination of 

information from statistical surveys. 

OMB’s Statistical Policy Directive No. 

3, Compilation, Release, and Evaluation 

of Principal Federal Economic 

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

establishes requirements for Federal 

agencies regarding the compilation, 

release, and evaluation of economic 

activity measures that are relied upon 

by the public as Principal Federal 

Economic Indicators. 

OMB’s Statistical Policy Directive No. 

4, Release and Dissemination of 

Statistical Products Produced by 

Federal Statistical Agencies (73 FR 

12622, Mar. 7, 2008) establishes 

requirements for Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units 

on the release and dissemination of 

statistical products. Agencies are 

required to follow specific guidance to 

ensure that their release of information 

is equitable across all users, policy 

neutral, transparent and understandable 

to the public, and timely to the needs of 

data users. 

The President’s Memorandum on the 

Preservation and Promotion of Scientific 

Integrity (March 9, 2009) articulates six 

principles central to the preservation 

and promotion of scientific integrity. A 

central theme of the President’s 

memorandum is that the public must be 

able to trust the science and scientific 

processes informing public policy 

decisions. The Memorandum for the 

Heads of Executive Departments and 

Agencies (December 17, 2010) issued by 

the Director of the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy provides guidance 

for implementing the President’s policy 

on scientific integrity. That 

memorandum directs Executive 

departments and agencies to develop 

policies that ensure a culture of 

scientific integrity, strengthen the actual 

and perceived credibility of Government 

research, facilitate the free flow of 

scientific and technologic information, 

and establish principles for conveying 

scientific and technologic information 

to the public. 

Principles and Practices for a Federal 

Statistical Agency (Principles and 

Practices), issued by the National 

Research Council of the National 

Academy of Sciences, has guided 

managerial and technical decisions 

made by national and international 

statistical agencies for decades. Four 

principles are identified.2

1. Relevance to Public Policy Issues. 

A Federal statistical agency must be in 

a position to provide objective, accurate, 


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3European Statistics Code of Practice for the 

National and Community Statistical Authorities, 

European Statistical System, Adopted September 

28, 2011. 

4 Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, 

United Nations Statistical Commission, adopted 

April 11–15, 1994. Revised preamble adopted 

February 26–March 1, 2013; adopted July 24, 2013 

by the United Nations Economic and Social 

Council; adopted January 29, 2014 by the United 

Nations General Assembly (with sponsorship by the 

United States). 

and timely information that is relevant 

to issues of public policy. 

2. Credibility Among Data Users. A 

Federal statistical agency must have 

credibility with those who use its data 

and information. 

3. Trust Among Data Providers. A 

Federal statistical agency must have the 

trust of those whose information it 

obtains. 

4. Independence from Political and 

Other Undue External Influence. A 

Federal statistical agency must be 

independent from political and other 

undue external influence in developing, 

producing, and disseminating statistics. 

The United States is not alone in 

identifying statistical principles. The 

European Statistics Code of Practice 

guides European statistical systems by 

affirming the European Union member 

nations’ commitment to ensuring high 

quality in the statistical production 

process, protecting the confidentiality of 

the information they collect, and 

disseminating statistics in an objective, 

professional, and transparent manner.3

Fifteen principles are identified. 

1. Professional independence of 

statistical authorities from other policy, 

regulatory or administrative 

departments and bodies, as well as from 

private sector operators, ensures the 

credibility of European Statistics. 

2. Statistical authorities have a clear 

legal mandate to collect information for 

European statistical purposes. 

Administrations, enterprises and 

households, and the public at large may 

be compelled by law to allow access to 

or deliver data for European statistical 

purposes at the request of statistical 

authorities. 

3. The resources available to 

statistical authorities are sufficient to 

meet European Statistics requirements. 

4. Statistical authorities are 

committed to quality. They 

systematically and regularly identify 

strengths and weaknesses to 

continuously improve process and 

product quality. 

