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 Implementation Procedures for Information Quality Act (Section 515)Click here if you are having problems viewing PDF files.
INTRODUCTIONFederal law, commonly known as the Information Quality Act or Section 515, ensures that affected people can seek correction of certain Bureau information. Section 1(a)(3) of Public Law 106-554, 44 U.S.C. § 3516, note, enacted H.R. 5658 as introduced on December 14, 2000. Included in H.R. 5658 is section 515, which requires that each Federal agency that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35, issue guidelines to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information it disseminates. Section 515 also directs each Federal agency to establish an administrative mechanism that allows affected people to seek and obtain correction of agency-maintained and agency-disseminated information if the information does not comply with OMB (Office of Management and Budget)-issued information quality guidelines. OMB issued its Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies in the Federal Register on September 28, 2001, January 3, 2002, and February 22, 2002. This document serves as TTB’s (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) Implementation Procedures for section 515. It identifies TTB’s information quality standards and describes the process for affected people to seek correction of TTB-disseminated information that does not comply with the OMB Guidelines. SCOPEThese procedures cover information disseminated by TTB (or its predecessor agency) on or after October 1, 2002. These procedures apply to such information, regardless of when the information was first disseminated. These procedures do not apply to any–
DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS FROM THE OMB GUIDELINESThe complete definitions for information and dissemination and other key terms from the OMB Guidelines follow.
For the complete list of definitions applicable to section 515, please refer to OMB’s “Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies.” INFORMATION QUALITY STANDARDSTTB adopts the quality standards incorporated in the Information Quality Guidelines issued by the Department of the Treasury. These Guidelines are based on and must be used in conjunction with OMB’s Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies. TTB uses the information quality guidelines and the standards incorporated in the guidelines issued by the Department of the Treasury and OMB when reviewing the quality of information it disseminates.
ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION PROCEDURESTTB has established procedures for those affected to seek and obtain correction of TTB-disseminated information that does not comply with OMB’s Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies or the Department of the Treasury Information Quality Guidelines. TTB reserves the right to supplement these procedures as it deems necessary. REQUESTS FOR CORRECTIONPeople affected by information disseminated by TTB may seek correction of information that does not comply with OMB’s or the Department of the Treasury’s information quality guidelines by mailing, faxing, or e-mailing a timely, written request for correction to the following address.
At a minimum, a request for correction should include the following information.
TTB may be unable to process a request for correction that does not include all of the above information. In the case of an incomplete request, the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division notifies the requestor that the request has not been processed due to missing information and identifies the information that the requestor needs to provide. IMPROPER REQUESTS FOR CORRECTIONTTB considers the following requests as improper under the OMB Guidelines and does not process requests that–
In the case of an improper request, the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division notifies the requestor that the Bureau has rejected the request and provides the reason. The Director, Regulations and Rulings Division also provides a copy of his or her response to the TTB official responsible for the dissemination at issue. The fact that a request has been rejected as improper should not preclude the responsible official from taking any action he or she deems necessary to correct an error. If a request concerns information that was distributed or released as part of a public comment process, e.g., notices of proposed rulemaking or regulatory analyses) and can be addressed within that process, the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division refers the requestor to the comment process (which involves well-established procedures for obtaining, considering, and responding to comments from the public). If the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division notifies the requestor that the Bureau has rejected his or her request as improper, the requestor cannot request reconsideration under the procedures set forth below. RESPONSE TO REQUESTS FOR CORRECTIONThe Director, Regulations and Rulings Division immediately forwards a complete and proper request for correction to the TTB official responsible for the dissemination at issue and requests a review of the challenged information. If a request for correction involves allegations that are identical or substantially similar to those that have been previously reviewed and addressed by TTB in a prior response on another request, the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division, after consultation with the responsible program official, may elect to provide the requestor a copy of the prior response rather than initiate another review of the same matter. If the responsible program official believes other Federal agencies may have an interest in the resolution of the request for correction, he or she should consult with those agencies about their possible interests and may consider their input in resolving the request. In determining