SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 
2017’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—FEDERAL EVIDENCE-BUILDING ACTIVITIES 
Sec. 101. Federal evidence-building activities. 
TITLE II—OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA ACT 
Sec. 201. Short title. 
Sec. 202. OPEN Government Data. 
TITLE III—CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION PROTECTION AND 
STATISTICAL EFFICIENCY 
Sec. 301. Short title. 
Sec. 302. Confidential information protection and statistical efficiency. 
Sec. 303. Increasing access to data for evidence. 
TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS 
Sec. 401. Rule of construction. 
Sec. 402. Effective date. 
TITLE I—FEDERAL EVIDENCE- 
BUILDING ACTIVITIES 
SEC. 101. FEDERAL EVIDENCE-BUILDING ACTIVITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of part I of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) before section 301, by inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL PROVISIONS’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—FEDERAL EVIDENCE- 
BUILDING ACTIVITIES 
‘‘§ 311. Definitions 
‘‘In this subchapter: 
‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means an 
agency referred to under section 901(b) of title 31. 
‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budg-
et. 
‘‘(3) 
EVALUATION.—The 
term 
‘evaluation’ 
means an assessment using systematic data collec-
tion and analysis of one or more programs, policies, 
and organizations intended to assess their effective-
ness and efficiency. 
‘‘(4) EVIDENCE.—The term ‘evidence’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 3561 of title 44. 
‘‘(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, each 
territory or possession of the United States, and 
each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 
‘‘(6) STATISTICAL
ACTIVITIES; 
STATISTICAL 
AGENCY
OR
UNIT; STATISTICAL
PURPOSE.—The 
terms ‘statistical activities’, ‘statistical agency or 
unit’, and ‘statistical purpose’ have the meanings 
given those terms in section 3561 of title 44.
‘‘§ 312. Agency evidence-building plan 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than the first Mon-
day in February of each year, the head of each agency 
shall submit to the Director and Congress a systematic 
plan for identifying and addressing policy questions rel-
evant to the programs, policies, and regulations of the 
agency. Such plan shall be made available on the public 
website of the agency and shall cover at least a 4-year 
period beginning with the first fiscal year following the 
fiscal year in which the plan is submitted and published 
and contain the following: 
‘‘(1) A list of policy-relevant questions for 
which the agency intends to develop evidence to sup-
port policymaking. 
‘‘(2) A list of data the agency intends to collect, 
use, or acquire to facilitate the use of evidence in 
policymaking. 
‘‘(3) A list of methods and analytical ap-
proaches that may be used to develop evidence to 
support policymaking. 
‘‘(4) A list of any challenges to developing evi-
dence to support policymaking, including any statu-
tory or other restrictions to accessing relevant data. 
‘‘(5) A description of the steps the agency will 
take to accomplish paragraphs (1) and (2).
‘‘(6) Any other information as required by guid-
ance issued by the Director. 
‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan re-
quired under subsection (a), the head of an agency shall 
consult with the following: 
‘‘(1) The public. 
‘‘(2) Any evaluation or analysis unit and per-
sonnel of the agency. 
‘‘(3) Agency officials responsible for imple-
menting privacy policy. 
‘‘(4) The Chief Data Officer of the agency. 
‘‘(5) The officials of the agency designated 
under section 315. 
‘‘(6) The Performance Improvement Officer of 
the agency. 
‘‘(7) Program administrators of the agency. 
‘‘(8) The committees of the House of Rep-
resentatives and Senate with oversight jurisdiction 
over the agency. 
‘‘(9) Any other individual or entity as deter-
mined by the Director. 
‘‘§ 313. Governmentwide evidence-building coordina-
tion 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall consolidate 
the plans submitted under section 312 in a unified evi-
dence-building plan. The Director shall notify agency 
heads of potentially overlapping or unnecessarily duplica-
tive data acquisition plans and facilitate interagency evi-
dence gathering and sharing. The head of an agency may 
incorporate the results of any interagency coordination by 
updating the plan required under section 312. The Direc-
tor shall incorporate any such agency update in the unified 
evidence-building plan. 
‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the unified evi-
dence-building plan required under subsection (a), the Di-
rector shall consult with the following: 
‘‘(1) The public. 
‘‘(2) The Interagency Council on Statistical 
Policy established under section 3504(e)(8) of title 
44. 
‘‘(3) Any other relevant interagency council. 
‘‘(4) The head of each agency. 
‘‘(5) Any other individual or entity as deter-
mined by the Director. 
‘‘§ 314. Chief Evaluation Officers 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The head of each agency 
shall appoint or designate an employee of the agency as 
the Chief Evaluation Officer of the agency. 
‘‘(b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Chief Evaluation Offi-
cer of an agency shall be appointed or designated without
regard to political affiliation and based on demonstrated 
expertise in evaluation methodology and practices and ap-
propriate expertise to the disciplines of the agency. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.—The Chief Evaluation Officer of 
an agency may not simultaneously serve as any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) The Chief Financial Officer of any agency. 
‘‘(2) The Chief Information Officer of any 
agency. 
‘‘(3) The Chief Human Capital Officer of any 
agency. 
‘‘(4) The Chief Acquisition Officer of any agen-
cy. 
‘‘(5) The Inspector General of any agency. 
‘‘(d) COORDINATION.—The Chief Evaluation Officer 
of an agency shall, to the extent practicable, coordinate 
activities with agency officials, including the following: 
‘‘(1) Agency officials responsible for imple-
menting privacy policy regarding privacy and con-
fidentiality issues. 
‘‘(2) The Chief Data Officer of the agency. 
‘‘(3) Agency officials designated under section 
315.
‘‘(4) Any evaluation or analysis unit and per-
sonnel of the agency on the needs for evaluation and 
analysis. 
‘‘(5) The Performance Improvement Officer of 
the agency. 
‘‘(6) Program administrators of the agency. 
‘‘(7) The Chief Evaluation Officers of other 
agencies. 
‘‘(e) FUNCTIONS.—The Chief Evaluation Officer of 
each agency shall— 
‘‘(1) continually assess the coverage, quality, 
methods, consistency, effectiveness, independence, 
and balance of the portfolio of evaluations, policy re-
search, and ongoing evaluation activities of the agen-
cy; 
‘‘(2) assess agency capacity to support the de-
velopment and use of evaluation; 
‘‘(3) establish and implement an agency evalua-
tion policy; and 
‘‘(4) coordinate, develop, and implement the 
plan required under section 312. 
‘‘§ 315. Statistical expertise 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall 
designate the head of any statistical agency or unit within 
the agency, or in the case of an agency that does not have
‘‘(1) One member who is an agency Chief Infor-
mation Officer. 
‘‘(2) One member who is an agency Chief Pri-
vacy Officer. 
‘‘(3) One member who is an agency Chief Per-
formance Officer. 
‘‘(4) Three members who are agency Chief 
Data Officers. 
‘‘(5) Three members who are agency Chief 
Evaluation Officers. 
‘‘(6) Three members who are members of the 
Interagency Council for Statistical Policy established 
under section 3504(e)(8) of title 44. 
