IQA establishes a process that allows the public to help ensure the quality of information disseminated by federal agencies. IQA consists of two major elements. The first element of IQA required OMB to develop and issue government-wide guidelines by the end of fiscal year 2001. These guidelines were to provide policies and procedures for federal agencies to use for “ensuring and maximizing quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information (including statistical information),” that they disseminate. The second element required covered federal agencies to develop IQA guidelines by the end of fiscal year 2002. These guidelines were to establish administrative mechanisms allowing “affected persons to seek and obtain correction of information maintained and disseminated” by the agencies. The guidelines were to also require agencies to periodically report to the Director of OMB on the number and nature of IQA complaints and how such complaints were handled. IQA builds on previous federal efforts to improve the quality of information, including OMB Circular A-130 and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, as amended. OMB Circular A-130 establishes a policy for the management of federal information resources. Two of the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act were to improve quality and use of federal information and provide for the dissemination of public information in a manner that promotes the utility of the information to the public and makes effective use of information technology. OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) develops and oversees the implementation of government-wide policies in the areas of information technology, privacy, and statistics. In this capacity, OIRA developed the government-wide IQA guidelines and helped agencies to meet the Act’s requirement that the agencies develop their own guidelines. OMB issued guidance to agencies to clarify how agencies were to satisfy the law and otherwise implement IQA. The guidance required agencies to develop and post IQA guidelines and related information on their websites. An October 2002 OMB memorandum describing the implementation of IQA guidelines noted that it represented the first time that the executive branch has developed a government-wide set of information quality guidelines, including agency-specific guidelines tailored to each agency’s unique programs and information. Agencies’ guidelines, which were to follow OMB’s model, were to include administrative mechanisms that allow “affected persons” to request correction of information that they did not consider correct. We reported in August 2006 that expanded oversight and clearer guidance by OMB could improve agencies’ implementation of the Act. We found that OMB had issued government-wide guidelines that were the basis for other agencies’ own IQA guidelines. We also reported that OMB required agencies to post guidelines and other IQA information to their websites and required agencies to provide information to OMB on the number and nature of correction requests they received and how such correction requests were resolved. We found that 14 of the 15 cabinet agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and 4 other independent agencies we reviewed had developed IQA guidelines and posted them on their websites. Of these 19 cabinet and independent agencies with guidelines, we found that 4 had information quality links on their home pages while other agencies’ IQA information was difficult to locate online. Moreover, 44 of 86 additional independent agencies that we examined had not posted their guidelines and may not have had them in place at the time. Consequently, users of information from those agencies may not have known whether agencies had guidelines or how to request correction of agency information. OMB also had not clarified guidance to agencies about posting IQA-related information, including guidelines to make that information more accessible. We also found in our 2006 report that in fiscal year 2003, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and two other agencies used IQA to address flood insurance rate maps, website addresses, photo captions, and other administrative matters. However, in fiscal year 2004, these agencies changed their classification of these requests from being IQA requests. Instead they processed them using other administrative processes that were in place prior to IQA implementation. As a result, we found that the total number of all IQA requests dropped from more than 24,000 in fiscal year 2003 to 62 in fiscal year 2004. We recommended that OMB (1) identify agencies without IQA guidelines and work with them to develop and implement IQA requirements and (2) clarify guidance to agencies on improving the public’s access to online IQA information. In response to our report, OMB stated it would work with agencies as they develop and implement information quality measures and would also continue to work with agencies to improve their dissemination of IQA information. Further, in December 2009, OMB, in an executive memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies, issued an Open Government Directive (1) establishing deadlines for action that, among other things, encouraged agencies to advance their open government initiatives (including IQA) ahead of those deadlines and (2) calling for each agency to take prompt steps to expand access to information by making it available online in open formats. According to IQA information posted on the 30 agency websites in our review, 16 agencies reported receiving 87 IQA correction requests from fiscal years 2010 through 2014 (see table 1). The other 14 agencies in our review did not post any IQA correction requests during the period. Agencies reported receiving the highest number of correction requests (26) in fiscal year 2010, with the lowest number (13) coming in fiscal year 2014. Several agencies, including the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, reported receiving 1 correction request during the 5-year period. Three agencies— the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Interior (Interior) and EPA—received 70 percent (61 of 87) of the correction requests during fiscal years 2010 through 2014. These three agencies were also the only ones that reported receiving IQA correction requests during each of the 5 fiscal years. For the entire period, Interior received the highest number of correction requests (26), followed by EPA (21), and HHS (14). IQA officials at several agencies told us that they receive relatively few IQA requests and provided a number of reasons. For example, EPA officials stated that the quality of data EPA disseminates is currently more robust due to the consideration of the diversity of viewpoints provided by the public and EPA’s opportunity to review pertinent information that may not have been previously considered during the pre-dissemination process. Department of Commerce (Commerce) officials attributed their agency’s low number of IQA requests to the fact that the agency has few highly influential scientific assessment projects and that most of its research is relatively noncontroversial, with the exception of research related to climate change. HHS officials said that it is not surprising that IQA administrative corrective mechanisms are not resulting in a large number of IQA correction requests because many correction requests are for minor edits to agency information. A former OIRA administrator opined that when several federal courts held that the IQA is not subject to judicial review, most of the momentum behind IQA was lost, and that, as a result of these rulings, outside parties do not submit very many IQA correction requests. In August 2004, the OIRA Administrator issued a memorandum to the President’s Management Council directing that agencies post all information quality correspondence, including a copy of each correction request, the agency’s formal response(s), and any communications regarding appeals on agency web pages to increase the transparency of the process. The memorandum also directed agencies to provide a few sentences describing the request and any subsequent responses. Finally, the memorandum stated that agencies also needed to establish processes for updating their information quality web pages regularly. In addition to posting copies of the IQA correction requests on their websites, agencies are required to report the number and nature of correction requests the agency receives to the Director of OMB and how such requests were resolved. OMB has provided a summary of this agency-reported IQA data since its implementation in annual reports to Congress since 2003. We found discrepancies between the IQA data we found on agency websites and the IQA data reported to OMB by agencies. Eight agencies who reported receiving IQA correction requests did not post on their website the same number of IQA correction requests that they reported to OMB. In most instances where we identified discrepancies, the number of IQA correction requests agencies posted on their websites was lower than the number of IQA correction requests they reported to OMB. Table 2 provides specific numbers of discrepancies in IQA correction requests received for fiscal years 2010 through 2014. One CFO Act agency, the Department of Transportation, reported to OMB that it had received an IQA correction request, but did not post the IQA correction request on its website as of November 2015. As stated earlier, OMB guidance requires agencies to post correction requests and agency responses on their websites. OMB staff told us that they issue an annual data call to agencies requesting information on IQA correction requests received. According to OMB, agencies are expected to accurately report their IQA activities, including the number of requests received. OMB staff stated that if there are discrepancies between what OMB received from agencies and what the agencies post on their websites, then there is a miscount or a disconnect on the agency side. Although OMB’s guidance is not prescriptive on the time frames for agencies to post this information, it states that agencies need to establish “processes for updating their information quality web pages on a regular basis.” OMB staff told us that some agencies posted correction requests and responses online soon after sending out the agency responses. For example, HHS officials told us that they post correction requests soon after they are received and do not wait until a response is prepared. According to OMB staff, other agencies waited until the end of the fiscal year to post all relevant documents at the same time.