The Paperwork Reduction Act and Federal Collections of Information: A Brief Overview

The Paperwork Reduction Act and Federal Collections of Information: A Brief Overview

Updated April 17, 2024
The Paperwork Reduction Act and Federal Collections of
Information: A Brief Overview
Congress enacted the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) in
request (ICR), an “OMB control number” is assigned and
1980 and reauthorized it in 1995 (codified at 44 U.S.C.
must be displayed on the collection. Each OMB approval
§§3501-3521) in part to address a concern that the federal
may last for no longer than three years. OMB is also
government was requiring businesses, individuals, and
required to report annually to Congress on “major
other entities to spend too much time filling out paperwork
activities” under the PRA. OMB fulfills this requirement by
at the behest of federal agencies. The PRA contemplated a
issuing an annual “information collection budget, which
centralized system for controlling and minimizing the
contains information about the current paperwork burden,
amount of information that federal agencies collect while
efforts to reduce the burden, violations of the act, and
considering the public benefit and practical utility of the
improvements in the use of information. For example, in
information. To this end, the PRA requires agencies to
FY2022, the total paperwork burden reported by OMB was
justify collecting information from the public by
10.34 billion hours, compared to 9.97 billion hours in
establishing the need and intended use of the information,
FY2021. Burden can increase or decrease for a number of
estimating the paperwork burden to result from the
reasons, including new statutory requirements, re-
information collection, and providing public input on each
estimations of burden hours, and renewals or lapses in
proposed collection. The PRA also created the Office of
approved information collections.
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees
Scope of the PRA
government-wide efforts to manage the federal paperwork
The scope of the PRA is broad: It applies to almost all
burden.
executive branch agencies, including statutorily designated
independent regulatory agencies, which are generally
This In Focus provides an overview of the information
excluded from regulatory oversight and control by the
collection aspects of the PRA, including OMB and agency
President or OMB. It also applies to most agency
responsibilities for managing paperwork burden. Other
information collections, including collections that are
elements of the PRA, including information resources
voluntary.
management and statistical policy, are not covered here.
For its purposes, the PRA defines agency as “any executive
What Is the “Federal Paperwork
department, military department, Government corporation,
Burden”?
Government controlled corporation, or other establishment
Agencies collect information from the public under a wide
in the executive branch of the Government (including the
variety of circumstances—for example, through tax forms,
Executive Office of the President), or any independent
the decennial census, applications for government benefits,
regulatory agency.” The following agencies and entities are
efforts to evaluate programs, and reporting requirements
exempted: the Government Accountability Office; the
that inform agencies on an industry’s compliance with
Federal Election Commission; the governments of the
regulations. The PRA requires agencies, when collecting
District of Columbia and the territories and possessions of
information, to estimate the paperwork burden associated
the United States; and government-owned, contractor-
with each collection. Burden means the time, effort, or
operated facilities, including laboratories engaged in
financial resources expended to generate, maintain, retain,
national defense research and production activities.
or disclose or provide information to or for a federal
agency. It is generally considered to be a function of the
The PRA defines collection of information broadly as “the
number of respondents, the frequency of response, and the
obtaining, causing to be obtained, soliciting, or requiring
time required to provide the information. Burden is
the disclosure to third parties or the public, of facts or
generally represented in hours (often referred to as “burden
opinions by or for an agency, regardless of form or format,
hours”). Although information collections are often critical
calling for either - (i) answers to identical questions posed
to the work of federal agencies, they can impose a
to, or identical reporting or recordkeeping requirements
substantial burden on the public.
imposed on, ten or more persons, other than agencies,
instrumentalities, or employees of the United States; or (ii)
Paperwork Reduction Act Overview
answers to questions posed to agencies, instrumentalities, or
To achieve its objective of balancing burden with the
employees of the United States which are to be used for
benefits of information, the PRA tasked OMB with
general statistical purposes.”
reviewing and approving agencies’ information collections.
As described in more detail below, agencies must receive
With these definitions, if a federal agency wants to collect
approval from OIRA prior to conducting an information
information from 10 or more nonfederal entities—which
collection. Upon approval of each information collection
can include individuals, states, or businesses—sponsors
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The Paperwork Reduction Act and Federal Collections of Information: A Brief Overview
such a collection, or requires 10 or more of these entities to
such as its usefulness to the agency and its consistency with
disclose information to a third party or to the public (e.g.,
other legal requirements related to privacy, confidentiality,
through labeling or posting requirements), that information
security, information quality, and statistical standards. If
collection or disclosure requirement is likely to be covered
OIRA approves the ICR, the agency may proceed with the
by the PRA. Notably, information collections subject to the
collection for up to three years. In most cases, if OIRA
PRA include collections that are mandatory, such as tax
disapproves the collection, the agency may not proceed with
forms that are required to be filled out annually, collections
it. However, in the case of a multi-headed independent
that are required to obtain or retain a benefit, and voluntary
regulatory agency, if OIRA disapproves an ICR, the agency
collections, such as customer service satisfaction surveys.
may override OIRA’s disapproval by majority vote.
A small number of types of information collections are
OIRA can approve an ICR with or without change. Any
exempt from the PRA. The PRA excludes information
decision made by OIRA to disapprove an ICR or
collections conducted during federal criminal investigations
instructions from OIRA to an agency to make substantive
or prosecutions, for example, or collections obtained during
or material changes to an information collection shall be
the conduct of certain intelligence activities. OIRA has
made publicly available and explained.
identified categories of items that are generally not
considered information under the PRA, which include
Under limited circumstances, an agency may request OMB
agencies’ general solicitations of facts or opinions on social
to authorize an emergency information collection without
media and in connection with public hearings and meetings.
holding the 60- and 30-day public comment periods.
By statute, Congress has also occasionally exempted
specific information collections from the PRA.
Figure 1. Paperwork Reduction Act: Information
Collection Request Approval Process
The PRA’s “Public Protection” Provision
Failure to obtain OMB approval for a collection represents
a violation of the PRA and triggers the PRA’s “public
protection” provision. This provision states that an
individual or entity may not be penalized for failing to
comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA
if (1) the collection does not display a valid OMB control
number or (2) the agency does not inform the respondents
that they are not required to respond unless the collection of
information contains a valid OMB control number.
Agency Clearance Process
Under the PRA, each agency is required to establish an
internal process to review each proposed collection of

