Big News! Federal race & ethnicity collection standards have CHANGED

Federal Race and Ethnicity Collection Standards Have Changed

Check it out!

There are a lot to read about in the newly revised OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethinicity, published 3-29-2024. 

Federal Register citation is 89 FR 22182. There are several key revisions but one of the most important is the inclusion of Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) as a race.

How do you think about this change?

This revision has received over 1800 public comments. If you are interested in reading those comments and need assistance with finding and accessing the information, email govhelp@rice.edu or visit Kelley Center informaiton desk for help.

No More Driving With Cake

You’ve probably seen a recent meme on Facebook directing drivers that, because of current winter conditions, they should “drive with cake.”  Or you’ve seen some of the Texas road signs such as “Only Rudolph Should Drive Lit” or “The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You, Buckle Up.”  These types of signs have been created by both the Texas Department of Transportation and/or the U.S. Department of Transportation to encourage drivers to be careful driving on state and federal highways. 

However, soon you will no longer be able to see these signs.  In the recently updated manual of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration , guidelines were published banning them.  Electronic signs with "obscure meanings, references to pop culture or those intended to be funny" are required to be phased out within the next couple of years and all signs must be "simple, direct, brief, legible and clear," to "relay important information."

These changes were released by the U.S. Department of Transportation on December 19, 2023 and published in the Federal Register on the same day.  (The Federal Register daily publishes changes to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.)  The regulations went into effect on January 18, 2024. 

Although these new regulations may make your driving experience less entertaining, the Houston Chronicle has reported that when electronic traffic signs report information other than current traffic situations or weather conditions, such as the number of fatalities on Texas roads up to a certain date, risk of traffic accidents increases. 

GovInfo Reaches Record Number of Hits

Since 1994 the Government Publishing Office or GPO (formerly the Government Printing Office) has been providing trustworthy government information online for free to anyone.  The GPO is a government agency falling under the legislative branch of government and by law provides free access to government documents produced by all three branches of government.  Until the onset of electronic access, the only way to accomplish this was through the Federal Depository Library Program whereby documents are sent to designated government libraries across the country.  Now, in conjunction with the FDLP, government information is widely available online through the site GovInfo.gov.

Last year a record number of 1.15 billion retrievals were accessed through GovInfo.  This is an increase of 32% over 2022 and an increase of 215% over 2018! The most popular source of information in 2023 was the Federal Register (the Federal Register is a daily compilation of documents produced by the Executive branch including changes to federal regulations, notices from federal agencies, executive orders and other presidential documents).

The GPO’s electronic dissemination of information began in 1994 with the creation of GPOAccess.  In 2009 the next generation system, the Federal Digital System (FDsys), was introduced.  In 2016, the current site GovInfo was launched.  But the GPO is not only assigned the duty of spreading government information; it is also given the responsibility to preserve government documents for future posterity, including those documents born digital.  In 2019 GovInfo was the first US digital depository, and the second in the world, to be certified as having the “highest global standard of excellence possible” in providing access and preservation to these important materials. 

Census Bureau Seeks Comments on the American Community Survey

 Beginning in 1810, the third census taken by the United States, the Census Bureau, a sub-agency within the Department of Commerce, understood that more information was needed about the public than the basic questions supplied.  This information was needed by business owners and potential business owners, academics doing research, other government agencies, etc.  Questions were added to the census covering various topics such as agriculture, industry, and commerce, as well as individuals' occupation, ancestry, marital status, disabilities, place of birth, and other topics.  These questions became unwieldy for the overall population, so in 1940, the Bureau created the long-form census questionnaire, which was sent to a random sampling of citizens.  More recently, the Bureau discovered that people need more up to date data than was provided by the decennial census.  In order to collect social, economic, and housing data continuously, the Bureau implemented, in 2005, the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS). This survey eliminated the need for the long-form of the census.

Periodically, the Census Bureau tests the questions to see if question wording, instructions, response categories, and underlying constructs need to be changed.  They also make changes to current topics or add topics as needed.  Current topics include household roster, educational attainment, health insurance coverage, disability, and labor force questions.  Three new topics are proposed for the 2025 census – solar panels, electric vehicles, and sewage disposal.

These changes and new topics will be available in the 2025 ACS/PRCS.  The Department of Commerce/Census Bureau is seeking comments on these changes and additions as well as on the validity of how questions are asked and the methodology of gathering and analyzing the information.  They are also asking for comments on how to make the survey less burdensome and more efficient for the respondents.

