Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Modified OGE Form 450 Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, 47204-47206 [05-15926]
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47204
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 155 / Friday, August 12, 2005 / Notices
financial risk through the arrangement,
such that the arrangement creates
incentives for the physician participants
jointly to control costs and improve
quality by managing the provision of
services. Second, any agreement
concerning reimbursement or other
terms or conditions of dealing must be
reasonably necessary to obtain
significant efficiencies through the joint
arrangement.
A ‘‘qualified clinically-integrated joint
arrangement,’’ on the other hand, need
not involve any sharing of financial risk.
Instead, as defined in the proposed
order, physician participants must
participate in active and ongoing
programs to evaluate and modify their
clinical practice patterns in order to
control costs and ensure the quality of
services provided, and the arrangement
must create a high degree of
interdependence and cooperation
among physicians. As with qualified
risk-sharing arrangements, any
agreement concerning price or other
terms of dealing must be reasonably
necessary to achieve the efficiency goals
of the joint arrangement.
Paragraph III, for three years, requires
Partners Health to notify the
Commission before entering into any
arrangement to act as a messenger, or as
an agent on behalf of any physicians,
with payors regarding contracts.
Paragraph III also sets out the
information necessary to make the
notification complete.
Paragraph IV, for three years, requires
Partners Health to notify the
Commission before participating in
contracting with health plans on behalf
of a qualified risk-sharing joint
arrangement, or a qualified clinicallyintegrated joint arrangement. The
contracting discussions that trigger the
notice provision may be either among
physicians, or between Partners Health
and health plans. Paragraph IV also sets
out the information necessary to satisfy
the notification requirement.
Paragraph V requires Partners Health
to distribute the complaint and order to
all physicians who have participated in
Partners Health, and to payors that
negotiated contracts with Partners
Health or indicated an interest in
contracting with Partners Health.
Paragraph V.D. requires Partners Health,
at any payor’s request and without
penalty, or, at the latest, within one year
after the order is made final, to
terminate its current contracts with
respect to providing physician services.
Paragraph V.D. also allows any contract
currently in effect to be extended, upon
mutual consent of Partners Health and
the contracted payor, to any date no
later than one year from when the order
VerDate jul<14>2003
17:14 Aug 11, 2005
Jkt 205001
became final. This extension allows
both parties to negotiate a termination
date that would equitably enable them
to prepare for the impending contract
termination. Paragraph V.E requires
Partners Health to distribute payor
requests for contract termination to all
physicians who participate in Partners
Health.
Paragraphs VI, VII, and VIII of the
proposed order impose various
obligations on Partners Health to report
or provide access to information to the
Commission to facilitate monitoring
Partners Health’s compliance with the
order.
The proposed order will expire in 20
years.
The First Meeting of the Small
Business Advisory Committee will be
held Thursday, September 1, 2005 at the
JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in
Phoenix, Arizona. The meeting will
begin at 1:00 pm and conclude no later
than 4:30 p.m. Hotel information is
available by calling (480) 293–3829. The
Committee also will accept oral public
comments at this meeting and has
reserved a total of thirty minutes for this
purpose. Members of the public wishing
to reserve speaking time must contact
Denis Peck in writing at:
denis.peck@gsa.gov or by fax at (202)
208–5938, no later than one week prior
to the meeting.
By direction of the Commission, with
Chairman Majoras recused.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05–15984 Filed 8–11–05; 8:45 am]
Dated: August 5, 2005
Felipe Mendoza
Associate Administrator Office of Small
Business Utilization General Services
Administration.
[FR Doc. 05–15981 Filed 8–11–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
BILLING CODE 6820–34–S
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
Office of Small Business Utilization;
Small BusinessAdvisory Committee
Office of Small Business
Utilization, GSA.
ACTION: Notice.
