[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50018-50021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20763]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary

[Secretary's Order 2-2000]


U.S. Department of Labor Internet Services

    1. Purpose. To establish policy and assign responsibilities for the 
development, implementation, institutionalization, and continuing 
support of Department of Labor public Internet services.
    2. Authority and Relationship to Other Orders a. Authority. This 
Order is issued pursuant to 29 U.S.C. 551 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. 301; and 
sections 5122-5127 of the Clinger-Cohen Act [40 U.S.C. 1422-27].
    b. Relationship to Other Orders.
    (1) This Order does not affect Secretary's Order 2-82, which 
delegates responsibilities to the Assistant Secretary for Policy.
    (2) This Order does not affect Secretary's Order 1-2000, which 
delegates responsibilities to the Chief Information Officer.
    (3) This Order does not affect Secretary's Order 7-89, which 
delegates responsibilities to the Assistant Secretary for Congressional 
and Intergovernmental Affairs and the Assistant Secretary for Public 
Affairs.
    (4) This Order does not affect Secretary's Order 6-83 which 
establishes procedures regulating departmental audiovisual activities.
    3. Background. The Department of Labor (DOL) established a central 
public Internet web site in September 1995. By March 2000, thousands of 
documents had been published on the DOL site and

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the number of visitors had reached more than 12.5 million each month. 
The importance of the DOL web site to the public continues to expand.
    4. Statement of Policy. The public Internet web site has emerged 
as, and will continue to be, a key vehicle for the Department's 
communications with the public. DOL's ability to communicate and 
conduct business with the public will continue to require the effective 
use and management of Internet technology. To effectively utilize 
Internet services, the Department must appropriately integrate them 
into its daily program and administrative operations. To formally 
implement this process, the Department must:
    a. Assure the availability of regularly updated information about 
DOL and its laws, regulations, programs, activities, and data to the 
public through the web site.
    b. Provide a mechanism for DOL to improve its ability to 
communicate and do business with the public through the Internet.
    c. Assure adequate planning and resources, including training of 
DOL employees, to support current and future operations of DOL web site 
services.
    d. Ensure that Departmental use of the web site is in compliance 
with statutory and administrative information technology (IT) mandates.
    e. Ensure that all information placed on the main DOL or individual 
agency web sites receives appropriate review and clearance within the 
Department prior to issuance, including consideration of all 
appropriate factors such as: the need for coordination between relevant 
agencies; appropriate levels of clearance; timeliness and accuracy of 
information; and the implications of applicable statutory and 
administrative requirements or guidelines.
    f. Ensure that web site clearance requirements and processes are 
properly integrated with general Department and agency clearance 
requirements and processes.
    g. Promote easy access to DOL public web site information through 
user-friendly, effective and efficient web sites and maximize the use 
of accessibility features to make it easier for members of the public, 
including those with special needs, to find the information they seek.
    h. Promote secure, transactional e-government activities on the DOL 
web site.
    5. Definitions. a. ``Agency Public Web Site Content Clearance 
Processes'' refers to the procedures to be developed by individual DOL 
agencies for purposes of reviewing and approving documents and other 
substantive materials to be placed on their web sites (see paragraph 
6f(4));
    b. ``Application and Presentation Activities'' refers to activities 
that occur at different layers of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) 
model. The OSI model is a network model that professionals can use to 
develop and administer networking systems. This model was developed by 
