VOLUME II OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET'S (OMB) FIVE YEAR ADR/TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92G00017R000500020011-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 24
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 24, 2013
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: February 8, 1989
• Content Type: MEMO

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EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
February 8, 1989
ER 89-0597
MEMORANDUM FOR SENIOR OFFICIALS FOR INFORMATION RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT AND MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENTAL
LEVEL WORKING GROUP
FROM: Jay Plager
Administrator
Office of Info tion
and Regulatory Affairs
SUBJECT:
Volume II of the Office of Management
and Budget's (OMB) Five Year ADP/
Telecommunications Plan
I am .forwarding for your information several documents
you should find of current interest:
o Volume II of OMB's Five Year ADP/Telecommunications Plan.
(Note, this document can be purchased from the Government
Printing Office under stock number 041-001-00337-1,
priced at $6 per volume).
o OMB's proposed information dissemination policy.
o The information technology portion of OMB's Management
Report.
We would be pleased to have your comments on any of these.
Attachnents
ritgn Ell
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? te
214 Federal Register / Vol. 54, No. 2 1 Wednesday, January 4, 1989 / Notha
(Docket No. 10-34111 ?
?
Toledo Edison Company, it A;
Issuance of Amendment to Facility
Operating Ucense
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (the Commission) has
issued Amendment No. 128 to Facility
Operating License No. NPF-3, issued to
The Toledo Edison Company and The
Cleveland Electric Illuminating
Company (the licensees), which revised
the Technical Specifications (TS's) for
operation of the Davis-Besse Nuclear
Power Station, Unit No. 1 (the facility)
located in Ottawa County, Ohio. The
amendment was effective as of the date
of its issuance.
The amendment revised the TS's to
permit increasing the Reactor Coolant
System high pressure trip setpoint to
2355 psig from the present value of 2300
psig, to permit increasing the Power
Operated Relief Valve 1PORV) trip
setpoint to 2435 psig from the present
value of 2390 psig, and to permit
increasing the reactor power level at or
below which the Anticipatory Reactor
Trip System (ARTS) may be blocked at
45 percent from the present Tattle of 25
percent.
The 814,1h...qua for the amendment
complies with the standards and
requirements of the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the
Commission's rules and regulations. The
Commission has made appropriate
findings as required by the Act and the
Conunission's rules and regulations in 18
CFR Chapter L which are set forth in the
license ameadmertt.
Notice of Consideration of Issuance el
Amendment and Opportunity for
Hearing in connection with this action
was published in the Federal Register on
May 3, 1988 (53 FR 15758). No request far
hearing or petition for leave to intervene
was filed following this notice.
For further details with respect to this
action see (1) the application for
amendment dated February 1,1988 as
supplemented February 38, 1988,(2)
Amendment No. US to License No.
NPF-3, (3) the Commissitin's related
Safety Evaluation dated December 28.
1988, (4) Technical Evaluation Report
EGG-NTA-4152 dated June 1988 and (5)
the Environmental Assessment dated ?
December 8. 1988 (S3 FR 52529). Alf of
these items are available for public
Inspection at the Commission's Public
Document Room, 2120 L Street. NW.,
Washington. DC, and the University of
Toledo Library, Documents Department,
2801 Bancroft Avenue, Toledo, Ohio
43808.
- Atopy of items (2). (3) and Ft) may be
obtained upon request addressed to the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555, Attention
Director. Division of Reactor Projects?
III, IV, V and Special Projects,
Dated at Rockville. Maryland. this 28th day
of December 18011.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Albert W. De Awl?. Sr.,
Project Manager, Prefect Directorate
Division of Reactor Projects?IA IV, Vend
Special Projects, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Dec. as-st Med 3-3-4a to am)
MILLING WOE 11110.0,411
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET
Advance Notice of Further Policy
Development on Dissemination of
Information
December =IMO.
autataurv: The Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) solicits public
comment in the development of policy
concerning the dissemination of
information by executive branch
agencies. The proposed policy, which
supplements guidance found in OMB
Circular No. A-130 and incorporates
OMB Circular No. A-3, covers selected
aspects of information dissemination,
including electronic dissemination of
Information.
Dan: Comments from the public should
be submitted no later than March 8,
1989.
ADDRESS: Conunenti should be
addressed to: J. Timothy Sprehn Office
.of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
? Roam 3235, New Executive Office
Building, Office of Management and -
Budget. Washington. DC 20503.
Telephone: [phone].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIOM The
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) has statutory responsibilities
under the Paperwork Reduction Act, as
amended. (44 U.S.0 Chapter 35): to
? establish government-wide policies that
reduce the Federal paperwork burden:
to enhance the appropriate application
of information technology: to develop
and implement uniform and consistent
? Information resources management
- policies: and to oversee the development
of information management principles,
-standards, and guidelines and to
promote their use. ?.. .
In the 1988 amendnients to the
Paperwork Reduction Act. Congress
Inserted the term "dissemination" at
several places In the law, noting in the.
legislative history that dissemination is
a key information management area not
specified in the original Art but
Increasingly important in recent years.
The report of the Senate Committee on "
Government Affairs stated
Management at the Federal Government's
information resources includes all stages of
information management and nil types of
information technology. ? ? ? Such
management also includes planning and
organizing for the efficient and coordinated
collection, and use and dissemination of
information, and properly training employees
to carry Gut such tasks. (Senate Committee
on Governmental Affairs, Report on Federal
Management Reorganization and Cost
Control Act of 1988, 99th Congress, Report
No. 99-347, July 31, 1986.)
In December 1985, OMB issued 0).4B
Circular No. A-130. Management of
Federal Information Resources (50
Federal Register 52730-52751, December
24, 1985), which provided a general
policy framework far the management of
Federal information resources. The
Circular contained a number of policy
statements concerning the collection
and elisseminaticm of information (see
OMB Circular No. A-130. Section aa.
and Appendix IV. Section 3).
OMB further addressed information
collection Issues with the publication. on
August?, 1987, of a Notice of Policy
Guidance on Electronic Collection of
Information (52 Federal Register 29454-
29457). 0M33's summary of comments -
received is available at the address
listed above.
In response to interest on the part of
Congress, the agencies, and the public,
OMB has determined that there is need
for additional guidance regarding the
collection and dissemination of
Information by Federal agencies. The
present notice solicits public comment
on development of proposed further
*formation dissemination policy. The
notice will be revised in the light of
comments received and. incorporated
Into OMB Circular No. A-130.
In addition to requesting comment on
the substance of the notice's Policy and
Analysis of Policy. OMB solicits views
On the following questions:
?Are the policy and accompanying ?
analysis sufficiently comprehensive?
Are there other major topics pertaining
to information dissemination that should
be treated? ? .
?Is the procedural guidance provided
sufficient to ensure enforcement of the
policies? More broadly, how should
OMB ensure enforcement of the
policies?
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Federal Register / Vol. 54, No. 2 / Wednesday. January 4. 1989 / Notices 215
Analysis of Policy., ?
Management and Information
Dissemination ?
. ?
Agencies manage the dissemination of
Information in the same sense that they
manage any other legitimate agency .
function: they carry out policies and .
procedures to ensure that the function 'le
discharged efficiently and effectively in
accordance with applicable laws. An
Integral part of information
dissemination management is ensuring
that the agency applies. modern ? ??.
Information technology to the ?
dissemination function. .
As OMB Circular No. A-130. ?
Appendix IV, points out, an agency's
obligation.to disseminate information
must be discharged within a responsible
management framework of minimizing '
costs while maximizing the usefulness Of
the information. Efficient, effective, and
economical dissemination does not ? I
translate into diminishing or limiting the
flow of information from the agency to j
the public. To the contrary, good.
management of information resource's I
should result in more useful information
flowing with greater facility to the :
public, at less cost to the taxpayer. '
.1
Incorpn ration of _OMB. Circular No--. A-3
Section 1108 of Title 44 U.S.C. statei
in part: . . .
? The head of an executive department,
Independent agency or establishment of the
Government. with the approval of the
Director of the Office of Management and
Budget. may use from the appropriations
available for printing and binding such sums
u are necessary for the printing of journals,
magazines, periodicals, and similar
publications he certifies in writing to be
necessary in the transaction of the public
business required by law of the department.
office, or establishment.
OMB Circular No. A-3, Government
Publications, implements this provision
by requiring that each agency maintain
and implement an OMB approved ,
publications control system, and prepare
an annual report on periodicals and
nonrecurring publications. .
' Because government publications are
a form of information dissemination,
and in order to integrate information
policy as much as possible, OMB
proposes to revise herewith Circular No.
A-3. to incorporate the revised Circular
Into OMB Circular No. A-130, and to
rescind Circular No. A-3. Whereas
Circular No. A-3 covered only
periodicals and nonrecurring
publications, i.e., printed products, the
proposed policy covers all information
dissemination products?printed as well
as electronic, with the sole exclusion of
audiovisual products. Audiovisual
products continue to be covered by.
