PUBLIC LAW 103-382—OCT. 20, 1994 108 STAT. 3567 cies, published by the Department of Commerce, unless the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce determine that use of the updated population data would be inappropriate or unreliable, taking into consideration the recommendations of the study to be conducted by the National Academy of Sciences. If the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce determine Reports. that some or all of the data referred to in this paragraph are inappropriate or unreliable, they shall jointly issue a report setting forth their reasons in detail. In determining the families which are below the poverty level, the Secretary shall utilize the criteria of poverty used by the Bureau of the Census in compiling the most recent decennial census, in such form as those criteria have been updated by increases in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "(4) STUDY. —(A) The Secretary of Education shall, within Contracts. 30 days after the date of enactment of the Improving America's School's Act of 1994, contract with the National Academy of Sciences (hereafter in this section referred to as the 'Academy') to study the program to produce intercensal poverty data for small geographic areas and certain age cohorts being developed by the Bureau of the Census. "(B) In conducting its study, the Academy shall consider such matters as— "(i) the methodology used to produce and publish intercensal poverty data, and possible alternative methods to improve the usefulness of the data for Federal program purposes; "(ii) the availability of alternative indicators of poverty for small geographic areas, against which the poverty data produced and published by the Bureau of the Census could be compared; "(iii) the reliability of the poverty data produced and published by the Bureau of the Census, particularly for less populous geographic areas; "(iv) the reliability of intercensal poverty data produced and published by the Bureau of the Census, as compared over time to similar data produced by the Bureau of the Census during the most recent decennial census; and "(v) the usefulness of poverty data produced and published by the Bureau of the Census for Federal programs that allocate funds to State and sub-State areas based, in whole or in part, on such data. "(C) The Academy shall submit to the Secretary and the Reports. Secretary of Commerce, as well as to the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Post OfRce and Civil Service of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources and the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate— "(i) not later than 18 months after the date on which a contract is entered into under subsection (a), and not later than every 18 months thereafter, such interim reports on the Academy's activities under this Act that the Academy deems appropriate, including a detailed statement of the Academy's findings and conclusions with respect to any poverty data which the Bureau of the Census pub-
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