the International Standards Organization (ISO).
    (1) The Presentation Layer translates the sender's data to the 
format of the receiver.
    (2) The Application Layer includes all the processes that the users 
directly interact with, as well as other processes that users are not 
necessarily aware of, and provides the services user applications need 
to communicate through the network.
    c. ``Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance Requirements'' 
refers to the minimum standards applicable to the Departmental Public 
Web Site Clearance Process and Agency Public Web Site Clearance 
Processes. See paragraph 6a(1)(b).
    d. ``Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance Process'' 
refers to the procedures to be developed by the Assistant Secretary for 
Policy (ASP) for purposes of the Department's review and approval of 
documents and other substantive materials to be placed on the DOL 
public web site and which require Department-level clearance (see 
paragraph 6a(1)(a).
    e. ``Production Internet Environment'' refers to the real or fully 
developed operational system that is used by the intended customer in 
the live, or operation environment.
    f. The term ``new web site'' refers to a new presence on the public 
DOL Internet web site or a web site where DOL has shared 
responsibility. Examples include, but are not limited to, sites that 
represent a new program, statute, Departmental initiative, new type of 
information offered to the public, or new web sites co-sponsored by the 
Department and another entity, public or private.
    6. Delegation of Authority and Assignment of Responsibilities. a. 
The Assistant Secretary for Policy is delegated authority and assigned 
responsibility for:
    (1) Coordinating and managing the overall DOL public web site 
presence to ensure that web site-based information and services are 
cohesive, accessible, timely, accurate and authoritative. This 
coordination and management shall include establishing, in consultation 
with the Office of the Solicitor (SOL), the Office of the Secretary 
(OSEC), the Office of Public Affairs (OPA), the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM), and other relevant 
agencies:
    (a) A ``Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance Process,'' 
which shall be coordinated by ASP and which shall apply to Public Web 
Site content which requires Department-level clearance; and
    (b) A ``Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance 
Requirements,'' which shall set forth minimum standards for both 
individual Agency Public Web Site Content Clearance Processes (see 
paragraph 6f(4)) and the Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance 
Process established by ASP under subparagraph (a). The Departmental 
Public Web Site Content Clearance Requirements shall apply to all 
content posted on Departmental and Agency Public Web Sites [including 
hypertext links to non-DOL sites], and to all content provided to other 
web sites by the Department, and shall, at a minimum:
    1. Provide for appropriate coordination with all relevant agencies 
and be properly integrated with general Departmental and agency 
clearance processes;
    2. Provide criteria for determining the appropriate level of 
clearance for documents posted on Public Web Sites, including (at a 
minimum):
    a. Clearance by the Office of the Secretary (and all relevant 
agency heads) of all material that bears the Secretary's signature, 
purports to be over the Secretary's signature, or purports to represent 
the Secretary's views;
    b. Clearance by the Office of the Deputy Secretary (and all 
relevant agency heads) of all material that bears the Deputy 
Secretary's signature, purports to be over the Deputy Secretary's 
signature, or purports to represent the Deputy Secretary's views; and
    c. Clearance by the relevant agency head (and by other agency heads 
if appropriate) of all material that bears that agency head's 
signature, purports to be over that agency head's signature, or 
purports to represent that agency head's views.
    3. Ensure that information is accurate, timely, and regularly 
updated;
    4. Provide for consideration of, and appropriate coordination with 
SOL regarding, applicable statutory and administrative requirements or 
guidelines, including, for example, the programmatic laws administered 
by the Department; the Privacy Act; the

