Paperwork Reduction Act: Changes Needed to Annual Report
(29-APR-02, GAO-02-651R).
The Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) prepares an annual report on the
implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act. OIRA's fiscal year
2002 report differed from the agency's previous reports in two
important respects. First, the report provided agency-specific
information on paperwork burden-hour estimates and violations
only for the cabinet departments and the Environmental Protection
Agency, but not for for the 12 independent agencies that had been
included previously. Second, the report merged data on causes of
changes in agencies' burden-hour estimates that previously had
been presented separately. According to OIRA the agencies were
excluded because (1) OMB's authority over the independent
agencies is limited, (2) most independent agencies have total
burden inventories under 10 million hours, and (3) OMB can best
use its limited resources by focusing on the agencies that impose
the most paperwork burden and over which OMB has more authority.
OIRA classifies modifications in agencies' burden-hour estimates
as either "adjustments" or "program changes." Although OIRA
reported adjustments and program changes as separate data in
fiscal years 2000 and 2001, the fiscal year 2002 report only
included information in one column. As a result, it is no longer
possible to determine the specific causes of the program changes
reported.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-02-651R
ACCNO: A03195
TITLE: Paperwork Reduction Act: Changes Needed to Annual Report
DATE: 04/29/2002
SUBJECT: Data collection
Noncompliance
Quality control
Reporting requirements
******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a **
** GAO Product. **
** **
** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although **
** figure captions are reproduced. Tables are included, but **
** may not resemble those in the printed version. **
** **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed **
** document's contents. **
** **
******************************************************************
GAO-02-651R
dRA GAO- 02- 651R Annual Paperwork Report
United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548
April 29, 2002 The Honorable Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. Director Office of
Management and Budget
Subject: Paperwork Reduction Act: Changes Needed to Annual Report Dear Mr.
Daniels: On April 11, 2002, we testified before the House Committee on
Government Reform?s Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources and
Regulatory Affairs about the implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA) of 1995. 1 Our testimony was based in part on information that was
collected by the Office of Management and Budget?s (OMB) Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to prepare its annual report to
Congress on the implementation of the PRA. As was mentioned in our
testimony, OIRA?s fiscal year 2002 report differed from the agency?s
previous reports in two important respects. First, the report provided
agency- specific information on paperwork burden- hour estimates and
violations only for the cabinet departments and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), and did not include any such information for 12 independent
agencies that had been included in previous reports. Second, the report
merged data on the causes of changes in agencies? burden- hour estimates
that previously had been presented separately. This letter is intended to
bring those issues directly to your attention and to recommend corrective
actions.
Most Independent Agencies Not Included in Annual Report
In previous annual reports on the PRA, OIRA provided agency- specific
burden- hour estimates and information on PRA violations for 27 departments
and agencies, including 13 independent agencies that are not cabinet- level
departments. However, OMB Bulletin No. 02- 02 (Oct. 17, 2001) asked only one
independent agency- EPA- to submit the information used to compile the
fiscal year 2002 report. OIRA did not indicate in the bulletin why other
agencies were not required to provide information. However, in his prepared
statement at the April 11, 2001, hearing, the OIRA administrator said the
agencies were excluded because (1) OMB?s authority over the independent
agencies is limited, so its ?ability to influence their information
collection policies through OMB oversight is constrained;? (2) most
independent
1 U. S. General Accounting Office, Paperwork Reduction Act: Burden Increases
and Violations Persist,
GAO- 02- 598T (Washington, D. C.: Apr. 11, 2002).
GAO- 02- 651R Annual Paperwork Report Page 2 agencies have total burden
inventories of under 10 million hours; and (3) OMB has
limited resources, and it can best use those resources by focusing on the
agencies that impose the most paperwork burden and over which OMB has ?the
most direct authority under the PRA to approve or disapprove information
collections.?
We do not believe that these explanations justify the exclusion of all but
one of the independent agencies from OMB?s annual report. Data that we
obtained from the Regulatory Information Service Center indicated that some
of the excluded independent agencies had larger estimated paperwork
inventories and numbers of violations than several of the agencies that were
included in OIRA?s report. 2 As of September 30, 2001, 6 of the 12
independent agencies that OIRA omitted from its fiscal year 2002 report
estimated their paperwork burden at more than 10 million hours. 3 One of
these agencies (the Securities and Exchange Commission) estimated its burden
at 114.3 million hours. In contrast, 3 of the 15 departments and agencies
that were included in the report estimated that their paperwork burden was
less than 10 million hours. 4 Also, two of the independent agencies not
included in this year?s report (the Federal Emergency Management Agency and
the Small Business Administration) had more PRA violations last year than
eight of the agencies that OIRA included in this year?s report.
