Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB, 16727-16729 [2021-06636]

Agencies

• FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 31, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16727-16729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-06636]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board 
Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) 
is adopting a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the 
Application for Employment with the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System (FR 28; OMB No. 7100-0181).

DATES: The revisions are applicable as of April 30, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Federal Reserve Board Clearance 
Officer--Nuha Elmaghrabi--Office of the Chief Data Officer, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551, (202) 
452-3829. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Desk Officer--Shagufta 
Ahmed--Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to (202) 395-6974.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board 
authority under the PRA to approve and assign OMB control numbers to 
collections of information conducted or sponsored by the Board. Board-

[[Page 16728]]

approved collections of information are incorporated into the official 
OMB inventory of currently approved collections of information. The OMB 
inventory, as well as copies of the PRA Submission, supporting 
statements, and approved collection of information instrument(s) are 
available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. These documents 
are also available on the Federal Reserve Board's public website at 
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be 
requested from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears above.

Final Approval Under OMB Delegated Authority of the Extension for Three 
Years, With Revision of the Following Information Collection

    Report title: Application for Employment with the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
    Agency form number: FR 28.
    OMB control number: 7100-0181.
    Effective Date: April 30, 2021.
    Frequency: As needed.
    Respondents: Individuals who are seeking employment with the Board.
    Estimated number of respondents: FR 28 (initial application only in 
Taleo): 15,000; FR 28 (initial application plus pre-interview section 
in Taleo): 2,000; FR 28 (PDF): 150; FR 28s: 7,500; FR 28i: 300; FR 28c: 
2,300.
    Estimated average hours per response: FR 28 (initial application 
only in Taleo): 0.25; FR 28 (initial application plus pre-interview 
section in Taleo): 1; FR 28 (PDF): 0.75; FR 28s: 0.0166; FR 28i: 0.25; 
FR 28c: 0.5.
    Estimated annual burden hours: FR 28 (initial application only in 
Taleo): 3,750; FR 28 (initial application plus pre-interview section in 
Taleo): 2,000; FR 28 (PDF): 112.5; FR 28s: 124.5; FR 28i: 75; FR 28c: 
1,150; total: 7,212.
    General description of report: The Board receives approximately 
17,000 FR 28 applications per year, both solicited and unsolicited, 
from members of the public who would like to be considered for 
employment at the Board. The FR 28 application form comprises seven 
sections: (I) Background, (II) Job Preferences, (III) Education and 
Training, (IV) Certifications and Professional Licenses, (V) Employment 
Record, (VI) References, and (VII) General Questions, including 
clarifying comments if applicable. The Background section collects 
name, address, telephone and citizenship information, as well as the 
position for which the applicant is applying and the applicant's 
willingness to travel. The Job Preferences section asks about the type 
of employment desired (e.g., permanent or temporary; full or part-time; 
and desired compensation). The Education and Training section collects 
detailed information on the applicant's educational history and skills 
set. The Certifications and Professional Licenses section collects 
information on when an applicant's current certification(s) and 
license(s) were issued and expire. The Employment Record section 
collects a chronological summary of work experience. The References 
section collects information on three references. The General Questions 
section collects information such as criminal records; discharges or 
terminations from employment; retirement annuity status from the DC or 
federal governments or the military; relationships to or acquaintances 
with Board staff or with officers and directors of financial 
