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




May 26, 2021
The Paperwork Reduction Act and Federal Collections of
Information: A Brief Overview

Congress enacted the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) in
OMB is also required to report annually to Congress on
1980 and reauthorized the law in 1995 (codified at 44
“major activities” under the PRA. OMB fulfills this
U.S.C. §§3501-3521) primarily to address a concern that
requirement by issuing an annual “information collection
the federal government was requiring businesses,
budget” (ICB). ICBs contain information about the current
individuals, and other entities to spend too much time
paperwork burden, efforts to reduce the burden, violations
filling out paperwork at the behest of federal agencies. The
of the act, and improvements in the use of information.
PRA contemplated a centralized system for controlling and
minimizing the amount of information that federal agencies
Scope of the PRA
collect while considering the public benefit and utility of
The scope of the PRA is broad: It applies to almost all
the information. To this end, the PRA requires agencies to
agencies and to most agency information collections,
justify collecting information from the public by
including collections that are voluntary.
establishing the need and intended use of the information,
estimating the paperwork burden to result from the
The PRA’s requirements apply to almost all executive
information collection, and providing public input on each
branch agencies, including statutorily designated
proposed collection. The PRA also created the Office of
independent regulatory agencies, which are generally
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the
excluded from regulatory oversight and control by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) primarily to
President or OMB. Specifically, the PRA defines agency as
implement government-wide efforts to manage the federal
“any executive department, military department,
paperwork burden.
Government corporation, Government controlled
corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch
This In Focus provides an overview of the information
of the Government (including the Executive Office of the
collection aspects of the PRA, including OMB and agency
President), or any independent regulatory agency.” The
responsibilities for managing paperwork burden. Other
following agencies and entities are exempted: the
elements of the PRA, including information resources
Government Accountability Office; the Federal Election
management and statistical policy, are not covered here.
Commission; the governments of the District of Columbia
and the territories and possessions of the United States; and
What Is the “Federal Paperwork
government-owned, contractor-operated facilities, including
Burden”?
laboratories engaged in national defense research and
Agencies collect information from the public under a wide
production activities.
variety of circumstances—for example, through tax forms,
the decennial census, applications for government benefits,
The PRA defines collection of information broadly as “the
efforts to evaluate programs, and reporting requirements
obtaining, causing to be obtained, soliciting, or requiring
that inform agencies on industry’s compliance with
the disclosure to third parties or the public, of facts or
regulations. The PRA requires agencies, when collecting
opinions by or for an agency, regardless of form or format,
information, to estimate the paperwork burden associated
calling for either - (i) answers to identical questions posed
with each collection. The burden is generally considered to
to, or identical reporting or recordkeeping requirements
be a function of the number of respondents, the frequency
imposed on, ten or more persons, other than agencies,
of response, and the time required to provide the
instrumentalities, or employees of the United States; or (ii)
information. The burden is generally represented in hours
answers to questions posed to agencies, instrumentalities, or
(often referred to as “burden hours”). Although information
employees of the United States which are to be used for
collections are often critical to the work of federal agencies,
general statistical purposes.”
they can impose a substantial burden on the public.
With these definitions, if a federal agency wants to collect
Paperwork Reduction Act Overview
information from 10 or more non-federal entities—which
To achieve its objective of balancing the federal paperwork
can include individuals, states, or businesses—or to require
burden with benefits of information, the PRA tasked OMB
10 or more of these entities to provide information to a third
with reviewing and approving agencies’ information
party or to the public, that information collection or
collections. As described in more detail below, agencies
disclosure requirement is likely to be covered by the PRA.
must receive approval from OIRA prior to conducting an
Notably, information collections subject to the PRA include
information collection. Upon approval of each information
both collections that are mandatory, such as tax forms that
collection request (ICR), an “OMB control number” is
are required to be filled out annually, and collections that
assigned and must be displayed on the collection. Each
are voluntary, such as applications for federal benefits such
OMB approval may last for a period of up to three years.
as nutrition assistance and student loans.
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The Paperw ork Reduction Act and Federal Col ections of Information: A Brief Overview
A small number of types of information collections are
Each year, OIRA typically receives between 4,000 and
exempt from the PRA. The PRA excludes information
5,000 requests, the vast majority of which it approves. Any
collections conducted during federal criminal investigations
disagreements between agencies and OIRA are generally
or prosecutions, for example, or collections obtained during
not transparent to Congress and the public.
the conduct of certain intelligence activities. OMB has
identified categories of items that are generally not
Figure 1. Paperwork Reduction Act: Information
considered information under the PRA, which include
Collection Request Approval Process
agencies’ general solicitations of facts or opinions on social
media. By statute, Congress has also occasionally exempted
specific information collections from the PRA.
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 the collection does not display a valid OMB control
number or if 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.

