Agency Information Collection Activities; Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request for OGE Form 278e Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report, 55270-55271 [2024-14597]
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55270
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 128 / Wednesday, July 3, 2024 / Notices
filer has a spouse who has paid
employment outside the federal
government. The yes/no question would
be added to the current list of yes/no
questions. Filers are required by
regulation to report their spouses’
employment income. In OGE’s listening
sessions with agency ethics officials,
they felt strongly that the addition of
this yes/no question would permit
agency reviewers to better identify
potential inadvertent omissions
elsewhere on the form. OGE believes
that the minor impact to the filers of
answering this additional yes/no
question is outweighed by the benefit to
the efficiency and effectiveness of the
financial disclosure review process.
OGE also clarified the definition of
‘‘special government employee’’ on the
cover page based on feedback regarding
the current explanatory language.
In the main body of the form, OGE
proposes to make a number of changes
to the instructions to increase their
clarity. Guidance would be added to
make it clearer what is and is not
reportable. A note would be added
indicating that the reporting thresholds
for gifts are applicable for calendar years
2023–2025 and that the amounts are
adjusted every three years. Additional
examples would be added to the
Examples page and each section, further
demonstrating how particular
information should be reported, and
some definitions would be removed to
make room for additional examples and
other clarifying changes. The
information that had been provided in
the removed definitions is more clearly
addressed on other parts of the form.
These changes would not modify the
confidential financial disclosure
reporting requirements in any way.
They are intended to help ensure that
filers report all required information in
the proper manner, without
overreporting unnecessary personally
identifiable information.
Finally, OGE plans to discontinue use
of the PDF version of the form that is
not accessible to users who use screen
readers (i.e., it is not ‘‘508 compliant’’).
This version has a feature that allows
users to add additional blank pages.
This feature is no longer technologically
supported. OGE proposes to discontinue
use of the nonaccessible PDF version
and instead add additional blank lines
to the 508 compliant PDF version. Going
forward, therefore, OGE seeks approval
only for two versions of the form—the
508 compliant PDF version and the
Excel version.
A Federal Register Notice with a 60day comment period soliciting
comments on this information
collection was published on February
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:36 Jul 02, 2024
Jkt 262001
26, 2024 (89 FR 14073). OGE received
no responses to that notice.
OMB Control Number: 3209–0006.
Type of Information Collection:
Extension of a currently approved
collection.
Type of Review Request: Regular.
Affected public: Prospective
Government employees, including
special Government employees, whose
positions are designated for confidential
disclosure filing and whose agencies
require that they file new entrant
confidential disclosure reports prior to
assuming Government responsibilities.
Estimated Annual Number of
Respondents: 31,654.
Estimated Time per Response: 3
hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
94,962 hours.
Request for Comments: OGE is
publishing this second round notice of
its intent to request paperwork
clearance renewal for the OGE Form
450. 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). OGE
specifically seeks comments on whether
the proposed changes will change the
burden of completing the form.
Comments received in response to this
notice will be summarized for, and may
be included with, the OGE request for
extension of OMB paperwork approval.
The comments will also become a
matter of public record.
Approved: June 10, 2024.
Shelley K. Finlayson,
Acting Director, U.S. Office of Government
Ethics.
[FR Doc. 2024–14599 Filed 7–2–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345–03–P
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).
Notice and request for
comments.
ACTION:
After this second round
notice, the Office of Government Ethics
(OGE) plans to request that the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) renew
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00055
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
its approval under the Paperwork
Reduction Act for a modified version of
an existing information collection,
entitled the OGE Form 278e Executive
Branch Personnel Public Financial
Disclosure Report.
Comments: 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:
Jennifer Matis at the U.S. Office of
Government Ethics; telephone: 202–
482–9216; TTY: 800–877–8339; Email:
jmatis@oge.gov. A copy of the form with
proposed changes marked in red is
available here: https://oge.box.com/s/
jrca898wqy81iwy1gklc8ydoyuyp963b.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Executive Branch Personnel
Public Financial Disclosure Report.
