U.S. Department of the Treasury

DATE: July 12, 2024

SUBJECT: Evidence and Scientific Integrity Delegation of Authority

1. PURPOSE. This Order designates the Treasury senior accountable officials under the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-435, “Evidence Act”) and the Presidential Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking (Restoring Trust Memorandum, January 27, 2021).
2. SCOPE. This Order applies to all bureaus, offices, and organizations in the Department of the Treasury. The provisions of this Order shall not be construed to interfere with or impede the authorities or independence of the Department’s Inspectors General.
3. DELEGATION. By virtue of the authority vested in me by 5 U.S.C. § 313 (a), I hereby designate the Director of Evidence, Research, and Evaluation Policy within the Office of Strategy, Planning, and Performance Improvement as the Treasury Evaluation Officer (EO). By virtue of the authority vested in me by 5 U.S.C. § 314 (a), I hereby designate the role of Statistical Official (SO) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Deputy Chief Data and Analytics Officer – Statistics, who serves as the Director of the IRS’s Statistics of Income Division. By virtue of the authority vested in by me by 44 USC § 3520 (a), I hereby designate the role of the Chief Data Officer (CDO) to the head of the Office of the Chief Data Officer (OCDO).
   
   By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Presidential Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking, I hereby designate the Evaluation Officer as the Chief Science Officer (CSO) for the Department and delegate the responsibilities of the Scientific Integrity Official (SIO) to the Treasury Data Governance Board.
4. RESPONSIBILITIES.
   1. The Director of Evidence, Research, and Evaluation Policy, in their capacity as Evaluation Officer (EO), shall report to the Treasury Deputy Performance Improvement Officer and serve as a senior advisor to agency leaders on issues of evaluation policy and practice. The EO shall oversee or conduct:
      1. 1) Assessments of and improvements to agency capacity to support the development and use of evidence.
      2. 2) Establishment and implementation of an agency evaluation policy.
      3. 3) Coordination, development, and implementation of the plans required under § 312 of the Evidence Act:
         1. a) Learning Agenda (evidence-building plan) included as part of the Agency Strategic Plan;
         2. b) Annual Evaluation Plan submitted in conjunction with the Annual Performance Plan and Strategic Review;
         3. c) And Capacity Assessment, included as part of the Agency Strategic Plan.
      4. 4) Use and dissemination of evaluation results and research throughout the agency and to the public, as appropriate.
   2. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Deputy Chief Data and Analytics Officer – Statistics, in their capacity as Statistical Official (SO), shall direct and coordinate statistical policy for the agency and collaborate with the Evaluation Officer and the Chief Data Officer on issues such as data access, data acquisition and linkage, and development of agency learning agendas and evaluation plans. The SO is responsible for:
      1. 1) Statistical policy, techniques, and procedures including establishing policies to produce and disseminate relevant and timely statistics.
      2. 2) Overseeing the development of data quality standards.
      3. 3) Overseeing development of agency confidentiality standards to appropriately safeguard sensitive information in statistical data products.
   3. The Chief Data Officer (CDO) shall be responsible for ensuring that the agency maximizes the use of data, including for the generation of evidence, advancement of cybersecurity, and improvement of agency operations. The CDO shall:
      1. 1) Be responsible for lifecycle data management.
      2. 2) Coordinate with any official in the agency responsible for using, protecting, disseminating, and generating data to ensure that the data needs of the agency are met.
      3. 3) Manage data assets of the agency, including the standardization of data format, sharing of data assets, and publication of data assets in accordance with applicable law.
      4. 4) In carrying out the requirements under paragraphs (3) and (5), consult with any statistical official of the agency (as designated under section 314 of title 5).
      5. 5) Carry out the requirements of the agency under subsections (b) through (d), (f), and (i) of section 3506, section 3507, and section 3511 of title 44.
      6. 6) Ensure that, to the extent practicable, agency data conforms with data management best practices.
      7. 7) Engage agency employees, the public, and contractors in using public data assets and encourage collaborative approaches on improving data use.
      8. 8) Support the Performance Improvement Officer and Deputy Performance Improvement Officer of the agency in identifying and using data to carry out the functions described in section 1124(a)(2) of title 31.
      9. 9) Support the Evaluation Officer of the agency in obtaining data to carry out the functions described in section 313(d) of title 5.
      10. 10) Review the impact of the infrastructure of the agency on data asset accessibility and coordinate with the Chief Information Officer of the agency to improve such infrastructure to reduce barriers that inhibit data asset accessibility.
      11. 11) Ensure that, to the extent practicable, the agency maximizes the use of data in the agency, including for the production of evidence (as defined in section 3561(6) of title 44), advancement of cybersecurity, and the improvement of agency operations.
      12. 12) Identify points of contact for roles and responsibilities related to open data use and implementation (as required by the Director).
      13. 13) Serve as the agency liaison to other agencies and the Office of Management and Budget on the best way to use existing agency data for statistical purposes (as defined in section 3561(12) of title 44).
      14. 14) Comply with any regulation and guidance issued under subchapter III, including the acquisition and maintenance of any required certification and training.
   4. The Director of Evidence, Research, and Evaluation Policy, in their capacity as the Chief Science Officer (CSO), shall serve as the principal advisor to the head of the agency, through the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategy, Planning, and Performance Improvement, on scientific issues. They shall work to ensure that the agency’s research programs are scientifically well-founded and conducted with integrity, including by overseeing the development, implementation, and iterative improvement of policies and processes affecting the integrity of research funded, conducted, or overseen by the agency and the Federal and non-Federal scientists who support those research activities.
   5. The responsibilities of the Scientific Integrity Official (SIO), to be performed by the Treasury Data Governance Board, include overseeing implementation and iterative improvement of scientific integrity policies and processes:
      1. 1) Serving as the primary neutral Agency-level contact for questions and concerns regarding scientific integrity.
      2. 2) Working to ensure scientific integrity activities and outcomes are appropriately monitored and evaluated.
      3. 3) Referring potential issues and allegations of violations of the scientific integrity policy to the Department’s whistleblower program.
5. AUTHORITIES.
   1. Pub. L. No 115-435 --- The Foundations for Evidenced-based Policymaking Act of 2018
   2. Presidential Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking (Restoring Trust Memorandum, January 27, 2021)
6. REFERENCES.
   1. OMB M-19-23: Phase 1 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Learning Agendas, Personnel, and Planning Guidance
   2. OMB M-20-12: Phase 4 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Program Evaluation Standards and Practices
   3. OMB M-21-27: Evidence-Based Policymaking: Learning Agendas and Annual Evaluation Plans
   4. OMB A-11 Part 6 Section 290: Evaluation and Evidence-building Activities
7. OFFICES OF PRIMARY INTEREST. Office of Strategy, Planning, and Performance Improvement; Office of the Chief Data Officer.