OMB and Agency Responsibilities

Section 515(a) of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, FY 2001 (P.L. 106-554), directed the Director, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to issue guidelines that provide policy and procedural guidance to Federal agencies for ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information (including statistical information) disseminated by Federal agencies in fulfillment of the purposes and provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act. OMB issued its final guidelines on September 28, 2001. Subsequent guidance was issued by OMB on February 22, 2002 (67 FR 8452). These guidelines require agencies subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act, including the NRC, to

1. Issue their own information quality guidelines ensuring and maximizing the quality, utility, integrity, and objectivity of information disseminated by the agency;
2. Establish an administrative mechanism allowing affected persons to seek and obtain correction of information maintained and disseminated by the agency that does not comply with these guidelines; and
3. Report annually to the Director of OMB the number and nature of complaints received by the agency regarding compliance with these guidelines concerning the quality, utility, integrity, and objectivity of information and how such complaints were resolved.

The OMB guidelines further establish the following schedule:

May 1, 2002

• Publish the draft report in the Federal Register requesting public comment that provides NRC's information quality guidelines and explaining how these guidelines will ensure and maximize the quality, utility, integrity, and objectivity of information disseminated by the NRC. The NRC must also post the draft report for public comment on the NRC Web site.

August 1, 2002

• Submit to OMB for review the agency's revised quality guidelines that reflect public comments.

October 1, 2002

• Publish in the Federal Register a notice of availability of the final NRC guidelines and post the guidelines on the NRC public Web site.
• Ensure that information covered by these guidelines and disseminated for the first time by NRC on or after this date has undergone reviews for quality.

January 1, 2004 and each January 1 thereafter

• Submit to the Director of OMB a report on the number and nature of complaints received by NRC regarding NRC's compliance with these OMB guidelines and the resolution of complaints received.