OMB Circular No. A-114, Management
of Federal Audiovisual Activities.
Hence, the proposed policy applies to
products such as periodicals and
nonrecurring publications whatever
their medium of dissemination, whether
'micrographics. machine-readable data
files, software files, CD-ROMs (compact
disks?read-only memory), electronic
bulletin boards, or online information
services.
The definitions of the terms
"periodical" and "nonrecurring ? - ?
publication" have been incorporated
from OMB Circular No. A-3, with some
modifications.
?Circular No. A-3 defines these terms
simply as publications issued by an
agency; hence, it may include .
publications strictly internal to an
agency. The definition in the proposed
policy clarifies that the terms refer to
documents disseminated or routinely -
made available to the public. OMB'
introduces this change because the focus
of dissemination is on information
distributed to the public, and because
the concept of internal publication is
difficult to define in practice.
?The definition of periodical in Circular
A-3 excluded "primarily (90 percent or
more) statistical materials." The ? '
proposed policy drops this exclusion:
such materials would now be ?
considered periodicals. The reason is
that there is nothing intrinsic to
primarily statistical materials that '
should cause them to be exempt from
routine management controls. . ?
Historically, statistical materials were
excluded with the intent of guarding ?
against tampering with Federal
statistics. OMB agrees that agencies
must erect safeguards so that Federal
statistics will not be tampered with.
However, the safeguards ought not to?
mean omission of statistical
publications, from routine management
controls such as inventory and ? ? .
reporting. - - ? :?? - ?
Many agencies appear not to know
what publications or databases they
may be issuing, how decisions are made
to disseminate information . .
dissemination products, or how much -
they cost. The policy first requires
management control systems, a -
requirement carried over from Circular
No. A-3, and specifies some minimal
functions the control systems are to
perform. The purpose of the control
systems is to ensure that sound
management practices are followed in
managing dissemination. If an agency's
information dissemination
responsibilities, as determined by the
agency head within the context of the
agency's mission and the OMB policy
framework, call for an aggressive .
Information dissemination outreach ? )
program, then the control system is a ?
management tool for ensuring that the ..
agency achieves and maintains such a
program. Similarly, if the agency's
Information dissemination
responsibilities are quite limited, the
control system is a tool for ensuring that
the agency continues to use public .
resources only for those activities .?
necessary for the proper performance of
? agency functions.
. One function of the control system is
establishing and maintaining
comprehensive inventories of the ? ?
Information dissemination products they
? disseminate. The rationale for requiring
Inventories is primarily that
? -agenciescannot manage the
dissemination function if they do not
know what information products they
have to disseminate, and that an -
inventory is an essential tool for .
managing the function. A corollary is
that agencies can better serve their
public information needs with current.
comprehensive inventories that can be
used as finders' aids for locating
Information disseminated by the ,
agencies.
, OMB issues an annual bulletin ?
? instructing agencies to report on
Information dissemination products. ?
? Agencies should maintain the
Information sought in the annual OMB
? bulletin in their inventories. In addition.
- agencies should make use of their
inventories for other management
purposes. For example. agencies may
wish to add keywords and abstracts in
order to make the inventories more
useful as finders' aide for locating
Information they disseminate. While '
agencies should be responsive to the
public's requests for assistance in
locating information, the agencie_g_
should bear in mind that private-firms
also provide government information
locator services, and avoid offering
? information service's that essentially
duplicate services already available.
The proposed policy next states the
general policy for periodicals that is ?
based directly on 44 U.S.C. 1108, and is
taken verbatim from OMB Circular No. ?
.A-3. .
The proposed policy also continues
the annual reporting and approval
? provisions found in OMB Circular No.
' 44. ? - .
Adequate Notice --
Circular No. A-130 states that
"agencies shall disseminate significant
new, or terminate significant existing..
Information dissemination products only
after providing adequate notice to the
?
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218 Federal Register / Vol. 54, No. 2 I Wednesday, January. 4. 1.9S9 / Notices
public." (Section ea) The Circular
contained no procedural guidance for,
nor any provisions for enforcing, the
adequate notice policy. It left to the
agencies the determinations as to what
was a significant Information
dissemination product and what
constitutes adequate notice. Nearly
three years' experience with the Circular
Indicates that most agencies in fact have
not made these determinations, nor have
they established procedures for ensuring
that adequate notice is given. During
that period the public has brought to
OMB's attention instances In which
some form of advance public notice
might reasonably have been expected
under the policy, but no notice was
given. Therefore, OMB is proposing
additional guidance concerning *
adequate notice. ? ?
Significant information dissemination
products. OMB's intent in Circular No.
A-130 was that agencies would
designate certain kinds of information
dissemination products as significant,
meaning that the decision to initiete,
terminate, or substantially modify the
content, form, or availability of such
products should trigger a form of public
notice in advance of actual
termination, or modification. Other
products deemed not to be significant
require no advance notice.
Examples of nonsignificant products
might be those that
?From the outset, were never intended
to be continuing; hence, most
nonrecurring, one-time publidiatians.
?Are Genercdly considered ephemeral
such as brochures, handbills. Byers.
pamphlets, and the Ilk= .
?Receive Little expression of public
interest as evidenced by the lack of or
decline in subscription,, sales, or
requests for copies.
Examples of significant products
might be those that:
-.--are required by law; e.g., a statutorily
mandated report to Congress;
?Involved expenditure of substantial
funds for the dissemination; a dollar
threshold might be appropriate here;
?By reason cif the nature of the
information, are matters of continuing
public interest e.g.. a key economic
indicator;
?By reason of the timeliness of the
information, command public interest
e.g., monthly crop reports an the day
of their reiesse;
?Disseminate in a new medium; e.g..
disseminating a printed product in
electronic medium, or disseminating a
machine-readable data file via online
FICCetell
?Have already received (or will
receive) substantial expression of
publk interest e.g., those that have (or
can expect) minim followings or
subscribers
?May reasonably be viewed as
duplicating cnultar competing with
existing prvdacts disseminated by
other agencies or private sector firms;
e.g., a value-added electronic
database product.
Arm of Alotice. Similarly, agencies
must determine what form a notice
should take in a given case. Several
forms of notice suggest themselves.
?Oral public announcements at
meetings. conierences, and
? conventions attended by users or
potential inters of the product
?Written public announcements in
? periodicals and other pabfications
circulated to users or potential ueenn
?Letters to subscribers or potential
? subscribers;
?Notices with or without request for
comment in the Federal Register or
Commerce Business Daily; or
?Public hearings convened for the
purpose of discussing initiation at
termination.
These forms of notice involve different
levels of effort and oqiense on the part
of the agency, and agencies should
choose a level proportional to the
significance of the product and the
action being proposed.
Determination of significance and
adequate notice are matters of agency
Judgment The key point Is that agencies
must make the iudgments and act upon
them. When Initiating or lemtinating an
Information dissemination product, the
agency has an obligation to assess and
take aramant of the impact of its action
upon the public. Where members of the
public consider a proposed new agency
product unnecessary and duplicative,
the agency should find out, in advance
of initiating the product why they think
this and whether the agency should
reconsider a decision to Initiate. Where
members of the public consider an
existing agency product important and
necessary, the agency should rind oat In
advance of terminating or =tailing the
product, why they think this and
whether the agency should reconsider
Its decision.
Moreover, members tithe public
should be able to seek reconsideration
or redresi from agencies when they ?
believe agencies have acted capriciously
with respect to initiating or terminating
Information thnemination products.
Agency procedures should include
mechanisms for responding to the
contingency that agency actions may
violate the adequate notice policy, and
for how the agency will rectify the
violation.
In order to ensure that agencies In fact
develop the necessary procedures, the
proposed policy requries that agencies
? report the procedures to OMB.
Electronic Dissemination
? The range of available Information
dissemination media expands as
technology continues to develop.
Yesterday's monthly Index to scientific
literature Is today's online information
service.; yesterday's newsletter is
today's electronic bulletin board;
yesterday's magnetic tape Is today's
floppy disk or online database and
tomorrow's CD-ROM. Part of managing
the information dissemination function.
therefore, is the responsibility to
scrutinise regularly the media of
dissemination in order to determine
whether the medium in use continues to
be the moat appropriate.
The decision to disseminate
Information electronically in mariy
respects is identical to the decision in
disseminate information in any other
medium. Agencies must ask themselves
the questions;
? ?Is disaemination of this information
dissemination product required by
. law?
?Is dissemination of this information
dissemination product necessary for
the proper performance of agency
functions?
At the present time, electronic
dissemination more often than not is an
agency's secondary issuance of the
product the primary having been in
some conventional paper format (press
release. report, etc.). Where this is the
case, electronic dissemination is more
discretionary than the primary b.ircui...e,
and agencies may wish to consider
additional conditions before deciding for
electronic dissemination. The policy _
statement lists conditions favorable to
electronic dissemination.