Agency Form Number: OGE Form
278e.
Abstract: The OGE Form 278e collects
information from certain officers and
high-level employees in the executive
branch for conflicts of interest review
and public disclosure. The form also
collects information from 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 information is
collected in accordance with 5 U.S.C.
13104 and OGE’s implementing
financial disclosure regulations at 5 CFR
part 2634. The 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.
OGE has approval for five versions of
the Form 278e: a PDF version, an Excel
version, an electronic version called
Integrity, a Chinese language version,
and a Spanish language version. The
translated versions are intended to be
informational only, to allow more
members of the public to understand the
content of filers’ public reports. 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. It is this output
report that is made available to the
E:\FR\FM\03JYN1.SGM
03JYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 128 / Wednesday, July 3, 2024 / Notices
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
public in PDF form. Most public
disclosure filers now use Integrity to file
the OGE Form 278e. However, OGE also
continues to maintain an Excel version
of the form and a 508 compliant PDF
version accessible to users who use
screen readers to access and interact
with digital information.
OGE seeks renewal of the OGE Form
278e with several modifications. OGE
sought and received input from a variety
of stakeholders before proposing these
modifications. Comments submitted by
the public in response to the Federal
Register notices published during the
last renewal in 2021 were reconsidered.
In addition, OGE solicited and received
additional comments from OGE
employees, agency ethics officials (who
are the individuals responsible for
reviewing the completed forms for
potential conflicts of interest), interested
Congressional offices, and the public.
On January 19, 2023, OGE held a public
meeting to discuss potential changes to
the OGE Forms 450 and 278e and
accepted written comments in lieu of
appearing in-person. See 87 FR 73766
(Dec. 1, 2022).
OGE considered each comment
submitted. The proposed modifications
discussed below incorporate the
suggested changes that OGE believes
will provide added clarity and value to
the financial disclosure process. OGE is
declining to make other suggested
changes at this time due to OGE’s lack
of regulatory authority to make such
changes, lack of interest by the affected
agencies, and/or the associated costs to
Integrity.
The proposed modifications are
described below. These changes apply
to the English language versions of the
form only; OGE will update its Spanish
and Chinese instructional versions at a
later date.
Changes to All English Versions (Excel,
PDF, and Integrity)
OGE proposes to add a question for all
filers regarding their type of
appointment. The options offered are
‘‘PAS,’’ ‘‘Non-Career,’’ and ‘‘Career.’’
The information may be provided by the
filer or by their agency. This
information will appear on the cover
page. This change was requested by a
good government group in order to help
the public understand the filer’s
potential conflicts. One of the primary
purposes of the public financial
disclosure report is to allow the public
to understand any potential conflicts of
interest the filer might have. Knowing
the filer’s type of appointment is
important to this understanding because
different types of officials have different
ethics requirements.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:36 Jul 02, 2024
Jkt 262001
OGE also proposes to identify the date
of appointment on the cover page of
reports for all filers other than nominees
(who have not yet been appointed at the
time they complete the form). Integrity
currently identifies the date of
appointment on the cover page of a new
entrant report only. The Excel and PDF
versions currently have one field for
both date of appointment and date of
termination, which OGE proposes
separating into two fields. The purpose
is to benefit the public’s understanding
of the time period during which the
individual was in a public filing
position.
Lastly, OGE proposes to add a link to
its online Public Financial Disclosure
Guide, the most widely used resource
for completing and reviewing public
financial disclosure reports.
Changes to the Excel and PDF Versions
Only
OGE proposes instructional changes
to the Excel and PDF versions to
provide better guidance to those filers
who do not use the Integrity
application. OGE does not propose any
changes to the information collected on
the Excel and PDF versions of the form,
beyond the addition of ‘‘appointment
type’’ discussed above.
OGE proposes two changes to the
initial instructions page to improve
clarity: (1) changing the topic headings
to plain language questions (e.g.
changing ‘‘Late Filing’’ to ‘‘What
Happens if I File Late?’’); and (2)
consolidating the guidance on which
parts to complete into a new section
headed ‘‘What Parts Must I Complete?’’