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request for Modified OGE Form 450
Executive Branch Confidential
Financial Disclosure Report
AGENCY:
AGENCY:
The General Services
Administration is announcing the
creation of a Small Business Advisory
Committee (the Committee). The
Committee will offer advice and
recommendations on a wide range of
government procurement issues
affecting small business. Specifically,
the committee is to develop proposed
solutions that will allow GSA to make
it easier for small businesses to
participate in federal contracting,
identify problem areas currently
restricting small business participation,
and provide direct feedback on the
impact of new legislation and
regulations on small business as they
are introduced by the government.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Denis Peck, Room 6021, GSA Building,
1800 F Street, NW., Washington, DC
20405 (202) 501–1021 or email at
denis.peck@gsa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
notice is published in accordance with
the provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463), and
advises of the establishment of the GSA
Small Business Advisory Committee.
The GSA Administrator has determined
that the establishment of the Board is
necessary and in the public interest.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00037
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Office of Government Ethics
(OGE).
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY: The Office of Government
Ethics intends to modify the Executive
Branch Confidential Financial
Disclosure Report form (hereafter, OGE
Form 450), to improve its clarity and
design and change to some extent the
information that it collects. After this
first round notice and public comment
period, OGE plans to submit a modified
OGE Form 450 to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and three-year extension of
approval under the Paperwork
Reduction Act. The modified OGE Form
450 would be used for confidential
financial disclosure reporting under
OGE’s proposed amended executive
branch regulations, once those
regulatory revisions are finalized.
DATES: Comments by the public and
agencies on this proposal are invited
and should be received by October 26,
2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
to OGE by any of the following methods:
• E-Mail: usoge@oge.gov. For E-mail
messages, the subject line should
include the following reference: ‘‘OGE
Form 450 Executive Branch
Confidential Financial Disclosure
Report Paperwork Comment.’’
E:\FR\FM\12AUN1.SGM
12AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 155 / Friday, August 12, 2005 / Notices
• FAX: 202–482–9237.
• Mail, Hand Delivery or Courier:
Office of Government Ethics, Suite 500,
1201 New York Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20005–3917, Attention:
Mary T. Donovan.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mary T. Donovan, Office of Government
Ethics; telephone: 202–482–9232; TDD:
202–482–9293; FAX: 202–482–9237. A
copy of the proposed modified OGE
Form 450 may be obtained, without
charge, by contacting Ms. Donovan.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OGE
Form 450 (OMB control number 3209–
0006) collects information from covered
department and agency officials as
required under OGE’s executive
branchwide regulatory provisions in
subpart I of 5 CFR part 2634. The OGE
Form 450 serves as the uniform report
form for collection, on a confidential
basis, of financial information required
by the OGE regulation from certain new
entrant and incumbent employees of the
Federal Government executive branch
departments and agencies. Agency
ethics officials then use the completed
OGE Form 450 reports to conduct
conflict of interest reviews and to
resolve any actual or potential conflicts
found.
The basis for the OGE regulation and
the report form is two-fold. First, section
201(d) of Executive Order 12674 of
April 12, 1989 (as modified by
Executive Order 12731, 55 FR 42547
(October 19, 1990)) makes OGE
responsible for the establishment of a
system of nonpublic (confidential)
financial disclosure by executive branch
employees to complement the system of
public financial disclosure under the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (the
‘‘Ethics Act’’), as amended, 5 U.S.C.
appendix. Second, section 107(a) of the
Ethics Act, 5 U.S.C. app., sec. 107(a),
further provides authority for OGE as
the supervising ethics office for the
executive branch of the Federal
Government to require that appropriate
executive agency employees file
confidential financial disclosure reports,
‘‘in such form as the supervising ethics
office may prescribe.’’ The OGE Form
450, together with the underlying
executive branchwide financial
disclosure regulation (5 CFR part 2634),
constitutes the basic report form OGE
has prescribed for such confidential
financial disclosure in the executive
branch.
Proposed Modifications
OGE is proposing modifications to the
OGE Form 450’s design and content. In
March 2003, OGE distributed a survey
to executive branch ethics officials
VerDate jul<14>2003
17:14 Aug 11, 2005
Jkt 205001
which sought input on possible
improvements to the financial
disclosure system, the results of which
proved beneficial in identifying what
information needs to be reported in
order for an agency ethics official to
perform a thorough conflict of interest
review. After reviewing the results of
the survey and re-examining the current
reporting requirements, OGE is
proposing to simplify the confidential
reporting and filing process.
