‘‘(ii) is essential to the mission of the agen-
cy; and
‘‘(B) the agency cannot reasonably comply with
the provisions of this chapter within such time peri-
ods because—
‘‘(i) public harm is reasonably likely to re-
sult if normal clearance procedures are fol-
lowed; or
‘‘(ii) an unanticipated event has occurred
and the use of normal clearance procedures is
reasonably likely to prevent or disrupt the col-
lection of information related to the event or is
reasonably likely to cause a statutory or court-
ordered deadline to be missed.
‘‘(2) The Director shall approve or disapprove any
such authorization request within the time requested by
the agency head and, if approved, shall assign the collec-
tion of information a control number. Any collection of
information conducted under this subsection may be con-
ducted without compliance with the provisions of this
chapter for a maximum of 90 days after the date on which
the Director received the request to authorize such collec-
tion.
‘‘§ 3508. Determination of necessity for information;
hearing
‘‘Before approving a proposed collection of informa-
tion, the Director shall determine whether the collection
of information by the agency is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have practical utility. Before
making a determination the Director may give the agency
and other interested persons an opportunity to be heard
or to submit statements in writing. To the extent, if any,
that the Director determines that the collection of infor-
mation by an agency is unnecessary for any reason, the
agency may not engage in the collection of information.
‘‘§ 3509. Designation of central collection agency
‘‘The Director may designate a central collection
agency to obtain information for two or more agencies if
the Director determines that the needs of such agencies
for information will be adequately served by a single collec-
tion agency, and such sharing of data is not inconsistent
with applicable law. In such cases the Director shall pre-
scribe (with reference to the collection of information) the
duties and functions of the collection agency so designated
and of the agencies for which it is to act as agent (includ-
ing reimbursement for costs). While the designation is in
effect, an agency covered by the designation may not ob-
tain for itself information for the agency which is the duty
of the collection agency to obtain. The Director may mod-
ify the designation from time to time as circumstances re-
quire. The authority to designate under this section is sub-
ject to the provisions of section 3507(f) of this chapter.
‘‘§ 3510. Cooperation of agencies in making informa-
tion available
‘‘(a) The Director may direct an agency to make
available to another agency, or an agency may make avail-
able to another agency, information obtained by a collec-
tion of information if the disclosure is not inconsistent
with applicable law.
‘‘(b)(1) If information obtained by an agency is re-
leased by that agency to another agency, all the provisions
of law (including penalties which relate to the unlawful
disclosure of information) apply to the officers and em-
ployees of the agency to which information is released to
the same extent and in the same manner as the provisions
apply to the officers and employees of the agency which
originally obtained the information.
‘‘(2) The officers and employees of the agency to
which the information is released, in addition, shall be
subject to the same provisions of law, including penalties,
relating to the unlawful disclosure of information as if the
information had been collected directly by that agency.
‘‘§ 3511. Establishment and operation of Government
Information Locator Service
‘‘In order to assist agencies and the public in locating
information and to promote information sharing and equi-
table access by the public, the Director shall—
‘‘(1) cause to be established and maintained a
distributed agency-based electronic Government In-
formation Locator Service (hereafter in this section
referred to as the ‘Service’), which shall identify the
major information systems, holdings, and dissemina-
tion products of each agency;
‘‘(2) require each agency to establish and main-
tain an agency information locator service as a com-
ponent of, and to support the establishment and op-
eration of the Service;
‘‘(3) in cooperation with the Archivist of the
United States, the Administrator of General Serv-
ices, the Public Printer, and the Librarian of Con-
gress, establish an interagency committee to advise
the Secretary of Commerce on the development of
technical standards for the Service to ensure com-
patibility, promote information sharing, and uniform
access by the public;
‘‘(4) consider public access and other user
needs in the establishment and operation of the
Service;
‘‘(5) ensure the security and integrity of the
Service, including measures to ensure that only in-
formation which is intended to be disclosed to the
public is disclosed through the Service; and
‘‘(6) periodically review the development and ef-
fectiveness of the Service and make recommenda-
tions for improvement, including other mechanisms
for improving public access to Federal agency public
information.
‘‘§ 3512. Public protection
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no per-
son shall be subject to any penalty for failing to maintain,
provide, or disclose information to or for any agency or
person if the applicable collection of information—
‘‘(1) does not display a valid control number as-
signed by the Director; and
‘‘(2) fails to state that the person who is to re-
spond to the collection of information is not required
to comply unless such collection displays a valid con-
trol number.
‘‘§ 3513. Director review of agency activities; report-
ing; agency response
‘‘(a) In consultation with the Administrator of Gen-
eral Services, the Archivist of the United States, the Di-
rector of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-