In the rest of the instructions, OGE
proposes to add clarifying guidance on
reporting requirements, exceptions to
reporting requirements, and definitions.
OGE also proposes to add specific
instructions to avoid reporting
unnecessary personal information.
Finally, OGE proposes to add a note
indicating that the reporting thresholds
for gifts are applicable for calendar years
2023–2025 and that the amounts are
adjusted every three years.
A Federal Register Notice with a 60day comment period soliciting
comments on this information
collection was published on February
26, 2024 (89 FR 14071). OGE received
one response to that notice. The
commenter sought an edit to the
instructions for reporting liabilities as
they apply to Presidentially-appointed,
Senate-confirmed (PAS) uniformed
service members reporting mortgages.
As a result of this comment, OGE is
making clarifying edits to the
instructions and summary instructions
for reporting liabilities. First, a
PO 00000
Frm 00056
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
55271
paragraph formerly entitled ‘‘Additional
Exception for Certain Mortgages’’ will
be retitled ‘‘Mortgage Reporting.’’ Its
language will be simplified and
reorganized to clarify exactly who is
required to report a mortgage on a
personal residence, the exceptions to
that requirement, and who is not
required to report a mortgage. Second,
minor language changes will be made to
the Summary Instructions for the
liabilities section to make it clear that
certain PAS are required to report all
mortgages.
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 VicePresidential candidates.
Estimated Annual Number of
Respondents: 4,257.
Estimated Time per Response: 10
hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
42,570 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). OGE
specifically seeks comments on whether
the proposed changes will change the
burden of completing the form.
Comments received in response to this
notice will be summarized for, and may
be included with, the OGE request for
extension of OMB paperwork approval.
The comments will also become a
matter of public record.
Approved: June 10, 2024.
Shelley K. Finlayson,
Acting Director, U.S. Office of Government
Ethics.
[FR Doc. 2024–14597 Filed 7–2–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345–03–P
E:\FR\FM\03JYN1.SGM
03JYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55270-55271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14597]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: After this second round notice, the Office of Government
Ethics (OGE) plans to request that the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) renew its approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act for a
modified version of an existing information collection, entitled the
OGE Form 278e Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure
Report.
Comments: 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: Jennifer Matis at the U.S. Office of
Government Ethics; telephone: 202-482-9216; TTY: 800-877-8339; Email:
[email protected]. A copy of the form with proposed changes marked in red
is available here: https://oge.box.com/s/jrca898wqy81iwy1gklc8ydoyuyp963b.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure
Report.
Agency Form Number: OGE Form 278e.
Abstract: The OGE Form 278e collects information from certain
officers and high-level employees in the executive branch for conflicts
of interest review and public disclosure. The form also collects
information from 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 information is collected in
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 13104 and OGE's implementing financial
disclosure regulations at 5 CFR part 2634. The 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.
OGE has approval for five versions of the Form 278e: a PDF version,
an Excel version, an electronic version called Integrity, a Chinese
language version, and a Spanish language version. The translated
versions are intended to be informational only, to allow more members
of the public to understand the content of filers' public reports. 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. It is this output report that is made available to the
[[Page 55271]]
public in PDF form. Most public disclosure filers now use Integrity to
file the OGE Form 278e. However, OGE also continues to maintain an
Excel version of the form and a 508 compliant PDF version accessible to
users who use screen readers to access and interact with digital
information.
OGE seeks renewal of the OGE Form 278e with several modifications.
