####### Relevant Information Management Statutes and Regulations[^1]

######## The President's Management Agenda, July 2002

The President's Management Agenda is based on the government's need to
reform its operations through rethinking how it does its business and
how it treats the people it serves. This will be accomplished by
examining how government defines the business lines it is in and
identification of what services it should be provide.

The President' vision for government is guided by three principles.

Government should be:

1)  Citizen-centered, not bureaucracy-centered

2)  Results-oriented

3)  Market-based, actively promoting rather than stifling innovation
    through competition

The President\'s Management Agenda is an aggressive strategy for
improving the management of the Federal government. It focuses on five
areas of management:

1)  Strategic Management of Human Capital

2)  Competitive Sourcing

3)  Improved Financial Performance

4)  Expanded Electronic Government

5)  Budget and Performance Integration

######## Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998 (GPEA), Chapter 35 of Title 44, United States Code, the provisions of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (divisions D and E of Public Law 104-106)

The Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998 (GPEA) requires Federal
agencies to allow the option of submitting information or transacting
business with an agency electronically. GPEA is intended to help
citizens gain one-stop access to existing Government information and
services, provide better, more efficient service, and increase
Government accountability to citizens. The law encourages Federal
agencies to use a range of electronic alternatives.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provides procedures and
guidance to implement the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA).
GPEA requires Federal agencies, by October 21, 2003, to allow
individuals or entities that deal with the agencies the option to submit
information or transact with the agency electronically, when
practicable, and to maintain records electronically, when practicable.
The Act specifically states that electronic records and their related
electronic signatures are not to be denied legal effect, validity, or
enforceability merely because they are in electronic form, and
encourages Federal government use of a range of electronic signature
alternatives.

######## Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Public Law 96-511 

The primary objective of this Act is to reduce paperwork and enhance the
economy and efficiency of the government and private sector by improving
Federal information policy development and implementation. It
established a new management structure for the government\'s information
activities. The structure is composed of (1) an OMB Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs to develop and implement consistent
information policy and (2) senior officials appointed within each agency
to ensure effective and efficient management of the agency\'s
information resources. The following broad objectives for improving the
management of Federal information resources were established:

-   Coordinating, integrating and, to the extent practicable and
    appropriate, making uniform, Federal information policies and
    practices.

-   Minimizing the Federal paperwork burden for individuals, state and
    local governments, and others.

-   Minimizing the cost to the Federal Government of collecting,
    maintaining, using, and disseminating information.

-   Making maximum use of information collected by the Federal
    Government.

-   Ensuring that automatic data processing and telecommunications
    technologies are acquired and used by the Federal Government in a
    manner that improves service delivery and program management,
    increases productivity, reduces waste and fraud, and reduces the
    information-processing burden for the Federal Government and for
    persons who provide information to the Federal Government.

-   Ensuring that the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of
    information by the Federal Government is consistent with applicable
    laws relating to confidentiality and privacy.

######## Privacy Act of 1974, Public Law 93-579 

The Act provides certain safeguards for individuals against an invasion
of personal privacy by requiring agencies to identify what records are
being collected, maintained, used, or disseminated on an individual;
provide access and copies of such records; and ensure the lawful purpose
and prevent misuse of such records. The Act imposes criminal penalties
directly on individuals if they violate certain provisions of the Act.

######## Freedom of Information Act of 1966, Public Law 89-487, as amended by Public Law 93-502, Nov. 21, 1974, amended Nov./Dec. 1986 

The Act allows the public to inspect and copy certain general agency
information, agency rules, opinions, orders, and proceedings. The 1974
amendments established~~:~~ (1) time limits for agency determinations;
(2) index publications; (3) uniform fees for search and duplication; and
(4) requirements for an annual report.

######## Federal Records Management Amendments of 1976, Public Law 94-575 

The Amendments required the establishment of standards and procedures to
ensure efficient and effective Federal records management practices.
Specific goals are (1) accurate and complete documentation of the
policies and transactions of the Federal government; (2) control of the
quantity and quality of records produced; (3) establishment and
maintenance of control mechanisms to prevent the creation of unnecessary
records and to prevent ineffective and uneconomical agency operations;
(4) simplified activities, systems; and procedures for records creation,
maintenance, and use; (5) judicious preservation and disposal of
records; and (6) continuous attention to records\--from creation to
disposition\--with emphasis on the prevention of paperwork.

######## OMB Circular A-130, Management of Federal Information Resources

This circular was issued by OMB to implement the Paperwork Reduction
Act, OMB Circular A-130 supersedes several other circulars and provides
guidance for Federal agencies in adopting and implementing the
Information Resources Management (IRM) approach mandated by the Act.
Under Circular A-130, Federal agencies shall:

-   Establish multi-year strategic planning processes for acquiring and
    operating information technology that meet program and mission
    needs, reflect budget constraints, and form the basis for their
    budget requests.

-   Establish systems of management control that document the
    requirements that each major information system is intended to
    serve, and provide for periodic review of those requirements over
    the life of the system in order to determine whether the
    requirements continue to exist and whether the system continues to
    meet the purposes for which it was developed.

-   Make the official whose program the information system supports
    responsible and accountable for the products of that system.

-   Meet information processing needs through interagency sharing and
    from commercial sources, when it is cost-effective, before acquiring
    new information processing capacity.

-   Share available information processing capacity with other agencies
    to the extent practicable and legally permissible.

-   Acquire information technology in a competitive manner that
    minimizes total life cycle costs.

-   Ensure that existing and planned major information systems do not
    unnecessarily duplicate information systems available from other
    agencies or from the private sector.

-   Acquire off-the-shelf software from commercial sources, unless the
    cost-effectiveness of developing custom software is clear and has
    been documented.

-   Acquire or develop information systems in a manner that facilitates
    compatibility.

-   Ensure that information systems operate effectively and accurately.

-   Establish a level of security for all agency information systems
    commensurate with the sensitivity of the information and the risk
    and magnitude of loss or harm that could result from improper
    operation of the information systems.

-   Ensure that only authorized personnel have access to information
    systems.

-   Plan to provide information systems with reasonable continuity of
    support, should their normal operations be disrupted in an
    emergency.

-   Use Federal Information Processing and Telecommunications Standards
    except where it can be demonstrated that the costs of using a
    standard exceed the benefit or the standard will impede the agency
    in accomplishing its mission.

-   Not require program managers to use specific information technology
    facilities or services unless it is clear and is convincingly
    documented, subject to periodic review, that such use is the most
    cost-effective method for meeting program requirements.

-   Account for the full costs of operating information technology
    facilities and recover such costs from government users.

-   Not prescribe Federal information system requirements that unduly
    restrict the prerogatives of heads of state and local government
    units.

-   Seek opportunities to improve the operation of government programs
    or to realize savings for the government and the public through the
    application of up-to-date information technology to government
    information activities.

######## National Archives and Records Administration Regulation 36 CFR 1220 and 41 CFR 201-22 

These regulations were issued by the National Archives and Records
Administration to establish standard records management practices
throughout the Federal government.

[^1]: ^1^ Descriptions of these statutes and regulations were taken from
    the EPA IRM Policy Manual dated July 24, 1995.