‘‘(7) At least 10 members who are representa-
tives of State and local governments and nongovern-
mental stakeholders with expertise in government 
data policy, privacy, technology, transparency policy, 
evaluation and research methodologies, and other 
relevant subjects, of whom— 
‘‘(A) at least one shall have expertise in 
transparency policy; 
‘‘(B) at least one shall have expertise in 
privacy policy; 
‘‘(C) at least one shall have expertise in 
statistical data use;
‘‘(D) at least one shall have expertise in in-
formation management; 
‘‘(E) at least one shall have expertise in in-
formation technology; and 
‘‘(F) at least one shall be from the re-
search and evaluation community. 
‘‘(c) TERM OF SERVICE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Advi-
sory Committee (other than the Chair) shall serve 
for a term of 2 years. 
‘‘(2) VACANCY.—Any member appointed to fill 
a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the 
term for which the member’s predecessor was ap-
pointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of 
that term. A vacancy in the Commission shall be 
filled in the manner in which the original appoint-
ment was made. 
‘‘(d) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Advisory 
Committee shall serve without compensation. 
‘‘(e) DUTIES.— 
‘‘(1) FIRST YEAR.—During the first year of the 
Advisory 
Committee, 
the 
Advisory 
Committee 
shall—
‘‘(A) assist the Director in carrying out the 
duties of the Director under part D of sub-
chapter III of chapter 35 of title 44; and 
‘‘(B) evaluate and provide recommenda-
tions to the Director on the establishment of a 
shared service to facilitate data sharing, enable 
data linkage, and develop privacy enhancing 
techniques, including— 
‘‘(i) the specific capabilities, needs, 
and necessary assets of such service, and 
the extent to which assets should be trans-
ferred from existing agencies; 
‘‘(ii) any prospective location for such 
service; 
‘‘(iii) best practices for transparency 
and interagency coordination; 
‘‘(iv) best practices for monitoring 
and auditing of privacy, data linkage, and 
confidentiality of data accessed through 
such service; and 
‘‘(v) necessary administrative and fi-
nancial authorities to support the activities 
of such service.
‘‘(2) SECOND YEAR.—During the second and 
any subsequent year of the Advisory Committee, the 
Advisory Committee shall— 
‘‘(A) if determined necessary by the Direc-
tor, carry out the duties described in paragraph 
(1); and 
‘‘(B) review the coordination of data shar-
ing or availability for evidence building across 
all agencies. 
‘‘(f) REPORTS.—For each year of the existence of the 
Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee shall submit 
to the Director and make publicly available an annual re-
port on the activities and findings of the Advisory Com-
mittee.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
The table of sections for chapter 3 of part I of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by inserting before the item relating to sec-
tion 301 the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL PROVISIONS’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—FEDERAL EVIDENCE-BUILDING ACTIVITIES 
‘‘311. Definitions. 
‘‘312. Agency evidence-building plan. 
‘‘313. Governmentwide evidence-building coordination. 
‘‘314. Chief Evaluation Officers. 
‘‘315. Statistical expertise. 
‘‘316. Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building.’’.
(c) AGENCY STRATEGIC PLANS.—Section 306 of title 
5, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
(B) in paragraph (8), by— 
(i) striking the period at the end; and 
(ii) inserting after ‘‘to be conducted’’ 
the following: ‘‘, and citations to relevant 
provisions of the plan required under sec-
tion 312; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9) an assessment of the coverage, quality, 
methods, effectiveness, and independence of the sta-
tistics, evaluation, research, and analysis efforts of 
the agency, including— 
‘‘(A) a list of the activities and operations 
of the agency that are currently being evaluated 
and analyzed; 
‘‘(B) the extent to which the evaluations, 
research, and analysis efforts and related activi-
ties of the agency support the needs of various 
divisions within the agency; 
‘‘(C) the extent to which the evaluation re-
search and analysis efforts and related activities
of the agency address an appropriate balance 
between needs related to organizational learn-
ing, ongoing program management, perform-
ance management, strategic management, inter-
agency and private sector coordination, internal 
and external oversight, and accountability; 
‘‘(D) the extent to which the agency uses 
methods and combinations of methods that are 
appropriate to agency divisions and the cor-
responding research questions being addressed, 
including an appropriate combination of forma-
tive and summative evaluation research and 
analysis approaches; 
‘‘(E) the extent to which evaluation and re-
search capacity is present within the agency to 
include personnel and agency processes for 
planning and implementing evaluation activities, 
disseminating best practices and findings, and 
incorporating employee views and feedback; and 
‘‘(F) the extent to which the agency has 
the capacity to assist agency staff and program 
offices to develop the capacity to use evaluation 
research and analysis approaches and data in 
the day-to-day operations.’’;
(2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-
section (g); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(f) Not later than 2 years after the date on which 
each strategic plan required under subsection (a) is pub-
lished, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit to Congress a report that— 
‘‘(1) summarizes agency findings and highlights 
trends in the assessment conducted pursuant to sub-
section (a)(9); and 
‘‘(2) if appropriate, recommends actions to fur-
ther improve agency capacity to use evaluation tech-
niques and data to support evaluation efforts.’’. 
TITLE II—OPEN GOVERNMENT 
DATA ACT 
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘ ‘Open, Public, Elec-
tronic, and Necessary Government Data Act’ ’’ or the 
‘‘OPEN Government Data Act’’. 
SEC. 202. OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3502 of title 44, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘; and’’ at 
the end and inserting a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(15) the term ‘data’ means recorded informa-
tion, regardless of form or the media on which the 
data is recorded; 
‘‘(16) the term ‘data asset’ means a collection 
of data elements or data sets that may be grouped 
together; 
‘‘(17) the term ‘machine-readable’, when used 
with respect to data, means data in a format that 
can be easily processed by a computer without 
human intervention while ensuring no semantic 
meaning is lost; 
‘‘(18) the term ‘metadata’ means structural or 
descriptive information about data such as content, 
format, source, rights, accuracy, provenance, fre-
quency, periodicity, granularity, publisher or respon-
sible party, contact information, method of collec-
tion, and other descriptions; 
‘‘(19) the term ‘open Government data asset’ 
means a public data asset that is— 
‘‘(A) machine-readable;
‘‘(B) available (or could be made available) 
in an open format; 
‘‘(C) not encumbered by restrictions that 
would impede the use or reuse of such asset; 
and 
‘‘(D) based on an underlying open stand-
ard that is maintained by a standards organiza-
tion; 
‘‘(20) the term ‘open license’ means a legal 
guarantee that a data asset is made available— 
‘‘(A) at no cost to the public; and 
‘‘(B) with no restrictions on copying, pub-
lishing, distributing, transmitting, citing, or 
adapting such asset; 
‘‘(21) the term ‘public data asset’ means a data 
asset maintained by the Federal Government that 
has been, or may be, released to the public, includ-
ing any data asset subject to disclosure under sec-
tion 552 of title 5; and 
‘‘(22) the term ‘statistical laws’ means sub-
chapter III of this chapter and other laws pertaining 
to the protection of information collected for statis-
tical purposes as designated by the Director.’’.