Modifications relating to form design
are specifically intended to make the
OGE Form 450 easier to complete on a
computer. These modifications include
changing the form layout from
landscape to portrait. In addition, the
form will be a PDF file that can be filled
in electronically through the use of
Adobe Reader Version 6.0. These
modifications also are intended to make
completion of the OGE Form 450 easier
overall by simplifying the instructions
and placing them on the same pages as
the reporting schedules; adding space
for reporting information; enlarging the
font size; and separating reporting
schedules for earned and investment
income. Contacting filers with follow-up
questions will be facilitated by the
addition of space for the filer’s e-mail
address.
Modifications to the content of the
OGE Form 450 parallel changes being
proposed to 5 CFR part 2634. See the
proposed rule being published
concurrently in the Federal Register
with this notice. Under both the current
and proposed rule, the information
required to be collected includes assets
and sources of income, liabilities,
outside positions, employment
agreements and arrangements, and gifts
and travel reimbursements, subject to
certain thresholds and exclusions.
The proposed modifications to the
OGE Form 450 reflect the changes in the
confidential financial disclosure
regulation if adopted as final. Generally,
these changes to the information that
will have to reported on the OGE Form
450 include: Eliminating the reporting
of diversified mutual funds, eliminating
dates of honoraria, eliminating dates of
agreements and arrangements (other
than those for future employment), and
eliminating the reporting of types of
income that assets earned (i.e.,
dividends, capital gains, or interest),
and revising reporting requirements
relating to liabilities by eliminating the
requirement to report student loans,
mortgages on rental property, and credit
card debt if the loans are granted on
terms made available to the general
public.
Also, OGE is proposing to incorporate
in the modified OGE Form 450 the new
PO 00000
Frm 00038
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47205
aggregation threshold of more than $305
for the reporting of gifts and travel
reimbursements received from one
source during the year by regular
employee annual filers, with an
exception for any items valued at $122
or less that are not counted toward the
overall threshold. These new thresholds
are based on the General Services
Administration’s (GSA’s) increase in
‘‘minimal value’’ under the Foreign
Gifts and Decorations Act to $305 or less
for 2005–2007, to which the thresholds
are linked by the Ethics Act and OGE
regulation. See GSA’s redefinition at 70
FR 2317–2318 (January 12, 2005),
section 102(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Ethics
Act, OGE’s regulatory adjustment of the
gifts/reimbursements thresholds for
both public and confidential reports at
70 FR 12111–12112 (March 11, 2005),
and OGE DAEOgram DO–05–007 of
March 17, 2005, all available on OGE’s
Web site at https://www.usoge.gov.
Finally, OGE is updating the Privacy
Act Statement summary of the sixth
listed routine use (see 68 FR 3097–3109,
at 3102 (January 22, 2003)).
Web Site Distribution of Blank Forms
OGE will continue to make the OGE
Form 450 available to departments and
agencies and their reporting employees
through the Forms, Publications & Other
Ethics Documents section of OGE’s Web
site (https://www.usoge.gov). This
method allows employees to prepare
and save their report on a computer,
although a printout and manual
signature of the form are still required
unless specifically approved otherwise
by OGE.
Effect on Use of Alternative Reports
and OGE Optional Form 450–A
Since 1992, various departments and
agencies have developed, with OGE
review/approval, alternative reporting
formats such as certificates of no
conflict for certain classes of employees.
Other agencies provide for additional
disclosures pursuant to independent
organic statutes and in certain other
circumstances when authorized by OGE.
In 1997, OGE itself developed the new
OGE Optional Form 450–A
(Confidential Certificate of No New
Interests (Executive Branch)) for
possible agency and employee use in
certain years, if applicable. That
optional form continues in use at
various agencies. However, the OGE
Form 450 remains the uniform
executive branch report form for most of
those executive branch employees
required by their agencies to report
confidentially on their financial
interests.