While electronic products are more
frequently the secondary mode of
Information dissemination, agencies
must recognize that this condition is
changing. Integration of information
technology into the workplace is rapidly
reaching the point that both internal
agency processing arid analysis of
information as well as the public's use
? of information often occur primarily In
electronic form. Supplying the
Information on paper is sometimes
practically useless, particularly when
the volume of Information Is large and
computer search and retrieval
capabilities are essential to efficient use.
Moreover, the printed product is often a
summary or aggregation of the larger
body of information which, although
useful in its own right, does not satisfy
all legitimate user needs as well as the
entire body of information In electronic
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Federal Register / Vol. 54, No. 2 Wednesday, January 4, 1989 / Notices
219
medium. Under these conditions, an
agency might reasonably conclude that
dissemination in electronic medium is
necessary for the proper performance of
agency functions.
A basic purpose of the Paperwork
Reduction Act is "to maximize the
usefulness of information collected,
maihtained, and disseminated by the
Federal Government" (44 U.S.C. 3501)
Thus, dissemination in electronic media
is often highly desirable because, under
certain assumptions, the electronic
Information dissemination product is
substantially more useful. Electronic
information dissemination products tend
to contain more information?often an
exact and complete copy of a
govenunent electronic database, and to
present the information in a format that
Is more manipulable by the user, and
hence more conducive to tailoring to a
wide variety of user needs. Agencies
can frequently enhance the value of
government information as a national
resource and increase its usefulness by
disseminating information in electronic
media.
At the same time, it bears
remembering that electronic ? - '
dissemination is not applicable in all
cases. Everyone in the public likely to
be Interested in the information may not
be computer-literate or have access to
information technology. Dissemination
in the electronic media alone may
render the Information inaccessible to
such users. Similarly, some government
information holdings evoke little or no
public interest and are not in demand. ?
even when the public is well informed
about what the holdings are. Absent
statutory or mission mandates, any
dissemination, let alone electronic, in of
questionable utility in such cases.
As Circular No. A-130 notes, the fact
that an agency has created or collected
Information is not itself a valid reason
for creating a program, product, or
service to disseminate the information-.
to the public. By the same token, the fact
that an agency is capable of offering an
information service is not itself a valid
reason for offering the service. Agencies
should avoid offering dissemination
services they know (or should know) to
be available in the marketplace. An
agency, for example, may have the
capability to offer dial-up online access
to its databases, but the same capability
may also be available from private firms
that purchase the agency's databases..
For the agency to offer the service will
always entail some cost to the
government, and the availability of -
virtually identical services from private
rums is a compelling argument against
the need for the government to offer the
service. .
While electronic dissemination Is
generally desirable, agencies must
observe certain boundaries on such
activities. As a rule of thumb, Federal
agencies should take it as a rebuttable
presumption that they are to concentrate
dissemination activities on supplying
basic information, the provision of
which is unique to the government, and
to avoid offering value-added products
to end users. That is. given a choice
between expending resources on
disseminating more government
Information in forms that are usablefor
general purposes and expending
resources on tailoring fewer information
dissemination products to specific user
needs, agencies should presume they are
to choose the former.. In effect, agencies
should prefer to "wholesale"
government Information and leave
"retail," value-added functions to the
private sector, especially when they
know that the private sector is ready.
and able to perform the value-added
functions. Indeed, the existence of a
private sector, value-added provider is
presumptive evidence that, barring
extenuating circumstances such as
urgent public policy considerations or
distorted market forces, the Federal
agency need not expend public funds to
provide the value-added service. . .
For example, many agencies are
currently planning to issue large
databases on CD-ROMs, suitable for
processing on microcomputers, and the
question arises as to whether the
agencies should include on the CD-
ROMs the search-and-retrieval software
necessary to access the databases..
OMB's view is that the agencies should
disseminate CD-ROMs that contain only
the databases and should not include
the software. The first reason for this
view is that. as Circular No. A-130 has
already noted and the General
Accounting Office has frequently
pointed out, the practice of developing
and maintaining customized computer
software is a source of inefficiency in
Federal agencies. While the software
may make the CD-ROMs more readily
accessible by users, its development and
maintenance also represent a costly
diversion of agency resources, because
software development by and large is
not part of agencies' information
dissemination mandates. The second ?
reason is that the software development
Is a value-added feature that can be
performed by the private sector, and .
hence a commercial activity that the
government neither needs to nor should
perform itself. Agencies might better
devote their resources to improving the
databases themselves or to preparing
other databases for dissemination, for
these are tasks that only the agencies
can perform. '
Circular No. A-130 counsels agencies.
when using contractors for carrying out
dissemination activities, to ensure that
contractors are not permitted to exercise
monopolistic controls over government
information resources. By the same
token, agencies themselves must avoid
behaving in a monopolistic fashion with
respect to their information
dissemination products. For example, an
agency that sells online access to its
databases but refuses to sell copies of
the databases themselves may be
presumed to be behaving as a
monopolist because its practice
precludes the possibility of a competitor
selling the same service at a lower price.
If an agency is willing to provide public
access to a database, the agency should
be willing to sell copies of the database
Itself.
By the same reasoning, agencies
should behave in an even-handed
manner in disseminating information
products. If an agency is willing to sell a
database or database services to some
members of the public, the agency
should In principle be prepared to sell
the same products under similar terms
to other members of the public, absent a
statutory basis for acting otherwise.
While an agency may have public policy
reasons for offering different terms of
sale to different groups in the public, the
agency should provide a dear statement
as to its reasons and their basis.
User Chows
OMB Circular No. A-25, User
Charges, (proposed revision published in
52 Federal Register 24890, July 1,4987)
Implements Title 5 of the Indeperident
Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 (31
U.S.0 9701). establishing Federal policy
regarding fees assessed for government
services and for sale or use of
government property or resources. The
general policy stated in Circular No. A-
25 (Section 8) is that a user charge will
be assessed against each identifiable
recipient for benefits derived from
Federal activities beyond those received
by the general public.
As Circular No. A-130 notes, the
Federal Government possesses much
information of substantial commercial
value. Dissemination of such
Information, or its dissemination in a
specific form or medium, may represent
a government service from which
identifiable recipients derive special
benefits, in which case user charges
may be applicable. Many agencies that
have substantial information
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f
.218 ? Federal Register / Vol. 84. No. 2' / Wecinesday:Iatiuiri 4, 1489 Notices
dissemination programs continue not to
have consistent, agency-wide policies
and procedures for setting user charges
for information dissemination products.
The proposed policy provides that
agencies must establish user charges for
the costs of disseminating these
products, and recover such costs, where
appropriate.
At present, Chapter 17 of Title 44, U.S.
Code, reserves to the Public Printer and
the Superintendent of Documents the
pricing and sale of printed government
documents. In practice, therefore. ?
executive agency discretion in the
setting of user charges for information
dissemination products is limited to
those that are not printed, i.e.,.
principally principally to electronic products.
Circular No. A-130 stated that .
agencies shall recover only costs of
disseminating information products ?
through user charges, where
appropriate, in accordance with Circular
No. A-25. Circular No. A-130 also
balanced the requirement to establish
user charges against the need to ensure,
that government information
dissemination products reach the public
for whom they are intended. (Section
8a(11)(a)) "If an agency has a positive
obligation to place a given product or
? service in the hands of certain specific
? groups or members of the public and
? also determines that user charges will
? constitute a significant barrier to ? ?
discharging this obligation, the agency
may have grounds for reducing or ?
? eliminating its user charges for the ?
product or service, or for exempting -
some receipients from the charge"
(Appendix IV). The Circular gave no
further guidance as to how agencies
should balance these requirements.
? Circular No. A-25 also establishes
that user charges should be set at a level
sufficient to recover the full cost of ?
providing the service, resource, or ? ?
property. The proposed policy clarifies
the application of Circular No. A-25 to
Information dissemination products.
Absent statutory requirements to the ?
contrary, the standard for user charges
for information dissemination products
should be to recover no more than the. ?
full cost of dissemination. ,
OMB's proposed revision to Circular
No. A-25 makes a distinction (in Section
8a(2)(b)) between user charges when the
Government is acting as property owner
and when the Government is acting as
sovereign. In the former case user
charges will be based on market prices. ?
and in the latter on full cost. For all
instances in which the Government .
itself creates or collects information, or
causes creation or collection through
sponsorship, the Government Is acting
as sovereign. User charges the
Government may assesa for products
resulting from such creation or
collection should be no greater than the
full cost of dissemination. ? .
The proposed policy, therefore, treats
Information products as different from
other goods and services with respect to
user charges. First, statutes such as the
Freedom of Information Act and the
Government in the Sunshine Act
establish that Federal agencies have a
broad and general obligation to make
government information available to the
public and to avoid erecting barriers .
that impede public access. Circular No:
A-130 continues this tradition with its
Basic Considerations and Assumptions -
? (Section 7), and with the policy ? ??
balancing user charges against reaching
the intended public. User charges higher
than the cost of dissemination are a
barrier to public access. Second, given
that the Government has sunk the costa
of creating and processing the ?