institutions; and ownership interest that the applicant, their spouse, 
or their child[ren] holds in certain financial institutions.
    The FR 28 application form may be completed online through the 
Taleo submission website, or in hardcopy by PDF. If the applicant 
completes the online version of the application through Taleo, they 
will initially be asked to upload a resume and to complete the first 
four sections of the application; it is not until the applicant is 
asked to interview that they will be instructed to complete the 
remaining sections of the application. If completing the PDF version of 
the FR 28 application form, the applicant will fill out all seven 
sections in their entirety but may not be asked to supply a resume.
    The FR 28s is a voluntary form that comprises four sections seeking 
the following information: Name and gender, for which applicants are 
asked to check either the box that corresponds to their gender or the 
box for ``I do not wish to disclose''; the position for which the 
applicant is applying; ethnicity self-identification, for which 
applicants are asked to choose from among Hispanic or Latino, Not 
Hispanic or Latino, or ``I do not wish to disclose''; and race self-
identification, for which applicants are asked to choose one or more 
from among American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian; Black or African-
American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and White or to 
select ``I do not wish to disclose.'' The Board uses this information 
to comply with federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) recordkeeping 
and reporting requirements and other legal requirements, as well as an 
input to its self-analysis of hiring practices. Information collected 
on the FR 28s has no bearing on the determination of an applicant's 
job-related qualifications and completion of the self-identification 
form is voluntary.
    The FR 28i survey comprises three sections in which research 
assistant (RA) candidates are (i) asked to rate their level of interest 
in categories of economics and related research areas; (ii) provided 
the option to expand upon certain qualifying characteristics indicated 
as important to the Board; and (iii) asked to rate their experience 
with various software packages and statistical programming languages. 
The FR 28i helps to streamline the RA recruitment process.
    The FR 28c conflicts of interest form comprises four sections and 
collects information from external applicants after they have been 
selected for an interview at the Board regarding certain financial 
interests held by the applicant, their spouse, and their minor 
child(ren); immediate family members who are involved in related 
businesses (e.g., whether a spouse, parent, child, or sibling is an 
employee, officer, director or trustee of any bank); compensated 
outside employment and uncompensated positions that the applicant 
participates in (aside from positions with religious, social, 
fraternal, or political entities); and other situations, arrangements, 
or investments the applicant believes could pose a conflict of interest 
based on the duties of the position for which they are applying. The 
purpose of the FR 28c form is to determine whether a conflict of 
interest exists that would impact the applicant's ability to fulfill 
the responsibilities associated with the position for which they have 
applied.
    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The FR 28 form, the FR 28i 
survey, and the FR 28s form are authorized by Sections 10 and 11(l) of 
the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. 244 and 248 (1), which provide the 
Board broad authority over employment of staff. The FR 28c form is also 
authorized by Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. 244, 
which provides that the Board's determination with respect to the 
``employment, compensation, leave, and expenses [of its members and 
employees] shall be governed solely by the provisions of this chapter 
and rules and regulations of the Board not inconsistent therewith.'' In 
addition, under regulations promulgated by the Office of Government 
Ethics (``OGE'') pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 7301, each executive agency's 
designated ethics officer is required to provide ``advice and 
counseling to prospective ... employees regarding government ethics 
laws and regulations'' and to ``maintain

