Policy Overview
The collection of information from citizens, businesses or third parties (states, universities) enables government agencies to comply with federal regulations, execute their missions and provide essential services to the public. Whether the collection method is a direct request (application), a recordkeeping requirement that helps support regulatory enforcement or a third-party disclosure, the information collection is essential to the effective operation of government. Just as significantly, federal information collections levy significant burdens on the public in terms of the time required to provide the information and the associated cost of the citizen's or business's time.
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), any set
of questions or recordkeeping requirements imposed on ten or more persons,
or questions which are used by federal agencies to collect information for
statistical purposes must be approved in advance by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB). The Information Collection Request (ICR) process requires
agencies to provide detailed justification and supporting explanations of how
the information will be collected and why the information collection is essential
to an agency's mission. Additionally, the Information Collection Request process
links the collection of data to the governing federal rule or regulation, and
provides an estimate of the burden imposed on the public. OMB then weighs the
agency's business need for the information against the cost to citizens or
businesses. Conservatively, the federal government has over 8,000 OMB-approved
information collections. OMB estimates that the information collection burden
to the public in FY 2003 was 8.2 billion hours and over $320 billion. It is
important to note that small businesses and private citizens bear the brunt
in terms of shouldering a disproportionate share of the information collection
burden.
Law:
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/ public_laws/acts.html#pra
Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA): http://www.cio.gov/archive/paperwork_elimination_act.html
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Policy Guidance
E-Government Act: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/about_leg.htm
http://www.ocio.usda.gov/infoc/pra_infoc.html
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