The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) information collection program and its PRA officers oversee
the management and control of FRA internal and public information processing and tracking.

The PRA is a law that regulates how federal agencies collect information from the American public—and
government regulatory compliance is mandatory. A government office cannot ask or require the public
to provide it with information just because that office has decided that it needs or wants the
information. Therefore, the FRA has the responsibility to ensure that all information collected from the
public adheres to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The PRA requires federal agencies to seek and obtain Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval
before undertaking a collection of information directed to ten or more persons or those renewing a
collection of information for which the agency wants to continue. The PRA requires federal agencies to
reduce the burden the Federal Government imposes on members of the public.

The PRA oversight includes ensuring that federal agencies collect information that is necessary to fulfill
their statutory missions and guarding against unnecessary or duplicative information that imposes
unjustified costs on the American public.

The FRA currently has an active inventory of 59 OMB-approved information collections. These
supplemental links provide additional information regarding the PRA and its process:

Home | A Guide to the Paperwork Reduction Act (digital.gov)

Regulations.gov

(Enables public access to regulatory materials. The FAQ page outlines how to submit a comment on
Federal Register Notices, Requests for Information, and proposed rules.) 

FRA Documents in the Federal Register

FRA Information Collections Open for Comment