Source: CRS.
Agency Clearance Process
Notes: The Paperwork Reduction Act is 44 U.S.C. §§3501-3521.
Under the PRA, each agency is required to establish an
internal process to review each proposed collection of
Expedited OIRA Reviews
information. Once the information collection has been
In some limited circumstances, an agency may request that
internally reviewed, the agency must publish a notice in the
OIRA provide expedited or “emergency” review of an ICR.
Federal Register and provide for a 60-day public comment
Such a request must be accompanied by a written
period on specified topics, including the necessity of the
determination of one of the following: the collection of
information collection; the accuracy of the agency’s
information is needed sooner than the regular time periods
estimate of the paperwork burden; the quality, utility, and
of the PRA and is essential to the agency’s mission; the
clarity of the information to be collected; and how to
agency cannot reasonably comply with the normal
minimize the burden of the information collection. If the
clearance procedures because public harm is reasonably
information collection is associated with a proposed rule,
likely to result; an unanticipated event has occurred; or the
the agency may solicit public comments on the information
use of normal clearance procedures will cause a statutory or
collection at the same time it publishes a proposed rule
court-ordered deadline to be missed. If appropriate, OIRA
under the Administrative Procedure Act’s notice-and-
may modify or waive the public comment requirements and
comment requirements.
grant approval for up to 180 days .
After the 60-day comment period has ended and the agency
Agencies may also request a “generic clearance” when they
has considered the comments, the agency submits the ICR
intend to conduct multiple similar collections that do not
to OIRA and publishes a second Federal Register notice.
raise substantive or policy issues, and the specifics of the
The second notice informs the public that the request has
collection cannot or will not be determined until shortly
been submitted to OIRA for review and begins a second
before the information is to be collected.
public comment period of 30 days , during which public
comments can be submitted directly to OIRA.
Online PRA Resources
Information about current and past OIRA reviews of ICRs
OIRA Clearance Process
is available on OIRA’s website, http://www.Reginfo.gov.
After the 30-day comment period ends, OIRA may make its
decision on whether to approve the ICR. OIRA is to
OMB has issued a number of guidance documents for
evaluate several statutorily specified factors in its review of
agencies on PRA implementation and compliance. See
the ICR, including whether the collection is necessary for
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-regulatory-
the proper performance of the functions of the agency and
affairs/federal-collection-information.
maximizes the benefit from the information to be collected,
as well as its consistency with other legal requirements
ICBs are also available on OMB’s website. See
related to privacy, confidentiality, security, information
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-regulatory-
quality, and statistical standards. If OIRA approves the
affairs/reports/#ICB.
ICR, the agency may proceed with the collection for up to
three years. In most cases, if OIRA disapproves the
Maeve P. Carey, Specialist in Government Organization
collection, the agency may not proceed with it. However, in
and Management
the case of a multi-headed independent regulatory agency,
if OIRA disapproves an ICR, the agency may override
IF11837
OIRA’s disapproval by majority vote.
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The Paperw ork Reduction Act and Federal Col ections of Information: A Brief Overview


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