Information for governmental purposes.
the economic benefit to society is
maximized when the information is
? publicly disseminated at the cost of
dissemination.
The full cost of dissemination may .
generally be thought of as the sum of all
costs specifically associated with
preparing for public dissemination and
-.actually disseminating to the public. For
' example, an agency may prepare an ? :
Information product for its own internal
? use. and costs associated with such
production are not recoverable ati user ?
charges. When the agency takes the
? 'product, prepares it for public .
dissemination, and actually
? disseminates it, costs associated with
preparation and actual dissemination ?
are recoverable as user charges.
While the proposed policy generally
limits user charges to the cost of '
dissemination, agencies should take
care to set charges at the full cost of
dissemination, where appropriate. Some
agencies apparently limit user charges
for information dissemination products,
for example, to the costs of reproducing
and distributing computer tapes without
enunciating a rationale for such. ' '?-? ? ,.
limitations. In fact, recoverable coati
may besignficantly higher. For example;
for an online database service. ??
recoverable cost elements might include -
personnel, materials, and services ?
? associated with the following:
telecommunications between the
computer system and user terminals;
computer usage, online network ' ? '
management training of personnel , ?
operating online services; preparation
and distribution of manuals and training
materials; and accounting and billing for
online services. Cost elements might
also include associated administrative
overhead costs such as printing,
postage, travel, and indirect costs.
In addition, OMB Circular No. A-25
provides for charges for government '
goods and services that convey special
benefits to recipients beyond those
accruing to the general public. Where
agencies provide custom tailored
information services to specific
individuals or groups, full cost recovery
for such services is appropriate. For
example, if an agency prepares special
tabulations or similar services from its
databases in answer to a specific
request from a member of the public, all
costs associated with fulfilling the
request would be charged, and the
requester would be so informed before
work was begun. In a few cases
agencies engaging in information
collection activities augment the
Information collection at the request of,'
and, with funds provided by, private
sector groups. Since the 1920s, the
Bureau of the Census his carried out
surveys of certain industries at greater
frequency or at a greater level of detail
than Federal funding would permit,
because industry groups have requested
more frequent or detailed government ,
data and have paid the additional
Information collection and processing ?
costs, and the additional information is
consistent with Federal purposes. While
results of these surveys are ? ? ?
disseminated to the public at cost of
.
ssemInation, the existence sOd
? ? ?
availability of the additional .
government data are special benefits to
certain recipients beyond those accruing
to the public. It is appropriate that those _
recipients should bear full costs of
information collection and processing,
as well as dissemination.
? .
At the same time, as Circular No. A=
130 points out, the requirement to .
establish user charges is not intended to
make the ability to pay the sole criterion
for determining whether the public
receives government information.
Agencies must balance the requirement
to establish user charges and the level of
'fees charged against other policies,
ipecifically, the proper performance of
agency functions and the need to ensure
that information dissemination products
reach the public for whom they are
:intended (see OMB Circular No. A-130.
section 8a(11)(a)). If an agency has a
positive obligation to place a given ?
product in the hands of certain specific
groups or members of the public and
also determines that user charges will
constitute a significant barrier to ? ?
discharging this obligation, the agency'
may have grounds for reducing or -
eliminating its user charges for the
product. or for exempting some ? ? ?
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_ , 'W. VW. ia I weanesaay, January 4. 1989 / Notices ? ? 219
recipients from the charge. Such
reductions or eliminations should be the
? subject of formal agency determinations
on a case by case basis and justified in
terms of clearcut agency policies.
Small Agencies . ? ? ? ?
The foregoing discussion and
prop sed policy are written with a view
to agencies that have sizable multimedia
information dissemination programs.
Not all agencies are large, nor have such
programs. Formal management control
systems, adequate notice procedures,
and the administration of electronic
information dissemination may be .
Inappropriate for small agencies. The
policies themselves, however, are
appropriate for all agencies. Smaller
agencies should implement the policies
with procedures appropriate for their.
size.
James B. MacRae, Jr.; -
Deputy Administrator for Information and
Regulatory Affairs. .
PROPOSED POLICY
1. Definitions
a. The term "periodical" means any
publication disseminated or routinely
made available to the public by an
agency annually or more often with a
format, content, and purpose consistent
in nature. The term includes internal
agency newsletters and annual reports.
The term does not hic.lude:
?Memoranda, directives, regulations,
legal opinions and decisions,
proceedings, programs for cermonies,
press releases, environmental impact
statements and assessments, planning
documents, and other purely ? ?
administrative materials; V - .
?Research and development reports -
that are the direct result of research
contracts and are distributed to
Federal Government employees and
the contractor involved in the work,
and technical books, monographs and
journal articles that are published by
commercial publishers and
professional associations;
?Official instructional/informational,
documents of a permanent nature,
published as a supplement to directive
systems of executive branch agencies;
? and . .
?Annual update of instructional ? ? -
information publications made
available to the public to inform them
of laws and regulations and to assist
them in complying with reporting
requirements. .
b. The term "nonrecurring
publication" means any publication,
including pamphlets, disseminated or
routinely made available to the public
by an agency on a one-edition basis, or
less frequently than annually. The items
not included in the term are the same as
for the term periodical.. ? ? v
c. The term "information ? - -
dissemination products" means : ? . .
periodicals, nonrecurring publications,
machine-readable data files, software
files, online database services, and , ?
electronic bulletin boards, issued or
disseminated by agencies to the public;
the term includes media such as
magnetic tape and compact disks but
does not include audiovisual activities
covered by OMB Circular No. A-114.
Dissemination to the public means
distributing without restriction as to
recipients and entails public ,?
announcement of distribution.
Distribution restricted to government
employees or to agency contractors or
grantees is not considered dissemination
to the public.,
2. Policy
a. Agencies shall manage the
dissemination of information so as to
maximize efficient and effective .
performance of agency functions,
maximize the usefulness of government
Information, and minimize the cost to
?
the Federal Government.
b. Agencies shall maintain and
implement a management control
system for all Information dissemination
products. The management control
system shall, at a minimum, perform the
following functions: ,
(1) Monitoring and reviewing
information dissemination products to
assure that they are certified to be
necessary for proper performance of
agency functions, or, in the case of
periodicals, necessary in the transaction
of the public business required by law of
the agency;
VV V
(2) Establishing and maintaining in
electronic format a current and
comprehensive inventory of all agency
information dissemination products;
(3) Recording actual and proposed
spending of funds for information
dissemination products; VV V
(4) Providing an annual report to the
Director of the Office of Management
and Budget according to specifications..
provided in annual reporting
instructions; and ? V' ?
(5) Supporting such other functions as
are necessary for effective and efficient
management of Information.
dissemination, such as developing aids ?
to locating information disseminated by
the agency. V. - ? -
c. Expenditure of funds shall be
approved only for periodicals that v
provide information, the dissemination
of which is necessary in the transaction
of the public business required by law of
the agency. ?
d. Agencies shall determine which of
their existing and proposed information
dissemination products are significant-. ?-? -
for purposes of providing adequate
notice, and what constitutes adequate...
notice for significant information - V.
dissemination products; agencies shall
disseminate these determinations to the
public; . - ?
e. Agencies shall establish and
implement procedures for providing
adequate notice, In accordance with the
' preceding agency determinations, when
initiating or terminating significant ?
information dissemination products; '
procedures shall include how to ?
determine what information- '? '
dissemination products are significant,
what constitutes adequate notice, and
how the public may seek redress for
agency violations.-
f. Agencies should examine their
information dissemination products to
determine whether conditions favor the
electronic dissemination of information.
Conditions favorable to electronic ?
dissemination include:
(1) The agency already maintains the
Information in electronic medium for its
own purposes;
(2) The agency will not incur
substantial new costs in disseminating
the information electronically;
(3) Existing or potential users of the
information have expressed a need for
the information In electronic medium;
e.g., a documented public demand;
(4) The agency can point to real
benefits to the government and/or the
public from disseminating the
information electronically; e.g., more
timely use of information, or the ability
for users to manipulate the information
in ways not available with other media;
(5) The agency has determined that
Information dissemination products
already available to the public are not
so similar that the agency's electronic
dissemination would constitute unfair
competition with the private sector.
g. Agencies should periodically review
their information dissemination
products to determine whether the
medium of dissemination is appropriate
to the product.
h. Agencies shall avoid disseminating
Information dissemination products that
place the Government in unfair
competition with the private sector;
1. Agencies shall give perference to
disseminating basic electronic
information dissemination product%
and, absent compelling reasons, avoid
disseminating value-added electronic
Information products;
j. Agencies shall establish consistent,
agency-wide policies and procedures,
including regulations as necessary, for
setting and collecting user charges for
information dissemination products. ,
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? k. Agencies shall set user charges for
information dissemination products at a
level sufficient to recover the full cost of
skssemination, and exclude from
calculation of the charges costs
associated with collecting and
processing the information. Exceptions
to this policy are: ?
