(a) Delegations. Pursuant to § 2.21 (a)(3) and (a)(8), subject to reservations in § 2.21(b)(2), the following delegations of authority are made by the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics to the Administrator, National Agricultural Statistics Service:
(1) Prepare crop and livestock estimates and administer reporting programs, including estimates of production, supply, price, and other aspects of the U.S. agricultural economy, collection of statistics, conduct of enumerative and objective measurement surveys, construction and maintenance of sampling frames, and related activities. Prepare reports of the Agricultural Statistics Board of the Department of Agriculture covering official state and national estimates (7 U.S.C. 476, 951, and 2204).
(2) Take such security precautions as are necessary to prevent disclosure of crop or livestock report information prior to the scheduled issuance time approved in advance by the Secretary of Agriculture and take such actions as are necessary to avoid disclosure of confidential data or information supplied by any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or association (18 U.S.C. 1902, 1905, and 2072).
(3) Improve statistics in the Department; maintain liaison with OMB and other Federal agencies for coordination of statistical methods and techniques.
(4) Administer responsibilities and functions assigned under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2061 et seq.), and title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195 et seq.), concerning coordination of damage assessment; and food and agricultural aspects of agricultural statistics.
(5) Enter into contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements to further research and statistical reporting programs in the food and agricultural sciences (7 U.S.C. 3318).
(6) Enter cost-reimbursable agreements relating to agricultural research and statistical reporting (7 U.S.C. 3319a).
(7) Cooperate and work with national and international institutions and other persons throughout the world in the performance of agricultural research and extension activities to promote and support the development of a viable and sustainable global agricultural system. Such work may be carried out by:
(i) Exchanging research materials and results with the institutions or persons;
(ii) Engaging in joint or coordinated research;
(iii) Entering into cooperative arrangements with Departments and Ministries of Agriculture in other nations to conduct research, extension, and education activities (limited to arrangements either involving no exchange of funds or involving disbursements by the agency to the institutions of other nations), and then reporting these arrangements to the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics;
(iv) Stationing representatives at such institutions or organizations in foreign countries; or
(v) entering into agreements with land-grant colleges and universities, other organizations, institutions, or individuals with comparable goals, and, with the concurrence of the Foreign Agricultural Service, international organizations (limited to agreements either involving no exchange of funds or involving disbursements by the agency to the cooperator), and then reporting these agreements to the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics (7 U.S.C. 3291(a)).
(8) Represent the Department in international organizational activities and on international technical committees concerned with agricultural science, education, and development activities, including library and information science activities.
(9) Take a census of agriculture in 1998 and every fifth year thereafter pursuant to the Census of Agriculture Act of 1997, Public Law 105-113 (7 U.S.C. 2204g); ensure that the census of agriculture documents the number, location, and economic contributions of socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers in agricultural production (7 U.S.C. 2279(h)).
(10) Develop surveys and report statistical analysis on organically produced agricultural products (7 U.S.C. 5925c).
(11) Assist the Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service with respect to Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting (7 U.S.C. 1637-1637b).
(12) Enter into agreements with and receive funds from any State, other political subdivision, organization, or individual for the purpose of conducting cooperative research projects, including agricultural statistical survey activities (7 U.S.C. 450a).
(13) Assist the Administrator, Economic Research Service with implementing section 10016 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 regarding locally or regionally produced agricultural food products (7 U.S.C. 2204h).
(14) Collect and, not less frequently than once every 3 years report, data and analysis on farmland ownership, tenure, transition, and entry of beginning farmers and ranchers and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (7 U.S.C. 2204i).
(b) Reservation. The following authority is reserved to the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics: Review all proposed decisions having substantial economic policy implications.
[60 FR 56393, Nov. 8, 1995, as amended at 62 FR 65596, Dec. 15, 1997; 65 FR 5418, Feb. 4, 2000; 68 FR 27446, May 20, 2003; 74 FR 3410, Jan. 21, 2009; 77 FR 40250, July 9, 2012; 79 FR 44116, July 30, 2014; 85 FR 65521, Oct. 15, 2020]