5. The privacy of data providers 

(households, enterprises, 

administrations and other respondents), 

the confidentiality of the information 

they provide, and uses only for 

statistical purposes are absolutely 

guaranteed. 

6. Statistical authorities develop, 

produce and disseminate European 

Statistics respecting scientific 

independence and in an objective, 

professional and transparent manner in 

which all users are treated equitably. 

7. Sound methodology underpins 

quality statistics. This requires adequate 

tools, procedures and expertise. 

8. Appropriate statistical procedures, 

implemented from data collection to 

data validation, underpin quality 

statistics. 

9. The reporting burden is 

proportionate to the needs of the users 

and is not excessive for respondents. 

The statistical authorities monitor the 

response burden and set targets for its 

reduction over time. 

10. Resources are used effectively. 

11. European Statistics meet the needs 

of users. 

12. European Statistics accurately and 

reliably portray reality. 

13. European Statistics are released in 

a timely and punctual manner. 

14. European Statistics are consistent 

internally, over time and comparable 

between regions and countries; it is 

possible to combine and make joint use 

of related data from different sources. 

15. European Statistics are presented 

in a clear and understandable form, 

released in a suitable and convenient 

manner, available and accessible on an 

impartial basis with supporting 

metadata and guidance. 

The United Nations Fundamental 

Principles of Official Statistics affirm 

ten fundamental principles that promote 

and build the ‘‘essential trust of the 

public in the integrity of official 

statistical systems and confidence in 

statistics.’’ 4 These principles ensure 

that national statistical systems in 

United Nations member states produce 

high quality and reliable data by 

adhering to certain professional and 

scientific standards. 

1. Official statistics provide an 

indispensable element in the 

information system of a democratic 

society, serving the Government, the 

economy and the public with data about 

the economic, demographic, social and 

environmental situation. To this end, 

official statistics that meet the test of 

practical utility are to be compiled and 

made available on an impartial basis by 

official statistical agencies to honour 

citizens’ entitlement to public 

information. 

2. To retain trust in official statistics, 

the statistical agencies need to decide 

according to strictly professional 

considerations, including scientific 

principles and professional ethics, on 

the methods and procedures for the 

collection, processing, storage and 

presentation of statistical data. 

3. To facilitate a correct interpretation 

of the data, the statistical agencies are to 

present information according to 

scientific standards on the sources, 

methods, and procedures of the 

statistics. 

4. The statistical agencies are entitled 

to comment on erroneous interpretation 

and misuse of statistics. 

5. Data for statistical purposes may be 

drawn from all types of sources, be they 

statistical surveys or administrative 

records. Statistical agencies are to 

choose the source with regard to quality, 

timeliness, costs and the burden on 

respondents. 

6. Individual data collected by 

statistical agencies for statistical 

compilation, whether they refer to 

natural or legal persons, are to be 

strictly confidential and used 

exclusively for statistical purposes. 

7. The laws, regulations, and 

measures under which the statistical 

systems operate are to be made public. 

8. Coordination among statistical 

agencies within countries is essential to 

achieve consistency and efficiency in 

the statistical system. 

9. The use by statistical agencies in 

each country of international concepts, 

classifications and methods promotes 

the consistency and efficiency of 

statistical systems at all official levels. 

10. Bilateral and multilateral 

cooperation in statistics contributes to 

the improvement of systems of official 

statistics in all countries. 

Although these principles and 

policies provide a common foundation 

for core statistical agency functions, 

their actual implementation in the form 

of standards and practices can involve 

a wide range of managerial and 

technical challenges. Therefore, to 

support agency decision-making in a 

manner that fosters statistical quality, 

OMB developed this Statistical Policy 

Directive. This Directive provides a 

unified articulation of Federal statistical 

agency responsibilities. The framework 

requires Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units to adopt 

policies, best practices, and appropriate 

procedures to implement these 

responsibilities. Such a framework also 

recognizes and identifies the essential 

role of Federal Departments in 

supporting Federal statistical agencies 

and recognized statistical units as they 

implement these responsibilities. 

