United States Department of Agriculture

Regulations Guiding NASS

Functions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Statistics Service

• Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
  • Chapter 55 - Department of Agriculture
    • Sec. 2201. Establishment of Department
    • Sec. 2202. Executive Department, Secretary of Agriculture supervision and control
    • Sec. 2204. General duties of Secretary; advisory functions; research and development

U.S. Department of Agriculture Directives

• United States Department of Agriculture - Department Regulation
• Agriculture Statistics Board - DR1042-042

Conduct the Census of Agriculture

• Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
  • Chapter 55 - Department of Agriculture
    • Sec. 2204g. Authority of Secretary of Agriculture to conduct Census of Agriculture

Confidentiality of Information and Data Security

• Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018, Title III of Pub. L. No. 115-435
• Title 44: Public Printing and Documents
  • Chapter 35 – Coordination of Federal Information Policy
• Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
  • Chapter 55 - Department of Agriculture
    • Sec. 2276. Confidentiality of information
  • United States Department of Agriculture - Department Regulation
    • Agricultural Statistics Board - DR1042-042
• Federal Register Notice: June 27, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 124) Order Providing for the Confidentiality of Statistical Information

Collection of Agricultural Production and Price Data

• Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
  • Chapter 19 - Cotton Statistics and Estimates
    • Sec. 473. Persons required to furnish information; request; failure to furnish; false information
    • Sec. 476. Cotton Acreage reports -- issued a report on or before the 12th
  • Chapter 25 - Export Standards for Apples
    • Sec. 590a. Estimates of apple production
  • Chapter 32 - Peanut Statistics
    • Sec. 951. Collection and publication; facts required; submission of report
  • Chapter 35A - Price Support of Agricultural Commodities Subchapter I - General Provisions
    • Sec. 1421d. Commodity reports
  • Chapter 38 - Distribution and Marketing of Agricultural Products
    • Sec. 1626. Definitions
  • Subchapter III - Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting
    • Sec. 1637b. Mandatory Reporting for Dairy Products
• Title 13 - CENSUS
  • Chapter 3 - Collection and Publication of Statistics - Subchapter I - Cotton
    • Sec. 41. Collection and publication
    • Sec. 42. Contents of reports; number of bales of linter; distribution; publication by Department of Agriculture

Collection of Environmental and Water Quality Data

• Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
  • Chapter 6 - Insecticides and Environmental Pesticide Control
    • Sec. 136i-2. Collection of pesticide use information

Research and International Programs

• Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
  • Chapter 64 - Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching
    • Subchapter VIII - International Research, Extension, and Teaching
      • Sec. 3291. International agricultural research, extension, and teaching

Cooperative Agreements

• Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
  • Chapter 64 - Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching
    • Subchapter X - Funding and Miscellaneous Provisions
      • Sec. 3318. Contract, grant, and cooperative agreement authorities
• Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
  • Chapter 55 - Department of Agriculture
    • Sec. 2242a. User fees for reports, publications, and software
• Title 44 - PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS
  • Chapter 13 - Particular Reports and Documents
    • Sec. 1302. Agriculture, Department of: monthly crop report and other publications

Penalties for Disclosure and False Reports

• Title 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
  • Chapter 93 - Public Officers and Employees
    • Sec. 1905. Disclosure of confidential information generally

Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, provides that any person has the right to request access to Federal documents and other information. Agencies of the Federal Government are required to disclose documents after receiving a FOIA request for them, unless those documents are protected from disclosure by one of nine exemptions of the FOIA. The Privacy Act (PA), 5 U.S.C. 552a, protects individuals against clearly unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy. The PA informs individuals as to what information is maintained on them and where the information is stored. The PA allows individuals to access documents maintained in a PA System of Records (records retrievable by an individual's name or other personal identifier assigned to that individual) and to request amendments to the records.

If you are interested in obtaining documents maintained by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), you will find information on accessing both FOIA and non-FOIA records on the REE Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Guide website. This website is a reference guide that outlines specific procedures for making FOIA and/or PA requests to the Research, Education, and Economic agencies, which includes NASS.

If you have any questions, please contact the REE FOIA Office at REEFOIA@ars.usda.gov.

National Agricultural Statistics Service Data and Freedom of Information Act Requests - addresses concerns raised about disclosures of producer-level information collected by NASS on its surveys and censuses.