H. R. 5084
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four
An Act
To amend title 13, United States Code, to improve the accuracy of census address
lists, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Census Address List Improvement
Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. ADDRESS INFORMATION REVIEWED BY LOCAL GOVERN-
MENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 13, United States Code,
is amended by adding after section 15 the following new section:
‘‘§ 16. Address information reviewed by States and local
governments
‘‘(a) The Secretary, to assist efforts to ensure the accuracy
of censuses and surveys under this title, shall—
‘‘(1) publish standards defining the content and structure
of address information which States and local units of general
purpose government may submit to the Secretary to be used
in developing a national address list;
‘‘(2)(A) develop and publish a timetable for the Bureau
to receive, review, and respond to submissions of information
under paragraph (1) before the decennial census date; and
‘‘(B) provide for a response by the Bureau with respect
to such submissions in which the Bureau specifies its deter-
minations regarding such information and the reasons for such
determinations; and
‘‘(3) be subject to the review process developed under section
3 of the Census Address List Improvement Act of 1994 relating
to responses pursuant to paragraph (2).
‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary—
‘‘(A) shall provide officials who are designated as census
liaisons by a local unit of general purpose government with
access to census address information for the purpose of verifying
the accuracy of the address information of the Bureau for
census and survey purposes; and
‘‘(B) together with such access, should provide an expla-
nation of duties and obligations under this title.
‘‘(2) Access under paragraph (1) shall be limited to address
information concerning addresses within the local unit of general
purpose government represented by the census liaison or an adja-
cent local unit of general purpose government.
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‘‘(3) The Bureau should respond to each recommendation made
by a census liaison concerning the accuracy of address information,
including the determination (and reasons therefor) of the Bureau
regarding each such recommendation.
‘‘(4) For the purposes of paragraph (1), in a case in which
a local unit of general purpose government is within another local
unit of general purpose government and is not independent of
the enclosing unit, the census liaison shall be designated by the
local unit of general purpose government which is within the enclos-
ing local unit of general purpose government.
‘‘(5) A census liaison may not use information made available
under paragraph (1) for any purpose other than the purpose speci-
fied in paragraph (1).
‘‘(c) For the purposes of this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘local unit of general purpose government’
has the meaning given such term by section 184(1) of this
title; and
‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin
Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United
States.’’.
(b) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Section 9(a) of such title is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘or local government census liaison,’’ after
‘‘thereof,’’; and
(2) by inserting ‘‘or 16’’ after ‘‘section 8’’.
(c) PENALTY.—Section 214 of such title is amended by inserting
‘‘or whoever, being or having been a census liaison within the
meaning of section 16 of this title,’’ after ‘‘title,’’ the second place
it appears.
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at the begin-
ning of chapter 1 of such title is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 15 the following:
‘‘16. Address information reviewed by local governments.’’.
SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF APPEALS PROCESS BY ADMINISTRATOR OF
THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS.
The Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, acting through the Chief Statistician and in consultation
with the Bureau of the Census, shall develop an appeals process
for those States and local units of general purpose government
which desire to appeal determinations of the Bureau of the Census
pursuant to section 16(a)(2) or (b)(3) of title 13, United States
Code. Appeals under such process shall be resolved before the
decennial census date. The Chief Statistician shall publish the
proposed appeals process for a period of public comment before
finalizing such process.
SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE TO SHARE
ADDRESS LISTS.
Section 412 of title 39, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking out ‘‘Except’’ and all that follows through
‘‘law,’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘(a) Except as specifically
provided by subsection (b) or other law,’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) The Postal Service shall provide to the Secretary of Com-
merce for use by the Bureau of the Census such address informa-
H. R. 5084—3
tion, address-related information, and point of postal delivery
information, including postal delivery codes, as may be determined
by the Secretary to be appropriate for any census or survey being
conducted by the Bureau of the Census. The provision of such
information under this subsection shall be in accordance with such
mutually agreeable terms and conditions, including reimbursability,
as the Postal Service and the Secretary of Commerce shall deem
appropriate.’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.