PlannovationPlanning data & tools that don't suck

Check out the Census 2010 Hard-To-Count Interactive Map (http://www.censushardtocountmaps.org/).  It pinpoints census tracts that the U.S. Census Bureau considers difficult to count. It also displays the detailed demographic and housing characteristics that the Census Bureau believes will create challenges to achieving an accurate count in certain communities.

The mapping tool is based on the Census Bureau’s Tract Level Planning Database (http://2010.census.gov/partners/research/), which identified twelve population and housing characteristics associated with low mail response in the 2000 census.  There are six “person” characteristics:
•       language isolation;
•       unemployment;
•       mobility;
•       below poverty level;
•       receiving public assistance; and
•       no high school diploma …

… and six housing characteristics:
•       crowded housing;
•       multi-unit buildings;
•       lack of telephone in home;
•       vacancy rate;
•       renter occupied; and
•       complex households …

…to calculate “hard-to-count” scores, ranging from 0 – 132 for every census tract in the country.  The new mapping site uses a threshold score of 61 or higher to identify hard-to-count census tracts.  The cutoff score of 61+ identifies roughly the top 20% of all tracts nationwide that are the hardest-to-count. In addition to showing these characteristics within hard-to-count census tracts, the database shows tracts with low 2000 census mail return rates and high foreclosure risk.

“This web site will help groups promoting 2010 census participation across the nation get the biggest bang for their buck by focusing precisely on the communities that will be hardest to count,” said Steven Romalewski, director of the CUNY Mapping Service.  ”The tool will also help these advocates communicate effectively with people in hard-to-count areas because the maps reveal why each location will likely face enumeration challenges.”  Mr. Romalewski pointed to language barriers, large numbers of renters, high poverty rates, and a prevalence of non-traditional households as some of the characteristics – alone or in combination – that the Census Bureau’s research indicates will contribute to a difficult environment for the census.  ”The website provides visual evidence of those challenges with powerful maps and interactive data,” he noted.
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I found out about this awesome resource in the Census News Briefs, which is prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal.  You can check out previous Census News Briefs at www.thecensusproject.org

According to the Department of Health and Human Services website, the 2009 Poverty Guidelines will remain in effect until at least March 1, 2010.

The reason for the freeze is that for the first time since the poverty guidelines were issued in 1965, the annual average Consumer Price Index has decreased from the previous year.  If the 2009 guidelines weren’t frozen, the HHS would have had to issue 2010 poverty guidelines that were lower than the 2009 poverty guidelines.

You can learn more here: http://aspe.hhs.gov/POVERTY/09extension.shtml

Have you ever wanted to see how the most recent published/approved NEPA documents are addressing new issues like climate change?  Or perhaps you’ve been looking for example indirect and cumulative impacts analyses in FEISs?

You should bookmark this webpage: http://www.cubitplanning.com/library/environmental-impact-statement It’s got links to the most recently published/approved DEISs, FEISs, and Supplemental EISs as listed by the EPA’s EIS database.  The documents are ordered by publication date.

Has one of your NEPA documents been published or approved recently?  Email me a link to the document or a pdf, and I’ll add it to the NEPA Library.

Did you find the Recent EIS page helpful?  Or was it still a pain to get the information that you needed?  Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Recently, I’ve noticed a number of environmental impact statements (EIS) with detailed agricultural data.

I’d expect agricultural statistics to be in the Equus Beds Aquifer Storage Project. The purpose of this project  is to recharge an aquifer.  The water table has dropped up as much as 50 feet due in part to an increased agricultural demand for water.

However, projects such as the Bering Sea Chinook Salmon Bycatch EIS and the I-65 to US 31W Access Improvement EIS also have detailed agricultural data.  The first EIS examines alternatives to minimize Chinook salmon bycatch.  Agricultural data is used to demonstrate a trend of increased levels of economic activity in Alaska’s waters, including  increased US export of agricultural products to China.  Conversely, the purpose of the second EIS is to improve access, capacity and safety of a roadway.  Agricultural data is scattered throughout the document in such sections as Land Use, Zoning, Regional and Community Plan, Agriculture Setting, Community Cohesion and more.