(i) Where statutory requirements are
at variance with the policy;
(ii) Where the agency collects and
processes. as well as disseminates, the
information for the benefit of a specific
identifiable group beyond the benefit to
the general public; or
(iii) Where the agency has made a
determination that user charges at full
cost of dissemination constitute a
significant barrier to properly
performing the agency's functions and
reaching the public whom the agency
has an obligation to reach.
3. Reporting
a. Within 180 days of the effective
date of this policy, the head of each
agency shall submit to the Director,
Office of Management and Budget
(1) Copies of policies and procedures
for the agency information
dissemination management control
systems; and .
(2) Copies of agency procedures for
providing adequate notice when
initiating or terminating significant
information dissemination products. ?
(3) Copies of agency policies and
procedures for setting and collecting
user charges for information
dissemination products.
b. Unless otherwise individually ?
directed by OMB, agencies with fewer
than 1500 fulltime equivalent employees
need only provide certification that the
above policies are in effect and that the
agency has provided the most recent
annual report on information
dissemination products.
4. Approval
OMB will respond to the agency's
annual report on information
dissemination products within 45 days
of receipt. In its response, OMB will
approve or disapprove the periodicals
listed for new or continued use, or may
request additional information on
certain periodicals.
Although new periodicals should be
proposed at the annual reporting time
whenever possible, periodicals may also
be presented to OMB for approval at
other times of the year. OMB will
respond to these supplemental requests
within 45 days of receipt.
(FR Doc. 09-8 Filed 1-3-09; MS am)
IELLM0 CODE 11110.1*41 ?
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ? ?
COMMISSION
Mel. No. IC-16720 512-611201
La Caisse centrals Desjardins du '
Quebec
December 28, 1988.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC").
ACTION: Notice of Application for
Exemption under the Investment
Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act").
Applicant La Caisse centrale
Desjardins du Quebec.
Relevant 1940 Act Sections:
Exemption requested under section 8(c)
from all provisions of the 1940 Act
Summary of Application: La Caisse
centrale Desjardins du Quebec (the
"Applicant") seeks an order to issue and
sell commercial paper notes (the
"Commercial Paper Notes") in the
United States. In addition, the order
would permit the Applicant to issue and
sell debt securities other than .
Commercial Paper Notes ("Other Debt
Securities") in the United States. The net
proceeds of all offerings made in the
United States by the Applicant will be
utilized by the Applicant to carry out its
function as financial agent for the
Desjardins Group, which is a
cooperative of savings and credit unions
located in Quebec.
Filing Date: The application was filed
on August 10, 1987 and amended on
December 1, 1988.
Hearing or Notification of Hearing: If
no hearing is ordered, the application
will be granted. Any interested person
may request a hearing on this
application, or ask to be notified if a
hearing is ordered. Any requests must
be received by the SEC by 5:30 p.m., on
January 23, 1989. Request a hearing in
writing, giving the nature of your
interest, the reason for the request, and
the issues you contest. Serve the
Applicant(s) with the request, either
personally or by mail, and also send it to
the Secretary of the SEC, along with
proof of service by affidavit or, for
lawyers, by certificate. Request
notification of the date of a hearing by
writing to the Secretary of the SEC.
ADDRESSES: Secretary, SEC. 450 5th
Street NW., Washington. DC 20549. La
Caisse centrale Desjardins de Quebec. 1.
Complexe Desjardins, South Tower,
Suite 2822, Montreal, Quebec H5131133.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cecilia C. Kalish, Staff Attorney at (202)
272-3035 or Stephanie M. Monaco,
Branch Chief at [phone].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIOM ?
Following is a (summary of the
application; the complete application is
available for a fee from either the SEC's
Public Reference Branch in person or the
SEC's commercial copier who can be
contacted at [phone] (in Maryland
[phone])..
Applicant's Representations
1. The Applicant is a corporation
established by the Quebec Legislature to
act as financial agent for the Desjardins
Group (the "Group"). The Group is
composed of approximately 1.345
savings and credit cooperatives known
as caisses populaires and caisses
d'economie (collectively the "Caisses")
which are located throughout the
Province of Quebec. Each Caisse is
affiliated with one of eleven regional
federations (the "Federations"). The
Federations provide technical and
financial services to their affiliated
Caisses. The Federations together form
a confederation, La Confederation des
caisses populaire et d'economie
Desjardins du Quebec (the
"Confederation").
2. The Applicant, as financial agent of
the Group, manages a liquidity fund for
Its members, provides its members with
access to financial markets, and offers a
range of financial services to large- and
medium-size business corporations.
Applicant makes loans to (i) members
and affiliates of the Group and (ii)
business corporations. governmental
and paragovemmental entities whose
credit needs exceed the capabilities of
the individual Caisses. Applicant
accepts deposits from the Desjardins
Group, from governmental and
paragovernmental entities, and from the
short-, medium- and long-term Canadian
and international capital markets.
3. The Applicant's operations are
extensively regulated both by the act
under which it was incorporated tthe
"Incorporating Act") and by other
Quebec legislation which is similar to
that applicable to Canadian chartered
banks governed by the Bank Act
(Canada) ("Chartered Banks"), including
inter alio the Savings and Credit Unions
Act of Quebec and the Quebec Deposit
Insurance Act. The Caisses and the
Federations are governed by the Credit
Unions Act. The Confederation is
governed by the Credit Unions Act and
the Incorporating Act. Under the Quebec
Deposit Insurance Act, deposits with the
Caisses and with the Applicant are
insured to a maximum of $60,000 (all
figures contained herein are in Canadian
dollars unless otherwise indicated) per
depositor.
4. Applicant is subject to the
supervision of the Inspector General of
Financial Institutions of Quebec (the
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.1/4Nkt
I
?1-
ty?
114
:! ? ?
t
?
? .
Is7ta
444,
? - cfrA
'
MANAGEMENT
OF THE
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT
FISCAL YEAR
1990
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Part 1. THE PRESIDENTS MANAGEMENT MESSAGE 1-1
Part 2. GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE 2-1
A. Introduction 2-1
B. A Look Ahead to the Year 2000 2-2
C. Existing and Emerging Issues for the Future 2-5
National Defense 2-6
Economic Growth and Change 2-7
Social Policy Concerns 2-15
Environmental Concerns 2-20
Delivery of Government Services 2-23
D. Improvements in Government Service Delivery and Operations 2-24
E. Without Planning and Management Information, Programa Will Con-
tinue to Evolve on an Annual Budget Cycle. 2-28
F. Selected Recommendations. 242
Part 3. THE PRESIDENTS MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 3-1
A. Introduction 3-1
B. Credit Management 3-1
Credit Extension 3-3
Loan Servicing and Management 3-6
Delinquent Debt Collection 3-11
C. Financial Management 3-16
Financial Management Organization 8-17
Financial Information and Systems 3-19
Cash Management 8-27
Internal Controls 349
Audit Programs .9-40
Grants Management 3-42
D. Quality and Productivity Management 8-46
E. Improved Services Through Technology 3-76
. Presidential Priority Systems 3-77
Managing Technology to Best Advantage 3-84
F. Procurement Management 8-88
G. Privatixstion 3-105
The Role of Privatization 3-106
Progress to Date 3-107
1990 Budget Initiatives 3-111
Competition for Federal Services 8-118
Continuing Initiatives 3-121
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ii CONTENTS
Pose
Part 4. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION 4-1
A. Key Organizations in Program Implementation 4-1
General Services Administration 4-1
Office of Personnel Management 4-10
Department of the Treasury 4-20
President's Council on Management Improvement 4-27
President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency 4-31
Small Agency Council 4-36
B. The 1989 Management Legislation Program 4-38
C. Detailed Agency Plans and Objective. 4-46
Credit Management Performance Goals 4-46
Financial Management Systems Improvementa 4-77
Cash Management Performance Goals 4-95
Productivity Improvement Performance Goals 4-124
Privatization Goals 4-130
Part 5. APPENDIX I?REPORTS TO CONGRESS 5-1
A. Report on .the Recommendations of the President's Private Sector
-
Survey on Cost Control 5-1
B. Status Report on Debt Collection 5-12
C. Status Report on Prompt Payment 5-24
Part 6. APPENDIX II?ADDITIONAL MANAGEMENT DATA 6-1
A. Agency Plans for Improving Quality and Productivity 6-1
B. First Progress Report of the Chief Financial Officer 6-21
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3-76 MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1990
These are functions that are not information-based and not
amenable to technological improvement. OMB will sponsor
specialized workshops and seminars for agency program man-
agers that will address the development of accurate output
measures, effectiveness measures, and quality measures and
provide information on successful improvement techniques.
