[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 139 (Monday, July 20, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43681-43682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14544]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 139 / Monday, July 20, 2020 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 43681]]



NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

5 CFR Part 7101

RIN 3209-AA57


Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the 
National Labor Relations Board

AGENCY: National Labor Relations Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Labor Relations Board (``NLRB'' or ``Board''), 
with the concurrence of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE), is 
issuing this final procedural rule amending the Supplemental Standards 
of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the National Labor Relations Board 
(NLRB Supplemental Ethics Regulations) to eliminate an out-of-date and 
unnecessary reference to the identity of its Designated Agency Ethics 
Official (DAEO) and Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official (ADAEO) 
from its regulations.

DATES: This amendment is effective July 20, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roxanne Rothschild, Executive 
Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, 1015 Half Street SE, 
Washington, DC 20570-0001, (202) 273-1940 (this is not a toll-free 
number), 1-866-315-6572 (TTY/TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On August 7, 1992, OGE published the Standards of Ethical Conduct 
for Employees of the Executive Branch (OGE Standards). See 57 FR 35006-
35067, as corrected at 57 FR 48557, 57 FR 52483, and 60 FR 51167. The 
OGE Standards, codified at 5 CFR part 2635, established uniform 
standards of ethical conduct that apply to all executive branch 
personnel.
    Pursuant to 5 CFR 2635.105, executive branch agencies are 
authorized to publish, with the concurrence of OGE, agency-specific 
supplemental regulations that are deemed necessary to properly 
implement their respective ethics programs. On February 12, 1997, the 
NLRB, with OGE's concurrence, published in the Federal Register an 
interim final rule to establish the NLRB Supplemental Ethics 
Regulations. 62 FR 6445. The NLRB is now amending the NLRB Supplemental 
Ethics Regulations to remove an out-of-date provision, 5 CFR 
7101.101(b), which designates the Director of the NLRB's Division of 
Administration as the NLRB's DAEO and the Deputy Director of 
Administration as the NLRB's ADAEO.
    The NLRB, in concurrence with OGE, is making this change because 
these provisions are inconsistent with the NLRB's current 
organizational structure. The Board restructured its headquarters 
offices in 2013 and 2016, resulting in a separate Ethics Office that is 
apart from the Division of Administration. The Board, in 2016, 
designated the head of the Ethics Office as the DAEO and submitted that 
designation to OGE. The Board notified the public of these 
organizational changes at the time they occurred in Federal Register 
notices. 81 FR 4069 (Jan. 25, 2016); 78 FR 44981 (July 25, 2013). The 
Board intends no change to its 2016 DAEO designation with this 
rulemaking.
    The NLRB is also removing provisions in Sec.  7101.101(b) that list 
some of the DAEO's responsibilities, which are similarly out of date. 
Detailed qualifications and responsibilities for DAEOs and ADAEOs at 
all agencies are found in OGE's regulations at 5 CFR 2638.104. Thus, 
removing the redundant provisions from paragraph (b) will eliminate 
confusion that could result from any inconsistencies between the two 
regulations.
    The deletion of Sec.  7101.101(b) will therefore update the NLRB's 
Supplemental Ethics Regulations so that they are no longer inconsistent 
with the NLRB's current organizational structure. This change will make 
the NLRB Supplemental Ethics Regulations consistent with those of most 
other executive branch agencies, which do not designate ethics 
officials or delineate their responsibilities in their supplemental 
ethics regulations.
    The Board is also revising the introductory sentence of the 
redesignated Sec.  7101.101(b) (formerly Sec.  7101.101(c)) to read 
``Agency's designee'' instead of ``Agency designees'' because the 
revised regulation solely refers to the DAEO, and no longer refers to 
both the DAEO and ADAEO.

II. Matters of Regulatory Procedure

Administrative Procedure Act

    This rule is published as a final rule. The NLRB considers this 
rule to be a procedural rule that is exempt from notice and public 
comment, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A), as a rule of ``agency 
organization, procedure, or practice.''

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The amended regulations contain no additional information-
collection or record-keeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 7101

    Conflict of interests, Government employees.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the NLRB amends 5 CFR 
part 7101 as follows:

PART 7101--SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES 
OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

0
1. The authority citation for 5 CFR part 7101 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 7301; 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978); 29 U.S.C. 141, 156; E.O. 12674, 54 FR 15159, 3 CFR, 
1989 Comp., p. 215, as modified by E.O. 12731, 55 FR 42457, 3 CFR, 
1990 Comp., p. 306; 5 CFR 2635.105, 2635.402(c), 2635.803, and 
2638.202(b).


Sec.  7101.101   [Amended]

0
2. Amend Sec.  7101.101 by
0
a. Removing paragraph (b) and redesignating paragraph (c) as paragraph 
(b);
0
b. Amending newly redesignated paragraph (b) by removing the words 
``Agency's designees'' and adding in their place ``Agency designee.''


[[Page 43682]]


    Dated: June 2, 2020.
Roxanne L. Rothschild,
Executive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board.
Emory Rounds,
Director, U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

[FR Doc. 2020-14544 Filed 7-17-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7545-01-P