D-1685sg me Invitation Letter

D-1685(SG ME)

Maine

ST23

249166

October 26, 2007

The Honorable John E. Baldacci

Office of the Governor

1 State House Station

Augusta, ME 04333-0001

Dear Governor Baldacci:

The U.S. Census Bureau invites your state to participate in the 2010 Decennial Census Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Program. Every ten years, the Census Bureau conducts a census of the population and housing of the United States. Census data drive redistricting decisions and directly affect the distribution of more than $300 billion in federal funds each year. We are requesting your help to ensure that the Census Bureau’s address list is as accurate as possible for your state. Because the address list is the basis for enumeration, using your knowledge to improve it is the most important step you can take toward every person in your state being counted.

The LUCA Program, authorized by Title 13 and the Census Address List Improvement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-430), provides state, tribal, and local governments the opportunity to review and update the Census Bureau’s address list. The 2010 Census marks the first time that the Census Bureau is inviting state-level governments to participate in the LUCA Program. If you choose to participate in the LUCA Program, you will be able to:

• Review and update the Census Bureau’s address list products for all eligible areas within your state, or you may elect to focus your review on selected areas within your state; or

• Submit your state’s list of city-style addresses for all eligible areas to the Census Bureau in the Census Bureau-specified computer-readable format; and/or

• Review and update the geographic features in the Census Bureau’s geographic database.

Our records indicate that we have designated areas within three of your counties (Aroostook, Piscataquis, and Somerset) for special enumeration procedures; special enumeration areas include remote, sparsely populated, and/or resort areas. Because of timing and operational constraints, only portions of the three counties can be included in your LUCA review.

Our regional office in Boston can provide you information as to the location of the areas not designated for special enumeration in the three affected counties and, therefore, are eligible for inclusion in the LUCA review. A file of the specific census blocks eligible for LUCA review will be provided with your LUCA materials.

The Honorable John E. Baldacci 2

The enclosed flyer, Will Your Community Be Ready for the 2010 Census Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Program?, provides an overview of the LUCA Program. The flyer answers questions that may assist your state in deciding whether to participate in this important program.

Also enclosed are the Registration Form, the Participation Option/GIS Preference/County Selection Form, the Confidentiality and Security Guidelines, the Confidentiality Agreement Form, the Self-Assessment checklist, and two computer-based training (CBT) CD-ROMs. One CBT CD-ROM provides background and instructions on participating in the LUCA Program. The second CBT CD-ROM contains instructional information on the Census Bureau’s Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing Partnership Software (available free of charge to LUCA Program participants), a geographic information software application that allows your state to update both the Census Bureau’s address list materials and map information.

If your state chooses to participate, please do the following:

• Choose a LUCA Program participation option and complete the Participation Option/GIS Preference/County Selection Form.

• Compete and sign the Registration Form.

• Designate a LUCA Program liaison and reviewers. (The liaison and all reviewers must sign the Confidentiality Agreement for Option 1 and Option 2).

• Ensure that the LUCA Program liaison completes and signs the Self-Assessment Checklist (required for participation in Option 1 and Option 2).

If your state has an active State Data Center, Federal/State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates, and/or Geographic Information System coordinator, these established Census Bureau partners may be good candidates for involvement in your LUCA effort.

We will supply your LUCA materials as soon as possible after we receive your completed registration forms. You have 120 days from the date you receive your LUCA materials to complete your review and submit your address list changes. We will accept registrations up until December 31, 2007, but can guarantee the full 120-day review period only for governments registering by November 19, 2007.

The Census Bureau estimates that it will take between 105 and 1,575 hours to complete the LUCA review depending on the number of addresses and the rate of address growth and change. This includes the time needed to read the enclosed invitation materials and complete the registration forms and, upon receipt of the LUCA materials, to read the instructions, assemble and review the LUCA materials, and provide updates. Please send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Paperwork Project

0607-0795, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Room 3K138, Washington, DC 20233, or you may e-mail comments to <[email protected]>; use “Paperwork Project 0607-0795” as the subject. Please include a copy of your message addressed to <[email protected]>. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, we cannot ask you to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OMB number is found in the upper right corner of each LUCA form.

The Honorable John E. Baldacci 3

Please return all forms to the Census Bureau as soon as possible in the enclosed prepaid envelope. If you have any questions regarding the LUCA Program, please contact your Census Bureau regional office by telephone at 1-866-511-LUCA (5822) or via e-mail at [email protected]>.

We look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Charles Louis Kincannon

Director

Enclosures

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