whether the requested correction or other appropriate action is warranted, the responsible program official should consider whether a correction is necessary to avoid causing confusion to the public and what type of corrective action is appropriate given the nature and timeliness of the information involved. The responsible program official need not adopt a corrective action that requires such a significant amount of TTB resources that it would disrupt the Bureau’s operations or would outweigh any benefit to the public or the requestor that might result from the corrective action. If, in response to a request for correction, the responsible program official makes a correction or revision, he or she should ensure that the corrected information indicates that information was deleted, corrected, or added, as appropriate, and indicate the date of such revision. To the extent that it is practicable, the correction should be disseminated in a manner consistent with the original dissemination. The responsible official should prepare a written response for the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division to sign and send to the requestor. Within 60 calendar days of the receipt of a complete and proper request for correction, the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division sends a written response by regular mail, e-mail, or facsimile to the requestor. The response should inform the requestor what corrective action, if any, TTB has taken or will take in response to the request. If TTB does not take any corrective action, the response should inform the requestor of the reasons for this decision and of the right to request reconsideration. The response should also describe the procedures for requesting reconsideration. If the preparation of the response requires more than 60 calendar days, the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division notifies the requestor of this in writing and provides an estimated date for the completion of the response. REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATIONIf the correction requestor does not agree with the decision in the initial response (including the corrective action, if any), he or she may submit a written request for reconsideration by regular mail, e-mail, or facsimile to the following address.
The request for reconsideration must be submitted within 45 calendar days of the date of the initial response letter. Requests that are not received within this time period will not be considered. The request should clearly state that it is a request for reconsideration and include a complete copy of the original request for correction. The person requesting reconsideration should also provide specific reasons for his or her belief that the initial decision was erroneous and attach any supporting evidence. RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATIONThe Assistant Administrator, Headquarters Operations, immediately forwards the request for reconsideration to the Division Director of the program area responsible for the dissemination at issue. The Division Director serves as the reviewing official on the request for reconsideration and issues the decision on the request, except as provided below. A Division Director should not serve as a reviewing official if he or she participated in the initial response. In such instances, the Assistant Administrator or another Division Director may serve as the reviewing official, provided that he or she did not participate in the initial response. In making his or her decision, the reviewing official should consider the information contained in the request and any supporting evidence, as well as any information the responsible program official relied upon in reaching the initial decision. The reviewing official may consult with other individuals who possess relevant subject matter expertise but were not involved with the dissemination at issue. The reviewing official, if other than the Division Director, should prepare a written response for the Division Director to send to the requestor and provide a copy of the response to the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division. Within 60 calendar days of receipt of the request for reconsideration, the Division Director sends the requestor by regular mail, e-mail, or facsimile the reviewing official’s written decision, which must provide the reasons for the decision and identify the information the reviewing official considered in arriving at the decision. The Division Director must provide a copy each to the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division and Assistant Administrator, Headquarters Operations. If the reviewing official requires additional time to complete the review, he or she should notify the requestor of this in writing and provide an estimated date for the completion of the review. The reviewing official should provide a copy of this written notice of a change in the response date to the Director, Regulations and Rulings Division. REPORTING REQUIREMENTSThe TTB Director, Regulations and Rulings Division maintains records on complaints received under these procedures and retains the information necessary to prepare annual reports on such complaints for the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Systems/Chief Information Officer (“DASIS/CIO”). The Director, Regulations and Rulings Division prepares annual reports for the DASIS/CIO on the number of the complaints received by TTB and the resolution of those complaints. PRIVACY ACT STATEMENTSection 515 authorizes the collection of information furnished in a request for correction or request for reconsideration. A requestor does not have to furnish this information, but failure to do so may prevent the request from being processed. The primary use of this information is to allow TTB to process and reply to the request. TTB may also disclose information to others as authorized or required by Federal law. |
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