[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65154-65155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26899]
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OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity,
Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by the Office of
Science and Technology Policy
AGENCY: Office of Science and Technology Policy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has
finalized its Information Quality Guidelines, which describe OSTP's
pre-dissemination information quality control and an administrative
mechanism for requests for correction of information publicly
disseminated by OSTP. The final Information Quality Guidelines are
posted on OSTP's web site, http://www.ostp.gov.
DATES: OSTP's pre-dissemination review applies to information that OSTP
first disseminates on or after October 1, 2002. OSTP's administrative
mechanism for correcting information that OSTP disseminates applies to
information that OSTP disseminates on or after October 1, 2002,
regardless of when OSTP first disseminated the information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stan Sokul, Office of Science and
Technology Policy, Washington, DC 20502. Telephone: (202) 456-7116.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to prior Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) guidance, on May 1, 2002, OSTP posted an initial draft of
these guidelines on its web site, and published a Notice of their
availability in the Federal Register seeking public comment by June 14,
2002. OSTP submitted draft guidelines to OMB on August 1, 2002, and
revised draft guidelines again on September 24, 2002. These final
guidelines reflect the results of the OMB review process.
In response to OSTP's Federal Register Notice, two public comments
were received, from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and the
Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE). Both public comments
consisted of identical commentary on federal agency compliance with the
Data Quality Act generally. In addition, the CRE comment enclosed a
legal opinion stating that no agency dissemination of information
should be excluded from the Data Quality Act (i.e., challenging any
exclusions to the definition of ``information''), and the CEI comment
included an argument why OSTP should cease disseminating the National
Assessment on Climate Change. OSTP also received a June 10, 2002, and a
September 5, 2002, ``Memorandum for President's Management Council''
from OMB. These OMB Memoranda provided agencies with additional
guidance on designing information quality guidelines.
OSTP modified its May 1, 2002, draft guidelines in several respects
in response to the OMB Memoranda and in response to OSTP-OMB
discussions as part of OMB's review of OSTP's draft guidelines, but
made no alterations in response to the public comments. While in many
instances the OSTP guidelines conformed to the CRE/CEI commentary or
the commentary was not applicable, in several instances the CRE/CEI
commentary did challenge OMB guidelines that OSTP had followed. OSTP
interprets the statute, however, as giving OMB broad discretion in
[[Page 65155]]
providing guidance under the Data Quality Act to federal agencies, so
OSTP did not alter its own guidelines to deviate from OMB's guidance. A
summary of significant amendments to OSTP's initial draft guidelines
follows, in order of the text:
A new paragraph 2 was added to section I, to clarify that OSTP will
treat information quality as integral to every step of the information
creation, collection, maintenance and dissemination processes.
Paragraph 12 of section II(B) was modified to state that when
reviewing the quality of information being prepared by other agencies
(e.g., when OSTP coordinates an inter-agency drafting process), OSTP
may request that the agencies certify in writing that the information
they are providing complies with their own pre-dissemination review
processes and that, upon such certification, OSTP can presume such
information complies with the Data Quality Act and OMB's guidelines.
Paragraph 1 of section III(A), involving correction requests, was
modified to state that OSTP's failure to comply with its own or OMB's
information quality guidelines can form the basis of a complaint.
Paragraph 2 of section III(A) was modified to delete any specific
timeliness requirements.
Paragraph 3 of section III(A) was modified to require a complaint
to reference OSTP's or OMB's information quality guidelines as well as
the information alleged to be incorrect.
Paragraph 7 of section III(A) was modified to clarify that
requestors bear the burden of proof with respect to the necessity of a
correction and the type of correction to be made.
A new subsection C, Rulemaking and Other Public Comment Procedures,
was added to section III, to clarify the circumstances under which OSTP
would make corrections during a notice and comment proceeding prior to
final agency action in that proceeding.
In section V, Definitions, paragraph 2(f) was modified to clarify
that information contained in testimony before the courts,
administrative bodies or Congress is excluded from the definition of
``information'' only to the extent that the information contained in
such testimony was already previously disseminated. Paragraph 3 was
similarly modified with respect to information contained in press
releases.
Paragraph 6(b)(ii)(A) of section V was modified to clarify that
reproducibility of original and supporting data will be assured
according to commonly accepted scientific, financial, or statistical
standards.
Dated: October 16, 2002.
Barbara Ann Ferguson,
Assistant Director for Budget and Administration, Office of Science and
Technology Policy.
[FR Doc. 02-26899 Filed 10-22-02; 8:45 am]
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