(b) GUIDANCE TO MAKE DATA OPEN
BY DE-
FAULT.—Section 3504(b) of title 44, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 
inserting a semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(6) issue guidance for agencies to implement 
section 3506(b)(6) in a manner that takes into ac-
count— 
‘‘(A) risks and restrictions related to the 
disclosure of personally identifiable information, 
including the risk that an individual data asset 
in isolation does not pose a privacy or confiden-
tiality risk but when combined with other avail-
able information may pose such a risk; 
‘‘(B) security considerations, including the 
risk that information in an individual data asset 
in isolation does not pose a security risk but 
when combined with other available information 
may pose such a risk; 
‘‘(C) the cost and benefits to the public of 
converting a data asset into a machine-readable
format that is accessible and useful to the pub-
lic; 
‘‘(D) whether the application of the re-
quirements described in such section to a data 
asset could result in legal liability; 
‘‘(E) whether a data asset— 
‘‘(i) is protected by intellectual prop-
erty rights, including rights under titles 17 
and 35; 
‘‘(ii) contains confidential business in-
formation, that could be withheld under 
section 552(b)(4) of title 5; or 
‘‘(iii) is otherwise restricted by con-
tract or other binding, written agreement; 
‘‘(F) the requirement that a data asset be 
disclosed, if it would otherwise be made avail-
able under section 552 of title 5 (commonly 
known as the ‘Freedom of Information Act’); 
and 
‘‘(G) any other considerations that the Di-
rector determines to be relevant.’’. 
(c) FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES TO MAKE 
DATA OPEN BY DEFAULT.— 
(1) AMENDMENTS.—Section 3506 of title 44, 
United States Code, is amended—
(A) in subsection (b)— 
(i) by amending paragraph (2) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(2) in accordance with guidance by the Direc-
tor, develop and maintain a strategic information re-
sources management plan that, to the extent prac-
ticable— 
‘‘(A) describes how information resources 
management activities help accomplish agency 
missions; 
‘‘(B) includes an open data plan that— 
‘‘(i) requires the agency to develop 
processes and procedures that— 
‘‘(I) require data collection mech-
anisms created on or after the date of 
the enactment of the OPEN Govern-
ment Data Act to be available in an 
open format; and 
‘‘(II) facilitate collaboration with 
non-Government entities (including 
businesses), researchers, and the pub-
lic for the purpose of understanding 
how data users value and use govern-
ment data;
‘‘(ii) identifies and implements meth-
ods for collecting and analyzing digital in-
formation on data asset usage by users 
within and outside of the agency, including 
designating a point of contact within the 
agency to assist the public and to respond 
to quality issues, usability issues, rec-
ommendations for improvements, and com-
plaints about adherence to open data re-
quirements within a reasonable period of 
time; 
‘‘(iii) develops and implements a proc-
ess to evaluate and improve the timeliness, 
completeness, consistency, accuracy, use-
fulness, and availability of open Govern-
ment data assets; 
‘‘(iv) includes requirements for meet-
ing the goals of the agency open data plan, 
including the acquisition of technology, 
provision of training for employees, and 
the implementation of procurement stand-
ards, in accordance with existing law, regu-
lation, and policy, that allow for the acqui-
sition of innovative solutions from public 
and private sectors; and
‘‘(v) requires the agency to comply 
with requirements under section 3511, in-
cluding any standards established by the 
Director under such section, when dis-
closing a data asset pursuant to such sec-
tion; and 
‘‘(C) is updated annually and made pub-
licly available on the website of the agency not 
later than 5 days after each such update;’’; 
(ii) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 
(iii) in paragraph (5), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
and 
(iv) by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) in accordance with guidance by the Direc-
tor— 
‘‘(A) make each data asset of the agency 
available in an open format; and 
‘‘(B) make each public data asset of the 
agency available— 
‘‘(i) as an open Government data 
asset; and 
‘‘(ii) under an open license.’’; and
(B) in subsection (d)— 
(i) in paragraph (3), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(ii) in paragraph (4), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting a semi-
colon; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraphs: 
‘‘(5) ensure that any public data asset of the 
agency is machine-readable; and 
‘‘(6) engage the public in using public data as-
sets of the agency and encourage collaboration by— 
‘‘(A) publishing on the website of the agen-
cy, on a regular basis (not less than annually), 
information on the usage of such assets by non- 
Government users; 
‘‘(B) providing the public with the oppor-
tunity to request specific data assets to be 
prioritized for disclosure and to provide sugges-
tions for the development of agency criteria 
with respect to prioritizing data assets for dis-
closure; 
‘‘(C) assisting the public in expanding the 
use of public data assets; and
‘‘(D) 
hosting 
challenges, 
competitions, 
events, or other initiatives designed to create 
additional value from public data assets of the 
agency.’’. 
(2) USE
OF
OPEN
DATA
ASSETS.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the head of each agency shall ensure that any 
activity by the agency meets the requirements of sec-
tion 3506 of title 44, United States Code, as amend-
ed by this subsection. 
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall take effect on the date that 
is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) DATA INVENTORY AND FEDERAL DATA CATA-
LOGUE.— 
(1) AMENDMENT.—Section 3511 of title 44, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 3511. Data inventory and Federal data catalogue 
‘‘(a) COMPREHENSIVE DATA INVENTORY.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In consultation with the 
Director and in accordance with the guidance estab-
lished under paragraph (2), the head of each agency 
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, develop 
and maintain a comprehensive data inventory that 
accounts for all data assets created by, collected by,
under the control or direction of, or maintained by 
the agency. The head of each agency shall ensure 
that such inventory provides a clear and comprehen-
sive understanding of the data assets in the posses-
sion of the agency. 
‘‘(2) GUIDANCE.—The Director shall establish 
guidance for agencies to develop and maintain com-
prehensive data inventories under paragraph (1). 
Such guidance shall include the following: 
‘‘(A) A requirement for the head of an 
agency to include in the comprehensive data in-
ventory metadata on each data asset of the 
agency, including the following: 
‘‘(i) A description of the data asset, 
including all variable names and defini-
tions. 
‘‘(ii) The name or title of the data 
asset. 
‘‘(iii) An indication of whether the 
agency— 
‘‘(I) has determined if the data 
asset is— 
‘‘(aa) an open Government 
data asset;
‘‘(bb) subject to disclosure 
under section 552 of title 5; 
‘‘(cc) a public data asset eli-
gible for disclosure under sub-
section (b); or 
‘‘(dd) a data asset not sub-
ject to open format or open li-
cense requirements due to exist-
ing limitations or restrictions on 
government distribution of the 
asset; or 
‘‘(II) as of the date of such indi-
cation, has not made such determina-
tion. 
‘‘(iv) Any determination made under 
section 3582, if available. 
‘‘(v) A description of the method by 
which the public may access or request ac-
cess to the data asset. 
‘‘(vi) The date on which the data 
asset was most recently updated. 
‘‘(vii) Each agency responsible for 
maintaining the data asset. 
‘‘(viii) The owner of the data asset.
‘‘(ix) To the extent practicable, any 
restriction on the use of the data asset. 
‘‘(x) The location of the data asset. 
