Section 141 (f) of the Census Act requires that not later than 3 years before the next census, the subjects to be included on that census be submitted to Congress. The contents of this notebook describe the subjects that will be asked on the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey, including proposed new subjects, as well as the subject that will be dropped because it is no longer required by federal agencies.

The Census Act also requires that not later than two years before the Census date, the questions to be included in the next census be submitted to Congress. A document that meets that requirement for the 2010 Decennial Census will be submitted to Congress by March 31, 2008.

In advance of providing the subjects to be included on the next census to Congress, the U.S. Census Bureau asked federal agencies to provide information on their data needs, so that only necessary data are collected, as opposed to data that could be acquired by other means. The Office of Management and Budget facilitates the process to validate current uses of census data, determine unnecessary subjects and questions, and identify new subjects for which questions are required.