Agency Information Collection Activities; Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request for OGE Form 450 Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, 55269-55270 [2024-14599]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 128 / Wednesday, July 3, 2024 / Notices Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20551–0001, not later than August 2, 2024. A. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (Prabal Chakrabarti, Senior Vice President) 600 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02210–2204. Comments can also be sent electronically to BOS.SRC.Applications.Comments@ bos.frb.org: 1. Ion Financial, MHC, Naugatuck, Connecticut; to become a bank holding company by merging with NVE Bancorp, MHC, and NVE Bancorp, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquiring NVE Bank, all of Englewood, New Jersey. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Michele Taylor Fennell, Deputy Associate Secretary of the Board. acquisition process including acquisition policy considerations around Artificial Intelligence. Additionally, this will include not only technological advancements but also extend to a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary areas. In accordance with FACA, the renewed charter for the Committee will be filed with the appropriate entities. Jeffrey A. Koses, Senior Procurement Executive and Acting Chief Acquisition Officer, Office of Government-wide Policy, General Services Administration. [FR Doc. 2024–14636 Filed 7–2–24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6820–61–P OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS [FR Doc. 2024–14654 Filed 7–2–24; 8:45 am] Agency Information Collection Activities; Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request for OGE Form 450 Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report BILLING CODE P GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION [Notice-MRB–2024–03; Docket No. 2024– 0002; Sequence No. 31] Office of Government Ethics (OGE). Notice of Charter Renewal a Federal Advisory Committee ACTION: Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP), General Services Administration (GSA). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Notice and request for comments. AGENCY: GSA is announcing the renewal of the charter for the GSA Acquisition Policy Federal Advisory Committee (hereinafter ‘‘the Committee’’ or ‘‘the GAP FAC’’), a discretionary advisory committee, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended. DATES: Applicable: July 3, 2024. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Hardison, Designated Federal Officer, OGP, 202–258–6823, or David Cochennic, OGP, 904–403–0829, or email: gapfac@gsa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published in accordance with the provisions of the FACA, as amended (Pub. L. 92–463), and announces the renewal of the GAP FAC. The Administrator of GSA has determined that the renewal of the Committee is necessary and in the public interest. The focus of the renewed GAP FAC shall be on providing GSA advice on regulatory, policy, and procedural reforms. These reforms will facilitate policy development and strategies for implementing emerging technological considerations in the Federal SUMMARY: khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES AGENCY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:36 Jul 02, 2024 Jkt 262001 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 450 Executive Branch Confidential 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/ vm33qroo5vbbvg542xr4mvqzacyz36fx. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report. Agency Form Number: OGE Form 450. Abstract: The OGE Form 450 collects information from covered executive PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 55269 branch employees as required under OGE’s executive branch wide regulatory provisions in subpart I of 5 CFR part 2634. The basis for the OGE reporting regulation is section 201(d) of Executive Order 12674 of April 12, 1989 (as modified by Executive Order 12731 of October 17, 1990) and 5 U.S.C. 13109. The purpose of collecting this information is to allow agencies to identify and address potential financial conflicts of interest among covered employees. The information collected relates to: assets and income; liabilities; outside positions; agreements and arrangements; and gifts, reimbursements and travel expenses—all subject to various reporting thresholds and exclusions. OGE currently maintains the form in three formats on its website: a PDF version, a 508 compliant PDF version accessible to users who use screen readers to access and interact with digital information, and an Excel version. OGE seeks renewal of the OGE Form 450 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 agencies’ electronic financial disclosure filing systems. The proposed modifications are described below: On the instruction page, OGE simplified the navigation to OGEs website for filers who need instructions on completing the form and added a hyperlink. On the cover page, OGE proposes to delete the field for mailing address and to add a question regarding whether the E:\FR\FM\03JYN1.SGM 03JYN1 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES 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

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55269-55270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14599]


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OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS


Agency Information Collection Activities; Information Collection 
Renewal; Comment Request for OGE Form 450 Executive Branch Confidential 
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 450 Executive Branch Confidential 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/vm33qroo5vbbvg542xr4mvqzacyz36fx.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report.
    Agency Form Number: OGE Form 450.
    Abstract: The OGE Form 450 collects information from covered 
executive branch employees as required under OGE's executive branch 
wide regulatory provisions in subpart I of 5 CFR part 2634. The basis 
for the OGE reporting regulation is section 201(d) of Executive Order 
12674 of April 12, 1989 (as modified by Executive Order 12731 of 
October 17, 1990) and 5 U.S.C. 13109. The purpose of collecting this 
information is to allow agencies to identify and address potential 
financial conflicts of interest among covered employees. The 
information collected relates to: assets and income; liabilities; 
outside positions; agreements and arrangements; and gifts, 
reimbursements and travel expenses--all subject to various reporting 
thresholds and exclusions. OGE currently maintains the form in three 
formats on its website: a PDF version, a 508 compliant PDF version 
accessible to users who use screen readers to access and interact with 
digital information, and an Excel version.
    OGE seeks renewal of the OGE Form 450 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 
agencies' electronic financial disclosure filing systems.
    The proposed modifications are described below:
    On the instruction page, OGE simplified the navigation to OGEs 
website for filers who need instructions on completing the form and 
added a hyperlink.
    On the cover page, OGE proposes to delete the field for mailing 
address and to add a question regarding whether the

[[Page 55270]]

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 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on this information collection was published on February 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


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