SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA) allows the Census Bureau to share business data for statistical purposes with BEA. The Census Bureau and BEA are providing this notice to ensure compliance with the Implementation Guidance for Title V of the E-Government Act, Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 ( CIPSEA Implementation Guidance), Paragraph VII.B., which requires designated statistical agencies to generally inform respondents about the intention to share business data.

Both the Census Bureau and BEA are primary statistical agencies within the Department of Commerce and “designated statistical agencies” under CIPSEA (44 U.S.C. 3576(e)). BEA and the Census Bureau are authoritative sources on economic data and statistics, including principal economic ( printed page 62689) indicators. These statistics inform the government, private industry, statistical researchers, and the American public about our nation's economic status and progress. To ensure accurate and timely reporting of economic data and indicators, the Census Bureau and BEA partner to measure the U.S. economy. Both the Census Bureau and BEA conduct survey collections, which are critical to the quality of source data and the timely preparation of many key indicators of U.S. economic performance. However, the Census Bureau and BEA recognize that these surveys impose some reporting burden on businesses that are required to respond. Both the Director of the Census Bureau and the Director of BEA are required to identify opportunities to eliminate duplicative collections, reduce reporting burdens, and reduce statistical program costs, while improving the quality of the resulting statistics and protecting the confidentiality of the data collected from survey respondents. (44 U.S.C. 3576(b)). To do so, the Census Bureau and BEA have shared and continue to consider increased opportunities to share business data pursuant to CIPSEA.

The Census Bureau and BEA can achieve major qualitative enhancements and cost efficiencies for Department of Commerce statistical programs, through BEA's increased access to certain data collected by the Census Bureau through the voluntary surveys listed below.

Shared Data

BEA will benefit from data which already exists in the following Census Bureau surveys:

Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS); Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS/MARTS); Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey (MWTS); Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, & Orders (M3); Quarterly Services Survey (QSS); Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization; Emergency Economic Collections; Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions; and Construction Progress Reporting Surveys.

All of these Census Bureau data are collected under the provisions of 13 U.S.C. 131 and 193. Response to the surveys listed above is voluntary. The Census Bureau will not provide any Federal Tax Information to BEA.

Statistical Purposes for the Shared Data

BEA will use the shared data exclusively for authorized statistical purposes, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3561(12). A number of benefits will accrue to the Federal government from this data-sharing initiative. Census Bureau aggregated data are a key source of information for BEA national, regional, and international statistics. BEA intends to use the company-level data to better understand trends, anomalies, coverage, completeness, and other characteristics of the aggregated data; to enhance the reliability of the nation's most important economic indicators, such as the National Income and Product Accounts; and increase understanding of the United States economy, especially for key national, industry, international, and regional statistics.

In addition, Census Bureau data may be compared at the company-level with data from BEA surveys. This will help improve coverage and accuracy of the data from both bureaus and may lead to collaborative efforts to provide new or expanded data products for the public without adding burden to respondents.

Data Access and Confidentiality

The sharing of confidential Census Bureau business data is authorized under 44 U.S.C. 3576. Pursuant to the CIPSEA Implementation Guidance, the Census Bureau and BEA are providing notice that they intend to enter into a written agreement for this data sharing action.

The Census Bureau data are confidential under 13 U.S.C. 9 and 214. The BEA employees who will have authorized access to confidential Census Bureau data are required to be sworn to observe the provisions of 13 U.S.C. 9 and will be advised of the penalties for improper disclosure under 13 U.S.C. 214. The penalties are imprisonment for no more than five years, a fine of no more than $250,000, or both. These BEA employees must complete annual Title 13 Awareness Training. Authorized BEA employees will use the accessed data for exclusively statistical purposes, as outlined in this Notice.

91 FR 62688