information. Once the information collection has been
Source: CRS.
internally reviewed, the agency must publish a notice in the
Notes: The Paperwork Reduction Act is 44 U.S.C. §§3501-3521.
Federal Register and provide for a 60-day public comment
period on specified topics, including the necessity of the
Generic Clearances
information collection; the accuracy of the agency’s
OIRA developed a “generic clearance” process for ICRs
estimate of the paperwork burden; the quality, utility, and
that involve multiple collections using similar methods, do
clarity of the information to be collected; and how to
not raise substantive or policy issues, are voluntary, are
minimize the burden of the information collection. If the
generally low burden, and for which the specifics of
information collection is associated with a proposed rule,
individual collections cannot or will not be determined until
the agency may solicit public comments on the information
shortly before the information is to be collected. Generic
collection at the same time it publishes a proposed rule
clearances initially undergo the same 60- and 30-day public
under the Administrative Procedure Act’s notice-and-
comment periods and OIRA approval of the ICR. After
comment requirements.
that, once an agency develops a more specific individual
collection, the collection is submitted directly to OIRA for
After the 60-day comment period has ended and the agency
approval and is not subject to any further public comment
has considered the comments, the agency submits an ICR to
period. OIRA says that its reviews of these collections are
OIRA and publishes a second Federal Register notice. The
typically brief. OIRA has stated in guidance that an
second notice informs the public that the request has been
information collection that is part of a generic clearance
submitted to OIRA for review and begins a second public
specifically related to an agency’s service delivery can
comment period of 30 days, during which public comments
generally be assumed to be approved unless it notifies the
can be submitted directly to OIRA.
agency within five days of receiving it.
OIRA Clearance Process
Maeve P. Carey, Specialist in Government Organization
OIRA has 60 days to make a decision on whether to
approve the ICR. OIRA considers information provided by
and Management
an agency about the collection in its review of the ICR and
Natalie R. Ortiz, Analyst in Government Organization and
evaluates the collection for certain other characteristics,
Management
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The Paperwork Reduction Act and Federal Collections of Information: A Brief Overview

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