Section 3514( a) of the PRA requires OIRA to keep Congress ?fully and
currently informed? of the major activities under the act, and specifically
requires that its report include ?a list of any increase in the collection
of information burden? and ?a
list of all violations of this chapter.? We do not believe that OIRA?s
annual report for fiscal year 2002 fully satisfies these requirements.
Meeting these reporting requirements is not, in our opinion, a function of
resources or differences in OIRA?s authority regarding independent
regulatory agencies. Although OIRA can provide summary data for agencies
with little PRA activity, we believe that it should provide detailed
information on at least those agencies whose paperwork estimates and/ or
number of violations exceed those of the departments and agencies that are
included in its report.
Reasons for Program Changes are Unclear
OIRA classifies modifications in agencies? burden- hour estimates as either
?adjustments? or ?program changes.? Adjustments are caused by factors not
related to deliberate government action, such as changes in the population
responding to a requirement or agency reestimates of the burden associated
with a collection of information. Program changes are the result of
deliberate federal government action
2 The Regulatory Information Service Center is part of the General Services
Administration but works closely with OIRA to provide information to the
president, Congress, and the public about federal regulations. It maintains
a database that includes information on all information collection review
actions by OIRA. 3 These six agencies were the Federal Communications
Commission (40.1 million hours), the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (10. 5 million hours), the Federal Trade
Commission (72. 6 million hours), the Securities and Exchange Commission
(114.3 million hours), the Social Security Administration (24. 2 million
hours), and the Federal Acquisition Regulations (submitted by the General
Services Administration) (23. 8 million hours). 4 These agencies were the
departments of Energy (3. 9 million hours), Interior (7. 6 million hours),
and
Veterans Affairs (5. 3 million hours).
GAO- 02- 651R Annual Paperwork Report Page 3 (e. g., the addition or
deletion of questions on a form), and can occur as a result of
new statutory requirements, agency- initiated actions, or through the
expiration or reinstatement of OIRA- approved collections.
In the annual PRA reports for fiscal years 2000 and 2001, OIRA indicated in
separate columns in its summary table whether the fluctuations in agencies?
burden- hour estimates that were caused by program changes were, in turn,
caused by new statutes or agency actions. By providing this information in
separate columns, the reader could determine whether any program change
increase or decrease in an agency?s estimated paperwork burden was
attributable to Congress or the agency itself. However, in the annual report
for fiscal year 2002 that was released on April 11, 2002, the agency
actions/ new statutes information was provided in a single column. As a
result, Congress and the public are no longer able to determine the specific
causes of the program changes reported.
We believe that OIRA could improve the quality and transparency of the
information in its annual report by reporting the program changes due to new
statutes and agency actions in separate columns of its summary table. Also,
OIRA could enhance information quality and transparency even further by
providing another column to the table identifying the changes due to
reinstatements and/ or expirations. For several years, readers of the annual
report who wanted to know how many of the changes in agencies? burden
estimates were due to reinstatements and/ or expirations had to calculate
those amounts by subtracting the ?new statutes? and ?agency action? values
from the program change totals. Adding a column that explicitly shows the
changes due to reinstatements and/ or expirations would eliminate the need
for Congress and the public to perform those calculations.
Recommendations
We recommend that the director of OMB ensure that OIRA?s annual report on
the PRA for fiscal year 2003 contain burden- hour estimates and information
on PRA violations for all of the agencies covered by the act. At a minimum,
the report should include agency- specific data on burden estimates and
violations for all agencies whose burden estimates and/ or number of
violations exceed those of the cabinet departments traditionally included in
the report.
We also recommend that the director ensure that the fiscal year 2003
report?s summary burden- hour table identify in separate columns the program
changes that are attributable to new statutes, agency actions, and
reinstatements and/ or expirations. Doing so will enable Congress and the
public to better understand why agencies? burden estimates change, and will
improve the transparency and accessibility of government information.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
On April 17, 2002, we provided a draft of this report to the director of OMB
for his review and comment. On April 25, 2002, OIRA officials told us that
the agency would reconsider its decision to limit the scope and detail of
the annual report on the PRA in light of our recommendations. In particular,
they said that OMB would include the
GAO- 02- 651R Annual Paperwork Report Page 4 12 agencies in its fiscal year
2003 annual report that had been omitted in the fiscal
year 2002 report. - - - - We are sending copies of this letter to the
appropriate congressional committees and the administrator, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs. The letter is also available on GAO?s
homepage at http:// www. gao. gov. If you or your staff have any questions
on the matters discussed in this letter, you may contact Curtis Copeland or
me at (202) 512- 6806.
Sincerely yours, Victor S. Rezendes Managing Director Strategic Issues
Enclosure (450123)
*** End of document. ***