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 the MSA qualifies based on an intercensal population estimate by the Census Bureau, the qualification must be confirmed by the next decennial census or the area is disqualified.

The OMB and the Census Bureau currently are examining alternative approaches for identifying the geographic entities of the metropolitan/nonmetropolitan settlement system. The Metropolitan Concepts and Statistics Project has as its primary objective the development of a new scheme for classifying metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Work on this project will continue into the late 1990s. The results of the project will be fully reviewed and evaluated before the OMB makes any changes to the current MA standards.

The OMB first applied the MA standards cited in this chapter to define MAs in December 1992 and June 1993, after a large share of the 1990 census products had been released. The MAs reported in nearly all 1990 census products—printed reports, computer tapes, CD-ROM discs—are those that existed as of June 30, 1990. This arrangement stems from the fact that MAs could not be redefined until place-of-work data from the 1990 census sample questionnaire had been processed. An exception to this situation is the 1990 Census of Population and Housing Supplementary Report (CPH-S-1-1) Metropolitan Areas as Defined by the Office of Management and Budget, June 30, 1993, which provides both sample and complete-count 1990 census data for the MAs as defined on June 30, 1993. Also, the Census Bureau has produced a wall map of the 1993 MSAs, CMSAs, and PMSAs as of June 30, 1993; it is available from the Government Printing Office (telephone number 202-783-3238, stock number 003-024-08740-5). A list of the MAs defined as of June 30, 1993 is available from the National Technical Information Service (telephone number 703-487-4650, document accession number PB 93-192-664).

The Census Bureau’s paper and electronic products for the decennial and economic censuses include a wide variety of data for MAs. These Notes and References Metropolitan Areas13-9