[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 44USC3507]
TITLE 44--PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS
CHAPTER 35--COORDINATION OF FEDERAL INFORMATION POLICY
SUBCHAPTER I--FEDERAL INFORMATION POLICY
Sec. 3507. Public information collection activities; submission
to Director; approval and delegation
(a) An agency shall not conduct or sponsor the collection of
information unless in advance of the adoption or revision of the
collection of information--
(1) the agency has--
(A) conducted the review established under section
3506(c)(1);
(B) evaluated the public comments received under section
3506(c)(2);
(C) submitted to the Director the certification required
under section 3506(c)(3), the proposed collection of
information, copies of pertinent statutory authority,
regulations, and other related materials as the Director may
specify; and
(D) published a notice in the Federal Register--
(i) stating that the agency has made such submission;
and
(ii) setting forth--
(I) a title for the collection of information;
(II) a summary of the collection of information;
(III) a brief description of the need for the
information and the proposed use of the information;
(IV) a description of the likely respondents and
proposed frequency of response to the collection of
information;
(V) an estimate of the burden that shall result from
the collection of information; and
(VI) notice that comments may be submitted to the
agency and Director;
(2) the Director has approved the proposed collection of
information or approval has been inferred, under the provisions of
this section; and
(3) the agency has obtained from the Director a control number
to be displayed upon the collection of information.
(b) The Director shall provide at least 30 days for public comment
prior to making a decision under subsection (c), (d), or (h), except as
provided under subsection (j).
(c)(1) For any proposed collection of information not contained in a
proposed rule, the Director shall notify the agency involved of the
decision to approve or disapprove the proposed collection of
information.
(2) The Director shall provide the notification under paragraph (1),
within 60 days after receipt or publication of the notice under
subsection (a)(1)(D), whichever is later.
(3) If the Director does not notify the agency of a denial or
approval within the 60-day period described under paragraph (2)--
(A) the approval may be inferred;
(B) a control number shall be assigned without further delay;
and
(C) the agency may collect the information for not more than 1
year.
(d)(1) For any proposed collection of information contained in a
proposed rule--
(A) as soon as practicable, but no later than the date of
publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal
Register, each agency shall forward to the Director a copy of any
proposed rule which contains a collection of information and any
information requested by the Director necessary to make the
determination required under this subsection; and
(B) within 60 days after the notice of proposed rulemaking is
published in the Federal Register, the Director may file public
comments pursuant to the standards set forth in section 3508 on the
collection of information contained in the proposed rule;
(2) When a final rule is published in the Federal Register, the
agency shall explain--
(A) how any collection of information contained in the final
rule responds to the comments, if any, filed by the Director or the
public; or
(B) the reasons such comments were rejected.
(3) If the Director has received notice and failed to comment on an
agency rule within 60 days after the notice of proposed rulemaking, the
Director may not disapprove any collection of information specifically
contained in an agency rule.
(4) No provision in this section shall be construed to prevent the
Director, in the Director's discretion--
(A) from disapproving any collection of information which was
not specifically required by an agency rule;
(B) from disapproving any collection of information contained in
an agency rule, if the agency failed to comply with the requirements
of paragraph (1) of this subsection;
(C) from disapproving any collection of information contained in
a final agency rule, if the Director finds within 60 days after the
publication of the final rule that the agency's response to the
Director's comments filed under paragraph (2) of this subsection was
unreasonable; or
(D) from disapproving any collection of information contained in
a final rule, if--
(i) the Director determines that the agency has
substantially modified in the final rule the collection of
information contained in the proposed rule; and
(ii) the agency has not given the Director the information
required under paragraph (1) with respect to the modified
collection of information, at least 60 days before the issuance
of the final rule.
(5) This subsection shall apply only when an agency publishes a
notice of proposed rulemaking and requests public comments.
(6) The decision by the Director to approve or not act upon a
collection of information contained in an agency rule shall not be
subject to judicial review.
(e)(1) Any decision by the Director under subsection (c), (d), (h),
or (j) to disapprove a collection of information, or to instruct the
agency to make substantive or material change to a collection of
information, shall be publicly available and include an explanation of
the reasons for such decision.
(2) Any written communication between the Administrator of the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or any employee of the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and an agency or person
not employed by the Federal Government concerning a proposed collection
of information shall be made available to the public.
(3) This subsection shall not require the disclosure of--
(A) any information which is protected at all times by
procedures established for information which has been specifically
authorized under criteria established by an Executive order or an
Act of Congress to be kept secret in the interest of national
defense or foreign policy; or
(B) any communication relating to a collection of information
which is not approved under this subchapter, the disclosure of which
could lead to retaliation or discrimination against the
communicator.
