The Paperwork Reduction Act Reauthorization 1995
The Paperwork Reduction Act was reauthorized in 1995 during the legislative battles of the Contract with America. Though the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PL 104-13) included new provisions to increase public access to government information, overall the act represented a giveaway to business interests, expanding OIRA's paperwork review authority, forcing greater reductions in paperwork without respect to the benefit derived and strengthening protections for businesses that fail to comply with information collections.
Important Changes:
Increased Public Access
Agencies have the responsibility to "ensure that the public has timely and equitable access to the agency's public information." Specifically, the 1995 PRA requires any agency that "provides public information maintained in electronic format" to provide "timely and equitable access to the underlying data (in whole or in part)." In addition, agencies are required to "provide adequate notice when initiating, substantially modifying, or terminating significant information dissemination products."
Expanded Scope of OIRA Information Collection Reviews
In response to the Supreme Court decision in Dole v. Steelworkers, in which the justices ruled that OMB had no authority to review third-party disclosure rules under the PRA, the reauthorized PRA expands the definition of "collection of information" to include agency actions that cause information to be obtained or require the disclosure of information "to thirdy parties or the public." This change means that requirements that Materials Safety Data Sheets be posted in worksites, the information at issue in the Steelworkers case, now fall under the purview of OIRA information collection reviews.
Increased Protection for Failing to Comply with Information Requests
The reauthorized PRA expanded on the original "public protection" clause, which stated that a person shall not be penalized for failing to comply with an information collection if the collection did not display a valid OMB control number, by adding language explicitly stating that the absence of an OMB control number could be raised as a legal defense during an "agency administrative process or judicial action applicable thereto."