E:\FR\FM\12AUN1.SGM
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47206
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 155 / Friday, August 12, 2005 / Notices
Reporting Individuals
The OGE Form 450 is to be filed by
each reporting individual with the
designated agency ethics official at the
executive department or agency where
he or she is or will be employed.
Reporting individuals are regular
employees whose positions have been
designated by their agency under 5 CFR
2634.904 as requiring confidential
financial disclosure in order to help
avoid conflicts with their assigned
responsibilities. Under that section, all
special Government employees (SGE)
are also generally required to file.
Agencies may, if appropriate under the
OGE regulation, exclude certain regular
employees or SGEs as provided in 5
CFR 2634.905. (This citation appears as
5 CFR 2634.904(b) in the proposed rule
issued concurrently with this notice.)
Reports are normally required to be filed
within 30 days of entering a covered
position (or earlier if required by the
agency concerned), and again annually
if the employee serves for more than 60
days in the position.
Most of the persons who file this
report are current executive branch
Government employees at the time they
complete their report. However, some
filers are private citizens who are asked
by their prospective agency to file a new
entrant report prior to entering
Government service in order to permit
advance checking for any potential
conflicts of interest and resolution
thereof by agreement to recuse or divest,
obtaining of a waiver, etc.
Reporting Burden
Based on OGE’s annual agency ethics
program questionnaire responses for
2002 through 2004, OGE estimates that
an average of approximately 277,215
OGE Form 450 reports will be filed each
year for the next three years throughout
the executive branch. This estimate is
based on the number of reports filed
branchwide for 2002 through 2004
(272,755 in 2002, and 263,463 in 2003,
and 295,426 in 2004) for a total of
831,644, with that number then divided
by three and rounded, to give the
projected annual average of 277,215
reports. Of these reports, OGE estimates
that 7.6 percent, or some 21,068 per
year, will be filed by private citizens.
Private citizen filers are those potential
(incoming) regular employees whose
positions are designated for confidential
disclosure filing as well as potential
special Government employees whose
agencies require that they file their new
entrant reports prior to assuming
Government responsibilities. No
termination reports are required for the
OGE Form 450.
VerDate jul<14>2003
17:14 Aug 11, 2005
Jkt 205001
Each filing is estimated to take an
average of one and one-half hours to
complete. This yields an annual
reporting burden of 31,602 hours, an
increase of 31,587 hours compared to 15
hours (OGE’s current OMB inventory)
for this information collection. The
current burden hours account for
private citizen filers whose reports were
filed each year only with OGE itself. (In
the past, the number of private citizens
whose reports were filed each year with
OGE itself was less than 10, but
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.3(c)(4)(i), the
lower limit for this general regulatorybased requirement is set at 10 private
persons. Thus, OGE reported the current
annual burden of 15 hours.) The
proposed estimate of burden hours
includes private citizen reports filed
with departments and agencies
throughout the executive branch
(including OGE).
Consideration of Comments
As noted, public comment is invited
on the proposed modified OGE Form
450 as set forth in this notice. In
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
chapter 35), public comments are
invited specifically 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 is
planning to submit to OMB, after this
notice and comment period, a modified
OGE Form 450 for three-year extension
of approval under the Paperwork
Reduction Act. Comments received in
response to this notice will be
summarized for, and may be included
with, OGE’s future request for OMB
paperwork approval for the proposed
modified OGE Form 450. Any
comments received will also become a
matter of public record. After reviewing
any comments and deciding on the
proposed modifications to the OGE
Form 450, OGE will publish a second
paperwork notice in the Federal
Register to inform the agencies and the
public at the time it submits the request
for OMB paperwork approval.
In addition, OGE invites comments on
the changes to the OGE Form 450 that
are intended to make it easier for filers
to complete. Comments regarding the
changes to the content of the form, i.e.,
the information to be reported, should
be made in response to the proposed
financial disclosure rule being
published concurrently in the Federal
Register with this notice.
PO 00000
Frm 00039
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Approved: August 5, 2005.
Marilyn L. Glynn,
General Counsel, Office of Government
Ethics.
