[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 43 (Monday, March 4, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15450-15451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04442]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 0

RIN 2900-AS04


Agency Ethics Officials

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its 
regulation governing Agency ethics officials to reflect that the 
Secretary designates these officials, to identify the employees who may 
serve in these roles, and to make other relevant nomenclature changes 
regarding employees and groups within the Office of General Counsel.

DATES: Effective date: This rule is effective March 4, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tracianna L. Winston, Chief Counsel, 
Ethics Specialty Team, Office of the General Counsel (021), Department 
of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420, (202) 
461-6269. (This is not a toll-free telephone number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 
Chapter I, Part 0 governs the Values, Standards of Ethical Conduct, and 
Related Responsibilities of VA employees. Subpart B, ``General 
Provisions'' includes 38 CFR 0.735-1 ``Agency ethics officials'' which 
is amended to provide updated information regarding the designation of 
agency ethics officials and the employees who may serve in these roles. 
The sections are also amended to reflect nomenclature changes to the 
names of certain Office of General Counsel offices and the employees in 
those offices.
    Specifically, 38 CFR 0.735-1(a) is amended to reflect that the 
Secretary designates attorneys from the Office of General Counsel to 
serve as the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) and Alternate 
Designated Agency Ethics Official (ADAEO). Additionally, 38 CFR 0.735-
1(b)(1) is amended to reflect nomenclature changes to the names of 
Office of General Counsel positions, including District Chief Counsels, 
and teams, including the Ethics Specialty Team.

[[Page 15451]]

This subsection is also amended to broaden the group of individuals who 
may act as Deputy Ethics Officials pursuant to delegations from the 
DAEO. Finally, 38 CFR 0.735-1(b)(2) is amended to include a citation to 
5 CFR 2638.104(e) as the existing citation to 5 CFR 2638.204 is 
outdated.

Administrative Procedure Act

    This final rule is a procedural rule that does not impose new 
rights, duties, or obligations on affected individuals but, rather, 
explains that the Secretary appoints Agency ethics officials and 
identifies the employees that may serve as Agency ethics officials. 
Therefore, it is exempt from the prior notice-and-comment and delayed-
effective-date requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A) and 
(d)(3). This rule merely updates information regarding the delegation 
of Agency ethics officials, the employees who may serve in those roles, 
and the names of certain offices and employees in the Office of General 
Counsel.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This final rule contains no provisions constituting a collection of 
information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3521).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses requirements 
of sections 603 and 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 
601-612, are not applicable to this rule because a notice of proposed 
rulemaking is not required for this rule. Even so, the Secretary hereby 
certifies that this final rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities as they are defined in 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. This rule will affect only: (1) Office 
of General Counsel (OGC) and VA employees who serve as Agency ethics 
officials, and (2) VA employees seeking ethics advice from these Agency 
ethics officials. Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the initial 
and final regulatory flexibility analysis requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 
and 604 do not apply.

Executive Orders 12866, 13563 and 14094

    Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) directs 
agencies to assess the costs and benefits of available regulatory 
alternatives and, when regulation is necessary, to select regulatory 
approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, 
environmental, public health and safety effects, and other advantages; 
distributive impacts; and equity). Executive Order 13563 (Improving 
Regulation and Regulatory Review) emphasizes the importance of 
quantifying both costs and benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, 
and promoting flexibility. Executive Order 14094 (Executive Order on 
Modernizing Regulatory Review) supplements and reaffirms the 
principles, structures, and definitions governing contemporary 
regulatory review established in Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 
1993 (Regulatory Planning and Review), and Executive Order 13563 of 
January 18, 2011 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review). The 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined that this 
rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 
12866, as amended by Executive Order 14094. The Regulatory Impact 
Analysis associated with this rulemaking can be found as a supporting 
document at www.regulations.gov.

Assistance Listing

    There are no Assistance Listing numbers and titles for the programs 
affected by this document.

Congressional Review Act

    Pursuant to Subtitle E of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (known as the Congressional Review Act) (5 U.S.C. 
801 et seq.), the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 
designated this rule as not satisfying the criteria under 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

Unfunded Mandates

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C. 
1532, that agencies prepare an assessment of anticipated costs and 
benefits before issuing any rule that may result in the expenditure by 
State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the 
private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for 
inflation) in any one year. This final rule will have no such effect on 
State, local, and tribal governments, or on the private sector.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 0

    Core Values, Characteristics and Customer Experience Principles of 
the Department, General Provisions, Standards of Ethical Conduct, and 
Related Responsibilities of Employees.

Signing Authority

    Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved this 
document on February 26, 2024, and authorized the undersigned to sign 
and submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication electronically as an official document of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.

Consuela Benjamin,
Regulations Development Coordinator, Office of Regulation Policy & 
Management, Office of General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs amends 38 CFR part 0 as follows:

PART 0--VALUES, STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT, AND RELATED 
RESPONSIBILITIES

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

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 38 U.S.C. 501; see sections 201, 301, 
and 502(a) of 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.


0
2. Amend Sec.  0.735-1 by revising paragraphs (a), (b)(1), and (b)(2) 
to read as follows:


Sec.  0.735-1  Agency ethics officials.

    (a) Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO). The Secretary will 
designate attorneys from the Office of General Counsel to serve as the 
Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) and Alternate Designated 
Agency Ethics Official (ADAEO).
    (b) * * *
    (1) The District Chief Counsels and attorneys on the Ethics 
Specialty Team are Deputy Ethics Officials. They have been delegated 
the authority to act for the DAEO pursuant to 5 CFR 2638.104(e).
    (2) Other officials may also act as Deputy Ethics officials 
pursuant to delegations of one or more of the DAEO's duties from the 
DAEO.

[FR Doc. 2024-04442 Filed 3-1-24; 8:45 am]
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