Section 1321.4 - [Effective 12/10/2024] Supporting the four fundamental responsibilities(a)In general. Each Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit is charged with the fundamental responsibilities. Each agency is directed to enable, support, and facilitate Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units in carrying out these fundamental responsibilities.(b)Communication. The heads of Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units and parent agencies must engage in regular communication with and seek to educate each other.(c)Development and revision of policies. In consultation with the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit, each parent agency must: (1) Not later than December 10, 2026, and consistent with statutory obligations, revise any rules, policies, practices, or organizational structures that impede the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit's ability to meet its fundamental responsibilities or impede the parent agency's ability to enable, support, and facilitate the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit in carrying out its fundamental responsibilities, including the parent agency's ability to delegate responsibilities under this part;(2) Consider the fundamental responsibilities when new rules, policies, practices, organizational structures, or budgets are developed; and(3) Ensure that its rules, policies, practices, and agreements support the ability of Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units to:(i) Present and maintain accurate information; and(ii) Make timely corrections or updates to its statistical products or data when the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit determines such updates are needed; and(iii) Meet its responsibility for producing relevant and timely statistical products.(d)Innovation and burden reduction. Each Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit must: (1) Seek to continually improve its statistical products and methods and engage in research to support innovation in data collection, analysis, and dissemination, among other statistical activities;(2) Maximize the utility and minimize duplication of its statistical products; and(3) Minimize the burden on its respondents, including by engaging with other Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units to identify opportunities to better meet these goals.(e)Websites and branding. Each Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit must: (1) Participate in the development of coordinated and complementary system-wide branding in collaboration with the Chief Statistician of the United States;(2) Maintain a website clearly branded with the name of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit to provide information to information providers, data users, and the general public;(3) Include clear branding with the name of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit on all websites, statistical products, and statistical press releases; and(4) Make available to the public on the website required under this paragraph (e):(i) A mission statement that clearly describes the purpose of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit's statistical programs and its commitment to each of the fundamental responsibilities;(ii) A strategic plan that is consistent with the requirements in 5 U.S.C. 306 , which describes the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit's goals and provides specific, measurable objectives and performance metrics and is assessed no less than every four years alongside and in alignment with the parent agency's strategic plans;(iii) A list of relevant legislation, rules, and policies or management orders, including those defining organizational placement, that govern the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit's ability to maintain its commitment to these four fundamental responsibilities;(iv) Each policy or standard required under this part; and(v) Any other information as determined by the head of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit.(f)Websites and branding support. Each parent agency head must ensure its Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit has: (1) Sufficient resources to develop and maintain its website required under paragraph (e) of this section;(2) The necessary authority and autonomy to determine the content, functionality, appearance, and layout of its website required under paragraph (e) of this section; and(3) The capacity to directly update the content, functionality, appearance, and layout of the website required under paragraph (e) of this section without reliance on any parent agency official unless the official is directly assigned to the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit.(g)Budget formulation. It is important that each Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit have the appropriate resources to carry out the fundamental responsibilities set forth in this part. (1) Each parent agency, in coordination with the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit, must produce a budget request specific to the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit that is fully compliant with the requirements of Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-11 and is presented separately (i.e., clearly presented as the request for the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit with figures and justification specific to the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit) as part of the parent agency's annual budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget.(2) Each parent agency must provide to the head of each Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit an opportunity to participate with the parent agency in discussions or engagements with the Office of Management and Budget specific to the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit's budget request submitted in compliance with paragraph (g)(1) of this section.(3) If a parent agency and a Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit determine that the annual budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget lacks sufficient resources for the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit to carry out the responsibilities set forth in this part, the parent agency, in coordination with the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit, must include in the budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget a written explanation of this determination, the programmatic implications, and the tradeoffs that would be necessary to provide the necessary resources to the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit under the parent agency budget submission.(h)Capacity. It is important that each Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit have the capacity to carry out the fundamental responsibilities set forth in this part. (1) If a parent agency and a Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit determine (e.g., through the agency capacity assessment or other means) that the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit does not have the capacity to carry out the fundamental responsibilities set forth in this part, the parent agency and the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit should jointly develop options for addressing capacity needs and, to the extent practicable, make the necessary resources available.