[[Page 16729]]

records of agency ethics program activities'' (5 CFR 2638.104(c)(2) and 
(4)).
    The obligation to respond to the FR 28 form, the FR 28c form, and 
to the questions in Sections I and III of the FR 28i survey is required 
to obtain the benefit of Board employment. The obligation to respond to 
the questions in Section II of the FR 28i survey and the obligation to 
disclose gender, race, and ethnicity on the FR 28s form is voluntary.
    Certain information provided on the FR 28 and the FR 28i forms may 
be kept confidential under exemption (b)(6) of the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA), which protects information in ``personnel and 
medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy'' (5 
U.S.C. 552(b)(6)). For example, the release of information such as an 
applicant's home address and phone number, as well as personal 
information regarding the applicant's references, would likely 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and, 
accordingly, would be kept confidential. However, the release of 
information such as the educational and professional qualifications of 
successful applicants would not likely constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of personal privacy and, therefore, would not be treated as 
confidential under the FOIA.
    Generally, information provided on the FR 28c form may be kept 
confidential pursuant to exemption 6 of the FOIA. In addition, 
financial information collected on the form (such as confidential 
details about the shares an applicant, their spouse, or their minor 
child owns in a bank) may be withheld under exemption 4 of the FOIA, 
which protects ``financial information obtained from a person [that is] 
privileged and confidential'' (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)). Information 
provided on the 28s would be kept confidential under exemption 6 of the 
FOIA to the extent release of such information would constitute a 
clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and is not otherwise 
required under federal law.
    The information collected on the FR 28, the FR 28c, the FR 28i, and 
the FR 28s forms will be maintained in a ``system of records'' within 
the meaning of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(5), and a Privacy Act 
statement will accompany each of the four forms that respectively 
comprise this information collection. The Board may disclose the 
information collected on these forms, including confidential 
information withheld from the public under a FOIA exemption, to third 
parties in accordance with the Privacy Act's ``routine use'' disclosure 
provisions, 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(7) and (b)(3), which permit the disclosure 
of a record for a purpose that is compatible with the purpose for which 
the record was collected. The routine uses that would permit the 
disclosure of the information collected on each form are listed in the 
specific system of records notices (SORNs) that apply to each form. For 
the FR 28, the FR 28c, the FR 28i, and the FR 28s, the information 
collected will be stored in the SORN entitled ``BGFRS-1, FRB--
Recruiting and Placement Records,'' located here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-1-recruiting-and-placement-records.pdf. The information collected on the FR 28c will also be 
stored in the SORN titled ``BGFRS-41, FRB-Ethics Program Records,'' 
located here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-41-FRB-Ethics-Program-Records.pdf. If the applicant is hired, the information 
provided on the FR 28s may also be stored in the SORN titled ``BGFRS-
24: FRB--EEO General Files,'' located here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-24-eeo-general-files.pdf.
    Specifically, the BGFRS-1 and the BGFRS-41 SORNs provide that the 
information may be disclosed outside the Board in accordance with 
general routine uses A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J (see ``General 
Routine Uses of Board Systems of Records available at https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/SORN-page-general-routine-uses-of-board-systems-of-records.pdf). The BGFRS-24 SORN provides that the 
information may be disclosed outside the Board in accordance with 
general routine uses A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I, and J (see id.). The 
BGFRS-1 SORN also provides that all or part of the record may be 
disclosed outside of the Board in order to disclose information to any 
source from which additional information is requested (to the extent 
necessary to identify the individual, inform the source of the 
purpose(s) of the request, and identify the type of information 
requested), when necessary to obtain information relevant to a Board 
decision to hire or retain an employee, issue a security clearance, 
conduct a security or suitability investigation of an individual, 
classify jobs, let a contract, or issue a license, grant or other 
benefit.
    Current actions: On November 24, 2020, the Board published a notice 
in the Federal Register (85 FR 75016) requesting public comment for 60 
days on the extension, with revision, of the FR 28. There are no 
revisions to the questions asked or the information collected on the FR 
28i survey. However, as part of this OMB authorization, the Board has 
added the FR 28c conflicts of interest form to this information 
collection, as it was previously collected pursuant to a separate OMB 
authorization, because the FR 28c form is associated with the 
application process. In addition, the Board has revised the FR 28 
application form to remove the three conflicts of interest questions on 
the FR 28 application form. Given that detailed information on 
potential conflicts would no longer be collected on the FR 28 
application form, the Board has amended the FR 28c form to delete the 
instruction that applicants provide additional information on conflicts 
of interest ``not previously described on your employment application 
(FR 28).'' The Board has also revised the hardcopy PDF version of the 
FR 28s voluntary form so that, regardless of the ethnicity identified 
by the applicant, the applicant would also be asked to voluntarily 
identify their race, in order to comport with the standards set out by 
OMB, which aligns with the similar form approved by OMB (the Standard 
Form 181) and the electronic version of the FR 28s form in the Taleo 
application submission portal. In addition, the legal authorization 
cited on the face of the FR 28s form (both the hardcopy PDF version and 
the electronic version in the Taleo portal) would be updated to reflect 
that the collection of information is authorized pursuant to sections 
10 and 11(l) of the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. 244 and 238(l). The 
comment period for this notice expired on January 25, 2021. The Board 
did not receive any comments. The revisions will be implemented as 
proposed.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 26, 
2021.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2021-06636 Filed 3-30-21; 8:45 am]
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