[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 125 (Thursday, June 28, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34489-34493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-16227]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Proposed Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, 
Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by 
Federal Agencies

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the 
President.

ACTION: Proposed guidelines.

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SUMMARY: This notice requests comment on proposed guidelines for 
implementing Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Pub. L. 106-554). Section 515 
directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue government-
wide 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.'' Within one year after 
OMB issues these guidelines, agencies must issue their own implementing 
guidelines that include ``administrative mechanisms allowing affected 
persons to seek and obtain correction of information maintained and 
disseminated by the agency'' that does not comply with the OMB 
guidelines.

DATES: Comments must be received by August 13, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed guidelines should be addressed to 
Brooke Dickson of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brooke Dickson at phone: (202) 395-
3191; fax: (202) 395-5167; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In Section 515(a) of the Treasury and 
General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Pub. L. 
106-554; H.R. 5658), Congress directed the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) to issue, by September 30, 2001, government-wide 
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.'' Section 515(b) goes on to state 
that the OMB guidelines shall:

    (1) Apply to the sharing by Federal agencies of, and access to, 
information disseminated by Federal agencies; and
    (2) Require that each Federal agency to which the guidelines 
apply--
    (A) Issue guidelines ensuring and maximizing the quality, 
objectivity, utility, and integrity of information (including 
statistical information) disseminated by the agency, by not later 
than 1 year after the date of issuance of the guidelines under 
subsection (a);
    (B) Establish administrative mechanisms allowing affected 
persons to seek and obtain correction of information maintained and 
disseminated by the agency that does not comply with the guidelines 
issued under subsection (a); and
    (C) Report periodically to the Director--
    (i) The number and nature of complaints received by the agency 
regarding the accuracy of information disseminated by the agency; 
and
    (ii) How such complaints were handled by the agency.

Background

    The focus of Section 515 is on the Federal Government's information 
dissemination activities. Indeed, Federal agencies have disseminated 
information to the public for decades. Until recently, agencies have 
disseminated information principally by making paper copies of 
documents available to the public. In recent years, however, Federal 
information dissemination has grown due to the advent of the Internet, 
which has ushered in a revolution in communications. The Internet has 
enabled Federal agencies to disseminate an ever increasing amount of 
information. Congress has strongly encouraged the Executive Branch's 
dissemination efforts in statutes that include particular dissemination 
activities and in the government-wide dissemination provisions of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35) (the PRA). In 
addition, the Executive Branch's strong support for information 
dissemination is reflected in the dissemination provisions of OMB 
Circular A-130, ``Management of Federal Information Resources.''

[[Page 34490]]

    Section 515 builds upon the existing agency responsibility to 
assure information quality. According to the PRA, agency Chief 
Information Officers (CIOs) must manage information resources to 
``improve the integrity, quality, and utility of information to all 
users within and outside the agency, including capabilities for 
ensuring dissemination of public information, public access to 
government information, and protections for privacy and security.'' 
Before an agency collects information from 10 or more persons, the 
agency must seek public comment ``to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected.'' The agency then must 
obtain OMB approval that is based upon an evaluation of the agency's 
need for the information, the ``practical utility'' of the information 
to be collected, and the burden that would be imposed on the public in 
responding to the collection. The CIO must certify to OMB that the 
agency, ``to the maximum extent practicable, uses information 
technology to reduce burden and improve data quality.''
    In developing the proposed guidelines to implement Section 515, OMB 
recognizes that Federal agencies disseminate many types of information 
in many different ways. Even numerous examples can only begin to 
describe the breadth of information disseminated by the Federal 
government. Agencies disseminate statistical information, such as the 
aggregated information from the 2000 Census and the monthly and 
quarterly economic reports issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis 
and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Agencies disseminate information 
that aids members of the public in their daily activities, such as the 
National Weather Service's weather reports and the FAA's air travel 
advisories. Agencies disseminate information that they collect from 
regulated entities, such as EPA's dissemination of Toxic Release 
Inventory information. Agencies disseminate information that they 
create or obtain in the course of developing regulations, often 
involving scientific research and economic analysis. Agencies 
disseminate information when they issue reports and studies. Moreover, 
agencies provide the public with basic descriptions of agency 
authorities, activities and programs, along with the contact 
information for the public to interact with and access that information 
or those services.