(2) If the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit determines it does not have the capacity to carry out the fundamental responsibilities set forth in this part, the head of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit should submit to the Chief Statistician of the United States and the relevant Resource Management Office in the Office of Management and Budget a written explanation of the capacity deficit, including an estimate of the amount of resources, labor, or other support needed to address the capacity deficit and a detailed description of the anticipated impact of the current capacity.(3) When a Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit relies on a support component from a parent agency: (i) The Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit must, to the greatest extent possible, allocate labor resources to ensure that one or more employees, depending on the size of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit, are knowledgeable of the support component, its policies and processes, and best practices for interacting with the support component.(ii) The parent agency must designate at least one employee of each support component to serve as a liaison for the Recognized Statistical Agency and Unit and ensure each designated employee is knowledgeable of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit and its fundamental responsibilities and is capable of effective intra-agency communication.(iii) The support component and the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit must work collaboratively to ensure the support component meets the relevant needs of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit in a manner that complies with this part and all applicable laws.(4) When a Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit relies on services or software from a support component: (i) Prior to making or renewing an award for services or software that will directly affect a Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit's ability to meet the fundamental responsibilities, the relevant support component official must coordinate with the head of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit to avoid binding actions and decisions that would conflict with the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit's ability to carry out its fundamental responsibilities.(ii) The relevant support component official must ensure that the service or software is sufficient for the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit to meet its obligation to carry out its fundamental responsibilities. The head of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit must clearly communicate the needs of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit to meet its obligation to carry out its fundamental responsibilities. If requested by the relevant support component official, the head of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit must provide a written list explicitly defining the requirements needed of the service or software to meet its obligation to carry out its fundamental responsibilities.(iii) If requested by the head of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit, the head of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit and the head of the support component must enter into a written agreement, and the support component must provide the service or software in accordance with such agreement.(iv) The Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit may obtain the service or software separately from the parent agency or support component if they are unable to reach an agreement or, at any point in time, the service or software is not able to be supplied in accordance with the agreement.(v) If the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit determines it is necessary to obtain services or software separately from the parent agency, the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit, in coordination with relevant core component officials, must notify the parent agency head. This notification must include an explanation of why it is necessary to obtain services or software separately and an attestation that the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit remains in compliance with relevant law and policy. If the parent agency is unable to provide the separate service or software, the parent agency, in coordination with the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit, must notify the Office of Management and Budget in the written explanation required under paragraph (g)(3) of this section.(i)Decision-making authority. The heads of Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units must have the appropriate decision-making authority with respect to their statistical products, statistical information, and statistical activities. Unless otherwise prohibited by statute, when a statute, rule, or policy authorizes any other agency official to make determinations directly affecting the ability of a Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit to carry out the fundamental responsibilities, the authorized official may delegate that responsibility in writing to the head of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit in accordance with paragraphs (i)(1) through (3) of this section. (1) If the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit determines that delegation is necessary to carry out its fundamental responsibilities, the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit must notify the parent agency head.(2) In making a determination regarding delegation under this paragraph (i), the parent agency head must:(i) Consider the needs of the Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit and ensure it has all necessary and appropriate authority to carry out its fundamental responsibilities; and(ii) Ensure the decision is consistent with the government-wide application and interpretation of statistical laws, consulting with the Chief Statistician of the United States as appropriate.(3) To the extent permissible under law, the individual to whom a responsibility has been delegated under this paragraph (i) must consult with the delegating official in carrying out such responsibility.(j)Delegation of duties. The Office of Management and Budget must implement its authorities and responsibilities in a manner that enables, supports, and facilitates Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units in carrying out their fundamental responsibilities in a manner consistent with this part. The Chief Statistician of the United States is authorized by statute to carry out the statistical functions set out in 44 U.S.C. 3504(e) on behalf of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. In furtherance of that authority, the Director must delegate to the Chief Statistician of the United States the authority to carry out any of the functions or responsibilities under 44 U.S.C. chapter 35, subchapter III. The Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs must delegate to the Chief Statistician of the United States the review and approval of proposed collections of information submitted to the Office of Management and Budget by Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units.