In order to read the document and make a comment, go to https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/10/20/2023-23249/agency-information-collection-activities-submission-to-the-office-of-management-and-budget-omb-for

Comments must be received on or before December 19, 2023.

The Census Bureau warns “comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our request to OMB (Office of Management and Budget) to approve this ICR (Information Collection Request). Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.”

 

GPO Completes Digitizing all Issues of the Federal Register

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the National Archives’ Office of the Federal Register (OFR) have digitized every issue of the Federal Register, dating back to the first one published in 1936.  A total of 14,587 individual issues, which is nearly two million pages, has been digitized.
The complete Federal Register from 1936 to the present is now available digitally on GPO’s govinfo.  https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/FR .
Some highlights from the early issues of the Federal Register:

• The first Executive Order published in the Federal Register on March 14, 1936, enlarged the Cape Romain Migratory Bird Refuge in South Carolina.
• The first war related Presidential proclamations following the Declaration of War on Japan was published in the December 10, 1941 Federal Register issue.
• The August 25, 1958 issue contains the Executive Order outlining changes to the flag following the admittance of Hawaii as a state.

“This is an important achievement for GPO and OFR in providing the public digital access to all Federal Register issues from the Administrations of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt to Donald J. Trump,” said Acting GPO Deputy Director Andy Sherman.  “The public will now be able to access these regulations on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and personal computers.  I congratulate GPO and OFR employees who made this project a success.”
“We are proud to announce the completion of a long-awaited goal - digitization of the entire set of Federal Registers that were not "born digitally" before 1994.  With the release of the final set of books, GPO and the OFR have made a great leap in providing public access to an important collection of 20th Century Federal Government documents,” said OFR Director Oliver Potts.
The first issue of the Federal Register came off GPO presses on March 14, 1936. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first document, an Executive Order, to be published. The Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as Executive Orders and other presidential documents. It is updated daily by 6 a.m. and is published Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, in both digital and print editions.

GPO Issues Digital Release of Federal Register for the 1960s

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the National Archives’ Office of the Federal Register (OFR) digitally release historic issues of the Federal Register from 1960-1969. The complete collection of issues of the Federal Register from 1960 to the present is now available digitally on GPO’s govinfo.

This project is digitizing a total of 14,587 individual issues, dating back to the first Federal Register in 1936. Nearly two million pages are being digitized. The 1960s era of the Federal Register covers the Administrations of Presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon, and includes such highlights as:

• The first executive order of the Kennedy administration expanded food aid to needy families: January 24, 1961

• Proclamation by President Johnson of a national day of mourning for President Kennedy: November 27, 1963

• Notice of an establishment of a quarantine period for extraterrestrial exposure for the astronauts on the Apollo 11 space mission: July 25, 1969 

“Access to the Federal Register on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and personal computers from 1960 to present is another example of how GPO is meeting the technological needs of the public,” said Acting GPO Director Jim Bradley. “I look forward to GPO and the Office of the Federal Register digitizing all issues dating back to the Administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.”

The first issue of the Federal Register came off GPO presses on March 16, 1936. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first document, an executive order, to be published. The Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. It is updated daily by 6 a.m. and is published Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, in both digital and print editions.

FDA Food Safety Proposed Rule

The FDA is proposing a rule that would "require the largest food businesses in the United States and abroad to take steps to prevent facilities from being the target of intentional attempts to contaminate the food supply." Under the proposed rule, a food facility would be "required to have a written food defense plan that addresses significant vulnerabilities in its food production process" and identify and implement strategies to address these vulnerabilities. Companies would also need to "establish monitoring procedures and corrective actions, verify that the system is working, ensure that personnel assigned to the vulnerable areas receive appropriate training and maintain certain records."

More information is available from the FDA News & Events page or from the proposed rule.

East Texas and the Federal Register

As a Depository Library located in Texas we have a special closeness to one of the seminal government publications: the Federal Register. As this article explains, the Federal Register was established in 1935 when it became clear that the Federal Government needed to provide a single source for executive orders and regulatory codes. The reason that this was so apparent in 1935 was the tremendous growth in executive orders and regulatory pronouncements associated with the New Deal. The point was driven home by a Supreme Court decision involving two Texas oil companies. It appears that two companies in East Texas ran afoul of federal regulations on the transportation of oil and they appealed their case to the Supreme Court. During oral questioning it appears that regulators had to admit that there was a question as to whether or not the specific regulation in question was even in effect at the time of the alleged violation. The confusion convinced lawmakers to establish a uniform publication for regulator information: The Federal Register.