Disposition Of Comments Received: 

On May 21, 2014, OMB published in the 

Federal Register (79 FR 29308, May 21, 

2014) a notice seeking comments on a 

draft of this Directive. Eight respondents 


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sent comments in regard to the notice. 

All commenters encouraged OMB to 

issue the Directive, some as drafted and 

others with suggested changes designed 

to strengthen various provisions of the 

Directive. After careful consideration, 

the draft Directive was modified in 

response to comment and is issued as 

final by this notice. A general 

discussion of the comments as they 

pertain to sections of the Directive and 

their disposition follows. 

Authority and Purpose. One comment 

suggested adding implementation 

guidance to the Directive. We agree that 

implementation guidance may be 

valuable. However, this Directive is 

intended to provide a concise, stable, 

and unified articulation of Federal 

statistical agency responsibilities. As 

such, the framework is intended to be a 

foundation document, with minimal 

changes anticipated over time. In 

contrast, we anticipate that the policies, 

practices, and procedures needed to 

implement these responsibilities will 

necessarily change over time, as 

particular data needs, forms of data, and 

information technology applications 

evolve. Therefore, the Directive is 

limited to articulating core principles; 

implementation guidance, if developed, 

would be issued separately. 

A comment called for a provision 

requiring Federal Departments to report 

within a specified period of time how 

their current structures and procedures 

support Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units in achieving 

their responsibilities. We agree this 

information would be beneficial, but see 

reporting requirements as an activity 

related to the implementation of the 

Directive, rather than as a function of 

the Directive itself. The Directive is 

intended to be brief and including 

reporting requirements is not wellsuited for its scope as a foundation 

document. Therefore, we may request 

this or similar information upon 

issuance of the final Directive. 

Background. One comment requested 

clarification as to the definition of 

‘‘participating countries’’ referenced in 

the Directive’s discussion of the United 

Nations’ Fundamental Principles of 

Official Statistics. We have modified the 

text to clarify that our reference pertains 

to United Nations’ member states, of 

which there are currently 193. 

Responsibility 1. Four comments 

suggested that the Directive clarify 

Federal statistical agencies’ roles and 

responsibilities regarding data archiving 

and data access for future secondary 

analysis, as recommended in Principles 

and Practices. Such guidance would 

describe which data should be retained, 

how the data should be archived and for 

what period of time, and how data 

should be accessed responsibly. One 

comment placed this request within a 

broader request for leadership in 

navigating ‘‘big data’’ conceptualization 

and management. A related comment 

suggested Federal statistical agencies 

and recognized statistical units employ 

a common metadata classification 

system to better enable interoperability 

and utility of data. In response, as stated 

above, we agree that data storage is an 

important element in the data life cycle 

responsibilities assigned to Federal 

statistical agencies and recognized 

statistical units, and have included that 

activity more explicitly within the 

Directive. However, the purpose of this 

Directive is to provide a concise, stable, 

and unified framework for previously 

established responsibilities. Therefore, 

inclusion of current best practices 

relating to data archives and access is 

outside the scope of this Directive and, 

if developed, would be issued under 

separate guidance. 

Responsibility 3. One comment 

recommended that the Directive include 

a statement describing how autonomy 

relates to the other three 

responsibilities, since doing so would 

underscore the importance of autonomy 

in achieving each responsibility. We 

agree that the responsibility of 

objectivity is strongly related to each of 

the fundamental responsibilities 

identified in this Directive. We think 

emphasizing the importance of 

achieving all four responsibilities in 

concert would underscore the value and 

relationship of each responsibility 

toward the overall goal of supporting 

the quality of Federal statistics. We have 

added language to that effect. 

One comment requested that explicit 

language be added to clarify and 

harmonize this Directive and other 

legislation, regulations, and policies. In 

particular, the comment urged OMB to 

address how this Directive intersects 

with provisions of the Education 

Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) of 2002, 

wherein an agency external to a Federal 

statistical agency could be interpreted to 

have authority to determine when and 

how to disseminate the statistical 

products of a Federal statistical agency. 