If agency leaders make quality and productivity improvement a
priority and involve managers and employees in improvement ef-
forts, then al/ programs that provide service to the public will be
engaged in the 1990's in continuously raising their standards of
quality while lowering costs in order to better meet the needs of
their customers.
E. IMPROVED SERVICES THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
The steady advance of information technology brings a demand
for ever more sophisticated computer applications and telecom-
munications improvements. In 1989, the Federal Government will
spend $17 billion, or 1.6 percent of the Federal budget, on informa-
tion technology. In 1982 constant dollars, the information technolo-
gy budget grew from $9.1 billion in 1982 to $13.5 billion in 1989.
The figures do not include expenditures for classified systems or for
information technology embedded in weapons systems. The non-
Defense portion of the general purpose information technology
budget will become larger than the Defense portion in 1989.
Between 1982 and 1987, the Federal information technology
budget rose sharply, averaging a 12 percent increase each year.
Between 1987 and 1989, projected spending will increase on aver-
age only 3 percent, primarily because of the budget compromise
reached in 1987. Fulltime information technology employees grew
from 2.6 to 3 percent of the Federal workforce from 1982 to 1988,
and remained the same for 1989.
In the year 2000, a workforce that is older, increases in size more
slowly, and contains more women and minorities will live in an
economy that is more internationally interdependent, technologi-
cally oriented, and dominated by service industries. Jobs for natu-
ral, computer, and mathematical scientists will increase by almost
70 percent by the year 2000 as compared with a 25 percent increase
for all job categories. A rise in multiple-earner households will
require the Government to collect tax revenues, as well as deliver
needed services to diverse, mobile family members.
Government is beginning to re-think its ways of doing business
in order to deliver services to a population substantially different
from today's. Artificial intelligence will help deliver services in
new ways. Today's fledgling expert systems will develop and spread
to perform functions such as claims processing or medical diagno-
sis. Computerized decision support systems will assist government
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THE PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 3-77
workers in providing information and advice to persons applying
for benefits.
The demand for information technology applications will likely
outstrip the supply of technically sophisticated Federal workers.
Federal agencies will increasingly purchase, rather than build,
their information systems. Private sector systems integrators will
provide comprehensive information processing solutions to govern-
ment's service delivery problems by combining expertise in off-the-
shelf hardware, software, and telecommunications technologies.
Much more so than today, nearly all Federal managers will become
information technology managers directly or indirectly.
Presidential Priority Systems
The Administration has recognized the strategic purposes that
information resources management serves by focusing high level?
attention on the development and implementation of information
systems. Beginning with a series of major information systems
reviews in 1984, the program has expanded into a set of Presiden-
tial Priority Systems (PPS) which receive top management atten-
tion and commitment. These systems, selected because of their size,
complexity, sensitivity, or because they represent new precedent-
setting applications of technology, are now the vanguard of a new
age of system excellence in the Federal government. In 1989, 10
systems make up the PPS initiatives. Investments in these PPSs
total $1.4 billion in the 1990 budget, and have a system life cost of
$13 billion, as shown in the table below.
SUMMARY OF PRESIDENTIAL PRIORITY SYSTEMS
(In millions of follars)
11810( *stem
FY 1990 System Llte
Request I Cast
Patent and Trademark Automation Plan
General Services Administration's FTS 2000
HHS' Social Security Strategic Plan
Transportation's Airspace Modernization Plan
Treasury's Tax System Redesign*
Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR
Commerce's Advanced Weather System
Defense's Logistics Modernization Program
Govemmentwicte Financial Management System
Agriculture's Loan Pilot Program
52 1,
12 ;
56 !
594 1
23 17 45 1:i
56 !
326 ,
2 'i
828
4.500
*
5,000
60
*
2,800
*
21
Total Cost
1,354
13,209
? Castterein analysis not yet conceded.
The PPS program also provides an important opportunity to
identify successful management practices for implementing large
systems. The use of cost-benefit analysis as a decision making tool,
the use of off-the-shelf software, and the application of internation-
al standards have emerged as characteristics of successful systems.
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The development of the national airspace system advanced automa-
tion system, and the progress on the redesign of the federal tax
system are examples of excellence coming back into these major
government systems initiatives.
Previous PPS Efforts
As PP& reach the implementation stage with approved develop-
ment plans and operational strategies, intensive OMB oversight is
reduced. A summary of the systems that have arrived at this level
in 1988 follows:
? Labor's Employee Retirement and Income Security Act
(ERISA) System. The Department of Labor has signed an
agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to automate the
data associated with pension and welfare benefit plans. The
new automated data collection and edit system is proceeding
as scheduled, and operation of the system is expected to begin
in July 1989.
? State's Foreign Affairs Information System. The pilot system
has demonstrated the functionality of the system and its abili-
ty to meet State Department needs. The concept has been
proven, and full implementation will proceed according to
State's ability to fund the project.
? Energy's Licensing Support System. The Department of
Energy completed a cost-benefit analysis of this project, deter-
mining that a centralized system will provide the most effec-
tive solution for the, nuclear waste licensing process. A final
design has been approved, and action is underway to procure
the computer systems and electronically capture the required
data. Extensive indexing and text search software will be
developed to manage the 10 million pages of text data expect-
ed to be online.
? Air Force's Personnel System. In September 1988, independ-
ent testing of the Personnel Concept III prototype system
confirmed that the projected manpower savings of 1500 posi-
tions and the specified functional requirements can be met
upon full system implementation, projected to begin in 1989.
? Interior's Land and Mineral Records System. In March 1988,
Interior Department signed a general system design contract
to produce an overall design for the project, will issue a
request for proposals to procure the main system. System
implementation is expected to begin in 1992.
? Commerce's 1990 Census of Population and Housing. The
Census Bureau reached final decisions on technology acquisi-
tions needed to support the 1990 census. Field automation
initiatives continue to be reviewed through the budget proc-
ess.
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THE PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 3-79
? Labor's Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) Data
System Enhancement Project. The Labor Department has
finalized the design and implementation strategy using off-
the-shelf technology, and the project is now moving toward
full implementation.
? Agriculture's Farm Service Automation, The Agriculture De-
partment has established guidelines for interagency sharing
of equipment, telecommunications facilities, and final design
of smaller field offices. Implementation is nearing completion
and Agriculture is coordinating this project with the Depart-
ment's computer centers.
? U.S. Information Agency's (USIA) Voice of America Mod-
ernization Project. USIA is streamlining its project plan to
focus on the early completion of two key overseas broadcast-
ing facilities, to conduct field testing, and to take a phased
approach in acquiring transmitter antennas.
? Justice's Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Au-
tomation Program. In 1987, INS completed a detailed archi-
tectural and cost-benefit analysis of its needs based on pro-
gram requirements. The estimated savings for the proposed
architecture, over other alternatives, is as much as $37 mil-
lion. Successful prototyping will determine implementation
strategies. This project will continue to receive attention
through the budget process.
Current Presidential Priority Systems
? Commerce's Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) Automa-
tion Plan. In 1988, PTO received over 139,000 patent applica-
tions, a figure that is expected to rise to 140,000 in 1990. The
search files hold over 27 million patent related documents,
? and more than 2100 employees examine patent applications.
Since 1983, PTO has spent $195 million to automate. In addi-
tion to automating trademarks, the agency is. automating
most of its current manual files and functions to support its
patent processing operations, and will eventually have 700
sophisticated work stations. The automation plan will have a
life cycle cost of about $828 million over 20 years.
?Expected impact. When complete, the system will enable
PTO to improve the quality of patents issued by more
complete searches of existing patents. Additionally, for-
eign patent searches will be expanded, thereby improving
the international position of U.S. patents.
? General Services Administration's FTS 2000. The Govern-
ment spends over $450 million each year to provide basic long
distance telephone service for civilian agencies. The current
Federal Telecommunications System (FTS) is costly and tech-
nically outdated. FTS serves 1.1 million users and carries 1.3
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3-80 MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1990
billion call minutes annually. FTS 2000 will replace the exist-
ing system with integrated digital voice and data technol-
ogies, video transmission, and electronic mail services. Instead
of contracting for facilities as in the past, in FTS 2000 GSA
will buy only telecommunications services. Congress has de-
cided that competition will be enhanced by dividing the
award between two separate networks, representing a 60-40
split in the Government's long distance traffic. GSA also
formed an advisory board to assist in evaluating proposals
and to make recommendations concerning the awards. GSA
awarded the FTS 2000 contract in December 1988. .
?Expected impact. MIS is expected to save the Government
a minimum of $100 million annually over the existing
system. Voice usage will grow from 320 million calls in
1991, the first year of full implementation, to 433 million
in 1997. High speed data traffic will grow from 556 mil-
lion call minutes to 1.5 billion over the same period.
