MAPS Act of 2021

The Metropolitan Areas Protection and Standardization Act (MAPS Act) of 2021 prevents federal agencies from automatically changing how they distribute funding or determine program eligibility based solely on new technical definitions of "metropolitan" areas. It requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to provide a scientific justification for any changes to these geographic standards and ensures that federal agencies must go through a formal public rulemaking process before adopting those changes for non-statistical purposes. For citizens, this law acts as a safeguard to ensure that local communities do not suddenly lose access to federal grants, healthcare reimbursements, or rural development programs due to administrative reclassifications without a transparent review of the impact on those services.