NOAA and our partners use data collected through citizen science efforts. All federal projects that collect information from the public are required to get approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act. NOAA submitted an information collection request that covers 49 citizen science and crowdsourcing programs. That request is still in review, but the Office of Management and Budget gave NOAA permission to continue to operate these projects in the meantime. 

NOAA citizen science projects must include the Paperwork Reduction Act Statement and, when approved, a valid OMB collection number, in their requests for information from the public. 

NOAA may also collect limited information about volunteers themselves, such as their name and contact information. To do so, NOAA must give participants an opportunity to review the Privacy Act Statement, which explains the information that NOAA can collect, how the information may be used, and that sharing this information is voluntary. 

Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Information Collections

Information for the NOAA Citizen Science & Crowdsourcing information collections.

The following information is for the NOAA Citizen Science & Crowdsourcing information collections that NOAA has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. Currently, this includes 49 information collection projects.

Note: After OMB provides an OMB control number and an expiration date, NOAA will update this page to include the approved OMB control number and expiration date, delete the bolded text below, and remove this note.

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Statement

A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The approved OMB Control Number and Expiration Date for the Citizen Science & Crowdsourcing information collections are 0648-XXXX and XX/XX/202X. Without this approval, we usually could not conduct these information collection projects.

NOAA recognizes that the PRA does apply to its Citizen Science & Crowdsourcing information collection projects and OMB approval is pending. In the interim, OMB is permitting NOAA to conduct those projects. Public reporting for these information collections is estimated to be between one minute and 8 hours per response depending on the project, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the information collection. All responses to this information collection are voluntary. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden to the NOAA citizen science team at citizenscience@noaa.gov.

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: The collection of this information is authorized under 5 U.S.C. § 301, Departmental regulations which authorizes the operations of an executive agency, including the creation, custodianship, maintenance and distribution of records, and 15 U.S.C. 1512, Powers and duties of the Department.

Purpose: NOAA is collecting this information to help meet its mission to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, ocean, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. NOAA collects limited information, such as name, address, phone number, or email address for a variety of purposes. This information will be used to respond to user inquiries or provide services requested by the user.

Routine Uses: Disclosure of this information is permitted under the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. Section 552a) to be shared among Department staff for work-related purposes. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all of the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notice COMMERCE/NOAA-11, Contact Information for Members of the Public Requesting or Providing Information Related to NOAA’s Mission, and COMMERCE/DEPT-23, Information Collected Electronically in Connection with Department of Commerce Activities, Events, and Programs.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. By providing this information, you are consenting to the use of that information only for the purpose for which it is submitted.