In response, we believe this 

circumstance should not impede the 

implementation of the Directive. Thus, 

when a statute authorizes an external 

agency to make determinations that this 

Directive assigns as the proper 

responsibility of a Federal statistical 

agency, the authorized agency should 

delegate those determinations to the 

Federal statistical agency. Doing so 

benefits both the Federal statistical 

agency and its Department. Both parties 

have a clear, vested interest in 

preserving the actual and perceived 

objectivity of Government data. Indeed, 

implementation of policy 

recommendations could be profoundly 

undermined should there be public 

distrust in the statistical estimates used 

as the basis for the decisions made by 

policy-makers. If the Department 

believes the Federal statistical agency or 

recognized statistical unit does not have 

capacity to carry out the responsibilities 

set forth in this Directive, then the 

Department should make the necessary 

resources available to the Federal 

statistical agency or recognized 

statistical unit. 

Another comment recommended that 

OMB include ‘‘information technology 

systems’’ among the items that should 

not be permitted to affect the autonomy 

of Federal statistical agencies, since 

these can affect the release, 

transparency, integrity, and 

confidentiality of official Federal 

statistics. We interpret this comment as 

a recommendation to emphasize that a 

Federal statistical agency or recognized 

statistical unit has authority over the 

processing, storage, and maintenance of 

the data that it collects. We agree and 

have added text referencing CIPSEA 

Implementation Guidance. 

Accordingly, OMB hereby adopts and 

issues the attached final Statistical 

Policy Directive No. 1, Fundamental 

Responsibilities of Federal Statistical 

Agencies and Recognized Statistical 

Units. 

Howard Shelanski, 

Administrator, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs. 

Statistical Policy Directive No. 1: 

Fundamental Responsibilities of 

Federal Statistical Agencies and 

Recognized Statistical Units 

Authority And Purpose: This 

Directive affirms the fundamental 

responsibilities of Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units 

and defines the requirements governing 

the design, collection, processing, 

editing, compilation, storage, analysis, 

release, and dissemination of statistical 

information by Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical 

units. The Directive is issued under the 

authority of 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)). 

Scope: This Directive applies to 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units—defined in 

the Implementation Guidance for Title 

V of the E-Government Act, Confidential 

Information Protection and Statistical 


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1Statistical activities implicitly but necessarily 

involve the design, editing, and storage of statistical 

data as instrumental to collection, compilation, 

processing, analysis, release, and dissemination of 

statistical information. Therefore, for clarity, this 

Directive explicitly refers to each of these as 

statistical activities. 

2Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical 

Agency, National Research Council of the National 

Academies, Fifth edition, Committee on National 

Statistics, Constance F. Citro and Miron L. Straf, 

Editors, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences 

and Education. Washington, DC The National 

Academies Press, (2013), p. 11. 

3Private Lives and Public Policies: Confidentiality 

and Accessibility of Government Statistics. 

Committee on National Statistics, Commission on 

Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, 

National Research Council and the Social Science 

Research Council, Washington, DC National 

Academy Press (1993) p. 22. 

4European Statistics Code of Practice for the 

National and Community Statistical Authorities, 

European Statistical System, Adopted September 

28, 2011. 

5 Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, 

United Nations Statistical Commission, adopted 

April 11–15, 1994. Revised preamble adopted 

February 26-March 1, 2013; adopted July 24, 2013 

by the United Nations Economic and Social 

Council; adopted January 29, 2014 by the United 

Nations General Assembly (with sponsorship by the 

United States). 

6Although the responsibilities of statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units are 

numbered here for ease of reference, no ranking of 

importance is implied. 

Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA 

Implementation Guidance) (72 FR 33362 

at 33368, June 15, 2007), as well as 

Federal statistical agencies and 

statistical units newly recognized by 

OMB after the issuance of this Directive, 

as agencies or organizational units of the 

Executive Branch whose principal 

missions are statistical activities. 