‘‘(xi) Any other metadata necessary to 
make the comprehensive data inventory 
useful to the agency and the public, or oth-
erwise determined useful by the Director. 
‘‘(B) A requirement for the head of an 
agency to exclude from the comprehensive data 
inventory any data asset contained on a na-
tional security system, as defined in section 
11103 of title 40. 
‘‘(C) Criteria for the head of an agency to 
use in determining which information, if any, in 
the comprehensive data inventory may not be 
made publicly available, which shall include, at 
a minimum, a requirement to ensure all infor-
mation in the inventory that would be subject 
to disclosure under section 552 of title 5 is 
made publicly available. 
‘‘(D) A requirement for the head of each 
agency, in accordance with a procedure estab-
lished by the Director, to submit for inclusion 
in the Federal data catalogue maintained under 
subsection (c) the data inventory developed pur-
suant to subparagraph (C), including any real- 
time updates to such inventory, and data assets 
made available in accordance with subpara-
graph (E) or any electronic hyperlink providing 
access to such data assets. 
‘‘(E) Criteria for the head of an agency to 
use in determining whether a particular data 
asset should not be made publicly available in 
a manner that takes into account— 
‘‘(i) risks and restrictions related to 
the disclosure of personally identifiable in-
formation, including the risk that an indi-
vidual data asset in isolation does not pose 
a privacy or confidentiality risk but when 
combined with other available information 
may pose such a risk; 
‘‘(ii) security considerations, including 
the risk that information in an individual 
data asset in isolation does not pose a se-
curity risk but when combined with other 
available information may pose such a risk; 
‘‘(iii) the cost and benefits to the pub-
lic of converting the data into a manner 
that could be understood and used by the 
public;
‘‘(iv) whether the public dissemination 
of the data asset could result in legal li-
ability; 
‘‘(v) whether the data asset— 
‘‘(I) is protected by intellectual 
property rights, including rights under 
titles 17 and 35; 
‘‘(II) contains confidential busi-
ness information, that could be with-
held under section 552(b)(4) of title 
5; or 
‘‘(III) is restricted by contract or 
other binding, written agreement; 
‘‘(vi) whether the holder of a right to 
such data asset has been consulted; 
‘‘(vii) the expectation that all data as-
sets that would otherwise be made avail-
able under section 552 of title 5 be dis-
closed; and 
‘‘(viii) any other considerations that 
the Director determines to be relevant. 
‘‘(3) REGULAR UPDATES REQUIRED.—With re-
spect to each data asset created or identified by an 
agency, the head of the agency shall update the com-
prehensive data inventory of the agency not later
than 90 days after the date of such creation or iden-
tification. 
‘‘(b) PUBLIC DATA ASSETS.—The head of each agen-
cy shall submit public data assets, or links to public data 
assets available online, as open Government data assets 
for inclusion in the Federal data catalogue maintained 
under subsection (c), in accordance with the guidance es-
tablished under subsection (a)(2). 
‘‘(c) FEDERAL DATA CATALOGUE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of Gen-
eral Services shall maintain a single public interface 
online as a point of entry dedicated to sharing agen-
cy data assets with the public, which shall be known 
as the ‘Federal data catalogue’. The Administrator 
and the Director shall ensure that agencies can sub-
mit public data assets, or links to public data assets, 
for publication and public availability on the inter-
face. 
‘‘(2) REPOSITORY.—The Director shall collabo-
rate with the Office of Government Information 
Services and the Administrator of General Services 
to develop and maintain an online repository of 
tools, best practices, and schema standards to facili-
tate the adoption of open data practices across the 
Federal Government, which shall—
‘‘(A) include any definitions, regulations, 
policies, checklists, and case studies related to 
open data policy; 
‘‘(B) facilitate collaboration and the adop-
tion of best practices across the Federal Gov-
ernment relating to the adoption of open data 
practices; and 
‘‘(C) be made available on the Federal 
data catalogue maintained under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) ACCESS
TO
OTHER
DATA
ASSETS.—The 
Director shall ensure the Federal data catalogue 
maintained under paragraph (1) provides informa-
tion on how the public can access a data asset in-
cluded in a comprehensive data inventory under sub-
section (a) that is not yet available on the Federal 
data catalogue, including information regarding the 
application process established under section 3583 of 
title 44. 
‘‘(d) DELEGATION.—The Director shall delegate to 
the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regu-
latory Affairs and the Administrator of the Office of Elec-
tronic Government the authority to jointly issue guidance 
required under this section. 
‘‘(e) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—To the extent 
practicable, the head of each agency shall use existing pro-
cedures and systems to carry out agency requirements 
under this section.’’. 
(2) TECHNICAL
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENTS.— 
(A) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The item relat-
ing to section 3511 of the table of sections at 
the beginning of chapter 35 of title 44, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘3511. Data inventory and Federal data catalogue.’’. 
(B) 
CROSS-REFERENCE.—Section 
3504(b)(2)(A) of title 44, United States Code, 
is amended by striking ‘‘the use of the Govern-
ment Information Locator Service’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the use of comprehensive data inventories 
and the Federal data catalogue under section 
3511’’. 
(e) CHIEF DATA OFFICERS.— 
(1) AMENDMENT.—Section 3520 of title 44, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 3520. Chief Data Officers 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The head of each agency 
shall designate a career appointee (as defined in section 
3132 of title 5) in the agency as the Chief Data Officer 
of the agency. 
‘‘(b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Chief Data Officer of 
an agency shall be designated on the basis of dem-
onstrated training and experience in data management, 
collection, analysis, protection, use, and dissemination, in-
cluding with respect to any statistical and related tech-
niques to protect and de-identify confidential data. 
‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The Chief Data Officer of an 
agency shall— 
‘‘(1) be responsible for lifecycle data manage-
ment; 
‘‘(2) coordinate with any official in the agency 
responsible for using, protecting, disseminating, and 
generating data to ensure that the data needs of the 
agency are met; 
‘‘(3) manage data assets of the agency, includ-
ing the standardization of data format, sharing of 
data assets, and publication of data assets in accord-
ance with applicable law; 
‘‘(4) in carrying out the requirement under 
paragraphs (3) and (5), consult with any statistical 
official of the agency (as designated under section 
315 of title 5); 
‘‘(5) carry out the requirements of the agency 
under subsections (b) through (d), (f), and (i) of 
section 3506, section 3507, and section 3511; 
‘‘(6) ensure that agency data conforms with 
data management best practices;
‘‘(7) engage agency employees, the public, and 
contractors in using public data assets and encour-
age collaborative approaches on improving data use; 
‘‘(8) support the Performance Improvement Of-
ficer of the agency in identifying and using data to 
carry out the functions described in section 
1124(a)(2) of title 31; 
‘‘(9) support the Chief Evaluation Officer of the 
agency in obtaining data to carry out the functions 
described in section 314 of title 5; 
‘‘(10) review the impact of the infrastructure of 
the agency on data asset accessibility and coordinate 
with the Chief Information Officer of the agency to 
improve such infrastructure to reduce barriers that 
inhibit data asset accessibility; 
‘‘(11) ensure that, to the extent practicable, the 
agency maximizes the use of data in the agency, in-
cluding for the production of evidence (as defined in 
section 3561), cybersecurity, and the improvement of 
agency operations; 
‘‘(12) identify points of contact for roles and re-
sponsibilities related to open data use and implemen-
tation (as required by the Director); 
‘‘(13) serve as the agency liaison to other agen-
cies and the Office of Management and Budget on
the best way to use existing agency data for statis-
tical purposes (as defined in section 3561); and 
‘‘(14) comply with any regulation and guidance 
issued under subchapter III, including the acquisi-
tion and maintenance of any required certification 
and training. 
