More Guidance and Controls Needed Over Federal Recordkeeping Requirements Imposed on the Public

GAO reviewed compliance with a provision of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, which requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop standards relating to federally imposed record retention requirements, to determine whether the government has acted to reduce the impact of those requirements.

GAO found that some businesses are confused about the length of time they must keep records for the federal government. GAO also found that some businesses have a difficult time identifying and interpreting federal recordkeeping requirements. These businesses believe this burden could be minimized if the government would provide them with a dependable guide to identify applicable federal recordkeeping requirements. GAO believes that OMB should develop such a guide as part of its responsibility under the act. Effective control of federal recordkeeping requirements requires that OMB establish reasonable retention standards for agencies to follow and that it ensure that agencies follow them. OMB has taken preliminary steps toward establishing standards; however, these steps have been done piecemeal and have been given a low priority. Consequently, little progress has been made toward developing useful record retention standards.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Thomas P. Giammo Team: General Accounting Office: General Government Division Phone: (202) 275-3195