Definitions: As defined in Title V of 

the E-Government Act, Confidential 

Information Protection and Statistical 

Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA) (Pub. L. 

107–347, title V; 116 Stat. 2962, Dec. 17, 

2002), statistical activities are the 

collection, compilation, processing, 

analysis, or dissemination of data 1 for 

the purpose of describing or making 

estimates concerning the whole, or 

relevant groups or components within, 

the economy, society, or the natural 

environment, including the 

development of methods or resources 

that support those activities, such as 

measurement methods, models, 

statistical classifications, or sampling 

frames. CIPSEA defines statistical 

purpose as the description, estimation, 

or analysis of the characteristics of 

groups, without identifying the 

individuals or organizations that 

comprise such groups; and includes the 

development, implementation, or 

maintenance of methods, technical or 

administrative procedures, or 

information resources that support such 

purposes. As defined in Principles and 

Practices for a Federal Statistical 

Agency (Principles and Practices), 

relevance means measuring processes, 

activities, and things that matter to 

policy makers, and public and private 

sector data users.2 Objectivity, as defined 

in Government-wide Information 

Quality Guidelines (Information Quality 

Guidelines) (67 FR 8453, Jan. 3, 2002), 

refers to disseminating information in 

an accurate, clear, complete, and 

unbiased manner. As defined in 

Principles and Practices (p. 11), 

accuracy refers to generating statistics 

that consistently match the events and 

trends being measured. Confidentiality 

refers to a quality or condition of 

information as an obligation not to 

disclose that information to an 

unauthorized party.3

Introduction: This Directive 

delineates the fundamental 

responsibilities of Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical 

units. The responsibilities in this 

Directive are built upon and are 

consistent with the goals and principles 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3504 (e)), the Information 

Quality Act (Pub. L. 106–554, Division 

C, title V, Sec. 515, Dec. 21, 2000; 114 

Stat. 2763A–153 to 2763A–154), 

Government-wide Information Quality 

Guidelines (Information Quality 

Guidelines) (67 FR 8453, Jan. 3, 2002), 

Title V of the E-Government Act, 

Confidential Information Protection and 

Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 

(CIPSEA) (Pub. L. 107–347, title V; 116 

Stat. 2962, Dec. 17, 2002), 

Implementation Guidance for Title V of 

the E-Government Act, Confidential 

Information Protection and Statistical 

Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA 

Implementation Guidance) (72 FR 33362 

at 33368, June 15, 2007), the Privacy Act 

of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Privacy Act 

Implementation(PB): Guidelines and 

Responsibilities (40 FR 28948, Jul. 9, 

1975), Section 208 of the E-Government 

Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107–347, 44 U.S.C. 

Ch 36, Dec. 17, 2002), OMB’s Circular 

A–130 (revised Nov. 28, 2000), the 

President’s Memorandum on the 

Preservation and Promotion of Scientific 

Integrity (March 9, 2009), the 

Memorandum for the Heads of 

Executive Departments and Agencies 

(December 17, 2010) issued by the 

Director of the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy (OSTP Memorandum 

of December 17, 2010), Standards and 

Guidelines for Statistical Surveys (71 FR 

55522, Sept. 22, 2006), Statistical Policy 

Directive No. 3, Compilation, Release, 

and Evaluation of Principal Federal 

Economic Indicators (Directive 3) (50 FR 

38932, Sept. 25, 1985), Statistical Policy 

Directive No. 4, Release and 

Dissemination of Statistical Products 

Produced by Federal Statistical 

Agencies (Directive 4) (73 FR 12622– 

12625, Mar. 7, 2008) and Principles and 

Practices for a Federal Statistical 

Agency (Principles and Practices). The 

responsibilities in this Directive are also 

consistent with the European Statistics 

Code of Practice 4 and the United 

Nations Fundamental Principles of 

Official Statistics.5 This Directive is not 

intended to replace current guidance; 

agencies must continue to comply with 

all applicable laws, regulations, and 

policies. 