I think these 3 very different EISs illustrate that there are a wide variety of projects that must examine agricultural impacts above and beyond the typical Prime and Unique Farmlands impacts.  And I hope that these 3 documents are proof enough that it’s likely that you’re going to need to pull agricultural data in the near future.

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So you’ve got a project, and you need to pull agricultural data.  What should you do?

There are many sources of agricultural data like the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, FAOSTAT, and local data like land use data and real estate appraisal data.  That said, I’ve noticed that recent EISs most often include data from the USDA’s Census of Agriculture.  The most current Census of Agriculture is from 2007.  The data is descriptive, easy to understand and accessible.  And it’s available at the state and county level.

How to get 2007 Census of Agriculture data for your projects?

Let’s say that you want to pull agricultural data for Hidalgo County, Texas.  Hidalgo County is well known for it’s sweet smelling orange groves that line the roadways.  So here are the steps to follow to quickly get agricultural data for Hidalgo County.

1. Go to the USDA’s Census of Agriculture website here: http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/

2. Click on the 2007 Census of Agriculture Report link to go to the 2007 Census Publications page.

3. Scroll down to the section on State and County Reports. Click on All Counties by State by Table.

4. From there, select Texas.

5. This page provides a list of detailed tables that you can use. For now, let’s grab some overview data.  So click on  the PDF link next to Table 1. County Summary Highlights: 2007.

6. In the PDF, run a find for “Hidalgo.” [To run a find, hold down the Control Key and the F button on your keyboard at the same time]

7. And now, you’ve got overview data describing the agricultural industry in Hidalgo County–data such as number of farms, acres of land in farms, estimated market value per acre, number of cattle and acres of grain.

For more detailed agricultural information, Return to the Volume 1, Chapter 2: County Level Data page.  There are 56 tables with additional agricultural data that might be relevant for your project.

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What other agricultural data do you need?  Do you have any other favorite sources to share?  Let me know in the comments!

March 5th Revision: According to the Department of Health and Human Services website, Congress has taken action to keep the 2009 poverty guidelines in effect until at least March 31, 2010. As soon as revised 2010 poverty guidelines are announced, I will publish the guidelines on Plannovation.

For more information, go to Why the 2010 Poverty Guidelines will not be revised until at least March 1, 2010.

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January 20th Revision: Congress has taken action to keep the 2009 HHS poverty guidelines in effect at least until March 1, 2010.

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January 6th: The 2010 poverty guidelines are likely to be published/released during the last 2 weeks of January 2010.  The federal poverty guidelines are announced every year in the Federal Register, which is published every business day.

Once the 2010 poverty guidelines are published in the Federal Register, you should be able to find a 2010 poverty guidelines chart on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty page.

Why do I say that the 2010 federal poverty guidelines will be published/released in the last 2 weeks of January 2010?

Since 2006, the HHS poverty guidelines have been released in the second to last week of January.  See the Dates of Federal Poverty Guidelines chart below.

With the economic turmoil of 2009, I’m interested to know what the poverty guidelines will be for 2010.  If you have any guesses, leave me a comment.

Publication Dates of Federal Poverty Guidelines

Year	Date	Citation
2009	January 23, 2009	Vol. 74, No. 14, pp.4199-4201
2008	January 23, 2008	Vol. 73, No. 15, pp.3971-3972
2007	January 24, 2007	Vol. 72, No. 15, pp.3147-3148
2006	January 24, 2006	Vol. 71, No. 15, pp.3848-3849
2005	February 18, 2005	Vol. 70, No. 33, pp.8373-8375
2004	February 13, 2004	Vol. 69, No. 30, pp.7336-7338
2003	February 7, 2003	Vol. 68, No. 26, pp.6456-6458
2002	February 14, 2002	Vol. 67, No. 31, pp.6931-6933
2001	February 16, 2001	Vol. 66, No. 33, pp.10695-10697
2000	February 15, 2000	Vol. 65, No. 31, pp.7555-7557
1999	March 18, 1999	Vol. 64, No. 52, pp.13428-13430