OGE sought and received input from a variety of stakeholders before
proposing these modifications. Comments submitted by the public in
response to the Federal Register notices published during the last
renewal in 2021 were reconsidered. In addition, OGE solicited and
received additional comments from OGE employees, agency ethics
officials (who are the individuals responsible for reviewing the
completed forms for potential conflicts of interest), interested
Congressional offices, and the public. On January 19, 2023, OGE held a
public meeting to discuss potential changes to the OGE Forms 450 and
278e and accepted written comments in lieu of appearing in-person. See
87 FR 73766 (Dec. 1, 2022).
OGE considered each comment submitted. The proposed modifications
discussed below incorporate the suggested changes that OGE believes
will provide added clarity and value to the financial disclosure
process. OGE is declining to make other suggested changes at this time
due to OGE's lack of regulatory authority to make such changes, lack of
interest by the affected agencies, and/or the associated costs to
Integrity.
The proposed modifications are described below. These changes apply
to the English language versions of the form only; OGE will update its
Spanish and Chinese instructional versions at a later date.
Changes to All English Versions (Excel, PDF, and Integrity)
OGE proposes to add a question for all filers regarding their type
of appointment. The options offered are ``PAS,'' ``Non-Career,'' and
``Career.'' The information may be provided by the filer or by their
agency. This information will appear on the cover page. This change was
requested by a good government group in order to help the public
understand the filer's potential conflicts. One of the primary purposes
of the public financial disclosure report is to allow the public to
understand any potential conflicts of interest the filer might have.
Knowing the filer's type of appointment is important to this
understanding because different types of officials have different
ethics requirements.
OGE also proposes to identify the date of appointment on the cover
page of reports for all filers other than nominees (who have not yet
been appointed at the time they complete the form). Integrity currently
identifies the date of appointment on the cover page of a new entrant
report only. The Excel and PDF versions currently have one field for
both date of appointment and date of termination, which OGE proposes
separating into two fields. The purpose is to benefit the public's
understanding of the time period during which the individual was in a
public filing position.
Lastly, OGE proposes to add a link to its online Public Financial
Disclosure Guide, the most widely used resource for completing and
reviewing public financial disclosure reports.
Changes to the Excel and PDF Versions Only
OGE proposes instructional changes to the Excel and PDF versions to
provide better guidance to those filers who do not use the Integrity
application. OGE does not propose any changes to the information
collected on the Excel and PDF versions of the form, beyond the
addition of ``appointment type'' discussed above.
OGE proposes two changes to the initial instructions page to
improve clarity: (1) changing the topic headings to plain language
questions (e.g. changing ``Late Filing'' to ``What Happens if I File
Late?''); and (2) consolidating the guidance on which parts to complete
into a new section headed ``What Parts Must I Complete?''
In the rest of the instructions, OGE proposes to add clarifying
guidance on reporting requirements, exceptions to reporting
requirements, and definitions. OGE also proposes to add specific
instructions to avoid reporting unnecessary personal information.
Finally, OGE proposes to add a note indicating that the reporting
thresholds for gifts are applicable for calendar years 2023-2025 and
that the amounts are adjusted every three years.
A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
comments on this information collection was published on February 26,
2024 (89 FR 14071). OGE received one response to that notice. The
commenter sought an edit to the instructions for reporting liabilities
as they apply to Presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed (PAS)
uniformed service members reporting mortgages. As a result of this
comment, OGE is making clarifying edits to the instructions and summary
instructions for reporting liabilities. First, a paragraph formerly
entitled ``Additional Exception for Certain Mortgages'' will be
retitled ``Mortgage Reporting.'' Its language will be simplified and
reorganized to clarify exactly who is required to report a mortgage on
a personal residence, the exceptions to that requirement, and who is
not required to report a mortgage. Second, minor language changes will
be made to the Summary Instructions for the liabilities section to make
it clear that certain PAS are required to report all mortgages.
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: 4,257.
Estimated Time per Response: 10 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 42,570 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). OGE specifically seeks comments on
whether the proposed changes will change the burden of completing the
form. Comments received in response to this notice will be summarized
for, and may be included with, the OGE request for extension of OMB
paperwork approval. The comments will also become a matter of public
record.
Approved: June 10, 2024.
Shelley K. Finlayson,
Acting Director, U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
[FR Doc. 2024-14597 Filed 7-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6345-03-P