public for implementing the information collection
review process, information resources management,
and related policies and guidelines established under
this chapter.
‘‘§ 3502. Definitions
‘‘As used in this chapter—
‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ means any executive
department, military department, Government cor-
poration, Government controlled corporation, or
other establishment in the executive branch of the
Government (including the Executive Office of the
President), or any independent regulatory agency,
but does not include—
‘‘(A) the General Accounting Office;
‘‘(B) Federal Election Commission;
‘‘(C) the governments of the District of
Columbia and of the territories and possessions
of the United States, and their various subdivi-
sions; or
‘‘(D) Government-owned contractor-oper-
ated facilities, including laboratories engaged in
national defense research and production activi-
ties;
‘‘(2) the term ‘burden’ means time, effort, or fi-
nancial resources expended by persons to generate,
maintain, or provide information to or for a Federal
agency, including the resources expended for—
‘‘(A) reviewing instructions;
‘‘(B) acquiring, installing, and utilizing
technology and systems;
‘‘(C) adjusting the existing ways to comply
with any previously applicable instructions and
requirements;
‘‘(D) searching data sources;
‘‘(E) completing and reviewing the collec-
tion of information; and
‘‘(F) transmitting, or otherwise disclosing
the information;
‘‘(3) the term ‘collection of information’ means
the obtaining, causing to be obtained, soliciting, or
requiring the disclosure to third parties or the pub-
lic, of facts or opinions by or for an agency, regard-
less of form or format, calling for either—
‘‘(A) answers to identical questions posed
to, or identical reporting or recordkeeping re-
quirements imposed on, ten or more persons,
other 
than 
agencies, 
instrumentalities, 
or
employees of the United States; or
‘‘(B) answers to questions posed to agen-
cies, instrumentalities, or employees of the
United States which are to be used for general
statistical purposes;
‘‘(4) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget;
‘‘(5) the term ‘independent regulatory agency’
means the Board of Governors of the Federal Re-
serve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Com-
mission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission,
the Federal Communications Commission, the Fed-
eral Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal En-
ergy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Housing
Finance Board, the Federal Maritime Commission,
the Federal Trade Commission, the Interstate Com-
merce Commission, the Mine Enforcement Safety
and Health Review Commission, the National Labor
Relations Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion, the Occupational Safety and Health Review
Commission, the Postal Rate Commission, the Secu-
rities and Exchange Commission, and any other
similar agency designated by statute as a Federal
independent regulatory agency or commission;
‘‘(6) the term ‘information resources’ means in-
formation and related resources, such as personnel,
equipment, funds, and information technology;
‘‘(7) the term ‘information resources manage-
ment’ means the process of managing information
resources to accomplish agency missions and to im-
prove agency performance, including through the re-
duction of information collection burdens on the
public;
‘‘(8) the term ‘information system’ means a dis-
crete set of information resources and processes,
automated or manual, organized for the collection,
processing, maintenance, use, sharing, dissemina-
tion, or disposition of information;
‘‘(9) the term ‘information technology’ has the
same meaning as the term ‘automatic data process-
ing equipment’ as defined by section 111(a)(2) of
the Federal Property and Administrative Services
Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 759(a)(2));
‘‘(10) the term ‘person’ means an individual,
partnership, association, corporation, business trust,
or legal representative, an organized group of indi-
viduals, a State, territorial, or local government or
branch thereof, or a political subdivision of a State,
territory, or local government or a branch of a politi-
cal subdivision;
‘‘(11) the term ‘practical utility’ means the abil-
ity of an agency to use information, particularly the