The responsibilities delineated in this 

Directive provide a framework that 

supports Federal statistical policy and 

serves as a foundation for Federal 

statistical activities, promoting trust 

among statistical agencies, data 

providers, and data users. Data users 

rely upon an agency’s reputation as an 

objective source of relevant, accurate, 

and objective statistics, and data 

providers rely upon an agency’s 

authority and reputation to honor its 

pledge to protect the confidentiality of 

their responses and to use them 

exclusively for statistical purposes. 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units must adhere 

to these responsibilities and adopt 

policies, best practices, and appropriate 

procedures to implement them. Federal 

departments must enable, support, and 

facilitate Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units as they 

implement these responsibilities. 

Responsibilities: It is the 

responsibility of Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units 

to produce and disseminate relevant 

and timely information; conduct 

credible, accurate, and objective 

statistical activities; and protect the 

trust of information providers by 

ensuring confidentiality and exclusive 

statistical use of their responses as 

described below.6 The benefits to 

Federal statistical data users and the 

Nation of maintaining and enhancing 

the quality of official Federal statistics 

envisioned by this Directive become 

fully realized when Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical 

units, with enabling support and 

facilitation from their Departments, 

achieve these mutually-reinforcing 

responsibilities concurrently. 

Responsibility 1: Produce and 

disseminate relevant and timely 

information. The core mission of 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units is to produce 


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relevant and timely statistical 

information to inform decision-makers 

in governments, businesses, institutions, 

and households. Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units 

must be knowledgeable about the issues 

and requirements of programs and 

policies relating to their subject 

domains. This requires communication 

and coordination among agencies and 

within and across Departments when 

planning information collection and 

dissemination activities. In addition, 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units must seek 

input regularly from the broadest range 

of private- and public-sector data users, 

including analysts and policy makers 

within Federal, State, local, tribal, and 

territorial government agencies; 

academic researchers; private sector 

businesses and constituent groups; and 

non-profit organizations. Program and 

policy-relevant information may be 

directly collected from individuals, 

organizations, or establishments through 

surveys; administrative records 

collected and maintained by the agency, 

or other government agencies; datasets 

available from the private sector; or 

publicly available information released 

on Internet Web sites that meets an 

agency’s quality standards. Statistical 

agencies should be innovative in 

applying new technologies in their 

methods for designing, collecting, 

processing, editing, compiling, storing, 

analyzing, releasing, and disseminating 

data to improve the accuracy and 

timeliness of their information and the 

efficiency of their operations. 

(Principles and Practices, pp. 17 and 53) 

Responsibility 2: Conduct credible 

and accurate statistical activities. 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units apply sound 

statistical methods to ensure statistical 

products are accurate. Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units 

achieve this by regularly evaluating the 

data and information products they 

publicly release against the OMB 

Government-wide Information Quality 

Guidelines as well as their individual 

agency’s information quality guidelines. 

Where appropriate, information about 

how the data were collected and any 

known or potential data limitations or 

sources of error (such as population or 

market coverage, or sampling, 

measurement, processing, or modeling 

errors) should be described to data users 

so they can evaluate the suitability of 

the data for a particular purpose. Errata 

identified after data release should be 

described to data users on an ongoing 

basis as verified. Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units 

must be vigilant in seeking new 

methods and adopting new technologies 

to ensure the quality and efficiency of 

the information they collect and 

produce. (Principles and Practices, pp. 

42–43) Data derived from outside 

sources must be described in 

information products and 

communication materials so that users 

can employ exogenous information 

appropriately. Federal statistical 

agencies and recognized statistical units 

must provide complete documentation 

of their dissemination policies and 

ensure that all users have equitable 

access to data disseminated to the 

public (Statistical Policy Directive No. 4, 

73 FR 12622 at 12625). Additionally, 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units must 

periodically review the techniques and 

procedures used to implement their 

information quality guidelines to keep 

pace with changes in best practices and 

technology. 

