Paperwork Reduction

Burden Reduction Goal Unlikely To Be Met Gao ID: T-GGD/RCED-96-186 June 5, 1996

The paperwork burden that the federal government imposes on the public has increased significantly since 1980. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is required to seek at least a 10-percent reduction in the governmentwide paperwork burden in fiscal year 1996 and to set reduction goals for each agency. This testimony discusses the following issues: (1) what changes in the paperwork burden have occurred governmentwide and at the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; (2) what OMB's responsibility to get goals for reducing the burden is, and whether agencies will achieve the reductions envisioned by the legislation; and (3) what actions each of the three agencies has taken since the act's passage. GAO also discusses measurement issues that Congress should consider as it assesses agencies' progress in reducing the paperwork burden.



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