44 U.S.C. § 3501
Section 3501 · Purposes
Viewing 44 U.S.C. § 3501 as in effect on October 30, 1986. The text changed in 3 later editions (most recent August 21, 2002).
View current version →The purpose of this chapter is—
(1) to minimize the Federal paperwork burden for individuals, small businesses, State and local governments, and other persons;
(2) to minimize the cost to the Federal Government of collecting, maintaining, using, and disseminating information;
(3) to maximize the usefulness of information collected, maintained, and disseminated by the Federal Government;
(4) to coordinate, integrate and, to the extent practicable and appropriate, make uniform Federal information policies and practices;
(5) to ensure that automatic data processing, telecommunications, and other information technologies are acquired and used by the Federal Government in a manner which improves service delivery and program management, increases productivity, improves the quality of decisionmaking, reduces waste and fraud, and wherever practicable and appropriate, reduces the information processing burden for the Federal Government and for persons who provide information to and for the Federal Government; and
(6) to ensure that the collection, maintenance, use and dissemination of information by the Federal Government is consistent with applicable laws relating to confidentiality, including section 552a of title 5, United States Code, known as the Privacy Act.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Pub. L. 99–591 is a corrected version of Pub. L. 99–500.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 3501, Pub. L. 90–620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1302, related to information for Federal agencies, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 96–511, §2(a).
Amendments
1986—Par. (3). Pub. L. 99–500 and Pub. L. 99–591, §101(m) [title VIII, §811(a)], amended par. (3) generally, substituting “collected, maintained, and disseminated” for “collected”.
Par. (5). Pub. L. 99–500 and Pub. L. 99–591, §101(m) [title VIII, §811(b)], amended par. (5) generally, substituting “, telecommunications, and other information” for “and telecommunications”, inserting “improves the quality of decisionmaking,”, and substituting “and for the Federal Government” for “the Federal Government”.
Effective Date
Section 5 of Pub. L. 96–511 provided: “This Act [enacting this chapter, amending sections 2904 and 2905 of this title, section 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, section 1221–3 of Title 20, Education, section 1211 of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining, and section 292h of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and enacting provisions set out as notes under sections 101 and 3503 of this title] shall take effect on April 1, 1981.”
Waiver of Paperwork Reduction
Pub. L. 101–508, title IV, §4711(f), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–187, provided that: “Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, and Executive Order 12291 [formerly set out as a note under section 601 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees] shall not apply to information and regulations required for purposes of carrying out this Act [see Tables for classification] and implementing the amendments made by this Act.”
Commission on Federal Paperwork
Pub. L. 93–556, §§1–9, Dec. 27, 1974, 88 Stat. 1789–1792, established a Commission on Federal Paperwork to reexamine Federal policies and procedures having an impact on the paperwork burden in order to ascertain necessary and desirable changes in information policies and practices. The Commission terminated in January 1978 after having submitted its final report.