Responsibility 3: Conduct objective 

statistical activities. It is paramount that 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units produce data 

that are impartial, clear, and complete 

and are readily perceived as such by the 

public. The objectivity of the 

information released to the public is 

maximized by making information 

available on an equitable, policyneutral, transparent, timely, and 

punctual basis. Accordingly, Federal 

statistical agencies and recognized 

statistical units must function in an 

environment that is clearly separate and 

autonomous from the other 

administrative, regulatory, law 

enforcement, or policy-making activities 

within their respective Departments. 

Specifically, Federal statistical agencies 

and recognized statistical units must be 

able to conduct statistical activities 

autonomously when determining what 

information to collect and process, the 

physical security and information 

systems security employed to protect 

confidential data, which methods to 

apply in their estimation procedures 

and data analysis, when and how to 

store and disseminate their statistical 

products, and which staff to select to 

join their agencies. In order to maintain 

credibility with data providers and 

users as well as the public, Federal 

statistical agencies and recognized 

statistical units must seek to avoid even 

the appearance that agency design, 

collection, processing, editing, 

compilation, storage, analysis, release, 

and dissemination processes may be 

manipulated. The actual and perceived 

credibility of Federal statistics requires 

assurance that the selection of 

candidates for statistical positions is 

based primarily on their scientific and 

technical knowledge, credentials, 

experience, and integrity. Moreover, 

Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units must 

maintain and develop in-house staff 

who are trained in statistical 

methodology to properly plan, design, 

and implement core data collection 

operations and to accurately analyze 

their data. (OMB Government-wide 

Information Quality Guidelines; CIPSEA 

Implementation Guidance, 33362 at 

33371; OSTP Memorandum of 

December 17, 2010; Principles and 

Practices, p. 70) 

Responsibility 4: Protect the trust of 

information providers by ensuring the 

confidentiality and exclusive statistical 

use of their responses. Maintaining and 

enhancing the public’s trust in a Federal 

statistical agency’s or recognized 

statistical unit’s ability to protect the 

integrity of the information provided 

under a pledge of confidentiality is 

essential for the completeness and 

accuracy of statistical information as 

well as the efficiency and burden of its 

production. Providers of information, 

such as survey respondents, must be 

able to trust and rely upon the 

information and confidentiality pledges 

that Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units provide 

about the need to collect information 

and its intended use for exclusively 

statistical purposes. Maintaining 

consistent and effective protection 

reduces public confusion, uncertainty, 

and concern about the treatment and 

use of reported information. (Order 

Providing for the Confidentiality of 

Statistical Information, 62 FR 35044 

(June 27, 1997)) In addition, adopting 

this protection reduces the cost and 

reporting burden imposed by programs 

of Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units. Fostering 

trust among data providers about a 

statistical agency’s authority and ability 

to protect the confidentiality and 

exclusive statistical use of responses 

promotes higher participation in 

surveys and accurate reporting of 

information from respondents. Federal 

statistical agencies and recognized 

statistical units build and sustain trust 

with data providers by maintaining a 

strong organizational climate that 

safeguards and protects the integrity and 

confidentiality of the data collected, 

processed, and analyzed to ensure that 

the information is secure against 

unauthorized access, editing, deletion, 

or use. Federal statistical agencies and 

recognized statistical units must fully 

adhere to legal requirements and follow 


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best practices for protecting the 

confidentiality of data, including 

training their staffs and agents, and 

ensuring the physical and information 

system security of confidential 

information. (CIPSEA Implementation 

Guidance, 33362 at 33374) 

These responsibilities provide a 

framework for Federal statistical policy 

and the foundation upon which core 

functions of Federal statistical agencies 

and recognized statistical units are 

grounded. Adherence to these 

responsibilities ensures that the Federal 

statistical system continues to provide 

relevant, accurate, objective statistics in 

a manner that honors and maintains the 

public’s trust. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28326 Filed 12–1–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3110–01–P 


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