[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68132-68134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-28488]


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OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request: Proposed Somewhat 
Revised OGE Form 201 Ethics Act Access Form

AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics (OGE).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Government Ethics has submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) a somewhat revised OGE Form 201 used by 
persons for requesting access to executive branch public financial 
reports and other covered records for three-year approval under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. This proposed somewhat revised version of the 
form will replace the existing one.

DATES: Comments by the agencies and the public on this proposal are 
invited and should be received by December 9, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Mr. Stuart Shapiro, Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503; Telephone: 202-395-7316.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary T. Donovan at the Office of 
Government Ethics; Telephone: 202-208-8000, ext. 1185; TDD: 202-208-
8025; FAX: 202-208-8037. A copy of the proposed somewhat revised OGE 
Form 201 and the rest of the OGE submission package to OMB may be 
obtained, without charge, by contacting Ms. Donovan.

[[Page 68133]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Government Ethics has 
submitted to OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
chapter 35), a proposed somewhat revised OGE Form 201 ``Request to 
Inspect or Receive Copies of SF 278 Executive Branch Personnel Public 
Financial Disclosure Reports or Other Covered Records'' (OMB control 
 3209-0002).
    The Office of Government Ethics, as the supervising ethics office 
for the executive branch of the Federal Government under section 
109(18)(D) of the Ethics in Government Act (the Ethics Act), 5 U.S.C. 
app. Sec.  109(18)(D), is planning to modify and update the existing 
access form. That form, the OGE Form 201, collects information from, 
and provides certain information to, persons who seek access to SF 278 
reports and other covered records. The form reflects the requirements 
of the Ethics Act and OGE's implementing regulations that must be met 
by a person before access can be granted. These requirements relate to 
information about the identity of the requester, as well as any other 
person on whose behalf a record is sought, and a notification of 
prohibited uses of SF 278 reports. See section 105(b) and (c) of the 
Ethics Act, 5 U.S.C. app. Sec.  105(b) and (c), and 5 CFR 2634.603(c) 
and (f) of OGE's executive branchwide regulations thereunder. Executive 
branch departments and agencies are encouraged to utilize the OGE Form 
201, but they can, if they so choose, continue to use or develop their 
own forms as long as they contain all the required information.
    The revisions proposed to part I of the OGE Form 201 would create: 
more space for requesters to enter their name, address, and 
organization; received date and filled date blocks for agency use to 
facilitate internal administrative processing; and a type of applicant 
block to make internal processing easier. The Office of Government 
Ethics is also proposing a couple of minor stylistic changes to the 
form title (to pluralize the references to SF 278 reports and other 
covered records) and to reflect the new 2002 edition date, in addition 
to updating the OGE paperwork contact official to reflect recent OGE 
organizational changes.
    Also, OGE proposes to add reference in part III of the form, on 
``other covered records,'' to two additional types of records that 
requesters may obtain by submitting the OGE Form 201. These types of 
``covered records'' are: cover letters for OGE-approved gifts reporting 
waiver requests and cover letters for OGE-approved public reporting 
waiver requests for certain less than 130-day special Government 
employees. See sections 102(a)(2)(C) and 101(i) of the Ethics Act, 5 
U.S.C. app. Sec. Sec.  102(a)(2)(C) and 101(i) and 5 CFR 2634.304(f)(2) 
and 2634.205(b)(4) of OGE's executive branchwide regulations 
thereunder.
    In addition, OGE proposes to modify the Privacy Act Statement in 
part II of the form. The Office of Government Ethics is in the process 
of updating the OGE/GOVT-1 system of records notice (covering SF 278 
Public Financial Disclosure Reports and other name-retrieved ethics 
program records, and in which completed OGE Form 201s can be 
maintained). As a result, the Privacy Act Statement, which includes 
paraphrases of the routine uses, on the proposed modified OGE Form 201 
will be revised. A summary of the anticipated changes relevant to that 
OGE Form 201 statement has been prepared for inclusion with the mark-up 
copy of the form as proposed for revision, which is available from OGE 
upon request. Once the new language in OGE's forthcoming Privacy Act 
notice is finalized (anticipated completion date is early in 2003), OGE 
will request permission from OMB to modify the OGE Form 201 (with 
notice to OMB at that time) without further paperwork clearance even 
though the final new wording will take effect after reclearance of the 
renewed form.
    In part II of the form, OGE notes that it will adjust the 
referenced civil monetary penalty for prohibited uses of an SF 278 to 
which access has been gained when it is again adjusted in the next year 
or two. The penalty, under section 104(a) of the Ethics Act, 5 U.S.C. 
app. Sec.  104(a), will likely be raised from the current $11,000 
figure once OGE and the Department of Justice issue their next 
respective inflation adjustment rulemakings, anticipated in the summer 
or fall of 2003, in accordance with the 1996 Debt Collection 
Improvement Act revisions to the 1990 Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 
Adjustment Act. See 28 U.S.C. 2461 note. The civil monetary penalty was 
last adjusted in 1999 (see OGE's final rule at 64 FR 47095-47097 
(August 30, 1999) and the Justice Department's final rule as codified 
at 5 CFR 85.3(a)(4) in particular, at 64 FR 47099-47104 on the same 
date). The future OGE rulemaking will again revise 5 CFR 2634.703 of 
the executive branch financial disclosure regulation to reflect the 
adjusted penalty. The Office of Government Ethics will request 
permission from OMB to revise the OGE Form 201 penalty amount reference 
once that adjustment takes effect (with notice to OMB at that time) 
without further paperwork clearance, even though the adjustment occurs 
after reclearance of the revised form. Moreover, any periodic future 
adjustments to that civil monetary penalty, pursuant to further 
rulemakings by OGE and the Justice Department under the inflation 
adjustment laws, will also be reflected in future editions of the form.
    Since publication of the first round paperwork notice, and upon 
further evaluation of the business process associated with the OGE Form 
201, OGE is withdrawing two of its previously proposed modifications to 
the form, and is proposing additional minor revisions to the form. The 
Office of Government Ethics proposes these further revisions to 
facilitate internal administrative processing and to expedite the 
transfer of copies of the records to the requester. These further 
proposed changes are described in detail below. The mark-up copy of the 
OGE Form 201 as proposed for revision, which is available from OGE (see 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above), shows all the 
changes that would be made.
    The Office of Government Ethics proposes adding OGE's address, 
phone number, and fax number to the form header, moving the form number 
and edition date to the end of the form title, and moving the OMB 
control number to the lower right-hand corner of the first page of the 
form.
    Also, in part I of the form, OGE proposes withdrawing OGE's initial 
proposal of including an office FAX number block and request date 
block. Moreover, OGE proposes adding a date field in the applicant's 
signature block and creating a block for applicants to indicate whether 
they would like to pick up the requested records or have OGE mail the 
records to them. Furthermore, OGE proposes removing the word 
``Optional'' in the office telephone number block.
    In addition, in part II of the form (Notice of Action), OGE 
proposes removing the ``Other. Explanation:'' block and adding a 
signature and date block for persons picking up the requested records.
    Finally, under part II.C (Public Burden Information) of the form, 
OGE proposes replacing the phrase ``upper right-hand corner'' with 
``lower right-hand corner'' to reflect the proposed location of the OMB 
control number.
    In light of OGE's experience over the past three years (1999-2001), 
with a total of 667 non-Federal access requests received, the estimate 
of the average number of access forms expected to be filed annually at 
OGE by members of the public (primarily by news media, public interest 
groups and private citizens) is proposed to be adjusted from the 
current estimate of 172 to 222 (not

