I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 534
To provide that a special census shall be conducted, without charge to a
requesting State, county, or other unit of government, if necessary to
correct a significant undercount in a decennial census which is due,
in whole or in part, to a natural disaster or similar situation.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 21, 1993
Mr. PANETTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Post Office and Civil Service
A BILL
To provide that a special census shall be conducted, without
charge to a requesting State, county, or other unit of
government, if necessary to correct a significant
undercount in a decennial census which is due, in whole
or in part, to a natural disaster or similar situation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT SPECIAL CENSUSES.
The Secretary of Commerce shall conduct a special
census for the government of a State, or of a county, city,
or other political subdivision within a State, for the gov-
ernment of the District of Columbia, or for the govern-
ment of any possession or area (including political subdivi-
sions thereof) referred to in section 191(a) of title 13,
United States Code, without charge to such government,
if—
(1) the special census is necessary to correct a
significant undercount which occurred in the most
recent decennial census of population with respect to
the area involved;
(2) a natural disaster or other emergency af-
fecting such area, as declared by the President, was
a major factor contributing to the undercount; and
(3) a request for such a census is made by such
government within such time and in such manner as
the Secretary shall by regulation prescribe, except
that the deadline for such a request may not be
fixed at a point before the end of the 18-month pe-
riod beginning on the most recent decennial census
date.
SEC. 2. METHODOLOGY TO BE USED IN SPECIAL CENSUSES.
A special census under this Act with respect to a par-
ticular area shall, to the extent practicable, be conducted
in the same manner and using the same methodologies
as were used with respect to such area in the decennial
census last taken before the special census.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES FOR WHICH DATA MAY BE USED.
Data collected pursuant to a special census under this
Act may be used for any purpose which would be allowable
if it had been conducted under section 196 of title 13,
United States Code.
SEC. 4. EXPEDITIOUS ACTION REQUIRED.
Upon receiving a request for a special census under
this Act—
(1) a determination as to whether or not the
criteria under section 1 have been met shall be made
as expeditiously as possible; and
(2) if the criteria under section 1 are deter-
mined to have been met, the special census con-
ducted under this Act pursuant to such request
shall, in the allocation of personnel and resources, be
given priority over any special census under section
196 of title 13, United States Code.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act, the term ‘‘decennial cen-
sus date’’ shall have the meaning given such term under
section 141 of title 13, United States Code.
SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A special census under this Act
may be conducted to correct an undercount in—
(1) the 1990 decennial census, if appropriate
application is submitted within 18 months after the
date as of which regulations to carry out this Act be-
come effective; or
(2) any decennial census subsequent to the
1990 decennial census.
(b) REGULATIONS.—Regulations to carry out this
Act shall become effective not later than 3 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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