[Federal Register: March 6, 1996 (Volume 61, Number 45)] [Notices] [Page 8941-8942] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr06mr96-74] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS Proposed Extension of Collection; Comment Request for the SF 278 Public Financial Disclosure Report AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics (OGE). ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Office of Government Ethics plans to submit the Standard Form (SF) 278 which it sponsors for a three-year extension of approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The SF 278 is henceforth to be accompanied by agency notification to filers of certain modified reporting requirements not yet incorporated into the form itself; OGE also intends to work on a future modified form to eventually replace the existing SF 278. DATES: Comments on this proposed extension should be received by May 20, 1996. ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to William E. Gressman, Office of Government Ethics, Suite 500, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20005-3917. Comments may also be sent electronically to OGE's Internet E-mail address at oge@attmail.com (for E-mail messages, the subject line should include the following reference--``SF 278 paperwork comment''). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Gressman at the Office of Government Ethics; telephone: 202-523-5757, ext. 1110; FAX: 202- 523- 6325. A copy of a blank SF 278 form may be obtained, without charge, by contacting Mr. Gressman. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Government Ethics is planning to submit, after this notice and comment period, the SF 278 Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report (OMB control number 3209-0001) for a three-year extension of approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). The current paperwork approval for the SF 278 is scheduled to expire at the end of September 1996. Since, for now (see discussion below), no modification to the standard form is being proposed, OGE will not need to seek General Services Administration (GSA) clearance for the future request for extension of OMB paperwork approval. The Office of Government Ethics, as the supervising ethics office for the executive branch of the Federal Government under the Ethics in Government Act (the ``Ethics Act''), is the sponsoring agency for the SF 278, the most recent edition of which is that of June 1994. The prior January 1991 edition also remains usable until supplies are exhausted. In accordance with section 102 of the Ethics in Government Act, 5 U.S.C. app. Sec. 102, and OGE's implementing financial disclosure regulations at 5 CFR part 2634, the SF 278 collects pertinent financial information from certain officers and high-level employees in the executive branch for conflicts of interest review and public disclosure. The financial information collected under the statute and regulations 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. The SF 278 is completed by candidates, nominees, new entrants, incumbents and terminees of certain high-level positions in the executive branch of the Federal Government. The Office of Government Ethics, along with the agencies concerned, conducts the review of the SF 278 reports of Presidential nominees subject to Senate confirmation. This group of nominee reports forms the basis of OGE's paperwork estimates. In light of OGE's experience over the past three years (1993-1995), the estimate of the total number, on average, of such nominee's SF 278 forms expected to be filed annually at OGE by members of the public (as opposed to current Federal employees), primarily by private citizen nominees and private representatives (lawyers, accountants, brokers and bankers) of both private citizen and Federal employee nominees, remains 280. The estimated average amount of time to complete the report form, including review of the instructions, is also the same--three hours. Thus, the overall estimated annual public burden for the SF 278 for the nominee report forms processed at the Office of Government Ethics will stay at 840 hours. Moreover, OGE estimates, based on the agency ethics program questionnaire responses for 1994 (the most recent survey available), that some 22,500 SF 278 report forms are filed annually at departments and agencies throughout the executive branch. Most of those executive branch filers are current Federal employees at the time they file, but certain candidates for President and Vice President, nominees, new entrants and terminees complete the form either before or after their Government service. The percentage of private citizen filers branchwide is estimated at no more than 5% to 10%, or some 1,125 to 2,250 at most. As noted above, the Office of Government Ethics is asking executive branch departments and agencies to notify filers of the SF 278 of certain recent changes in the reporting law as regards higher-category (over $1,000,000) assets, income and liabilities. In addition, OGE itself will notify concerned filers holding qualified blind trusts of a modification as to reportable trust interests. See sections 20 and 22 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, Public Law 104-65, which amended the Ethics in Government Act. There may also be a need to modify the gifts/reimbursement reporting thresholds if the ``minimal value'' under the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act, 5 U.S.C. 7342, is raised by GSA to over $250 (the Ethics Act reporting thresholds are pegged to any increase over that amount of ``minimal value''). If so, this change would likewise be handled for now by OGE and agency notification to filers. In the next year or two, OGE intends to begin work on an eventual successor form to the current version of the SF 278 that would reflect these recent changes as well as add express mention, on the public burden information block, of a statement pursuant to the 1995 amendments to the paperwork law to the effect that ``an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and no person is required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number,'' together with a parenthetical mention that such number is displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the front page of the form. Serious consideration will also be given to any other appropriate changes, including possible redesign of the form at that time. That future form may either be a modified standard form or a new OGE form and will be subject to appropriate clearances before issuance. Again, for now, OGE is not proposing to modify the SF 278 report form itself, but rather will ask that departments and agencies notify their filers of the modifications to the reporting requirements and new paperwork statement when the existing SF 278 forms are provided for completion (OGE will notify concerned filers of the changes as to qualified blind trust interests). [[Page 8942]] Based on an OGE request last year as approved by the General Services Administration, the SF 278 Public Financial Disclosure Report can now be electronically duplicated without standard form exception clearance pursuant to GSA's Federal Information Resources Management Regulation Bulletin B-3, provided that the bulletin's strict duplication standards (precisely paralleling the original paper form to the extent feasible) are complied with. Thus, departments and agencies can develop their own electronic SF 278 forms. The Office of Government Ethics is also considering development of a stand-alone electronic SF 278 form that would be made available free of charge or at cost to executive branch departments and agencies. In addition, that electronic version of the form could be placed on OGE's electronic bulletin board entitled ``The Ethics Bulletin Board System'' (TEBBS). For now, OGE notes that even with these electronic initiatives, the SF 278 reports, once completed, will still need to be printed out and signed manually. Electronic filing is not authorized at the present time for the SF 278s. Public comment is invited on each aspect of the SF 278 Public Financial Disclosure Report as set forth in this notice, including specifically views on the need for and practical utility of this collection of information, the accuracy of OGE's burden estimate, the potential for enhancement of quality, utility and clarity of the information collected, and the minimization of burden (including the use of information technology). Comments received in response to this notice will be summarized for, and may be included with, the OGE request for extension of the OMB paperwork approval for this information collection. The comments will also become a matter of public record. Approved: February, 1996. Stephen D. Potts, Director, Office of Government Ethics. [FR Doc. 96-5250 Filed 3-5-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6345-01-P