Population Estimates Challenge Program

The Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) amends the regulations for the Population Estimates Challenge Program which will provide eligible general-purpose governmental entities (local governments) with the opportunity to file requests for the review of their population estimates for 2021 and subsequent years in forthcoming estimates series, beginning with the Vintage 2022 series that is scheduled to be published in 2023. Under this program, a governmental unit may file a challenge to its official population estimate by submitting additional data to the Census Bureau for evaluation, or by identifying a technical error in processing input data or producing the estimates. Specifically, the Census Bureau amends its regulations to update the regulation's references pertaining to the input data which are used to produce the official population estimates and revise the evidence required to support a challenge. In this final rule, the Census Bureau responds to comments received during the public comment period--closed on December 22, 2022--on the notice of proposed rulemaking posted in the Federal Register pertaining to ways in which the Population Estimates Challenge Program might be improved.