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November 18, 1997
OMB BULLETIN NO. 98-03
TO THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Fiscal Year 1997 Information Collection Budget
I. Purpose. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the OMB Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is responsible for oversight of Federal agencies' use of information
resources to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of governmental operations to serve agency
missions, including burden reduction and service delivery to the public. As part of this oversight,
and as required by statute, OIRA publishes an annual report describing the information collection
burden imposed by the Federal government on the public, progress of the agencies towards the
burden reduction goals set forth in the statute, and agency activities to improve the public's access
to Federal information resources. This bulletin instructs agencies how to submit information to
OIRA that will be the basis for this annual report and will demonstrate the agencies' fulfillment of
their responsibilities under the Paperwork Reduction Act, including their continuing contribution
to the statutory goal for paperwork burden reduction and the Administration's goal of a 25%
paperwork burden reduction from FY 1995 to FY 1998.
II. Summary. This Bulletin and appendices instructs Executive departments and agencies:
A. to prepare an Information Collection Budget (ICB) for FY 1997 and FY 1998 , including descriptions of significant burden reduction accomplishments and planned initiatives for these years; B. to document agency violations of the information collection provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and implementing regulations (5 CFR 1320); and C. to demonstrate compliance with OMB Circular A-130, specifically section 8(a)(6) "Information
Dissemination Management System" and section 9(a)(10).
These efforts will be led by the agency's Chief Information Officer (CIO) and carried out by
senior-level agency officials. Note that this bulletin requires reporting which differs from that
which was required in the past. The Appendices highlight these differences.
III. Authority. This Bulletin is issued pursuant to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, as
amended; the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, as amended; and the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
IV. Required Submissions. Executive department and agency reporting should be consistent
with OMB fiscal and policy guidance. Agencies are to submit the following information in
accordance with the instructions and formats provided:
A. One copy of the agency's Information Collection Budget, prepared in accordance with
instructions in Appendix A.
B. One copy of data regarding agency compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act and implementing regulations, prepared in accordance with instructions in Appendix B.
C. One copy of data regarding compliance with OMB Circular No. A-130, "Management of Federal Information Resources," in accordance with the instructions in Appendix C.
You may submit any portion of this information electronically. Please use WordPerfect, version
6.1, file format on a 3.5" diskette. Please label the disk with the agency name and the filename of
the submission.
V. Submission Date. Not later than February 15, 1998, each agency listed in Part VII
(Coverage) shall provide the reports required by this Bulletin. The reports should be delivered to:
David Rostker The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs The Office of Management and Budget New Executive Office Building, Room 10202 725 17th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20503
VI. OMB Hearings on Submissions. During the last year, OMB has held hearings with many
agencies on their progress toward burden reductions goals and agency compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act. OMB intends to continue this practice and will schedule hearings
covering material submitted under this bulletin.
VII. Coverage. The following agencies are subject to the requirements of this Bulletin:
Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Defense Department of Education Department of Energy Department of Health and Human Services Department of Housing and Urban Development Department of the Interior Department of Justice Department of Labor Department of State Department of Transportation Department of the Treasury Department of Veterans Affairs Environmental Protection Agency Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR Secretariat) Federal Communications Commission Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Federal Emergency Management Agency Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Federal Trade Commission National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Science Foundation Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Personnel Management Securities and Exchange Commission Small Business Administration Social Security Administration
VIII. Information Contacts. Questions about specific agency matters should be directed to the
agency's Desk Officer in OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
Questions about this Bulletin should be directed to David Rostker, tel. (202) 395-3897, E-mail:
rostker_d@a1.eop.gov.
IX. Expiration Date. This Bulletin expires September 30, 1998.
Franklin D. Raines
Attachments Bulletin No. 98-03 Appendix A
INFORMATION COLLECTION BUDGET (ICB)
I. Summary. This appendix explains what an Information Collection Budget (ICB) must include
and what you must submit to OMB. You should note that the requirements for this year differ
from previous years.
In preparation for the ICB, you need:
You should note three significant changes to the ICB preparation from last year. First, you are
requested to verify the categorization by purpose of your agency's burden, based on the
information provided on the Form 83-I, question 15, and compiled from our records. Second,
instead of documenting only significant decreases as in past years, you will need to document
significant increases and decreases. Third, you should provide information about any new
initiatives, including statutory mandates, that have affected or will affect your paperwork burden.