Underlying Principles

    In accordance with Section 515, OMB has designed the proposed 
guidelines to help agencies ensure and maximize the quality, utility, 
objectivity and integrity of the information that they disseminate. It 
is crucial that Federal agencies disseminate information that meets 
these standards. In this respect, the fact that the Internet enables 
persons to communicate information quickly and easily to a wide 
audience not only offers great benefits to society, but also increases 
the potential harm that can result from the dissemination of 
information that does not meet OMB and agency information quality 
standards. Recognizing the wide variety of information Federal agencies 
disseminate and the wide variety of dissemination practices that 
agencies have, OMB has developed the proposed guidelines with several 
principles in mind.
    First, OMB has designed the proposed guidelines to apply to a wide 
variety of government-wide dissemination activities, ranging in 
importance and scope, through each agency's issuance of guidelines 
tailored to that agency's programs, dissemination activities, and 
information resources management and administrative practices. OMB has 
also designed the proposed guidelines to be generic enough to fit all 
media, be they in printed, electronic, or other form. OMB has sought to 
avoid the problems that would be inherent in attempting to develop 
detailed, prescriptive, ``one-size-fits-all'' government-wide 
guidelines that would artificially require different types of 
dissemination activities to be treated in the same manner.
    Second, OMB has designed the guidelines so that agencies will meet 
basic information quality standards. Given the administrative 
mechanisms required by Section 515 as well as the standards set forth 
in the PRA, it is clear that agencies should not disseminate 
information that does not meet some basic level of quality. We 
recognize that some government information may need to meet higher or 
more specific information quality standards than those that would apply 
to other types of government information. The more important the 
information, the higher the quality standards to which it should be 
held. The guidelines recognize, however, that information quality comes 
at a cost. Accordingly, the agencies should weigh the costs (for 
example, including costs attributable to agency processing effort, 
respondent burden, maintenance of needed privacy, and assurances of 
suitable confidentiality) and the benefits of higher information 
quality in the development of such information, and the level of 
quality to which the information disseminated will be held.
    Third, OMB has designed the proposed guidelines so that agencies 
can apply them in a common-sense and workable manner. It is important 
that these guidelines do not impose unnecessary administrative burdens 
that would inhibit agencies from continuing to take advantage of the 
Internet and other technologies to disseminate information that can be 
of great benefit and value to the public. In this regard, OMB 
encourages agencies to rely, to the extent possible, upon existing 
agency processes for evaluating information dissemination activities 
rather than require the creation of new and potentially duplicative or 
contradictory processes. The primary example of this is that the 
proposed guidelines recognize that, in accordance with OMB Circular A-
130, agencies already have in place well-established information 
quality standards and administrative mechanisms that allow persons to 
seek and obtain correction of information that is maintained and 
disseminated by the agency. Under the proposed guidelines, agencies may 
continue to rely on such administrative mechanisms if they satisfy the 
standards in the guidelines. Similarly, agencies may rely on their 
implementation of the Federal Government's computer security laws 
(formerly, the Computer Security Act, and now the computer security 
provisions of the PRA) to establish appropriate security safeguards for 
ensuring the ``integrity'' of the information that the agencies 
disseminate.

