Office of the Chief Information Officer &
High Performance Computing and Communications
PRA Statements Required on Information Collection Forms
The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requires that information collections display the OMB approval number and the expiration date of that approval. This is usually to be placed on the first page of the collection instrument (e.g. a form) or, in the case of electronic collections, near the title of the collection instrument or on the first screen viewed by the respondent. The collection sponsor must also provide reasonable notice to potential respondents of the additional information detailed below. This information does not have to be on the collection form or instrument itself, so it can be part of the instructions, a separate sheet of paper, etc., as long as it is provided to the potential respondents. If this information is not provided, the OMB approval is not valid.
You must therefore provide the following:
1. The policy reasons for collecting the information. It is usually best to include a citation of the law authorizing the activity or the program being supported.
2. The way in which the information will be used to further performance of agency functions.
3. An estimate of the average burden using the following format: Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average (fill in) hours (or minutes) per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to (name and address of sponsoring office).
You can replace the term "information collection" with the specific collection method being used. So on a form, for instance, you could say "Public reporting burden for completing this form is estimated to average . . ."
4. Whether responses to the collection are voluntary, required to obtain or retain a benefit [citing the authority], or mandatory [citing the authority].
5. The nature and extent of confidentiality to be provided, if any [citing the authority]. For fishery-related collections, the usual authorities for confidentiality are Section 402(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and NOAA Administrative Order 216-100, "Confidentiality of Fishery Statistics".
6. The following sentence - "Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number."
The above points do not have to presented in a similar itemized list. You have some freedom in how you word things except for #3 and #6.
All forms being submitted for OMB approval must also display this information. Since neither the OMB approval number or expiration date is available at the time of submission, you must indicate where this information will be placed on the final form. This is usually done by placing "OMB Control # 0648-xxxx " and "Expires xx/xx/xxxx " in the upper right-hand corner of the form.