(f)(1) An independent regulatory agency which is administered by 2
or more members of a commission, board, or similar body, may by majority
vote void--
(A) any disapproval by the Director, in whole or in part, of a
proposed collection of information of that agency; or
(B) an exercise of authority under subsection (d) of section
3507 concerning that agency.
(2) The agency shall certify each vote to void such disapproval or
exercise to the Director, and explain the reasons for such vote. The
Director shall without further delay assign a control number to such
collection of information, and such vote to void the disapproval or
exercise shall be valid for a period of 3 years.
(g) The Director may not approve a collection of information for a
period in excess of 3 years.
(h)(1) If an agency decides to seek extension of the Director's
approval granted for a currently approved collection of information, the
agency shall--
(A) conduct the review established under section 3506(c),
including the seeking of comment from the public on the continued
need for, and burden imposed by the collection of information; and
(B) after having made a reasonable effort to seek public
comment, but no later than 60 days before the expiration date of the
control number assigned by the Director for the currently approved
collection of information, submit the collection of information for
review and approval under this section, which shall include an
explanation of how the agency has used the information that it has
collected.
(2) If under the provisions of this section, the Director
disapproves a collection of information contained in an existing rule,
or recommends or instructs the agency to make a substantive or material
change to a collection of information contained in an existing rule, the
Director shall--
(A) publish an explanation thereof in the Federal Register; and
(B) instruct the agency to undertake a rulemaking within a
reasonable time limited to consideration of changes to the
collection of information contained in the rule and thereafter to
submit the collection of information for approval or disapproval
under this subchapter.
(3) An agency may not make a substantive or material modification to
a collection of information after such collection has been approved by
the Director, unless the modification has been submitted to the Director
for review and approval under this subchapter.
(i)(1) If the Director finds that a senior official of an agency
designated under section 3506(a) is sufficiently independent of program
responsibility to evaluate fairly whether proposed collections of
information should be approved and has sufficient resources to carry out
this responsibility effectively, the Director may, by rule in accordance
with the notice and comment provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, United
States Code, delegate to such official the authority to approve proposed
collections of information in specific program areas, for specific
purposes, or for all agency purposes.
(2) A delegation by the Director under this section shall not
preclude the Director from reviewing individual collections of
information if the Director determines that circumstances warrant such a
review. The Director shall retain authority to revoke such delegations,
both in general and with regard to any specific matter. In acting for
the Director, any official to whom approval authority has been delegated
under this section shall comply fully with the rules and regulations
promulgated by the Director.
(j)(1) The agency head may request the Director to authorize a
collection of information, if an agency head determines that--
(A) a collection of information--
(i) is needed prior to the expiration of time periods
established under this subchapter; and
(ii) is essential to the mission of the agency; and
(B) the agency cannot reasonably comply with the provisions of
this subchapter because--
(i) public harm is reasonably likely to result if normal
clearance procedures are followed;
(ii) an unanticipated event has occurred; or
(iii) the use of normal clearance procedures is reasonably
likely to prevent or disrupt the collection of information or is
reasonably likely to cause a statutory or court ordered deadline
to be missed.
(2) The Director shall approve or disapprove any such authorization
request within the time requested by the agency head and, if approved,
shall assign the collection of information a control number. Any
collection of information conducted under this subsection may be
conducted without compliance with the provisions of this subchapter for
a maximum of 180 days after the date on which the Director received the
request to authorize such collection.
(Added Pub. L. 104-13, Sec. 2, May 22, 1995, 109 Stat. 176; amended Pub.
L. 104-106, div. E, title LVI, Sec. 5605(d), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat.
700; Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, Sec. 1064(b)], Oct. 30,
2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A-275.)
Prior Provisions
A prior section 3507, added Pub. L. 96-511, Sec. 2(a), Dec. 11,
1980, 94 Stat. 2819; amended Pub. L. 99-500, Sec. 101(m) [title VIII,
Sec. 817], Oct. 18, 1986, 100 Stat. 1783-308, 1783-338, and Pub. L. 99-
591, Sec. 101(m) [title VIII, Sec. 817], Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3341-
308, 3341-338, related to submission to Director of public information
collection request for an approval or delegation to a senior official of
an agency prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 104-
13.
Another prior section 3507, Pub. L. 90-620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat.
1304, provided for cooperation of agencies in making information
available, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 96-
511. See section 3510(a) of this title.
Amendments
2000--Subsecs. (e)(3)(B), (h), (j). Pub. L. 1