‘‘(d) DELEGATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent necessary to 
comply with statistical laws, the Chief Data Officer 
of an agency shall delegate any responsibility under 
subsection (d) to the head of a statistical agency or 
unit (as defined in section 3561) within the agency. 
‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—To the extent permis-
sible under law, the individual to whom a responsi-
bility has been delegated under paragraph (1) shall 
consult with the Chief Data Officer of the agency in 
carrying out such responsibility. 
‘‘(3) DEFERENCE.—The Chief Data Officer of 
the agency shall defer to the individual to whom a 
responsibility has been delegated under paragraph 
(1) regarding the necessary delegation of such re-
sponsibility with respect to any data acquired, main-
tained, or disseminated by the agency under applica-
ble statistical law.
‘‘(e) REPORTS.—The Chief Data Officer of an agency 
shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives an annual report on the compliance of the 
agency with the requirements of this subchapter, including 
information on each requirement that the agency could not 
carry out and, if applicable, what the agency needs to 
carry out such requirement.’’. 
(2) TECHNICAL
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENT.—The item relating to section 3520 of the 
table of sections at the beginning of chapter 35 of 
title 44, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘3520. Chief Data Officers.’’. 
(f) CHIEF DATA OFFICER COUNCIL.— 
(1) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 35 
of title 44, United States Code, is amended by in-
serting before section 3521 the following new sec-
tion: 
‘‘§ 3520A. Chief Data Officer Council 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Office of Management and Budget a Chief Data Officer 
Council (in this section referred to as the ‘Council’). 
‘‘(b) PURPOSE
AND
FUNCTIONS.—The Council 
shall—
‘‘(1) establish Governmentwide best practices 
for the use, protection, dissemination, and genera-
tion of data; 
‘‘(2) promote and encourage data sharing 
agreements between agencies; 
‘‘(3) identify ways in which agencies can im-
prove upon the production of evidence for use in pol-
icymaking; 
‘‘(4) consult with the public and engage with 
private users of Government data and other stake-
holders on how to improve access to data assets of 
the Federal Government; and 
‘‘(5) identify and evaluate new technology solu-
tions for improving the collection and use of data. 
‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Data Officer of 
each agency shall serve as a member of the Council. 
‘‘(2) CHAIR.—The Director shall select the 
Chair of the Council from among the members of 
the Council. 
‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL
MEMBERS.—The Adminis-
trator of the Office of Electronic Government shall 
serve as a member of the Council. 
‘‘(4) EX OFFICIO MEMBER.—The Director shall 
appoint a representative for all Chief Information
Officers and Chief Evaluation Officers, and such 
representative shall serve as an ex officio member of 
the Council. 
‘‘(d) REPORTS.—The Council shall submit to the Di-
rector, the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent-
atives a biennial report on the work of the Council. 
‘‘(e) EVALUATION AND TERMINATION.— 
‘‘(1) GAO EVALUATION
OF
COUNCIL.—Not 
later than 4 years after date of the enactment of 
this section, the Comptroller General shall submit to 
Congress a report on whether the additional duties 
of the Council improved the use of evidence and pro-
gram evaluation in the Federal Government. 
‘‘(2) TERMINATION OF COUNCIL.—The Council 
shall terminate and this section shall be repealed 
upon the expiration of the 2-year period that begins 
on the date the Comptroller General submits the re-
port under paragraph (1) to Congress.’’. 
(2) TECHNICAL
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENT.—The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting before the item relating to sec-
tion 3521 the following new item: 
‘‘3520A. Chief Data Officer Council.’’.
(g) REPORTS.— 
(1) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall sub-
mit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 
House of Representatives a report that identifies, to 
the extent practicable— 
(A) the value of information made avail-
able to the public as a result of this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act; 
(B) whether the public availability of any 
information that has not yet been made so 
available would be valuable to the public; and 
(C) the completeness of each comprehen-
sive data inventory developed under section 
3511 of title 44, United States Code. 
(2) BIENNIAL OMB REPORT.—Not later than 1 
year after date of the enactment of this Act, and bi-
ennially thereafter, the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget shall electronically publish 
a report on agency performance and compliance with 
this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
TITLE 
III—CONFIDENTIAL 
IN-
FORMATION 
PROTECTION 
AND 
STATISTICAL 
EFFI-
CIENCY 
SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Confidential Informa-
tion Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 302. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION PROTECTION AND 
STATISTICAL EFFICIENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subchapter: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA-
TION PROTECTION AND STATISTICAL EFFI-
CIENCY 
‘‘PART A—GENERAL 
‘‘§ 3561. Definitions 
‘‘In this subchapter: 
‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means any 
entity that falls within the definition of the term ‘ex-
ecutive agency’, as defined in section 102 of title 31, 
or ‘agency’, as defined in section 3502. 
‘‘(2) AGENT.—The term ‘agent’ means an indi-
vidual—
‘‘(A)(i) who is an employee of a private or-
ganization or a researcher affiliated with an in-
stitution of higher learning (including a person 
granted special sworn status by the Bureau of 
the Census under section 23(c) of title 13), and 
with whom a contract or other agreement is ex-
ecuted, on a temporary basis, by an executive 
agency to perform exclusively statistical activi-
ties under the control and supervision of an of-
ficer or employee of that agency; 
‘‘(ii) who is working under the author-
ity of a government entity with which a 
contract or other agreement is executed by 
an executive agency to perform exclusively 
statistical activities under the control of an 
officer or employee of that agency; 
‘‘(iii) who is a self-employed re-
searcher, a consultant, a contractor, or an 
employee of a contractor, and with whom 
a contract or other agreement is executed 
by an executive agency to perform a statis-
tical activity under the control of an officer 
or employee of that agency; or 
‘‘(iv) who is a contractor or an em-
ployee of a contractor, and who is engaged
by the agency to design or maintain the 
systems for handling or storage of data re-
ceived under this subchapter; and 
‘‘(B) who agrees in writing to comply with 
all provisions of law that affect information ac-
quired by that agency. 
‘‘(3) BUSINESS
DATA.—The term ‘business 
data’ means operating and financial data and infor-
mation about businesses, tax-exempt organizations, 
and government entities. 
‘‘(4) DATA ASSET.—The term ‘data asset’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 3502. 
‘‘(5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budg-
et. 
‘‘(6) EVIDENCE.—The term ‘evidence’ means 
information produced as a result of statistical activi-
ties conducted for a statistical purpose. 
