Enclosure 1 

Instructions for FY’14 Report pursuant to the 

Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review

As you prepare your report, please ensure that your agency’s Peer Review Agenda (the Agenda) 

includes agency plans for the foreseeable future1

 and that each Agenda entry is up to date regarding 

both the timing of the review and whether the review has been completed. Agenda entries should be 

updated whenever new information becomes available; every six months is the minimum for updating 

the Agenda. 

Once a peer review has been completed (that is, the final product has been edited to reflect the 

reviewers’ comments), the Agenda entry should be updated to include a link to the peer review charge, 

the reviewers’ names, and the peer reviewers’ comments, as well as the final version of the product. 

For highly influential scientific assessments, the agency’s responses also should be posted. An 

example of good practice is the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service2

 agenda. 

Please use the attached template to record peer reviews conducted pursuant to the Bulletin between 

October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014. This form has two parts: 1) A “department-level summary,” 

which should aggregate information across all of the agencies/bureaus/offices in the department and 

2) an “agency report” that should be completed by each agency within a department. A separate 

“agency report” should be completed for each agency that produces information subject to the Bulletin. 

Please make sure to report to us the current URLs for your peer review agenda – some agencies 

continue to submit URLs that no longer work. Also take this opportunity to ensure that your agency’s 

peer review agenda is up to date and all of the links on your agency’s peer review home page are 

working. 

For those agencies that do not have any peer reviews to report for this fiscal year, it is necessary to 

complete only the General Information component of the “agency report.” Agencies that are not part of 

departments do not have to complete the summary page; they should type “Not Applicable” on the 

“Department” line. 

To ensure consistency across agencies, please use the guidance below to determine which peer 

reviews were “conducted” during the last fiscal year, and thus should be reported. 

• Include peer reviews for which the peers have provided the agency with their (final) 

comments, regardless of whether the agency has: 

o completed its response to the reviewers, or 

o made the peer review comments public. 

• Exclude peer reviews: 

o for which the reviewers are still considering the information, 

o that are planned for the future, or 

o that were planned for the current fiscal year, but were not conducted. 

Agencies that reported last year that they do not produce information subject to the Bulletin do 

not need to fill out a report this year unless the disclaimer no longer applies OR the link to your 

disclaimer has changed. 

 

1 As stated in the November 28, 2005, memo from the Deputy Administrator of the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, the Agenda is not a six month forecast (i.e., it should not be limited to information (documents) 

that the agency plans to disseminate (or peer review) in the next six months). 

2 http://www.aphis.usda.gov/peer_review/peer_review_agenda.shtml. 
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Rather, those agencies should send an email to OMB_peer_review@omb.eop.gov with the 

agency’s current point of contact for the Bulletin and the current URL to the disclaimer. 

The agencies to which this applies are listed at 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_agency_info_quality_links/. The template for the 

appropriate disclaimer is shown below: 

“based on the review it has conducted, the [AGENCY] believes that it does not currently 

produce or sponsor the distribution of influential scientific information (including highly 

influential scientific assessments) within the definitions promulgated by OMB. As a 

result, at this time the [AGENCY] has no agenda of forthcoming influential scientific 

disseminations to post on its website in accordance with OMB's Information Quality 

Bulletin for Peer Review.” 

 

Please send your draft Peer Review Bulletin Annual Report (due March 6, 2015) to 

OMB_peer_review@omb.eop.gov. Please do not post your draft report on your web-page until 

OMB review is complete. Should you have any questions related to the Peer Review 

report, please contact Margo Schwab (202 395-5647) mschwab@omb.eop.gov or James Kim 

(202 395-3085) james_h_kim@omb.eop.gov. 
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Template for FY’14 Report pursuant to the 

Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review 

I. Summary Page for Department (if Applicable) 

Department _U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission___________________________________ 

Departmental Contact for Implementation of the Bulletin for Peer Review 

Name and title: Laura Pearson, Branch Chief 

Email address: Laura.Pearson@nrc.gov 

Phone number: 301-415-6244 

Provide the URL for Department’s portal for compliance with the Bulletin 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/info-quality.html ** ensure link is working 

Have you checked to make sure all of the information and links on this URL are current? Y/N Y 

Is this URL: 

A Department-wide Peer Review Agenda (Y/N) or Y 

A set of links to each agency (bureau or office’s) agenda (Y/N)?_Y__ 

How would a member of the public locate this peer review portal if she/he did not have this URL? 

