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On December 21, 2000 Congress passed Section 515 of the Treasury and General
Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (the Act). OMB issued final
guidance for implementing the Act, which required all Federal agencies to:
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Issue information quality guidelines ensuring and maximizing the quality,
objectivity, utility, and integrity of information, including statistical
information, disseminated by the Department
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Establish administrative mechanisms allowing affected persons to seek and
obtain correction of information maintained and disseminated by the Department
that does not comply with the OMB guidelines
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Report to the Director of OMB the number and nature of complaints
received regarding compliance with the OMB guidelines, including how the
complaints were resolved.
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For further information, see the full text of the Department
of Labor's Information
Quality Guidelines.
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The information quality guidelines are intended, within the context of laws
administered and enforced by DOL, to meet the data quality objectives set forth
in OMB’s guidelines. They are intended to improve the internal management of
the Federal Government. They are not intended to impose any binding requirements
or obligations on DOL or the public or to create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United
States, its agencies, officers, or any person. They are not intended to provide
any right to judicial review.
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These guidelines reflect this Department's commitment to information quality
as an important management objective that takes its place alongside other
Departmental objectives, such as ensuring the success of agency missions,
observing budget resource priorities and restraints, and providing information
to the public.
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These guidelines do not apply to the following:
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Information intended to be limited to
distribution to government employees, or DOL contractors, or grantees
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Government information intended to be limited
to intra- or inter-agency use or sharing of information, such as strategic
plans, performance plans, program reports, operating plans, or budgets
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Responses to requests for Departmental
records under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, or other similar laws
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Correspondence or other communications with
individuals or organizations
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Press Releases (except where the press
release itself is the primary source of the information)
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Congressional testimony
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Archival records
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Public filings
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Dissemination of information through
subpoenas or adjudicative processes, such as those recognized under the
Administrative Procedure Act or established pursuant to regulation; provided,
however, that information originally disseminated through such vehicles could
subsequently become subject to these guidelines to the extent it is
re-disseminated more broadly through other vehicles.
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Information clearly represented as opinion
and not an official agency or Departmental representation
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Policy guidance recommendations or statements
or summaries of agency policies, procedures, or programs
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Statements of legal policy or interpretation,
including briefs filed with courts or administrative bodies
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Final agency decisions, settlements in
litigation and descriptions of these settlements, or determinations of legal
force and effect, such as wage determinations.
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Because EBSA is committed to information dissemination programs based on high
standards of quality, it recognizes the value of public input. EBSA therefore
encourages the affected public to suggest improvements in Departmental
information quality practices and to contact it when particular disseminated
information may not meet the OMB guidelines and the guidelines set forth in
DOL’s Information Quality Guidelines. While EBSA believes that in most cases,
informal contacts would be appropriate, affected persons may wish to resolve concerns about information in a more
structured way and may choose to follow a more formal process. Affected persons
may submit such complaints and appeals to the contact point for EBSA. The
purpose of the information complaint and appeal process is to deal with
information quality matters, not to resolve underlying substantive policy or
legal issues.
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As is the case with other provisions of these guidelines, the process is
intended to improve the internal management of the Federal Government. It is not
intended to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable
at law by a party against the United States, its agencies, officers, or any
person. It is not intended to provide any right of judicial review. Concerns
regarding information in a rulemaking must, except as provided below, be
presented in the rulemaking in accordance with the rulemaking’s procedures.
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We will try to respond to complaints and appeals within sixty (60) days of
their receipt, unless they deem a response within this time period to be
impracticable. If we believe that more time is required to decide how to respond
to a complaint or appeal, we will estimate the time needed and notify the
complainant within the 60-day period of the reasons for the delay and the time
that it estimates that a decision will be reached. Once the agency had decided
how to address the complaint, we will notify the complainant.
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If a complainant is dissatisfied with the initial response to the complaint,
he or she may submit an appeal. A complainant may appeal within forty five (45)
days of the date the agency notified the complainant how it would handle the
complaint or one hundred and five (105) days from the date on which an agency or
agencies first received the complaint, whichever is later. The appeal request
should contain the same contact and descriptive information that was provided in
the original complaint and the specific reasons why the initial agency response
was not satisfactory. Once an appeal decision has been rendered by the agency,
it should notify the complainant.
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Affected persons who believe disseminated information may not meet the OMB
guidelines and the guidelines set forth in DOL’s Information Quality
Guidelines and who wish to file a complaint or appeal regarding EBSA information
should:
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Contact us by e-mail:
Information_Quality_Official.EBSA@dol.gov
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Contact us by postal mail:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Information Quality
Official
200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Suite N-5459
Washington, DC 20210
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Please include the following information regarding your complaint:
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Identify yourself and provide a postal or e-mail address where you may be
reached
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Identify, as specifically as possible, the information in question,
including, if possible, the name of the document or publication and where the
information is located on EBSA’s Internet site, if applicable
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Indicate how you are affected by the information about which you are
complaining
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Carefully describe the nature of the complaint, including an explanation
of why you believe the information does not comply with OMB or Departmental
guidelines
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Describe the change requested and the reason why EBSA should make the
change.
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An appeal request should contain the same contact and descriptive information
that was provided in the original complaint and the specific reasons why the
initial agency response was not satisfactory.
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Failure to include this information may result in a complainant not receiving
a response to the complaint or greatly reducing the usefulness or timeliness of
any response. Complainants should be aware that they bear the burden of
establishing that they are affected persons and showing the need and
justification for the correction they are seeking, including why the information
being complained about does not comply with applicable guidelines. Also note
that EBSA may choose not to respond to complaints that are frivolous or unlikely
to have substantial future impact.
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