[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 14, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49639-49640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23930]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
5 CFR Part 2634
RIN 3209-AA00
Revisions to the Public Financial Disclosure Gifts Waiver
Provision
AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics (OGE).
ACTION: Final rule amendments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Government Ethics is amending portions of the
executive branch regulation which allows the OGE Director to grant a
waiver of certain gift disclosure requirements for filers of the public
financial disclosure report form, SF 278. The amendments permit the
grant of a waiver in appropriate cases, if the basis of the
relationship between the grantor and grantee of a gift and the
motivation behind a gift are personal. The changes also clarify that
the cover letter requesting a waiver will be publicly available if the
Director of OGE approves the waiver request, either in whole or in
part. Additionally, the amendments expressly require that a description
of the gift and its value be included in a waiver request. Finally, the
changes explicitly require that the information required to be in a
waiver request pertaining to the donor must include the necessary
information for each donor when a gift has multiple donors.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 14, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judy H. Mann, Attorney-Advisor, or
Norman B. Smith, Senior Associate General Counsel, Office of Government
Ethics; telephone: 202-208-8000; TDD: 202-208-8025; FAX: 202-208-8037.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 13, 1999, OGE published proposed
minor amendments to the executive branch regulation which requires the
disclosure of certain gifts received by the filers of the Standard Form
(SF) 278 Public Financial Disclosure Report forms, their spouses, and
their dependent children. See 64 FR 25849-25851. After a 60-day comment
period, no outside comments from the public or agencies were received.
Therefore, OGE is publishing the proposed amendments, subject to a few
minor modifications that OGE has decided to make, as a final rule,
effective October 14, 1999. A summary of the amendments follows.
Under 5 CFR 2634.304, and 5 U.S.C. app., section 102(a)(2) of the
Ethics in Government Act, a person who files an SF 278 is required to
report certain gifts that he, his spouse, or his dependent child
receives. Section 2634.304, as authorized by the Ethics Act, permits a
filer not to disclose certain gifts if the filer receives a waiver from
OGE. These final rule amendments to OGE's financial disclosure
regulation permit the OGE Director to grant a waiver of reporting if he
determines that the basis of the relationship between the grantor and
the grantee and the motivation behind the gift are ``personal,'' rather
than ``entirely personal,'' provided that no countervailing public
purpose requires public reporting. In addition, the final amendments
will provide a few technical clarifications. First, the amendments
clarify at Sec. 2634.304(f)(2) that the public can access the cover
letter of a waiver request for which the Director of OGE has granted
full or partial approval. Second, new Sec. 2634.304(f)(3)(ii)(D) will
require the filer explicitly to include both a description of the gift
and its value in the waiver request. Finally, under
Sec. 2634.304(f)(3)(iii) as revised, a filer must provide the required
information with respect to each donor of the gift.
The Office of Government Ethics has determined on its own to make a
few minor adjustments which will further clarify the rule. First, we
are now amending the passage in the introductory text of
Sec. 2634.304(f)(1), which states that a gift for which a waiver is
granted ``need not be aggregated under this section by public filers,''
to state that ``the value of a gift as defined in Sec. 2634.105(h) need
not be aggregated for reporting threshold purposes under this section
by public filers, and therefore the gift need not be reported on an SF
278'' if a waiver is granted. The revised language will help clarify
the relationship between aggregation and reporting by stating that the
waiver of the requirement for SF 278 filers to aggregate a gift has the
effect of waiving the requirement to report the gift, since gifts are
only reportable if they aggregate more than the dollar value threshold
from any single source. The new wording also reemphasizes that the
waiver procedure applies to filers of SF 278s rather than filers of the
OGE Form 450. Because the OGE Form 450 is nonpublic, no purpose would
be served by a procedure for waiving public disclosure of information
which they contain. In the final minor technical modification, the
language as proposed in paragraph ii of the new example to paragraph
(f)(1) of Sec. 2634.304 will be changed from stating that ``the
Director of OGE will consider a request for a waiver of reporting for
each of these gifts'' to ``the Director of OGE may grant a request for
a waiver of the requirement to aggregate and report on an SF 278 each
of these gifts.'' This new language will clarify that the waiver is for
the requirement to aggregate and report on an SF 278 and that the
Director, depending on the facts, may grant a waiver request for each
particular gift.
