Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) progress in implementing the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.
The Paperwork Reduction Act established broad objectives for improving the management of all federal information resources. The act established the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within OMB and charged the Director, OMB, with governmentwide responsibility for achieving these objectives. OMB projected that a 29-percent reduction in paperwork burdens will be achieved by October 1983, exceeding the act's 25-percent reduction goal. However, GAO stated that OMB has made limited progress toward achieving other objectives of the act. The act contains 13 tasks with statutory milestones; 5 of the 6 tasks with 1982 milestones have not been completed. GAO believes that the most crucial decision contributing to the shortfalls in completing many of the act's task was the assignment to OIRA of primary responsibility for the Administration's regulatory reform program. As a consequence of its extensive regulatory reform responsibilities, OIRA has not devoted full time to implementing the Paperwork Reduction Act.