[FR Doc. 05–15926 Filed 8–11–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Solicitation for Written Comments on
the Proposed Changes to Healthy
People 2010 Through the Midcourse
Review
Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the Secretary,
Office of Public Health and Science.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 200u.
The Office of Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion
(ODPHP), Office of Public Health and
Science (OPHS), U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS),
acting on behalf of HHS and its lead
agencies, as part of the process of
conducting the Midcourse Review of
Healthy People 2010, is soliciting
written comments for consideration on
changes and revisions proposed to the
Healthy People 2010 objectives. Healthy
People 2010, a set of national health
objectives, was published by HHS in
2000. The Midcourse Review (MCR),
conducted at the midpoint of the
decade, is the process through which
the Healthy People 2010 objectives are
reviewed by HHS, the lead agencies,
and other experts, to assess the data
trends during the first half of the
decade, consider new science and
available data, and make changes that
ensure that Healthy People 2010
remains current, accurate, and relevant.
The proposed revisions take the form of:
establishing baselines and targets for
formerly developmental objectives (i.e.,
objectives that had no baseline data or
target when Healthy People 2010 was
released in 2000); changes to the
language of objectives and
subobjectives; deletions of objectives
and subobjectives; new subobjectives;
and baseline and target revisions.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted via the Internet Web site by
the close of business Eastern Standard
Time on September 15, 2005.
ADDRESSES: The proposed revisions to
Healthy People 2010 objectives can be
viewed and commented on at https://
www.healthypeople.gov/data/
midcourse.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
E-mail the Office of Disease Prevention
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\12AUN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 155 (Friday, August 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47204-47206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15926]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Modified OGE Form 450
Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report
AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics (OGE).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Government Ethics intends to modify the
Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report form
(hereafter, OGE Form 450), to improve its clarity and design and change
to some extent the information that it collects. After this first round
notice and public comment period, OGE plans to submit a modified OGE
Form 450 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and
three-year extension of approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The
modified OGE Form 450 would be used for confidential financial
disclosure reporting under OGE's proposed amended executive branch
regulations, once those regulatory revisions are finalized.
DATES: Comments by the public and agencies on this proposal are invited
and should be received by October 26, 2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to OGE by any of the following
methods:
E-Mail: usoge@oge.gov. For E-mail messages, the subject
line should include the following reference: ``OGE Form 450 Executive
Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report Paperwork Comment.''
[[Page 47205]]
FAX: 202-482-9237.
Mail, Hand Delivery or Courier: Office of Government
Ethics, Suite 500, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20005-
3917, Attention: Mary T. Donovan.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary T. Donovan, Office of Government
Ethics; telephone: 202-482-9232; TDD: 202-482-9293; FAX: 202-482-9237.
A copy of the proposed modified OGE Form 450 may be obtained, without
charge, by contacting Ms. Donovan.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OGE Form 450 (OMB control number 3209-
0006) collects information from covered department and agency officials
as required under OGE's executive branchwide regulatory provisions in
subpart I of 5 CFR part 2634. The OGE Form 450 serves as the uniform
report form for collection, on a confidential basis, of financial
information required by the OGE regulation from certain new entrant and
incumbent employees of the Federal Government executive branch
departments and agencies. Agency ethics officials then use the
completed OGE Form 450 reports to conduct conflict of interest reviews
and to resolve any actual or potential conflicts found.
The basis for the OGE regulation and the report form is two-fold.
First, section 201(d) of Executive Order 12674 of April 12, 1989 (as
modified by Executive Order 12731, 55 FR 42547 (October 19, 1990))
makes OGE responsible for the establishment of a system of nonpublic
(confidential) financial disclosure by executive branch employees to
complement the system of public financial disclosure under the Ethics
in Government Act of 1978 (the ``Ethics Act''), as amended, 5 U.S.C.
appendix. Second, section 107(a) of the Ethics Act, 5 U.S.C. app., sec.