Summary of Proposed Guidelines

    These proposed guidelines direct agencies to develop information 
resources management procedures for reviewing and documenting for users 
the quality (including the objectivity, utility, and integrity) of 
information before it is disseminated. In addition, agencies are to 
establish administrative mechanisms allowing affected persons to seek 
and obtain correction of information maintained and disseminated by the 
agency that does not comply with the OMB guidelines. Consistent with 
the underlying principles we describe above, these guidelines stress 
the importance of having agencies apply these standards and develop 
their administrative mechanisms so they can be implemented in a common 
sense and workable manner. Moreover, agencies must apply these 
standards flexibly, consonant with existing agency information 
resources management and administrative practices, and appropriate to 
the nature of the information to be disseminated.

[[Page 34491]]

    Section 515 denotes four substantive terms regarding information 
disseminated by Federal agencies: quality, utility, objectivity, and 
integrity. It is not always clear how each substantive term relates--or 
how the four terms in aggregate relate--to the widely divergent types 
of information that agencies disseminate. We have proposed a definition 
that attempts to establish a clear meaning so that both the agency and 
the public can readily judge whether a particular type of information 
to be disseminated does or does not meet these attributes. We 
specifically request comment on this definition and how it can be made 
clearer and less ambiguous for the agency and the public.
    In the proposed guidelines, OMB points out that ``quality,'' 
``utility,'' ``objectivity,'' and ``integrity'' are closely 
interrelated concepts. Collectively, these terms address the following 
three aspects of the information that is to be disseminated: whether 
the information is useful to all users of the information, including 
the public; whether the disseminated information is being presented in 
an accurate, clear, complete, and unbiased manner; and whether the 
information has been protected from unauthorized access or revision. 
OMB modeled the draft definitions of ``information,'' ``government 
information,'' ``information dissemination product,'' and 
``dissemination'' on the longstanding definitions of those terms in OMB 
Circular A-130, but tailored them to fit into the context of these 
guidelines.
    In addition, agencies have two reporting requirements. The first 
report, drafted no later than one year after the issuance of these OMB 
guidelines, must provide the agency's information quality guidelines 
that describe administrative mechanisms allowing affected persons to 
seek and obtain the correction of disseminated information that does 
not comply with these OMB guidelines. The second report is an annual 
report (starting a year after the issuance of the first report) 
detailing the number, nature, and resolution of complaints received by 
the agency regarding its perceived or confirmed failure to comply with 
these OMB guidelines.

Request for Comments

    OMB has sought to craft standards and information resources 
management and administrative practices for ensuring information 
quality, utility, objectivity, and integrity that are rigorous, but 
that do not impose undue administrative burdens or hurdles that would 
inhibit or deter agencies from disseminating information that can be of 
great benefit to the public. The purpose of Section 515 is not to 
stifle information dissemination but to ensure that the public can 
justifiably have confidence in the information that Federal agencies 
disseminate and that affected persons will have administrative 
mechanisms for identifying problems and having the agencies take 
corrective action. OMB invites comments on whether the proposed 
guidelines have struck the appropriate balance, and suggestions for how 
the guidelines can be improved in this regard.
    In addition, OMB specifically requests comments on the following 
questions:
     Federal agencies disseminate many types of information for 
many types of programs and functions. Should the OMB guidelines devote 
particular attention to specific types of information or information 
dissemination products? If so, please identify the areas where specific 
focus should be directed, explain why the focus is needed or is 
desirable, and describe any guidelines that you recommend for those 
areas.
     Should OMB develop specific guidelines to address 
information that Federal agencies disseminate from a web page? Is there 
any need to adapt these guidelines to the agency use of a web page? If 
so, what guidelines are needed?
    OMB appreciates any comments on these and any other aspects of the 
proposed guidelines. After considering the comments that are received, 
OMB will develop and issue the final guidelines by September 30, 2001.

    Dated: June 20, 2001.
Donald R. Arbuckle,
Deputy Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Proposed Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, 
Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by 
Federal Agencies

I. OMB Responsibilities

    Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations 
Act for FY2001 (Pub. L. 106-554) directs the Office of Management and 
Budget to issue government-wide 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.

