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®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week
OMB Seeks Public Comment on How to Improve Implementation of the PRA
On October 27, 2009, the United States Office of Management and Budget is scheduled to publish a request for public comment on how to improve the Federal Government's implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act. The PRA is a federal statute that requires most federal agencies to obtain OMB approval before the agencies collect information from the public. OMB's advance Federal Register notice seeking comment explains that
"[o]ver the years, the number of hours that the public has spent responding to Federal government information collections has been steadily increasing. In FY 2000, the public spent an estimated 7.4 billion hours responding to information collections subject to the PRA. In FY 2007, the number of hours grew to an estimated 9.64 billion, an increase of more than 30 percent. Much of this increase is attributed to factors that make it difficult for agencies to control their paperwork burden, such as new statutory requirements and economic changes. A much smaller portion is a result of discretionary decisions made by agencies that increase burden. "
OMB specifically seeks public "comments on reducing paperwork burdens, especially on small entities; increasing the practical utility of information collected by the federal Government; ensuring accurate burden estimates; and preventing unintended adverse consequences."
OMB must receive any public comments no later than 60 days from the date the OMB request for comment is actually published in the Federal Register.
Click here to read OMB's advance Federal Register notice seeking comment
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