by Meghan Maury
Census of the Week: 2027 Census of Agriculture. The Census of Agriculture is the primary source of statistics concerning the nation's agricultural industry. These data are used by Congress when developing or changing farm programs; many national and state programs are designed or allocated based on census data (e.g., soil conservation projects, funds for cooperative extension programs, and research funding); and private industry uses the data to provide more effective production and distribution systems for the agricultural community.
Comments due March 16.
Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.
Note: The Take Action tab of dataindex.us provides information about even more surveys, forms, evaluations, and records notices than are listed in your weekly newsletter.
Finance and Economy
Annual Integrated Economic Survey. The AIES provides the only comprehensive national and subnational data on business revenues and expenses on an annual basis. The Census Bureau is making several changes to the AIES, including implementing 2022 NAICS code updates, implementing a modular content strategy, and collecting NAPCS data, company-level information, revenue details, and capital expenditures data.
Comments due February 19.Quarterly Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States. The data collected through this survey are used for the preparation of the U.S. international transactions, national income and product, and net international investment position accounts of the United States. In this notice, BEA is proposing to increase the threshold for filing the BE-605 from $60 million to $500 million.
Comments due March 16.Occupational Employment and Wages. OEWS is a Federal/State establishment survey of wage and salary workers designed to produce data on current detailed occupational employment and wages for each Metropolitan Statistical Area and Metropolitan Division as well as by detailed industry classification. Though not technically included in this renewal, in the listing DOL indicates that there will be a significant expansion of agriculture industry coverage to be collected in upcoming panels.
Comments due March 17.
Democracy
2026 Election Administration and Voting Survey. The EAVS asks election officials questions concerning voting and election administration, including the following topics: Voter registration; overseas and military voting; voting by mail; early in-person voting; polling operations; provisional voting; voter participation; election technology; election policy; and other related issues. It's unclear from the listing whether any changes have been made to this survey since its last fielding in 2024.
Comments due March 16.
Criminal Justice
Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country. This survey collects data on items like the number of inmates confined by demographic information, number of new admissions and final discharges, the average daily population (ADP) and peak population, the number of attempted suicides and deaths, the rated capacity to hold inmates, and the number of staff employed in Indian country jails. Although the listing indicates that changes are being made to the survey, supplemental documentation indicates that changes to the prior iteration of this survey will be maintained and no further changes will be made in this fielding. Earlier changes included collecting data on inmate population changes over a 12-month period and utilization of jail beds during the year, identified additional crimes in Indian country committed against vulnerable populations (human trafficking, kidnapping, and elder abuse), and measured the demographic differences (male and female) among correctional staff.
Comments due February 23.
Health and Healthcare
National Disease Surveillance Program. Data from this program are used for planning and evaluating effective programs for prevention and control of infectious diseases. CDC is updating this collection to change the format of race and ethnicity data. According to supporting documents, CDC will use the "Race and Ethnicity Question with Minimum Categories Only." The justification for using this modified approach – without detailed race/ethnicity collection – includes a reliance on third-party providers (e.g., schools, hospitals, State, or local governments) that requires additional planning and coordination.
Comments due February 19.Rapid Surveys System (RSS) Round 8. The RSS collects data on emerging public health topics, attitudes, and behaviors. This round of the RSS will collect data on artificial intelligence and help seeking behaviors, and selected content from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) including substance use prevalence, risk perception of certain substance use, recovery from drug and alcohol use and mental health problems, and suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. Last year, NCHS removed the gender identity question from this survey without asking for public input.
Comments due February 19.Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance Program (TGS) Traveler Questionnaire. The TGS is used to monitor for communicable diseases among arriving international travelers at select U.S. airports. CDC is making a number of changes to the form under this listing and has made several "non-substantive" changes to the form over the past year, which include removing gender identity-related questions and response options and aligning the race and ethnicity questions with the new SPD15 standards.
Comments due March 16.
Data Sharing
DOC and Treasury Data Sharing Agreements. Through this notice, DOC is announcing its intention to share data from 16 of its records systems with the Department of Treasury for the purposes of identifying, preventing, or recouping improper payments to an applicant for, or recipient of, Federal funds. Shared data will include records from various DOC programs including PTO fee records, NOAA personnel and scholarship records, NIST child care subsidy records, and DOC employee records.
Comments due February 19.