107(a), further provides authority for OGE as the supervising ethics
office for the executive branch of the Federal Government to require
that appropriate executive agency employees file confidential financial
disclosure reports, ``in such form as the supervising ethics office may
prescribe.'' The OGE Form 450, together with the underlying executive
branchwide financial disclosure regulation (5 CFR part 2634),
constitutes the basic report form OGE has prescribed for such
confidential financial disclosure in the executive branch.
Proposed Modifications
OGE is proposing modifications to the OGE Form 450's design and
content. In March 2003, OGE distributed a survey to executive branch
ethics officials which sought input on possible improvements to the
financial disclosure system, the results of which proved beneficial in
identifying what information needs to be reported in order for an
agency ethics official to perform a thorough conflict of interest
review. After reviewing the results of the survey and re-examining the
current reporting requirements, OGE is proposing to simplify the
confidential reporting and filing process.
Modifications relating to form design are specifically intended to
make the OGE Form 450 easier to complete on a computer. These
modifications include changing the form layout from landscape to
portrait. In addition, the form will be a PDF file that can be filled
in electronically through the use of Adobe Reader Version 6.0. These
modifications also are intended to make completion of the OGE Form 450
easier overall by simplifying the instructions and placing them on the
same pages as the reporting schedules; adding space for reporting
information; enlarging the font size; and separating reporting
schedules for earned and investment income. Contacting filers with
follow-up questions will be facilitated by the addition of space for
the filer's e-mail address.
Modifications to the content of the OGE Form 450 parallel changes
being proposed to 5 CFR part 2634. See the proposed rule being
published concurrently in the Federal Register with this notice. Under
both the current and proposed rule, the information required to be
collected includes assets and sources of income, liabilities, outside
positions, employment agreements and arrangements, and gifts and travel
reimbursements, subject to certain thresholds and exclusions.
The proposed modifications to the OGE Form 450 reflect the changes
in the confidential financial disclosure regulation if adopted as
final. Generally, these changes to the information that will have to
reported on the OGE Form 450 include: Eliminating the reporting of
diversified mutual funds, eliminating dates of honoraria, eliminating
dates of agreements and arrangements (other than those for future
employment), and eliminating the reporting of types of income that
assets earned (i.e., dividends, capital gains, or interest), and
revising reporting requirements relating to liabilities by eliminating
the requirement to report student loans, mortgages on rental property,
and credit card debt if the loans are granted on terms made available
to the general public.
Also, OGE is proposing to incorporate in the modified OGE Form 450
the new aggregation threshold of more than $305 for the reporting of
gifts and travel reimbursements received from one source during the
year by regular employee annual filers, with an exception for any items
valued at $122 or less that are not counted toward the overall
threshold. These new thresholds are based on the General Services
Administration's (GSA's) increase in ``minimal value'' under the
Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act to $305 or less for 2005-2007, to
which the thresholds are linked by the Ethics Act and OGE regulation.
See GSA's redefinition at 70 FR 2317-2318 (January 12, 2005), section
102(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Ethics Act, OGE's regulatory adjustment of
the gifts/reimbursements thresholds for both public and confidential
reports at 70 FR 12111-12112 (March 11, 2005), and OGE DAEOgram DO-05-
007 of March 17, 2005, all available on OGE's Web site at https://
www.usoge.gov.
Finally, OGE is updating the Privacy Act Statement summary of the
sixth listed routine use (see 68 FR 3097-3109, at 3102 (January 22,
2003)).
Web Site Distribution of Blank Forms
OGE will continue to make the OGE Form 450 available to departments
and agencies and their reporting employees through the Forms,
Publications & Other Ethics Documents section of OGE's Web site (http:/
/www.usoge.gov). This method allows employees to prepare and save their
report on a computer, although a printout and manual signature of the
form are still required unless specifically approved otherwise by OGE.
Effect on Use of Alternative Reports and OGE Optional Form 450-A
Since 1992, various departments and agencies have developed, with
OGE review/approval, alternative reporting formats such as certificates
of no conflict for certain classes of employees. Other agencies provide
for additional disclosures pursuant to independent organic statutes and
in certain other circumstances when authorized by OGE. In 1997, OGE
itself developed the new OGE Optional Form 450-A (Confidential
Certificate of No New Interests (Executive Branch)) for possible agency
and employee use in certain years, if applicable. That optional form
continues in use at various agencies. However, the OGE Form 450 remains
the uniform executive branch report form for most of those executive
branch employees required by their agencies to report confidentially on
their financial interests.