‘‘(7) IDENTIFIABLE FORM.—The term ‘identifi-
able form’ means any representation of information 
that permits the identity of the respondent to whom 
the information applies to be reasonably inferred by 
either direct or indirect means. 
‘‘(8) NONSTATISTICAL
PURPOSE.—The term 
‘nonstatistical purpose’—
‘‘(A) means the use of data in identifiable 
form for any purpose that is not a statistical 
purpose, including any administrative, regu-
latory, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or other 
purpose that affects the rights, privileges, or 
benefits of a particular identifiable respondent; 
and 
‘‘(B) includes the disclosure under section 
552 of title 5 of data that are acquired for ex-
clusively statistical purposes under a pledge of 
confidentiality. 
‘‘(9) RESPONDENT.—The term ‘respondent’ 
means a person who, or organization that, is re-
quested or required to supply information to an 
agency, is the subject of information requested or re-
quired to be supplied to an agency, or provides that 
information to an agency. 
‘‘(10) STATISTICAL
ACTIVITIES.—The term 
‘statistical activities’— 
‘‘(A) means the collection, compilation, 
processing, or analysis of data for the purpose 
of describing or making estimates concerning 
the whole, or relevant groups or components 
within, the economy, society, or the natural en-
vironment; and
‘‘(B) includes the development of methods 
or resources that support those activities, such 
as measurement methods, models, statistical 
classifications, or sampling frames. 
‘‘(11) STATISTICAL
AGENCY
OR
UNIT.—The 
term ‘statistical agency or unit’ means an agency or 
organizational unit of the executive branch whose ac-
tivities are predominantly the collection, compilation, 
processing, or analysis of information for statistical 
purposes, as designated by the Director under sec-
tion 3562. 
‘‘(12) STATISTICAL PURPOSE.—The term ‘sta-
tistical purpose’— 
‘‘(A) means the description, estimation, or 
analysis of the characteristics of groups, with-
out identifying the individuals or organizations 
that comprise such groups; and 
‘‘(B) includes the development, implemen-
tation, or maintenance of methods, technical or 
administrative procedures, or information re-
sources that support the purposes described in 
subparagraph (A). 
‘‘§ 3562. Coordination and oversight of policies 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall coordinate 
and oversee the confidentiality and disclosure policies es-
tablished by this subchapter. The Director may promul-
gate rules or provide other guidance to ensure consistent 
interpretation of this subchapter by the affected agencies. 
The Director shall develop a process by which the Director 
designates agencies or organizational units as statistical 
agencies and units. The Director shall promulgate guid-
ance to implement such process, which shall include spe-
cific criteria for such designation and methods by which 
the Director will ensure transparency in the process. 
‘‘(b) AGENCY RULES.—Subject to subsection (c), 
agencies may promulgate rules to implement this sub-
chapter. Rules governing disclosures of information that 
are authorized by this subchapter shall be promulgated by 
the agency that originally collected the information. 
‘‘(c) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF RULES.—The Di-
rector shall review any rules proposed by an agency pursu-
ant to this subchapter for consistency with the provisions 
of this chapter and such rules shall be subject to the ap-
proval of the Director. 
‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) The head of each agency shall provide to 
the Director such reports and other information as 
the Director requests. 
‘‘(2) Each Designated Statistical Agency (as 
defined in section 3576(e)) shall report annually to
the Director, the Committee on Oversight and Gov-
ernment Reform of the House of Representatives, 
and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
ernmental Affairs of the Senate on the actions it has 
taken to implement section 3576. The report shall 
include copies of each written agreement entered 
into pursuant to section 3576(c)(1) for the applica-
ble year. 
‘‘(3) The Director shall include a summary of 
reports submitted to the Director under this sub-
section and actions taken by the Director to advance 
the purposes of this subchapter in the annual report 
to Congress on statistical programs prepared under 
section 3504(e)(2). 
‘‘§ 3563. Federal statistical agencies 
‘‘(a) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each statistical agency or 
unit shall— 
‘‘(A) produce and disseminate relevant and 
timely statistical information; 
‘‘(B) conduct credible and accurate statis-
tical activities; 
‘‘(C) conduct objective statistical activities; 
and
‘‘(D) protect the trust of information pro-
viders by ensuring the confidentiality and exclu-
sive statistical use of their responses 
‘‘(2) POLICIES, BEST PRACTICES, AND PROCE-
DURES.—Each statistical agency or unit shall adopt 
policies, best practices, and appropriate procedures 
to implement the responsibilities described in para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(b) SUPPORT FROM OTHER AGENCIES.—The head 
of each agency shall enable, support, and facilitate statis-
tical agencies or units in carrying out the responsibilities 
described in subsection (a)(1). 
‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—The Director shall prescribe 
regulations to carry out this section. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ACCURATE.—The term ‘accurate’, when 
used with respect to statistical activities, means sta-
tistics that consistently match the events and trends 
being measured. 
‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The term ‘confiden-
tiality’ means a quality or condition accorded to in-
formation as an obligation not to disclose that infor-
mation to an unauthorized party.
‘‘(3) OBJECTIVE.—The term ‘objective’, when 
used with respect to statistical activities, means ac-
curate, clear, complete, and unbiased. 
‘‘(4) RELEVANT.—The term ‘relevant’, when 
used with respect to statistical information, means 
processes, activities, and other such matters likely to 
be useful to policymakers and public and private sec-
tor data users. 
‘‘§ 3564. Effect on other laws 
‘‘(a) TITLE 44, UNITED STATES CODE.—This sub-
chapter does not diminish the authority under section 
3510 of the Director to direct, and of an agency to make, 
disclosures that are not inconsistent with any applicable 
law. 
‘‘(b) TITLE 13 AND TITLE 44, UNITED STATES 
CODE.—This subchapter does not diminish the authority 
of the Bureau of the Census to provide information in ac-
cordance with sections 8, 16, 301, and 401 of title 13 and 
section 2108 of this title. 
‘‘(c) TITLE 13, UNITED STATES CODE.—This sub-
chapter shall not be construed as authorizing the disclo-
sure for nonstatistical purposes of demographic data or 
information collected by the Bureau of the Census pursu-
ant to section 9 of title 13.
‘‘(d) VARIOUS ENERGY STATUTES.—Data or infor-
mation acquired by the Energy Information Administra-
tion under a pledge of confidentiality and designated by 
the Energy Information Administration to be used for ex-
clusively statistical purposes shall not be disclosed in iden-
tifiable form for nonstatistical purposes under— 
‘‘(1) section 12, 20, or 59 of the Federal En-
ergy Administration Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 771, 
779, 790h); 
‘‘(2) section 11 of the Energy Supply and Envi-
ronmental Coordination Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 
796); or 
‘‘(3) section 205 or 407 of the Department of 
Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7135, 7177). 
‘‘(e) SECTION 201 OF CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT 
OF 1974.—This subchapter shall not be construed to limit 
any authorities of the Congressional Budget Office to 
work (consistent with laws governing the confidentiality 
of information the disclosure of which would be a violation 
of law) with databases of Designated Statistical Agencies 
(as defined in section 3576(e)), either separately or, for 
data that may be shared pursuant to section 3576(c) or 
other authority, jointly in order to improve the general 
utility of these databases for the statistical purpose of ana-
lyzing pension and health care financing issues.