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Paperwork Reduction Act; the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995; the 
Freedom of Information Act; the Administrative Procedure Act; 
copyright, trademark and patent laws; civil rights laws; Federalism 
principles; ethics requirements; and Administration guidance regarding 
agency use of the Internet;
    5. Provide for consideration of, and appropriate coordination with 
SOL regarding, the need for and content of disclaimers; and
    6. Provide for ASP coordination of clearance by all relevant 
agencies (including, at a minimum, OPA, OASAM, OSEC, and SOL), of all 
new DOL web sites and related web pages (including new individual 
agency web sites and related web pages).
    (2) In consultation with appropriate agencies and the Internet 
Management Group, developing:
    (a) Cross-cutting, web-based applications; and
    (b) Implementation guidelines, policies, and procedures for such 
web-based applications, in compliance with DOL IT architecture, in 
accordance with the IT capital planning and investment management 
process, and in conjunction with agencies.
    (3) In consultation with appropriate agencies and the Internet 
Management Group, establishing policies and processes for the 
development, implementation, operation, expansion, and 
institutionalization of Departmental and individual agency web site 
content and services for application and presentation activities.
    (4) Monitoring the implementation of DOL Public Web Site 
application and presentation services, including individual agency 
services, to assure the quality and timeliness of the content and 
adherence to DOL policies and standards; and preparing periodic status 
reports, including action items, for individual agency web sites.
    (5) Coordinating Departmental Public Web Site application and 
presentation activities and functions with designated Agency Internet 
Coordinators and the Internet Management Group (see paragraph 6a(9)).
    (6) As appropriate, providing input to the ASAM, the CIO, SOL, or 
other relevant agencies on Public Web Site content and services 
activities for the DOL Strategic Plan, the IT Strategic Plan, the DOL 
Performance Plan, Government Performance and Results Act reports, 
Congressional testimony, inquiries and other reports as necessary to 
ensure accuracy and consistency with Departmental goals and vision.
    (7) In coordination with SOL and OSEC, reviewing Agency Public Web 
Site Clearance Processes (see paragraph 6f(4)) for compliance with the 
Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance Requirements established 
under paragraph 6a(1)(b) and, if the processes are compliant, approving 
them.
    (8) In conjunction with OPA, and subject to the Departmental Public 
Web Site Content Clearance Process established under paragraph 
6a(1)(a), maintaining and approving all information on the main DOL web 
pages;
    (9) Establishing and chairing an Internet Management Group 
comprising designated Agency Internet Coordinators and designated 
policy-level representatives from SOL, OPA, and the CIO, chartered to 
promote Internet content coordination throughout the Department, 
communicate Departmental Internet policies to agencies, and explore and 
implement opportunities for improving the utility of the DOL Public Web 
Site.
    (10) Developing, in consultation with the Internet Management Group 
(see paragraph 6a(9)), relevant policies and guidance for content of 
public Departmental and Agency Internet Services not involving the 
Public Web Site.
    (11) In coordination with the CIO, defining a Departmental Internet 
Vision Statement.
    (12) Preparing Annual Internet Status Reports for the CIO and the 
Secretary highlighting progress toward, and plans for, realizing the 
Department's Internet vision.
    b. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is assigned responsibility 
for:
    (1) Consistent with Secretary's Order 1-2000 (``Authority and 
Responsibilities for Implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (P.L. 104-13) and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (Information 
Technology Management Reform Act of 1996) (Division E of P.L. 104-
106),'' overseeing the technical aspects of Departmental Internet 
activities pursuant to the Clinger-Cohen Act, the Paperwork Reduction 
Act, and other applicable statutory or administrative mandates; and
    (2) Designating a policy-level representative to serve on the 
Internet Management Group (see paragraph 6a(9)).
    c. The Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (ASAM) 
is responsible for assuring, through the Department's budget review 
process, that agencies have appropriate plans and budgetary commitment 
to support the continuing development, implementation, operation, and 
expansion of DOL Internet services. In addition, the ASAM is assigned 
responsibility for:
    (1) Providing for the production Internet environment for the DOL 
web site in accordance with the DOL IT Architecture.
    (2) Developing and maintaining interoperability and interface 
procedures.
    (3) Designating a policy-level representative to serve on the 
Internet Management Group (see paragraph 6a(9)).
    d. The Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs is assigned 
responsibility for:
    (1) In consultation with ASP, SOL and OSEC, establishing policy and 
standards to appropriately integrate DOL Public Web Site services into 
the public affairs operations of the Department;
    (2) Ensuring that agency public affairs officers address issues 
related to the use of the DOL Public Web Site services in public 
affairs operations;
    (3) Monitoring the quality and timeliness of public affairs 
information on individual agency web pages;
    (4) In conjunction with ASP, and subject to the Departmental Public 
Web Site Content Clearance Process established under paragraph 
6a(1)(a), maintaining and approving all information on the main DOL web 
pages; and
    (5) Designating a policy-level representative to serve on the 
Internet Management Group (see paragraph 6a(9)).
    e. The Solicitor of Labor is delegated authority and assigned 
responsibility for:
    (1) Providing legal advice and counsel to the Department and 
agencies on all matters arising in the administration of this Order;
    (2) Consulting with ASP and individual agencies in the design and 
implementation of the Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance 
Requirements (see paragraph 6a(1)(b)); Departmental and Agency Public 
Web Site Content Clearance Processes (see paragraphs 6a(1)(a) and 
6f(4)); web-based applications and related implementation guidelines, 
policies and procedures (see paragraph 6a(2)); and policy and process 
for Public Web Site content and services for application and 
presentation activities (see paragraph 6a(3));
    (3) Consulting with OPA on the integration of DOL Public Web Site 
services into the public affairs operations of the Department; and
    (4) Designating a policy-level representative to serve on the 
Internet Management Group (see paragraph 6a(9)).