[[Page 47206]]
Reporting Individuals
The OGE Form 450 is to be filed by each reporting individual with
the designated agency ethics official at the executive department or
agency where he or she is or will be employed. Reporting individuals
are regular employees whose positions have been designated by their
agency under 5 CFR 2634.904 as requiring confidential financial
disclosure in order to help avoid conflicts with their assigned
responsibilities. Under that section, all special Government employees
(SGE) are also generally required to file. Agencies may, if appropriate
under the OGE regulation, exclude certain regular employees or SGEs as
provided in 5 CFR 2634.905. (This citation appears as 5 CFR 2634.904(b)
in the proposed rule issued concurrently with this notice.) Reports are
normally required to be filed within 30 days of entering a covered
position (or earlier if required by the agency concerned), and again
annually if the employee serves for more than 60 days in the position.
Most of the persons who file this report are current executive
branch Government employees at the time they complete their report.
However, some filers are private citizens who are asked by their
prospective agency to file a new entrant report prior to entering
Government service in order to permit advance checking for any
potential conflicts of interest and resolution thereof by agreement to
recuse or divest, obtaining of a waiver, etc.
Reporting Burden
Based on OGE's annual agency ethics program questionnaire responses
for 2002 through 2004, OGE estimates that an average of approximately
277,215 OGE Form 450 reports will be filed each year for the next three
years throughout the executive branch. This estimate is based on the
number of reports filed branchwide for 2002 through 2004 (272,755 in
2002, and 263,463 in 2003, and 295,426 in 2004) for a total of 831,644,
with that number then divided by three and rounded, to give the
projected annual average of 277,215 reports. Of these reports, OGE
estimates that 7.6 percent, or some 21,068 per year, will be filed by
private citizens. Private citizen filers are those potential (incoming)
regular employees whose positions are designated for confidential
disclosure filing as well as potential special Government employees
whose agencies require that they file their new entrant reports prior
to assuming Government responsibilities. No termination reports are
required for the OGE Form 450.
Each filing is estimated to take an average of one and one-half
hours to complete. This yields an annual reporting burden of 31,602
hours, an increase of 31,587 hours compared to 15 hours (OGE's current
OMB inventory) for this information collection. The current burden
hours account for private citizen filers whose reports were filed each
year only with OGE itself. (In the past, the number of private citizens
whose reports were filed each year with OGE itself was less than 10,
but pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.3(c)(4)(i), the lower limit for this general
regulatory-based requirement is set at 10 private persons. Thus, OGE
reported the current annual burden of 15 hours.) The proposed estimate
of burden hours includes private citizen reports filed with departments
and agencies throughout the executive branch (including OGE).
Consideration of Comments
As noted, public comment is invited on the proposed modified OGE
Form 450 as set forth in this notice. In accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), public comments are
invited specifically 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 is planning to submit to OMB, after
this notice and comment period, a modified OGE Form 450 for three-year
extension of approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Comments
received in response to this notice will be summarized for, and may be
included with, OGE's future request for OMB paperwork approval for the
proposed modified OGE Form 450. Any comments received will also become
a matter of public record. After reviewing any comments and deciding on
the proposed modifications to the OGE Form 450, OGE will publish a
second paperwork notice in the Federal Register to inform the agencies
and the public at the time it submits the request for OMB paperwork
approval.
In addition, OGE invites comments on the changes to the OGE Form
450 that are intended to make it easier for filers to complete.
Comments regarding the changes to the content of the form, i.e., the
information to be reported, should be made in response to the proposed
financial disclosure rule being published concurrently in the Federal
Register with this notice.
Approved: August 5, 2005.
Marilyn L. Glynn,
General Counsel, Office of Government Ethics.
[FR Doc. 05-15926 Filed 8-11-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345-02-P