Check all that apply: 

A link from Department’s home page __X___ 

A link from Department’s Information Quality home page ___X_____ 

Other means, e.g., a link from a science page (please describe) __________________ 

Number of peer reviews conducted subject to the Bulletin in FY’14 (see instructions for what should and 

should not be included here). 

Number of influential scientific information peer reviews (ISI) (not including highly influential 

scientific assessments) ___0______ 

Number of highly influential scientific assessments (HISA) ____0____ 

 

Number of Waivers, Deferrals, Exemptions, or Alternative Procedures used: Total # __0__ 

Number of peer reviews that included at least one peer reviewer appointed pursuant to any exception to 

the applicable independence or conflict of interest standards of the Bulletin, including determinations by the 

Secretary or Deputy Secretary pursuant to Section III (3) (c). 

Total # ____ 

Number of peer review panels that held in conjunction with public meetings: Total # __0__ 

Number of public comments provided on the Department’s peer review plans during FY‘14, regardless of 

whether the peer review was actually completed during FY’14: Total # __0__ 
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 Template for FY’14 Report pursuant to the 

Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review 

II. Agency Report 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Agency _U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission_________________________ 

Agency Contact for Implementation of the Peer Review Bulletin 

Name and title: Laura Pearson, Branch Chief 

Email address: Laura.Pearson@nrc.gov 

Phone number: 301-415-6244 

URL for Agency’s Peer Review Agenda 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/info-quality.html_____ 

** ensure link is working 

What pathway(s) can a member of the public use to find the Agency’s peer review agenda if 

she/he did not have this URL? 

o Link from Departmental or Agency home page, _ X 

o Link from Agency Information Quality home page, X 

o Link from science, research, or regulatory pages (please specify) ____________ 

o Other (please describe) _____________ 

Does the agenda provide links to peer review reports for all completed peer reviews? 

__N/A__________ 

Have you checked to make sure all of the information and links on the agency’s peer review home page 

are current? Y/N Y 
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INFORMATION ABOUT REVIEWS CONDUCTED

Number of peer reviews conducted subject to the Bulletin in FY’14. (see instructions for what should and 

should not be included here). 

Number of influential scientific information peer reviews (ISI) (not including highly influential 

scientific assessments) ____0_____ 

List the title of each ISI. Indicate whether the Peer Review Report has been 

completed (Y/N) add more lines as needed NOTE: It is acceptable to provide a 

screen shot of your peer review agenda as an attachment. 

Number of highly influential scientific assessments (HISA) ___0_____ 

List the title of each HISA. Indicate whether the Peer Review Report has been 

Completed (Y/N) add more lines as needed

Provide the titles of ISIs and HISIs for which Waivers (W), Deferrals (D), or Exemptions (E) were 

invoked or Alternative Procedures used (A). If deferral is marked, please indicate the duration 

of the deferral.

Title of Document Type of Document W, D, E, or A 

ISI or HISA (and duration)

Number of peer reviews that included at least one peer reviewer appointed pursuant to any 

exception to the applicable independence or conflict of interest standards of the Bulletin, 

including determinations by the Secretary or Deputy Secretary pursuant to Section III (3) (c)? 

Number of ISIs (not including highly influential scientific assessments) ___0___ 

List titles 

Number of HISAs ___0___ 

List titles 

 
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Number of peer review panels that held public meetings: 

Number of ISIs (not including highly influential scientific assessments)___0____ 

Number of HISAs ___0_____ 

Number of peer review panels that allowed public comment: 

Number of ISIs (not including highly influential scientific assessments)___0____ 

Number of HISAs ____0____ 

Number of public comments provided on the agency’s peer review plans during FY’14, 

regardless of whether the peer review was actually completed during FY’14 ___0______ 

Number of times agency specifically solicited peer reviewer nominations from professional 

societies. ____0_______ 

If such nominations were solicited, were any recommendations provided? Yes ___ No ___