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    f. DOL Agency Heads are delegated authority and assigned 
responsibility for developing, implementing, operating, and expanding 
their individual agency Internet services in accordance with DOL policy 
and standards, including the Departmental Public Web Site Content 
Clearance Requirements established under paragraph 6a(1). These 
responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
    (1) Developing individual agency visions and plans for Internet 
services to support current and future mission needs;
    (2) Providing the resources and training necessary to develop, 
implement, operate, and expand individual agency Internet services;
    (3) Designating Agency Internet Coordinators at the policy level to 
serve as points of contact on any Internet-related issue, and to serve 
as members of the Internet Management Group (see paragraph 6a(9));
    (4) Developing, implementing and maintaining Agency Public Web Site 
Content Clearance Processes, which shall
    (a) Accord with the Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance 
Requirements established under paragraph 6a(1)(b) above;
    (b) Be properly integrated with general Department and agency 
clearance processes; and
    (c) Be reviewed and approved by ASP, OSEC and SOL.
    (5) Ensuring quality control and full compliance with all 
Departmental Internet policies and processes; and
    (6) Providing input to ASP concerning the Annual Internet Status 
Report and other Internet reports as necessary.
    (7) Obtaining approval of all new web sites before making the sites 
available to the public in accordance with paragraph 6a(1)(b)(6).
    (8) Ensuring that all grandfathered Public Web Site content is 
cleared consistently with the requirements of Paragraph 10b.
    (9) The requirements of this section apply to all DOL Agency Heads, 
including (but not limited to) ASP, OASAM, the CIO, OPA and SOL.
    7. Reservation of Authority. a. The submission of reports and 
recommendations to the President and Congress concerning the 
administration of statutory or administrative provisions is reserved to 
the Secretary.
    b. This Secretary's Order does not affect the authorities or 
responsibilities of the Office of Inspector General under the Inspector 
General Act of 1978, as amended, or under Secretary's Order 2-90 
(January 31, 1990).
    8. Transfer of Authority. The Assistant Secretary for Policy may 
transfer the authority and responsibility set forth in paragraph 6a(10) 
to other agency heads, as appropriate.
    9. Effective Date. This Order is effective immediately.
    10. Grandfather Clause. a. Existing Departmental and Agency Public 
Web Site clearance requirements and processes shall continue in effect 
until the new requirements and processes created under paragraphs 6a(1) 
and 6f(4) (whichever applies) are established.
    b. ASP shall provide a detailed plan, to be implemented within a 
timetable established by ASP, for assuring that all grandfathered 
Public Web Site content has been cleared consistent with the 
Departmental Public Web Site Content Clearance Process established 
under paragraph 6a(1)(a).

    Dated: June 22, 2000.
Alexis M. Herman,
Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 00-20763 Filed 8-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-23-U