Information Collection Requirements
The Paperwork Reduction Act requires federal agencies to obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before collecting the same or similar information from 10 or more members of the public. Information collection may be required for a variety of purposes including but not limited to survey development efforts, permitting applications, regulatory reporting requirements, etc.
Systems/applications that have information collection requirements that are governed by the Paperwork Reduction Act, must follow EPA's Information Collection Policy. Ensuring compliance with EPA privacy policies/procedures is usually the responsibility of the federal project lead.
EPA systems/applications that collect information for regulatory reporting purposes under EPA's Cross Media Electronic Reporting Rule codified in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations must receive approval to collect electronic documents as described in EPA's CROMERR Implementation Procedure. Refer to the following resources for more information on CROMERR and EPA regulatory reporting requirements:
Compliance with information collection requirements is typically the responsibility of the federal project lead. The federal project lead will advise development teams of the applicability of CROMERR requirements.
EPA Forms Program
All forms, electronic or otherwise, associated with an ICR must also be reviewed and approved by the EPA's Forms Management Program. Once approved, the agency's forms officer will assign an EPA Form Number, which must be displayed on the bottom left corner of the form. The form review and approval process will be the responsibility of the federal project lead in coordination with their Forms Liaison.
The Form review and approval process must be initiated as early as possible in the ICR Package assembly process or as soon as 60-day Federal Register notice is published.