Contents Chapter 5 How Agency and OMB Influences of OMB and Agency Practices on Data Actions Have Influenced the Chapter 6 Conclusions, Recommendations, Availability: Some Illustrations Influences on Availability: General Changes in Submissions Types of Submission Reductions in Burden or Size of Submissions Informal Practices Conclusions Recommendations Agency Comments and Our Response and Agency Comments and Our Response Appendixes Tables Appendix I: Agencies Submitting Information Collection Requests to OMB 1982-87 Appendix II: SF-83 and Instructions Appendix III: Panel of GAO Experts Appendix IV: Comments From the Office of Management Appendix V: Major Contributors to This Report Chapter 1 Introduction Each year, nearly every adult American fills out at least one federally sponsored form, survey, or questionnaire. In fiscal year 1988, the general public, members of farm and business communities, and representatives of state and local governments spent almost 2 billion hours meeting federal information collection requirements. Over the past four decades, the Congress has expressed concern about the amount of time citizens and small business owners are asked to spend responding to federal information collection efforts. As a result, several laws have been enacted in an effort to control the burden the federal government imposes on the public. Of these, the Federal Reports Act of 1942 and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 are the most significant. The Federal Reports Act of 1942 (December 24, 1942, ch. 811,56 Stat. 1078) requires that the government collect its information with a minimum burden on the public and at a minimum cost to the government. It authorized the Bureau of the Budget-which became the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 1970-to determine whether the collection of information by a federal agency is necessary for the agency's proper performance or for any other proper purpose. In the years since 1942, federal paperwork has continued to grow. Congressional legislation, presidential initiatives, agency regulations, and research efforts have all contributed to this trend. Moreover, according to OMB, the Congress by 1979 had exempted over 80 percent of the federal paperwork burden from the 1942 act's clearance process. For example, independent regulatory agencies were exempted from OMB's review in 1973, although they were subject to GAO's review. In reaction to the continued growth of federal paperwork, the Congress enacted the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-511; 44 U.S.C. 3501). The act supplanted the Federal Reports Act of 1942, extended the process enacted in 1942 to a wider range of information collection reviews, and established broad objectives for improving the management of all federal information resources. A stated goal was to minimize the paperwork burden on the public and maximize the utility of the information collected by the federal government. The broad objectives of the 1980 act included (1) reducing the information burden imposed on the public by the federal government; (2) lowering the costs of collecting, managing, and disseminating information by federal agencies; (3) ensuring that federal agencies collect only as much information as they need and can use effectively; (4) eliminating inconsistencies among federal information policies by promoting uniformity Chapter 1 OMB's Responsibilities Information Policy wherever possible; (5) improving the efficiency of government programs and minimizing the public burden through the effective use of automatic data processing and telecommunications; and (6) ensuring that the legitimate privacy and confidentiality of individuals and enterprises are safeguarded. To achieve its objectives, the 1980 act established the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within OMB and gave it authority over federal information functions, including general information policy, reduction of paperwork burden, federal statistical activity, records management activities, the privacy and security of records, agency sharing and dissemination of information, and the acquisition and use of automatic data processing and telecommunications and other information technology for managing information resources. OIRA's most sweeping statutory mandate was to develop comprehensive information policies for the entire federal government. The 1980 act specified six tasks for OMB in this regard: 1. the development, implementation, and oversight of uniform information resources management policies and guidelines; 2. the initiation and review of proposals for legislation, regulations, and agency procedures to improve information management; 3. the coordination, through budget review and other means, of agency information practices; 4. the promotion of greater information sharing among agencies through the federal information locator system (FILS), the review of budget proposals, and other means; 5. the evaluation of agency information management practices; and 6. the oversight of planning and research regarding the federal collection, processing, storage, transmission, and use of information. The act also gave OMB deadlines for many of these assignments. In 1983, we reported that while a significant portion of OIRA's resources were devoted to regulatory review activities, and emphasis had been placed on paperwork burden reduction, only limited progress had been made in |