While you prepare your ICB and estimate your agency's total information collection burden for
FY 1998, you should take into consideration statutory goal for paperwork burden reduction, the
Administration's goal of a 25% reduction in paperwork burden by the end of FY 1998 from the
FY 1995 baseline, and your agency's Information Streamlining Plan, submitted under OMB
Bulletin 97-03, dated January 13, 1997.
II. Verify FY 1997 Individual Information Collections. Enclosed with this Bulletin is a list
from OMB's official records of all active information collections and their associated burden
figures as of the end of FY 1997 (September 30, 1997). Check the "annual reporting hours" for
each collection presented in this inventory list against your own records. You should not submit
corrections for 83-I and 83-C submissions approved after September 30, 1997.
If there are no errors in the OMB printout, include in your cover letter to the ICB a statement to
that effect.
If there are errors, provide OMB with the revised annual reporting hours. You do not need re-submit the entire inventory list, but rather only those pages containing annual reporting hours
revisions and any appropriate documentation.
III. Statement of Agency's Total Information Collection Burden. Summarize, in the format in
Exhibit 1, your agency's total information collection burden (in hours and in number of ongoing
collections) for FY 1997 as corrected in Section II and as estimated for FY 1998. If there are
expired information collections for which reinstatement was pending as of September 30, 1997,
include these burden hours in your total FY 1997 burden and provide a list of these collections
and hour burdens.
Follow this listing with a breakdown of your agency's FY 1997 total hour burden by purpose.
Use the following consolidated categories from question 15 of the 83-I:
In addition, we request that you report on the number of burden hours imposed by your agency
through "third-party disclosure" requirements. Definitions of these terms are in section VI of this
appendix.
You may base your submission on the information we have provided you or you may do your
own analysis. If you use our data, please assign each of the OMB numbers listed as "Unassigned
Primary Purpose" to one of these seven categories and report the new totals.
Follow these listings with a description, in narrative form, of primary goals and timetables towards
reducing burden on the public; these goals should be consistent with improving agency
management of the information collection review process. Also describe any circumstances,
including new statutes and initiatives, which may prevent or reverse burden reduction efforts.
IV. Significant Burden Changes for FY 1997. Using the format in Exhibit 2, detail your
agency's most significant FY 1997 actions that changed the information collection burdens on
the public, both increases and decreases. Do not report every program change, just the most
noteworthy. For each action, list the OMB numbers affected, describe the specific changes (e.g.,
more frequent reporting, consolidation of several forms, cross-cutting activities), the causes for
action (e.g., new statutes, initiatives, policy changes), a breakdown of the hours affected by each
change, and whether each change was due to program changes or adjustments to the reported
burden (See Section VII. Definitions). Use the comments section to explain any additional
details, including specific statutory changes which led directly to changes in paperwork burden.
Please be specific, but brief. Attach additional sheets as necessary.
V. Significant Burden Changes for FY 1998. Using the format in Exhibit 3, detail your
agency's most significant planned actions for FY 1998 that will change the information collection
burdens on the public, both increases and decreases. Do not report every change, just the most
noteworthy. Be sure to include significant actions which will be required by changes in statute.
For each action, list the OMB numbers affected, describe the specific changes (e.g., more frequent
reporting, consolidation of several forms, cross-cutting activities), the causes for action (e.g., new
statutes, initiatives, policy changes), a breakdown of the hours affected by each change, and
whether each change was due to program changes or adjustments to your reported burden (See
Section VII. Definitions). Use the comments section to explain any additional details. Please be
specific, but brief. Attach additional sheets as necessary.
VI. Burden Categories. You are requested to categorize your agency's burden into seven
categories and report on the burden of "third-party disclosures". These categories are described
below.
Third-party Disclosures are situations where a person is required, by a Federal agency, to
provide information to a person or entity other than the Federal government. These include
required reporting from companies to citizens through labels, posters, or advertisements.
VII. Definitions. Program changes should not be confused with adjustments.
A "Program increase" is an additional burden resulting from an action or directive of the
Executive branch of the Federal government (e.g., an increase in sample size or coverage, amount
of information, reporting frequency, or expanded use of an existing form). This also includes
previously in-use and unapproved information collections discovered during the ICB process, or
during the fiscal year, which will be in use during the next fiscal year.
A "Program decrease" is a reduction in burden because of: (1) the discontinuation of an
information collection; or (2) a change in an existing information collection as by a Federal agency
(e.g., the use of sampling (or smaller samples), a decrease in the amount of information requested
(fewer questions), or a decrease in reporting frequency).