II. Agency Responsibilities

    Section 515 directs agencies to--
    1. Issue their own information quality guidelines ensuring and 
maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of 
information, including statistical information, disseminated by the 
agency no later than one year after the date of issuance of the OMB 
guidelines;
    2. Establish administrative mechanisms allowing affected persons to 
seek and obtain correction of information maintained and disseminated 
by the agency that does not comply with these OMB guidelines; and
    3. Report to the Director of OMB the number and nature of 
complaints received by the agency regarding agency compliance with 
these OMB guidelines concerning the quality (including the objectivity, 
utility, and integrity) of information and how such complaints were 
resolved.

III. Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, 
Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies

    1. Overall, agencies should adopt a high standard of quality 
(including objectivity, utility, and integrity) as a performance goal 
and should take appropriate steps to incorporate information quality 
criteria into agency information dissemination practices. Quality is to 
be ensured and established at levels appropriate to the nature of the 
information to be disseminated.
    2. As a matter of good and effective agency information resources 
management, agencies should develop a process for reviewing and 
documenting for users the quality (including the objectivity, utility, 
and integrity) of information before it is disseminated. Agencies 
should treat information quality as integral to every step of an 
agency's use of information, including creation, collection, 
maintenance, and dissemination. This process should enable the agency 
to attest to the quality of the information it has disseminated.
    Discussion. Agencies may want to consider developing different 
processes to address different types of information. Many statistical 
and research organizations already possess a wealth of quality 
standards and evaluative processes that agencies may want to draw from. 
For example, OMB has issued ``Guidelines to Standardize Measures of 
Costs and Benefits and the Format of Accounting Statements'' (OMB 
Memorandum M-00-08, March 22, 2000) to standardize the way agencies 
should measure the benefits and costs of Federal regulatory actions.
    In a larger information management context, agencies should 
consider using their Enterprise Architecture (EA) (as

[[Page 34492]]

required by the Information Technology Management Reform Act (Public 
Law 104-106) also known as ``Clinger-Cohen'') to help determine how 
existing resources can best fill needs for quality data.
    3. As a matter of citizen review, agencies should establish 
administrative mechanisms allowing affected persons to seek and obtain 
correction of information maintained and disseminated by the agency 
that does not comply with these OMB guidelines. These administrative 
mechanisms should be consonant with established agency practice, 
flexible, and appropriate to the nature of the disseminated 
information.

IV. Agency Reporting Requirements

    Discussion. The reporting requirements imposed on agencies by 
Section 515 build upon Section 9(a)(4) of OMB Circular A-130, 
``Management of Federal Information Resources.'' Under that provision, 
agency Chief Information Officers must:
    ``Monitor agency compliance with the policies, procedures, and 
guidance in this Circular. Acting as an ombudsman, the Chief 
Information Officer must consider alleged instances of agency failure 
to comply with this Circular, and recommend or take appropriate action. 
The Chief Information Officer will report instances of alleged failure 
and their resolution annually to the Director of OMB, by February 1st 
of each year.'' (65 FR 77684, December 12, 2000).
    1. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) of each agency serves as an 
ombudsman in resolving complaints about the agency's compliance with 
Circular A-130, and, consistent with agency practice and existing 
organizational responsibilities, with these guidelines.
    2. The agency should respond in written form to the complainant.
    3. The agency must draft a report, no later than one year after the 
issuance of these OMB guidelines, providing the agency information 
quality guidelines ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, 
utility, and integrity of information, including statistical 
information, disseminated by the agency. This report also must detail 
the administrative mechanisms developed by that agency to allow 
affected persons to seek and obtain correction of information 
maintained and disseminated by the agency that does not comply with 
these OMB guidelines.
    4. The agency must submit this draft report to the Director of OMB 
for review. Upon completion of that review and completion of this 
report, agencies must publish notice of the availability of this report 
in the Federal Register, and post this report on the agency's web site 
(in a way similar to the Freedom of Information Act citizen handbooks 
that each agency maintains in its electronic reading room).
    5. On an annual basis (starting a year after the issuance of the 
first report in the Federal Register), each agency must submit a report 
to the Director of OMB detailing the number and nature of complaints 
received by the agency regarding agency compliance with these OMB 
guidelines concerning the quality (including the objectivity, utility, 
and integrity) of information and how such complaints were resolved. 
Agencies should submit these reports under the reporting requirement 
for the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).