? Health and Human Services' Social Security Strategic Plan
for the Year 2000. The Social Security Administration dis-
burses over $200 billion each year to approximately 40 million
beneficiaries. The SSA's computerized data files for accom-
plishing this job are among the world's largest, and 70,000
people work in SSA's 1300 field offices throughout the coun-
try. The Systems Modernization Program provides increased
computer and data communications capacity?including
22,000 terminals in field offices. SSA will also be able to
decrease processing times for many categories of social securi-
ty claims and related benefit transactions. This year emphasis
in the PPS review will shift from the Modernization Program
to planning for the year 2000. By the year 2000 the number of
beneficiaries is expected to increase 15 percent from 39 mil-
lion to 45 million, and the amount disbursed to these benefici-
aries will increase from approximately $222 billion annually
to over $250 billion. In addition to planning to meet this
increased workload, the SSA strategic plan will concentrate
on service delivery to existing beneficiaries by designing new
ways of doing business. These include pre-retirement notifica-
tion of benefit status and eligibility, and increased reliance on
electronic communication with the public in place of face-to-
face contact.
?Expected impact. By the year 2000, interactive voice mes-
saging, expert systems, voice synthesis, and other techno-
logical improvements will provide a high level of service
to the telephone client 24 hours per day with far less
Federal employee interaction; four out of five of all SSA
transactions will use teleservice, eliminating 16 million
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THE PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 3-81
_ _ .
hours of client effort per year. The proposed disability
adjudication and appeals process in the new system will
require 297 days instead of the current 515 days. State
records of birth and earnings will be electronically sup-
plied directly to SSA, eliminating several categories of
transactions required from private citizens in the current
system. During 1988, SSA continued to achieve significant
progress, through the information technology improve-
ments initiated under the System Modernization Plan.
For example, SSA took 6 weeks in 1982 to issue cards;
today it takes 10 days. Wage postings had a 3 year back-
log in 1982; today there is no backlog. The annual earn-
ings reappraisal took 48 months in 1982, while the same
operation required only 11 months in 1988.
? Transportation's Modernization of the National Airspace
System (NAS). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
has spent $209 million to modernize the computer systems
supporting the nation's air traffic control system as part of its
responsibility for ensuring safe and efficient operation of air-
ways and airports. FAA's Advanced Automation System
(AAS) will provide the backbone for the entire air traffic
control system, operation and maintenance of which em-
ployed over, 35,000 people and cost $2.3 billion in 1988. But
this project goes beyond computer modernization to include a
fundamental rehabilitation and expansion of FAA facilities to
meet year 2000 traffic demands. The present system accom-
modates over 240,000 civil and military aircraft, and handles
150 million aircraft operations annually. Development and
installation of the entire modernized system will cost $17
billion over 20 years, and includes 5,600 new controller work
stations, new communications, radar, landing systems, and
increased use of satellite navigation technology. FAA awarded
the acquisition contract for AAS in 1988.
?Expected impact. The NAS will safely and efficiently sup-
port increased aircraft operations. By the year 2000, the
new system annually will support 196 million aircraft
operations, a 30 per cent increase, and is expected to
generate annual fuel savings of $250 million. The NAS
will reduce maintenance personnel costs 4 percent, or $12
million, annually.
? Treasury's Tax System Redesign, In 1987, the Internal Reve-
nue Service processed over 193 million tax returns, 900 mil-
lion information returns, and collected $782.3 billion in reve-
nues. During the peak period, IRS processed 6.8 million Form
1040 returns in one week. Projected costs to support the proc-
essing of this information are $1.4 billion, requiring over
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3-82 MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1990
36,000 employees. The current tax processing system involves
a high level of manual paper-handling to process returns and
collect revenues. In 1988, the IRS spent over $50 million to
begin the redesign of its tax administration system. As the
tax laws continue to change, IRS is challenged to continue to
process taxes on an automated tax processing system intro-
duced in the early 1960's. The Tax System Redesign will
result in a modern, computerized approach to processing
taxes, providing IRS staff users improved access to tax return
data. The new system will eliminate some of the labor inten-
sive paper processing with electronic filing of tax returns,
provide more effective security and privacy protection of tax
data, and provide taxpayers with faster, more accurate infor-
mation about their tax returns.
?Expected impact. When operational, the redesigned tax
administration system will enable IRS to meet the needs
of all customers, both taxpayers and internal users, by
using technology that permits timely delivery of accurate
tax accounts and other tax related information. On-line
validation and the automation of returns processing will
result in a system less susceptible to error, providing a
better quality and more timely product to the taxpayer..
In particular, the ability to access taxpayer account infor-
mation will be enhanced with on-line capability to allow
IRS personnel to respond more promptly to taxpayer in-
quiries and update or correct errors in accounts without
delay, thereby greatly reducing taxpayer frustration. The
new tax administration system will cut the time for proc-
essing of all returns, with processing time for electroni-
? cally filed returns reduced by 2 to 3 weeks. In 1988,
583,000 returns were filed electronically. By 1995, IRS
expects that more than 31 million returns will be 'filed
electronically, with that number expected to be over 36
million by 1997.
? Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Electronic
Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval System (EDGAR).
SEC receives 200,000 disclosure documents annually from
13,200 registrants. The volume of these filings exceeds 9 mil-
lion pages per year. SEC's computerized system, EDGAR, will
automate the filing, processing, and dissemination of these
disclosure documents to ensure the rapid availability of infor-
mation to financial markets. EDGAR will link 450 intelligent
work stations with central mainframes. SEC has operated a
pilot EDGAR program since 1984 and in 1987 revised the
proposed operational program design to fund the complete
receipt, acceptance, and review process for required filings.
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THE PRESIDENTS MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 3-83
SEC issued amendments to a Request for Proposals in 1987
and plans to award the contract in late December 1988. The
estimated Federal life cycle costs of EDGAR are $72 million.
?Expected impact. Delays associated with public disclosure
of SEC filings will be cut almost in half, from 38 days to
20. This enhanced timeliness will result in more effective
review of filings, greater market efficiency, and more
productive allocation of capital.
? Defense Logistics Agency's (DLA's) Logistics Modernization
Program. DLA's Logistics Modernization Program will inte-
grate and modernize ADP applications of the logistics man-
agement program including supply and shipment. DLA depots
ship 18 million stock items annually. Each year DLA contract
administration services process 406,000 prime contracts with a
value of $45 billion. DLA managed 2.7 million items of supply
in 1987, an increase of more than 700,000 items from the 1.9
million managed in 1980. The preliminary estimate of the life
cycle cost of this modernization program is $2.8 billion.
.Expected impact. A comprehensive modernization pro-
gram will allow the Department of Defense to meet the
increasing volume of business for supply and shipment of
complex weapons (more than 100 percent increase in
weapons systems items from 1983 levels), fuel, food, cloth-
ing and other, common military logistics requirements
? Governmentwide Financial Management Information
System. The President's Management Improvement Program
provides for a single primary financial system in each major
agency. This system will provide financial management infor-
mation for the agency as a whole and for its individual..com-
ponents. Agency systems will be integrated electronically
with subsidiary administrative systems such as payroll, loans.
grants, and with major program systems such as Social Secu-
rity. These primary financial systems support agency manage-
ment and also are the source of the fundamental budget and
accounting information that is used by Treasury and OMB.
This system will integrate the agency primary systems, the
Treasury system, and the Office of Management and Budget
system to form a single Governmentwide system.
?Expected impact. This project will develop a Government-
wide financial management system that will provide
quality financial information to all levels of management
and improve control of the government's budget and
other resources.
? Agriculture's Loan Servicing Pilot Program. The Farmer's
Home Administration (FmHA) makes loans to low-income
borrowers in rural areas for housing, community facilities,
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3-84 MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1990
business, and industry. There are two pilot programs current-
ly ongoing in South Carolina and Wisconsin designed to test
the feasibility and efficiency of contracting out the servicing
of rural housing loans. The South Carolina pilot program
contracts out servicing and collection functions, while the
Wisconsin pilot contracts out those functions as well as ac-
counting and escrowing. By 1990, cost-benefit analyses will
have been completed on both these pilots that compare the
contracted functions with in-house servicing and management
of these loans. This analysis will be valuable in assessing the
feasibility of using the private sector for loan servicing activi-
ties and could form the basis for a much larger loan service
contract initiative.
?Expected impact. The Wisconsin pilot, begun in December
1988, will contract out the servicing, collections, and ac-
counting functions on about 14,000 loans and will do
escrowing for 1500 loans in nine counties. The South
Carolina pilot has moved about 31,000 loans and 54 per-
cent of the workload for servicing FmHA housing loans to
the private sector. Between November 1987 (the begin-
ning of the pilot) and August 1988, the delinquency rate
on .these "privatized- FmHA loans has dropped from 7.4
percent to 5.9 percent.
Managing ,Technology to Best Advantage
The reviews of individual systems described above, while intend-
ed primarily to enhance the success of those important projects,
also provides more general information on strengths and weakness-
es in the Federal Government's approach to systems'. development.
These "lessons learned" provide the basis for broader policy..initia-
fives.
