[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44718-44719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17330]


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OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS


Agency Information Collection Activities; Information Collection 
Renewal; Comment Request for OGE Form 278e Executive Branch Personnel 
Public Financial Disclosure Report

AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics (OGE).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: After publication of this second round notice, the Office of 
Government Ethics (OGE) intends to

[[Page 44719]]

request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) renew its 
approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act for an existing information 
collection, entitled the OGE Form 278e Executive Branch Personnel 
Public Financial Disclosure Report.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Grant Anderson at the U.S. Office of 
Government Ethics; telephone: 202-482-9318; TTY: 800-877-8339; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure 
Report.
    Agency Form Number: OGE Form 278e.
    Abstract: The OGE Form 278 collects information from certain 
officers and high-level employees in the executive branch for conflicts 
of interest review and public disclosure. The form is also completed by 
individuals who are nominated by the President for high-level executive 
branch positions requiring Senate confirmation and individuals entering 
into and departing from other public reporting positions in the 
executive branch. The financial information collected relates to: 
Assets and income; transactions; gifts, reimbursements and travel 
expenses; liabilities; agreements or arrangements; outside positions; 
and compensation over $5,000 paid by a source--all subject to various 
reporting thresholds and exclusions. The information is collected in 
accordance with section 102 of the Ethics in Government Act, 5 U.S.C. 
app. sec. 102, as amended by the Representative Louise McIntosh 
Slaughter Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (Pub. L. 112-105) 
(STOCK Act) and OGE's implementing financial disclosure regulations at 
5 CFR part 2634.
    In 2013, OGE sought and received approval for the OGE Form 278e, an 
electronic version of the Form 278, implemented pursuant to the e-
filing system mandated under section 11(b) of the STOCK Act. The OGE 
Form 278e collects the same information as the OGE Form 278. In 2014, 
OGE sought and received approval to incorporate the OGE Form 278e into 
its Integrity e-filing application. Integrity has been in use since 
January 1, 2015, and OGE now requires filers to use a version of the 
OGE Form 278e rather than the old OGE Form 278. The version of the Form 
278e that is produced by Integrity is a streamlined output report 
format that presents only the filer's inputs in given categories and 
does not report other categories not selected by the filer. OGE also 
continues to maintain an Excel version of the form and a 508 compliant 
PDF version on its website.
    A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on this information collection was published on June 2, 2021 
(86 FR 29583). OGE received four responses to that notice, two of which 
contained several suggestions.
    Several of the suggestions addressed the reporting requirements, 
for example eliminating the requirement to report diversified mutual 
funds. The financial disclosure requirements are dictated by the Ethics 
in Government Act (EIGA), 5 U.S.C. app. sec. 102, as amended. 
Therefore, these suggested changes could not be made without revisions 
to the EIGA. Several of the suggestions proposed user experience 
changes to the Integrity system. There is a pre-existing process to 
collect, analyze, and prioritize proposed changes to the Integrity 
system through the Integrity Advisory Council (IAC). Agency employees 
should forward suggestions concerning Integrity to their agency's 
Integrity administrator or an agency ethics official who can present 
the suggestions for IAC consideration.
    Two suggestions involved the clarity of the form's instructions. 
One of these suggestions was considered, but it was determined that 
making the change would actually decrease the overall clarity of the 
instructions. The other suggestion made a valid point that a particular 
instruction can be confusing to filers, but offered no specific 
alternative. Without a specific alternative to consider, OGE is unable 
to make this change as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act renewal 
process. OGE intends to study the issue for a future revision.
    Finally, several suggestions made by Citizens for Responsibility & 
Ethics in Washington (CREW) focused on requiring additional personal 
information from filers, which would increase the burden of the 
information collection and may implicate privacy concerns. One CREW 
proposal suggested requiring more information about filers' assets. 
That idea was previously considered and OGE determined that the 
resulting burden to the filer would be too high. Some of CREW's 
suggestions are not directly related to the purpose of the form and/or 
would require a legislative or regulatory change. To the extent that 
the proposed changes may assist the government in identifying potential 
conflicts of interest, they will be considered for a future iteration 
of the form.
    OMB Control Number: 3209-0001.
    Type of Information Collection: Extension of a currently approved 
collection.
    Type of Review Request: Regular.
    Affected Public: Private citizen Presidential nominees to executive 
branch positions subject to Senate confirmation; other private citizens 
who are potential (incoming) Federal employees whose positions are 
designated for public disclosure filing; those who file termination 
reports from such positions after their Government service ends; and 
Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 3,196.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 31,960 hours.
    Request for Comments: OGE is publishing this second round notice of 
its intent to request paperwork clearance renewal for OGE Form 278e. 
Public comment is invited specifically on the need for and practical 
utility of this information collection, 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 comments will become a matter of 
public record.

    Approved: August 10, 2021.
Emory Rounds,
Director, U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
[FR Doc. 2021-17330 Filed 8-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345-03-P