[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 14, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49639-49640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23930]


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OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS

5 CFR Part 2634

RIN 3209-AA00


Revisions to the Public Financial Disclosure Gifts Waiver 
Provision

AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics (OGE).

ACTION: Final rule amendments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Government Ethics is amending portions of the 
executive branch regulation which allows the OGE Director to grant a 
waiver of certain gift disclosure requirements for filers of the public 
financial disclosure report form, SF 278. The amendments permit the 
grant of a waiver in appropriate cases, if the basis of the 
relationship between the grantor and grantee of a gift and the 
motivation behind a gift are personal. The changes also clarify that 
the cover letter requesting a waiver will be publicly available if the 
Director of OGE approves the waiver request, either in whole or in 
part. Additionally, the amendments expressly require that a description 
of the gift and its value be included in a waiver request. Finally, the 
changes explicitly require that the information required to be in a 
waiver request pertaining to the donor must include the necessary 
information for each donor when a gift has multiple donors.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 14, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judy H. Mann, Attorney-Advisor, or 
Norman B. Smith, Senior Associate General Counsel, Office of Government 
Ethics; telephone: 202-208-8000; TDD: 202-208-8025; FAX: 202-208-8037.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 13, 1999, OGE published proposed 
minor amendments to the executive branch regulation which requires the 
disclosure of certain gifts received by the filers of the Standard Form 
(SF) 278 Public Financial Disclosure Report forms, their spouses, and 
their dependent children. See 64 FR 25849-25851. After a 60-day comment 
period, no outside comments from the public or agencies were received. 
Therefore, OGE is publishing the proposed amendments, subject to a few 
minor modifications that OGE has decided to make, as a final rule, 
effective October 14, 1999. A summary of the amendments follows.
    Under 5 CFR 2634.304, and 5 U.S.C. app., section 102(a)(2) of the 
Ethics in Government Act, a person who files an SF 278 is required to 
report certain gifts that he, his spouse, or his dependent child 
receives. Section 2634.304, as authorized by the Ethics Act, permits a 
filer not to disclose certain gifts if the filer receives a waiver from 
OGE. These final rule amendments to OGE's financial disclosure 
regulation permit the OGE Director to grant a waiver of reporting if he 
determines that the basis of the relationship between the grantor and 
the grantee and the motivation behind the gift are ``personal,'' rather 
than ``entirely personal,'' provided that no countervailing public 
purpose requires public reporting. In addition, the final amendments 
will provide a few technical clarifications. First, the amendments 
clarify at Sec. 2634.304(f)(2) that the public can access the cover 
letter of a waiver request for which the Director of OGE has granted 
full or partial approval. Second, new Sec. 2634.304(f)(3)(ii)(D) will 
require the filer explicitly to include both a description of the gift 
and its value in the waiver request. Finally, under 
Sec. 2634.304(f)(3)(iii) as revised, a filer must provide the required 
information with respect to each donor of the gift.
    The Office of Government Ethics has determined on its own to make a 
few minor adjustments which will further clarify the rule. First, we 
are now amending the passage in the introductory text of 
Sec. 2634.304(f)(1), which states that a gift for which a waiver is 
granted ``need not be aggregated under this section by public filers,'' 
to state that ``the value of a gift as defined in Sec. 2634.105(h) need 
not be aggregated for reporting threshold purposes under this section 
by public filers, and therefore the gift need not be reported on an SF 
278'' if a waiver is granted. The revised language will help clarify 
the relationship between aggregation and reporting by stating that the 
waiver of the requirement for SF 278 filers to aggregate a gift has the 
effect of waiving the requirement to report the gift, since gifts are 
only reportable if they aggregate more than the dollar value threshold 
from any single source. The new wording also reemphasizes that the 
waiver procedure applies to filers of SF 278s rather than filers of the 
OGE Form 450. Because the OGE Form 450 is nonpublic, no purpose would 
be served by a procedure for waiving public disclosure of information 
which they contain. In the final minor technical modification, the 
language as proposed in paragraph ii of the new example to paragraph 
(f)(1) of Sec. 2634.304 will be changed from stating that ``the 
Director of OGE will consider a request for a waiver of reporting for 
each of these gifts'' to ``the Director of OGE may grant a request for 
a waiver of the requirement to aggregate and report on an SF 278 each 
of these gifts.'' This new language will clarify that the waiver is for 
the requirement to aggregate and report on an SF 278 and that the 
Director, depending on the facts, may grant a waiver request for each 
particular gift.

