Agency Requests Review of Mystery Information Collection—Details Forgotten
Published Date: 12/4/2025
Notice
Summary
The Department of Agriculture wants your thoughts on a new info collection about keeping data safe when using confidential info. This affects researchers and anyone handling sensitive data, aiming to make the process clearer and less of a hassle. You’ve got until January 5, 2026, to share your ideas—no extra costs, just your feedback to help improve security and ease.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Researchers must complete OF-306 with PII
If you are a researcher approved to access ERS confidential data, you will be required to complete the OF-306 (Declaration for Federal Employment). The OF-306 collects administrative personally identifiable information (PII) such as Social Security Number, date of birth, sex, and citizenship, and ERS will collect this information from all approved researchers regardless of citizenship. The notice estimates 20 respondents annually and a total of 96 burden hours for this collection.
PII routed to REE Onboarding, not retained by ERS
The OF-306 administrative PII you provide will be submitted directly to REE Onboarding and will not be retained or processed by ERS. The OF-306 is approved under OMB Control No. 3206-0182 and the data handling is governed by USDA's Privacy Act System of Records Notice OCFO/NFC-1.
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Key Dates
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