‘‘(f) PREEMPTION OF STATE LAW.—Nothing in this 
subchapter shall preempt applicable State law regarding 
the confidentiality of data collected by the States. 
‘‘(g) STATUTES REGARDING FALSE STATEMENTS.— 
Notwithstanding section 3572, information collected by an 
agency for exclusively statistical purposes under a pledge 
of confidentiality may be provided by the collecting agency 
to a law enforcement agency for the prosecution of submis-
sions to the collecting agency of false statistical informa-
tion under statutes that authorize criminal penalties (such 
as section 221 of title 13) or civil penalties for the provi-
sion of false statistical information, unless such disclosure 
or use would otherwise be prohibited under Federal law. 
‘‘(h) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subchapter 
shall be construed as restricting or diminishing any con-
fidentiality protections or penalties for unauthorized dis-
closure that otherwise apply to data or information col-
lected for statistical purposes or nonstatistical purposes, 
including, but not limited to, section 6103 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(i) AUTHORITY
OF CONGRESS.—Nothing in this 
subchapter shall be construed to affect the authority of 
the Congress, including its committees, members, or 
agents, to obtain data or information for a statistical pur-
pose, including for oversight of an agency’s statistical ac-
tivities. 
‘‘PART B—CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 
PROTECTION 
‘‘§ 3571. Findings 
‘‘The Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) Individuals, businesses, and other organi-
zations have varying degrees of legal protection 
when providing information to the agencies for 
strictly statistical purposes. 
‘‘(2) Pledges of confidentiality by agencies pro-
vide assurances to the public that information about 
individuals or organizations or provided by individ-
uals or organizations for exclusively statistical pur-
poses will be held in confidence and will not be used 
against such individuals or organizations in any 
agency action. 
‘‘(3) Protecting the confidentiality interests of 
individuals or organizations who provide information 
under a pledge of confidentiality for Federal statis-
tical programs serves both the interests of the public 
and the needs of society. 
‘‘(4) Declining trust of the public in the protec-
tion of information provided under a pledge of con-
fidentiality to the agencies adversely affects both the 
accuracy and completeness of statistical analyses. 
‘‘(5) Ensuring that information provided under 
a pledge of confidentiality for statistical purposes re-
ceives protection is essential in continuing public co-
operation in statistical programs. 
‘‘§ 3572. Confidential information protection 
‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 
the following: 
‘‘(1) To ensure that information supplied by in-
dividuals or organizations to an agency for statistical 
purposes under a pledge of confidentiality is used ex-
clusively for statistical purposes. 
‘‘(2) To ensure that individuals or organizations 
who supply information under a pledge of confiden-
tiality to agencies for statistical purposes will neither 
have that information disclosed in identifiable form 
to anyone not authorized by this subchapter nor 
have that information used for any purpose other 
than a statistical purpose. 
‘‘(3) To safeguard the confidentiality of individ-
ually identifiable information acquired under a 
pledge of confidentiality for statistical purposes by 
controlling access to, and uses made of, such infor-
mation.
‘‘(b) USE
OF STATISTICAL DATA
OR INFORMA-
TION.—Data or information acquired by an agency under 
a pledge of confidentiality and for exclusively statistical 
purposes shall be used by officers, employees, or agents 
of the agency exclusively for statistical purposes and pro-
tected in accordance with such pledge. 
‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE OF STATISTICAL DATA OR INFOR-
MATION.— 
‘‘(1) Data or information acquired by an agency 
under a pledge of confidentiality for exclusively sta-
tistical purposes shall not be disclosed by an agency 
in identifiable form, for any use other than an exclu-
sively statistical purpose, except with the informed 
consent of the respondent. 
‘‘(2) A disclosure pursuant to paragraph (1) is 
authorized only when the head of the agency ap-
proves such disclosure and the disclosure is not pro-
hibited by any other law. 
‘‘(3) This section does not restrict or diminish 
any confidentiality protections in law that otherwise 
apply to data or information acquired by an agency 
under a pledge of confidentiality for exclusively sta-
tistical purposes. 
‘‘(d) RULE FOR USE OF DATA OR INFORMATION FOR 
NONSTATISTICAL PURPOSES.—A statistical agency or
unit shall clearly distinguish any data or information it 
collects for nonstatistical purposes (as authorized by law) 
and provide notice to the public, before the data or infor-
mation is collected, that the data or information could be 
used for nonstatistical purposes. 
‘‘(e) DESIGNATION OF AGENTS.—A statistical agency 
or unit may designate agents, by contract or by entering 
into a special agreement containing the provisions re-
quired under section 3561(2) for treatment as an agent 
under that section, who may perform exclusively statistical 
activities, subject to the limitations and penalties de-
scribed in this subchapter. 
‘‘(f) FINES AND PENALTIES.—Whoever, being an of-
ficer, employee, or agent of an agency acquiring informa-
tion for exclusively statistical purposes, having taken and 
subscribed the oath of office, or having sworn to observe 
the limitations imposed by this section, comes into posses-
sion of such information by reason of his or her being an 
officer, employee, or agent and, knowing that the disclo-
sure of the specific information is prohibited under the 
provisions of this subchapter, willfully discloses the infor-
mation in any manner to a person or agency not entitled 
to receive it, shall be guilty of a class E felony and impris-
oned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than 
$250,000, or both.
‘‘PART C—STATISTICAL EFFICIENCY 
‘‘§ 3575. Findings 
‘‘The Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) Federal statistics are an important source 
of information for public and private decision-mak-
ers such as policymakers, consumers, businesses, in-
vestors, and workers. 
‘‘(2) Federal statistical agencies should continu-
ously seek to improve their efficiency. Statutory con-
straints limit the ability of these agencies to share 
data and thus to achieve higher efficiency for Fed-
eral statistical programs. 
‘‘(3) The quality of Federal statistics depends 
on the willingness of businesses to respond to statis-
tical surveys. Reducing reporting burdens will in-
crease response rates, and therefore lead to more ac-
curate characterizations of the economy. 
‘‘(4) Enhanced sharing of business data among 
the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics for ex-
clusively statistical purposes will improve their abil-
ity to track more accurately the large and rapidly 
changing nature of United States business. In par-
ticular, the statistical agencies will be able to better 
ensure that businesses are consistently classified in 
appropriate industries, resolve data anomalies,
produce statistical samples that are consistently ad-
justed for the entry and exit of new businesses in a 
timely manner, and correct faulty reporting errors 
quickly and efficiently. 
‘‘(5) Congress enacted the International Invest-
ment and Trade in Services Survey Act (Public Law 
94–472), which allowed the Bureau of the Census, 
the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics to share data on foreign-owned 
companies. The Act not only expanded detailed in-
dustry coverage from 135 industries to over 800 in-
dustries with no increase in the data collected from 
respondents but also demonstrated how data sharing 
can result in the creation of valuable data products. 
‘‘(6) With part B of this subchapter, the shar-
ing of business data among the Bureau of the Cen-
sus, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics continues to ensure the 
highest level of confidentiality for respondents to 
statistical surveys. 