Matters of Regulatory Procedure

Executive Order 12866

    In promulgating these final rule amendments, the Office of 
Government Ethics has adhered to the regulatory philosophy and the 
applicable principles of regulation set forth in section 1 of Executive 
Order 12866,

[[Page 49640]]

Regulatory Planning and Review. These amendments have not been reviewed 
by the Office of Management and Budget under that Executive order, 
since they are not deemed ``significant'' thereunder.

Executive Order 12988

    As Deputy Director of the Office of Government Ethics, I have 
reviewed this final amendatory regulation in light of section 3 of 
Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, and certify that it meets 
the applicable standards provided therein.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    As Deputy Director of the Office of Government Ethics, I certify 
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) that this 
rulemaking will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities because it primarily affects Federal executive 
branch departments and agencies and certain of their employees who file 
SF 278 reports.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35) does not apply, 
because this rulemaking does not contain information collection 
requirements that require the approval of the Office of Management and 
Budget.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 2634

    Certificates of divestiture, Conflict of interests, Government 
employees, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Trusts 
and trustees.

    Approved: September 9, 1999.
F. Gary Davis,
Deputy Director, Office of Government Ethics.
    Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Office 
of Government Ethics is amending 5 CFR part 2634 as follows:

PART 2634--EXECUTIVE BRANCH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE, QUALIFIED TRUSTS, 
AND CERTIFICATES OF DIVESTITURE

    1. The authority citation for part 2634 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government Act of 1978); 26 
U.S.C. 1043; Pub. L. 101-410, 104 Stat. 890, 28 U.S.C. 2461 note 
(Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990), as 
amended by Sec. 31001, Pub. L. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (Debt 
Collection Improvement Act of 1996); E.O. 12674, 54 FR 15159, 3 CFR, 
1989 Comp., p. 215, as modified by E.O. 12731, 55 FR 42547, 3 CFR, 
1990 Comp., p. 306.

    2. Section 2634.304 is amended by:
    a. Revising the introductory text of paragraph (f)(1);
    b. Revising paragraph (f)(1)(i);
    c. Adding an Example after paragraph (f)(1)(ii);
    d. Revising paragraph (f)(2); and
    e. Revising paragraph (f)(3).
    The revisions and addition read as follows:


Sec. 2634.304  Gifts and reimbursements.

* * * * *
    (f) * * * (1) In general. In unusual cases, the value of a gift as 
defined in Sec. 2634.105(h) need not be aggregated for reporting 
threshold purposes under this section by public filers, and therefore 
the gift need not be reported on an SF 278, if the Director of OGE 
receives a written request for and issues a waiver, after determining 
that:
    (i) Both the basis of the relationship between the grantor and the 
grantee and the motivation behind the gift are personal; and
    (ii) * * *

    Example to paragraph (f)(1). i. The Secretary of Education and 
her spouse receive the following two wedding gifts:
    A. Gift 1--A crystal decanter valued at $285 from the 
Secretary's former college roommate and lifelong friend, who is a 
real estate broker in Wyoming.
    B. Gift 2--A gift of a print valued at $300 from a business 
partner of the spouse, who owns a catering company.
    ii. Under these circumstances, the Director of OGE may grant a 
request for a waiver of the requirement to aggregate and report on 
an SF 278 each of these gifts.

    (2) Public disclosure of waiver request. If approved in whole or in 
part, the cover letter requesting the waiver shall be subject to the 
public disclosure requirements in Sec. 2634.603 of this part.
    (3) Procedure. (i) A public filer seeking a waiver under this 
paragraph (f) shall submit a request to the Office of Government 
Ethics, through his agency. The request shall be made by a cover letter 
which identifies the filer and his position and which states that a 
waiver is requested under this section.
    (ii) On an enclosure to the cover letter, the filer shall set 
forth:
    (A) The identity and occupation of the donor;
    (B) A statement that the relationship between the donor and the 
filer is personal in nature;
    (C) A statement that neither the donor nor any person or 
organization who employs the donor or whom the donor represents, 
conducts or seeks business with, engages in activities regulated by, or 
is directly affected by action taken by, the agency employing the 
filer. If the preceding statement cannot be made without qualification, 
the filer shall indicate those qualifications, along with a statement 
demonstrating that he plays no role in any official action which might 
directly affect the donor or any organization for which the donor works 
or serves as a representative; and
    (D) A brief description of the gift and the value of the gift.
    (iii) With respect to the information required in paragraph 
(f)(3)(ii) of this section, if a gift has more than one donor, the 
filer shall provide the necessary information for each donor.

[FR Doc. 99-23930 Filed 9-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345-01-P