The Upcoming Five-Year Plan
The Office of Management and Budget issued in 1988 its sixth
annual Five Year Plan for Meeting the Automatic Data Processing
and Telecommunications Needs of the Federal Government. The
plan is required annually by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980
as amended.
Volume I of the plan contains an analysis of information technol-
ogy budgetary data as well as a compilation of agency plans for
acquiring information technology over the period 1988 through
1993. The analysis indicates that, following dramatic growth during
the decade of the 1980's, agency budgets for automatic data proc-
essing have leveled off both in real terms and as a percentage of
the Federal budget.
Commercial services expenditures continue to account for an
increasing percentage of agencies' information technology spend-
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THE PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 3-85
ing. These expenditures will increase from 46 percent in 1987 to 49
percent in 1989. Over the long term, obligations for commercial
services have risen from $3.8 billion in 1982 to a projected 89-3
billion in 1989.
Volume II of the plan contains articles on issues of interest to
information technology managers as well as a summary of specific
initiatives from 25 agencies that are the most significant users of
information technology.
Maintaining the Integrity of Government Information
During 1988, the Administration continued its efforts to ensure
the integrity of Federal information systems. The concept of integ-
rity in government information entails ensuring the confidentiality
of those data to which access should be limited, such as personal,
proprietary, and national security classified data. It also includes
assuring the accuracy and accessibility of information so that the
public can be informed and agencies can discharge their duties
efficiently and responsively.
Computer Security. Computer security goes beyond locking up
computer rooms or encrypting data transmission lines. Security
means assuring that computer systems do exactly what they are
supposed to do, and nothing more. That implies protecting informa-
tion in the systems from unauthorized disclosure; protecting infor-
mation from unauthorized or inadvertent modification; and ensur-
ing that information in the system is available on a timely basis. It
is important to note that in many systems, such as the hurricane
forecasting system, protection from disclosure is not the primary
need; the information is intended for widespread disclosure.
On January 8, 1988, the President signed into law the Computer
Security Act of 1987. The Act calls for revitalized standards for the
security of Federal computers; a comprehensive training .and
awareness program for all employees involved in the management.
use, or operation of Federal computer systems; a method of identi-
fying Federal computer systems that contain sensitive information.
and a process of planning for adequate security in those systems.
The Act requires agencies to establish plans for the security of
each computer system commensurate with the risk and magnitude
of the harm that could result from loss, misuse, or unauthorized
access to, or modification of, the information contained in the
system. During 1988, OMB issued guidance for preparation of secu-
rity plans for computer systems containing sensitive information in
order to assist agencies in preparing their plans. In 1989, the
Administration will develop further guidance for assuring that
computer security planning decisions are integrated with basic
budgetary decisions about information technology systems.
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3-86 MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1990
Computer Matching. The enactment in October 1988 of the Priva-
cy Protection and Computer Matching Act of 1988, P.L. 100-503,
represents ,the first major amendment in thirteen years to the
Privacy Act of 1974. The amendment represents a bipartisan effort
to develop a workable legislative solution to the problem of ensur-
ing that the Government's increasing reliance on computers for
program management results in fair treatment of all citizens.
The problem became much more critical because of recent explo-
sive growth and complexity in Federal programs.
? In 1936, the number of families receiving Aid to Families with
Dependent Children (AFDC) was 147,000. By 1985, that
number had grown to 3.7 million. Total AFDC recipients grew
in that time from 524,000 to 10.9 million.
? In 1971, the Federal Food Stamp Program served about 9.4
million recipients. By 1984, that number had grown to 20.8
million.
? In 1967, the government spent nearly $52 billion to operate
human resources programs such as education, training, social
security, and income security. Eleven years later, outlays had
nearly quadrupled. By 1991, that total will likely reach over
half of one trillion dollars.
Automation has clearly become the only way to manage these
programs and to deliver efficiently and fairly the benefits and
services they entail.
Computer matching is one phase of automated program manage-
ment. It means validating initial or continued eligibility for a
benefit by conducting computerized comparisons of data bases con-
taining information relevant to a decision. For example, AFDC
applicants' eligibility would be determined by querying data bases
containing information about their earned and unearned income.
Computer matching is essential to ensure that benefits go only to
those who are truly eligible for them. If used without rigorous
validation procedures, it can result in incorrect determinations and
undermine the very efficiency it seeks to promote.
The Act creates a procedural framework within which matching
may take place. Key to the Act's operation are the concepts of
notice and due process. Subjects of matching programs receive
notice in three ways: specific notice when they apply for a benefit,
and periodically thereafter, that the Government will use matching
for validation; published notices describing specific matching pro-
grams; and written agency agreements covering matching. As for
due process, agencies are forbidden from taking any adverse action
until they notify individuals of damaging information uncovered
and give them a chance to explain the information.
The Act will take effect in July 1989. OMB will write detailed
implementing guidance for issuance during early 1989.
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Electronic Information Collection and Dissemination. Advances
in computer and telecommunications technology, especially the
universal ubiquity of the microcomputer, are being followed by
advances in managing the data the computers process and trans-
mit. As both public and private sector entities automate their
activities, traditional ink-on-paper forms of sending and receiving
information give way to the newer electronic transmissions. At
present, most Federal agencies receiving information from mem-
bers of the public enter the information into electronic media. The
prospect grows increasingly appealing, however, for direct trans-
mission from the public's computers to the Government's comput-
ers because of convenience and efficiency for all parties. Similarly,
where government information products generate substantial
public interest, the public demand for electronic information dis-
semination expands. The Administration has encouraged major
new program ventures in electronic collection such as electronic
filing of tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service; and both
electronic collection and dissemination in bold departures such as
the EDGAR system at the Securities and Exchange Commission
and the automation of the Patent and Trademark Office.
In 1987, the Administration moved toward issuing more defini-
tiVe guidance on the electronic collection and dissemination of
information. On the collection side, the Administration published
proposed Governmentwide policy guidance on the electronic collec-
tion of information. On the dissemination side, the Administration
established a comprehensive inventory of its information dissemi-
nation products and services. Agencies now regularly catalog their
electronic information dissemination products.
In 1989, OMB Circular No. A-130 will be revised to incorporate
new guidance on electronic collection and dissemination. Agencies..
may be required to certify, before collecting information, that they
have examined automation alternatives. Agencies will be directed
to maintain continuous inventories of their information products
and to use the inventories as management tools with a view, for
example, to eliminating unnecessary publications and inappropri-
ate competition with the private sector.
Streamlining Acquisition and Financing
Fundamental to the Government's ability to perform its func-
tions is the ability to purchase and utilize technology that is avail-
able and being used by the commercial marketplace. The process
by which the Government acquires information technology is set
forth in the legal and regulatory framework created by various
statutes, including the Brooks Act, the Competition in Contracting
Act, and other parts of the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act. The number and variety of these guiding statutes
make the Government's acquisition of computers and telecommuni-
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3-88 MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1990
cations complex. The Government has begun to aspire toward the
private sector approach to acquiring commercial information tech-
nology, allowing for the purchase and use of more up-to-date tech-
nology to provide Government services.
Ongoing efforts continue to reduce the acquisition cycle from a
36-month process to a 12-month process, by eliminating bottlenecks
in the Federal information technology acquisition process, strength-
ening project management and streamlining the General Services
Administration's approval process. Currently underway is a GSA
sponsored initiative to restructure and clarify the Federal Informa-
tion Resources Management Regulations (FIRMR), which contain
the Governmentwide regulations for the acquisition, management
and use of information technology resources. Reorganizing the
FIRMR will make it easier for Government officials who must use
the FIRMR to procure information technology, as well as the con-
tracting community which responds to the Government's procure-
ment requests. When complete, the revised FIRMR will fully imple-
ment Public Law 99-500, the Paperwork Reduction Reauthorization
Act of 1986, including establishing uniform policies and procedures
for Federal acquisition and management of computer and telecom-
munications resources.
F. PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT
The procurement programs and processes of the Federal Govern-
ment are huge and complex. About $200 billion is spent annually
for needed goods and services, involving 22 million contract actions
issued each year by 150,000 employees. The procurement process is
defined by thousands of laws and tens of thousands of pages of
regulations. These laws and regulations are neither uniform nor
simple, often impeding competition and frustrating the timely ac-
quisition of quality items.
Reforming the Federal procurement process has been a continu-
ing goal of the Reagan Administration, and much has been accom-
plished. For example,
? In 1982, the Administration proposed to Congress a compre-
hensive blueprint for a Uniform Federal Procurement
System;
? In 1982, the President issued Executive Order 12352, which
implemented many fundamental administrative and regula-
tory reforms;
? In 1984, the Competition in Contracting Act was enacted,
reemphasizing the need for competition in awarding Govern-
ment contracts;
? In 1984, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the single, Gov-
ernmentwide acquisition regulation, was issued, eliminating
over 30,000 pages of agency regulations;
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