V. Definitions

    1. ``Quality,'' ``Utility,'' ``Objectivity,'' and ``Integrity'' are 
closely interrelated concepts. Collectively, these terms address the 
following three aspects of the information that is to be disseminated:
    A. Whether the information is useful to all users of the 
information, including the public. In assessing the usefulness of 
information that the agency disseminates to the public, the agency 
needs to consider the uses of the information not only from the 
perspective of the agency but also from the perspective of the public. 
As a result, when the issues of the reproducibility and transparency of 
the information are relevant for assessing the information's usefulness 
from the public's perspective, the agency must take care to ensure that 
reproducibility and transparency have been taken into account. For 
disseminated information to be useful, the presentation should clearly 
reflect the quality of the information.
    Discussion. In developing and reviewing proposed collections of 
information under the PRA, OMB and the agencies have for the past 20 
years evaluated collections under the rubric of ``practical utility.'' 
As agencies and OMB have interpreted the PRA definition of ``practical 
utility'' over the past 20 years, it is clear that it has focused not 
only on usefulness to the agency, but also--as appropriate--on 
usefulness to the public. In the context of Section 515, with the 
emphasis on dissemination to the public, the focus is expanded 
explicitly to include a dimension of the usefulness of the information 
to those to whom the agency disseminates it.
    B. Whether the disseminated information is being presented in an 
accurate, clear, complete, and unbiased manner.
    i. This involves whether the information is presented within a 
proper context. Sometimes, in disseminating certain types of 
information to the public, other information must also be disseminated 
in order to ensure an accurate, clear, complete, and unbiased 
presentation. Also, the agency needs to identify the sources of the 
disseminated information (to the extent possible, consistent with 
confidentiality protections), so that the public can assess for itself 
whether there may be some reason to question the objectivity of the 
sources.
    ii. In addition, in the context of scientific and statistical 
information, this also involves a focus on assuring accurate, reliable, 
and unbiased information.
    a. With respect to scientific research information, the results 
must be substantially reproducible upon independent analysis of the 
underlying data.
    b. In a statistical context, the information was obtained using 
sound statistical methods and error sources affecting data quality are 
identified and disclosed to users.
    C. Whether the information has been protected from unauthorized 
access or revision, to ensure that the information is not compromised 
through corruption, or falsification.

(For ease of reference, the Guidelines will sometimes refer to these 
four statutory terms, collectively, as ``quality.'')

    2. ``Information'' means any communication or representation of 
knowledge such as facts, data, or opinions in any medium or form, 
including textual, numerical, graphic, cartographic, narrative, or 
audiovisual forms. This definition includes information that an agency 
disseminates from a web page, but does not include the provision of 
hyperlinks to information others disseminate.
    3. ``Government information'' means information created, collected, 
processed, disseminated, or disposed of by or for the Federal 
Government.
    4. ``Information dissemination product'' means any book, paper, 
map, machine-readable material, audiovisual production, or other 
documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristic, an 
agency disseminates to the public. This definition includes any 
electronic document, CD-ROM, or web page.
    5. ``Dissemination'' means the government initiated distribution of 
information to the public. Dissemination does not include

[[Page 34493]]

distribution limited to government employees or agency contractors or 
grantees; intra- or inter-agency use or sharing of government 
information; and responses to requests for agency records under the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) or Privacy Act. This 
definition also does not include distribution limited to replies to 
correspondence, and subpoenas or judicial process.

[FR Doc. 01-16227 Filed 6-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P