‘‘§ 3576. Designated Statistical Agencies 
‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 
the following: 
‘‘(1) To authorize the sharing of business data 
among the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of
Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics for exclusively statistical purposes. 
‘‘(2) To reduce the paperwork burdens imposed 
on businesses that provide requested information to 
the Federal Government. 
‘‘(3) To improve the comparability and accu-
racy of Federal economic statistics by allowing the 
Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to up-
date sample frames, develop consistent classifica-
tions of establishments and companies into indus-
tries, improve coverage, and reconcile significant dif-
ferences in data produced by the three agencies. 
‘‘(4) To increase understanding of the United 
States economy, especially for key industry and re-
gional statistics, to develop more accurate measures 
of the impact of technology on productivity growth, 
and to enhance the reliability of the Nation’s most 
important economic indicators, such as the National 
Income and Product Accounts. 
‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES
OF DESIGNATED STATIS-
TICAL AGENCIES.—The head of each of the Designated 
Statistical Agencies shall— 
‘‘(1) identify opportunities to eliminate duplica-
tion and otherwise reduce reporting burden and cost
imposed on the public in providing information for 
statistical purposes; 
‘‘(2) enter into joint statistical projects to im-
prove the quality and reduce the cost of statistical 
programs; and 
‘‘(3) protect the confidentiality of individually 
identifiable information acquired for statistical pur-
poses by adhering to safeguard principles, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(A) emphasizing to their officers, employ-
ees, and agents the importance of protecting 
the confidentiality of information in cases where 
the identity of individual respondents can rea-
sonably be inferred by either direct or indirect 
means; 
‘‘(B) training their officers, employees, and 
agents in their legal obligations to protect the 
confidentiality of individually identifiable infor-
mation and in the procedures that must be fol-
lowed to provide access to such information; 
‘‘(C) implementing appropriate measures 
to assure the physical and electronic security of 
confidential data; 
‘‘(D) establishing a system of records that 
identifies individuals accessing confidential data
and the project for which the data were re-
quired; and 
‘‘(E) being prepared to document their 
compliance with safeguard principles to other 
agencies authorized by law to monitor such 
compliance. 
‘‘(c) SHARING
OF BUSINESS DATA AMONG DES-
IGNATED STATISTICAL AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A Designated Statistical 
Agency may provide business data in an identifiable 
form to another Designated Statistical Agency under 
the terms of a written agreement among the agen-
cies sharing the business data that specifies— 
‘‘(A) the business data to be shared; 
‘‘(B) the statistical purposes for which the 
business data are to be used; 
‘‘(C) the officers, employees, and agents 
authorized to examine the business data to be 
shared; and 
‘‘(D) appropriate security procedures to 
safeguard the confidentiality of the business 
data. 
‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF AGENCIES UNDER 
OTHER LAWS.—The provision of business data by an 
agency to a Designated Statistical Agency under this
section shall in no way alter the responsibility of the 
agency providing the data under other statutes (in-
cluding sections 552 and 552b of title 5) with re-
spect to the provision or withholding of such infor-
mation by the agency providing the data. 
‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICERS, EMPLOY-
EES, AND AGENTS.—Examination of business data 
in identifiable form shall be limited to the officers, 
employees, and agents authorized to examine the in-
dividual reports in accordance with written agree-
ments pursuant to this section. Officers, employees, 
and agents of a Designated Statistical Agency who 
receive data pursuant to this section shall be subject 
to all provisions of law, including penalties, that re-
late— 
‘‘(A) to the unlawful provision of the busi-
ness data that would apply to the officers, em-
ployees, and agents of the agency that originally 
obtained the information; and 
‘‘(B) to the unlawful disclosure of the busi-
ness data that would apply to officers, employ-
ees, and agents of the agency that originally ob-
tained the information. 
‘‘(4) NOTICE.—Whenever a written agreement 
concerns data that respondents were required by law
to report and the respondents were not informed 
that the data could be shared among the Designated 
Statistical Agencies, for exclusively statistical pur-
poses, the terms of such agreement shall be de-
scribed in a public notice issued by the agency that 
intends to provide the data. Such notice shall allow 
a minimum of 60 days for public comment. 
‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF BUSINESS DATA PRO-
VIDED BY DESIGNATED STATISTICAL AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(1) GENERAL USE.—Business data provided 
by a Designated Statistical Agency pursuant to this 
section shall be used exclusively for statistical pur-
poses. 
‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Publication of business 
data acquired by a Designated Statistical Agency 
shall occur in a manner whereby the data furnished 
by any particular respondent are not in identifiable 
form. 
‘‘(e) 
DESIGNATED
STATISTICAL
AGENCY
DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘Designated Statistical 
Agency’ means each of the following: 
‘‘(1) The Census Bureau of the Department of 
Commerce. 
‘‘(2) The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the 
Department of Commerce.
‘‘(3) The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the De-
partment of Labor.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 35 of title 44, United States 
Code, as amended by proceeding provisions of this Act, 
is further amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION PROTECTION AND 
STATISTICAL EFFICIENCY 
‘‘PART A—GENERAL 
‘‘3561. Definitions. 
‘‘3562. Coordination and oversight of policies. 
‘‘3563. Federal statistical agencies. 
‘‘3564. Effect on other laws. 
‘‘PART B—CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION PROTECTION 
‘‘3571. Findings. 
‘‘3572. Confidential information protection. 
‘‘PART C—STATISTICAL EFFICIENCY 
‘‘3575. Findings. 
‘‘3576. Designated Statistical Agencies.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) REPEAL OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 
PROTECTION AND STATISTICAL EFFICIENCY ACT OF 
2002.—Title V of the E–Government Act of 2002 
(Public Law 107–347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note) is re-
pealed (and the table of contents of such Act shall 
be conformed accordingly). 
(2) TITLE 13, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 
402 of title 13, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ‘‘the Confidential Information Protection
and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002’’ and inserting 
‘‘section 3576(e) of title 44’’. 
(3) TITLE 49, UNITED
STATES
CODE.—Title 
49, United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in section 6302(d)(4), by striking ‘‘the 
Confidential Information’’ and all that follows 
through the period and inserting ‘‘section 3572 
of title 44.’’; and 
(B) in section 6314(d)(2), by striking ‘‘the 
Confidential Information’’ and all that follows 
through the period and inserting ‘‘section 3572 
of title 44.’’. 
(4) ACT OF JANUARY 27, 1938.—The first sec-
tion of the Act of January 27, 1938, entitled ‘‘An 
Act to make confidential certain information fur-
nished to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com-
merce, and for other purposes’’ (52 Stat. 8, chapter 
11; 15 U.S.C. 176a), is amended by striking ‘‘the 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical 
Efficiency Act of 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘subchapter 
III of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code’’. 
(5) FIXING
AMERICA’S
SURFACE
TRANSPOR-
TATION
ACT.—Section 7308(e)(2) of the Fixing 
America’s Surface Transportation Act (Public Law 
114–94; 49 U.S.C. 20155 note) is amended by strik-