An "Adjustment" denotes a change in burden hours due to factors over which the government
has no control, such as population growth, or in factors which do not affect what information the
government collects or how (e.g., changes in the methods used to estimate burden or correction
of errors in burden estimates).
Note : For sections III. and IV., only expired collections that are no longer in use (and will not be put back in use) can be counted as program decreases (e.g., surveys that have been completed). For an expired collection which is still in use and for which reinstatement is pending or expected, agencies should write "REINSTATEMENT PENDING" in the margin next to the collection. INFORMATION COLLECTION BUDGET
EXHIBIT 1
Information Collection Burden Reduction Achievements and Goals
INFORMATION COLLECTION BUDGET
EXHIBIT 2
FY 1997 Significant Changes in Burden
Title(s): U.S. Survey OMB Number(s): 0000-0000
Total Burden Hours, end of FY 1996: 12,000,000
Total Burden Hours, end of FY 1997: 14,000,000
Comments: [Use this section to provide additional information about the actions described on
this sheet. Please include specific language or cites, if appropriate.]
[You may use this format to describe changes in a single collection, changes in a series of related
collections, or changes through a coordinated agency initiative.]
INFORMATION COLLECTION BUDGET
EXHIBIT 3
FY 1998 Significant Planned Changes in Burden
Title(s): U.S. Survey OMB Number(s): 0000-0000
Total Burden Hours, end of FY 1997: 12,000,000 [sum for all collections listed above]
Expected Total Burden Hours, end of FY 1998: 14,000,000
Comments: [Use this section to provide additional information about the actions described on
this sheet. Please include specific language or cites, if appropriate.]
[You may use this format to describe changes in a single collection, changes in a series of related
collections, or changes through a coordinated agency initiative.]
Bulletin No. 98-03 Appendix B
Compliance with the Information Collection Provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 C.F.R. 1320
I. Summary. This appendix explains what you must submit to OMB to report violations of the
information collection provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 and OMB's
implementing regulations, 5 C.F.R. 1320, over the last fiscal year. OMB is required to report
PRA violations to Congress, but this is the first time agencies are asked to self-report violations as
required by 44 U.S.C. 3514.
II. Instructions. For each violation that occurred during FY 1997, provide the following
information:
If you discover any violations during the preparation of this report, please contact your OIRA
desk officer and remedy the violation immediately.
III. Attachments. To assist you in reviewing your agency's actions over FY 1997 for PRA
violations, OMB has included in this bulletin two lists, generated from the official computer
records.
The first list details collections that expired during the last fiscal year and had not been reinstated
as of September 30, 1997. The second list details collections that were reinstated during the fiscal
year.
Bulletin No. 98-03 Appendix C
Compliance with the Information Dissemination Provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and OMB Circular No. A-130
I. Summary. This appendix explains what you must submit to OMB to demonstrate compliance
by your agency with two specific sections of OMB Circular No. A-130 "Management of Federal
Information Resources," as revised on February 8, 1996 (61 Federal Register 6434, February 20,
1996):
II. Information Dissemination Management System. Describe your agency's information
dissemination management system, as required by Section 8(b)(6), including an assessment of the
agency's progress in developing and implementing its portion of the Government Information
Locator System, as mandated by 44 U.S.C. 3511, and explain how this system functions with
regards to your agency's most important information dissemination programs. This management
system need not be an elaborate formal system, so long as you can ensure that your agency is
performing the appropriate information dissemination activities on a routine basis. For a more in
depth description of this system and what it must cover, see Appendix IV of the Circular.
III. Alleged Failures to Comply with OMB Circular No. A-130. Section 9(a)(10) of the
Circular provides that the head of each agency shall:
(10) Direct the senior official [CIO] appointed pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 3506(b) to monitor agency
compliance with the policies, procedures, and guidance in this Circular. Acting as an ombudsman,
the senior official shall consider alleged instances of agency failure to comply with this Circular
and recommend or take corrective action as appropriate. The senior official shall report annually,
not later than February 1st of each year, to the Director [of OMB] those instances of alleged
failure to comply with this Circular and their resolution.
Include this report in your submission to OMB under this bulletin. If you have received no
complaints for FY 1997, state that fact at the end of your submission.
IV. Additional information. Copies of OMB Circular A-130 are available via the Internet on OMB's homepage at /OMB. 1. Sum of burden hours for all collections for FY 1997. 2. Sum of expected burden hours for all collections for FY 1998. 3. Total number (count) of all collections for FY 1997. 4. Total number (count) of all collections for FY 1998.
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