---
kind: "section"
citation: "44 U.S.C. § 3576"
title: "44"
title_heading: "Public Printing and Documents"
number: "3576"
heading: "Designated statistical agencies"
release: "119-102"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/44/3576"
units:
  - "Chapter 35 — Coordination of Federal Information Policy"
  - "Subchapter III — Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency"
  - "Part C — Statistical Efficiency"
---

# §3576. Designated statistical agencies

- (a) **Purposes.—** The purposes of this section are the following:
  - (1) To authorize the sharing of [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) among the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics for exclusively [statistical purposes](/usc/44/3561.md?p=12).
  - (2) To reduce the paperwork burdens imposed on businesses that provide requested information to the Federal Government.
  - (3) To improve the comparability and accuracy of Federal economic statistics by allowing the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to update sample frames, develop consistent classifications of establishments and companies into industries, improve coverage, and reconcile significant differences in data produced by the three [agencies](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1).
  - (4) To increase understanding of the United States economy, especially for key industry and regional 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 Statistical Agencies.—** The head of each of the [Designated Statistical Agencies](#e) shall—
  - (1) identify opportunities to eliminate duplication and otherwise reduce reporting burden and cost imposed on the public in providing information for [statistical purposes](/usc/44/3561.md?p=12);
  - (2) enter into joint statistical projects to improve the quality and reduce the cost of statistical programs; and
  - (3) protect the confidentiality of individually identifiable information acquired for [statistical purposes](/usc/44/3561.md?p=12) by adhering to safeguard principles, including—
    - (A) emphasizing to their officers, employees, and [agents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=2) the importance of protecting the confidentiality of information in cases where the identity of individual [respondents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=9) can reasonably be inferred by either direct or indirect means;
    - (B) training their officers, employees, and [agents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=2) in their legal obligations to protect the confidentiality of individually identifiable information and in the procedures that must be followed 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](/usc/44/2901.md?p=1) that identifies individuals accessing confidential data and the project for which the data were required; and
    - (E) being prepared to document their compliance with safeguard principles to other [agencies](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1) authorized by law to monitor such compliance.
- (c) **Sharing of Business Data Among Designated Statistical Agencies.—**
  - (1) **In general.—** A [Designated Statistical Agency](#e) may provide [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) in an [identifiable form](/usc/44/3561.md?p=7) to another [Designated Statistical Agency](#e) under the terms of a written agreement among the [agencies](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1) sharing the [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) that specifies—
    - (A) the [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) to be shared;
    - (B) the [statistical purposes](/usc/44/3561.md?p=12) for which the [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) are to be used;
    - (C) the officers, employees, and [agents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=2) authorized to examine the [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) to be shared; and
    - (D) appropriate security procedures to safeguard the confidentiality of the [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3).
  - (2) **Responsibilities of agencies under other laws.—** The provision of [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) by an [agency](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1) to a [Designated Statistical Agency](#e) under this section shall in no way alter the responsibility of the [agency](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1) providing the data under other statutes (including sections [552](/usc/5/552.md) and [552b](/usc/5/552b.md) of title 5) with respect to the provision or withholding of such information by the [agency](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1) providing the data.
  - (3) **Responsibilities of officers, employees, and agents.—** Examination of [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) in [identifiable form](/usc/44/3561.md?p=7) shall be limited to the officers, employees, and [agents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=2) authorized to examine the individual reports in accordance with written agreements pursuant to this section. Officers, employees, and [agents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=2) of a [Designated Statistical Agency](#e) who receive data pursuant to this section shall be subject to all provisions of law, including penalties, that relate—
    - (A) to the unlawful provision of the [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) that would apply to the officers, employees, and [agents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=2) of the [agency](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1) that originally obtained the information; and
    - (B) to the unlawful disclosure of the [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) that would apply to officers, employees, and [agents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=2) of the [agency](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1) that originally obtained the information.
  - (4) **Notice.—** Whenever a written agreement concerns data that [respondents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=9) were required by law to report and the [respondents](/usc/44/3561.md?p=9) were not informed that the data could be shared among the [Designated Statistical Agencies](#e), for exclusively [statistical purposes](/usc/44/3561.md?p=12), the terms of such agreement shall be described in a public notice issued by the [agency](/usc/44/3561.md?p=1) 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 Provided by Designated Statistical Agencies.—**
  - (1) **General use.—** [Business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) provided by a [Designated Statistical Agency](#e) pursuant to this section shall be used exclusively for [statistical purposes](/usc/44/3561.md?p=12).
  - (2) **Publication.—** Publication of [business data](/usc/44/3561.md?p=3) acquired by a [Designated Statistical Agency](#e) shall occur in a manner whereby the data furnished by any particular [respondent](/usc/44/3561.md?p=9) are not in [identifiable form](/usc/44/3561.md?p=7).
- (e) **Designated Statistical Agency Defined.—** 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 Department of Labor.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 115–435, title III, § 302(a), Jan. 14, 2019, 132 Stat. 5550.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section effective 180 days after Jan. 14, 2019, see section 403 of Pub. L. 115–435, set out as an Effective Date of 2019 Amendment note under section 306 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.