[[Page 68134]]

counting access requests by other Federal agencies or Federal 
employees). The estimated average amount of time to complete the form, 
including review of the instructions, remains at ten minutes. Thus, the 
overall estimated annual public burden for the OGE Form 201 for forms 
filed at OGE will increase from 29 hours in the current OMB paperwork 
inventory listing (172 forms x 10 minutes per form--number rounded off) 
to 37 hours (222 forms x 10 minutes per form--number rounded off). For 
the entire executive branch, OGE estimates that the overall usage of 
the form each year will average some 1,600.
    The Office of Government Ethics expects that the revised form 
should be ready, after OMB clearance, for dissemination to executive 
branch departments and agencies in the winter of 2002. The OGE Form 201 
as revised will continue to be made available free-of-charge as a 
downloadable Portable Document Format (PDF) file to the public as well 
as departments and agencies on OGE's Internet Web site (Uniform 
Resource Locator address: http://www.usoge.gov). The Office of 
Government Ethics will continue to permit departments and agencies to 
use the copy of the OGE Form 201 available on OGE's Web site or to 
develop and utilize their own, electronic versions of the OGE form, 
provided that they precisely duplicate the original to the extent 
possible. Agencies can also develop their own access forms, provided 
all the information required by the Ethics Act and OGE regulations is 
placed on such forms, along with the appropriate Privacy Act and 
paperwork notices with any attendant clearances being obtained by the 
agencies therefor.
    For now, OGE itself accepts filing of a completed OGE Form 201 by 
mail, FAX, or in person, but does not permit E-mail or Internet online 
transmission. Similarly, requested copies of reports or other covered 
records are supplied by OGE as hard (paper) copies.
    On June 19, 2002, OGE published its first round notice of the 
forthcoming request for paperwork clearance for the proposed somewhat 
revised OGE Form 201. See 67 FR 41728-41729). The Office of Government 
Ethics did not receive any comments in response to that notice, though 
one agency requested a copy of the proposed revised form.
    In this second notice, public comment is again invited on the 
proposed somewhat revised OGE Form 201 as set forth in this notice, 
including specifically views on: the need for and practical utility of 
this proposed modified collection of information; the accuracy of OGE's 
burden estimate; the enhancement of quality, utility and clarity of the 
information collected; and the minimization of burden (including the 
use of information technology). The Office of Government Ethics, in 
consultation with OMB, will consider all comments received, which will 
become a matter of public record.

    Approved: November 1, 2002.
Amy L. Comstock,
Director, Office of Government Ethics.
[FR Doc. 02-28488 Filed 11-7-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345-02-P