Matters of Regulatory Procedure
Executive Order 12866
In promulgating these final rule amendments, the Office of
Government Ethics has adhered to the regulatory philosophy and the
applicable principles of regulation set forth in section 1 of Executive
Order 12866,
[[Page 49640]]
Regulatory Planning and Review. These amendments have not been reviewed
by the Office of Management and Budget under that Executive order,
since they are not deemed ``significant'' thereunder.
Executive Order 12988
As Deputy Director of the Office of Government Ethics, I have
reviewed this final amendatory regulation in light of section 3 of
Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, and certify that it meets
the applicable standards provided therein.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
As Deputy Director of the Office of Government Ethics, I certify
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) that this
rulemaking will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities because it primarily affects Federal executive
branch departments and agencies and certain of their employees who file
SF 278 reports.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35) does not apply,
because this rulemaking does not contain information collection
requirements that require the approval of the Office of Management and
Budget.
List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 2634
Certificates of divestiture, Conflict of interests, Government
employees, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Trusts
and trustees.
Approved: September 9, 1999.
F. Gary Davis,
Deputy Director, Office of Government Ethics.
Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Office
of Government Ethics is amending 5 CFR part 2634 as follows:
PART 2634--EXECUTIVE BRANCH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE, QUALIFIED TRUSTS,
AND CERTIFICATES OF DIVESTITURE
1. The authority citation for part 2634 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government Act of 1978); 26
U.S.C. 1043; Pub. L. 101-410, 104 Stat. 890, 28 U.S.C. 2461 note
(Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990), as
amended by Sec. 31001, Pub. L. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (Debt
Collection Improvement Act of 1996); 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.
2. Section 2634.304 is amended by:
a. Revising the introductory text of paragraph (f)(1);
b. Revising paragraph (f)(1)(i);
c. Adding an Example after paragraph (f)(1)(ii);
d. Revising paragraph (f)(2); and
e. Revising paragraph (f)(3).
The revisions and addition read as follows:
Sec. 2634.304 Gifts and reimbursements.
* * * * *
(f) * * * (1) In general. In unusual cases, the value of a gift as
defined in Sec. 2634.105(h) need not be aggregated for reporting
threshold purposes under this section by public filers, and therefore
the gift need not be reported on an SF 278, if the Director of OGE
receives a written request for and issues a waiver, after determining
that:
(i) Both the basis of the relationship between the grantor and the
grantee and the motivation behind the gift are personal; and
(ii) * * *
Example to paragraph (f)(1). i. The Secretary of Education and
her spouse receive the following two wedding gifts:
A. Gift 1--A crystal decanter valued at $285 from the
Secretary's former college roommate and lifelong friend, who is a
real estate broker in Wyoming.
B. Gift 2--A gift of a print valued at $300 from a business
partner of the spouse, who owns a catering company.
ii. Under these circumstances, the Director of OGE may grant a
request for a waiver of the requirement to aggregate and report on
an SF 278 each of these gifts.
(2) Public disclosure of waiver request. If approved in whole or in
part, the cover letter requesting the waiver shall be subject to the
public disclosure requirements in Sec. 2634.603 of this part.
(3) Procedure. (i) A public filer seeking a waiver under this
paragraph (f) shall submit a request to the Office of Government
Ethics, through his agency. The request shall be made by a cover letter
which identifies the filer and his position and which states that a
waiver is requested under this section.
(ii) On an enclosure to the cover letter, the filer shall set
forth:
(A) The identity and occupation of the donor;
(B) A statement that the relationship between the donor and the
filer is personal in nature;
(C) A statement that neither the donor nor any person or
organization who employs the donor or whom the donor represents,
conducts or seeks business with, engages in activities regulated by, or
is directly affected by action taken by, the agency employing the
filer. If the preceding statement cannot be made without qualification,
the filer shall indicate those qualifications, along with a statement
demonstrating that he plays no role in any official action which might
directly affect the donor or any organization for which the donor works
or serves as a representative; and
(D) A brief description of the gift and the value of the gift.
(iii) With respect to the information required in paragraph
(f)(3)(ii) of this section, if a gift has more than one donor, the
filer shall provide the necessary information for each donor.
[FR Doc. 99-23930 Filed 9-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345-01-P