This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

33737

Vol. 65, No. 102

Thursday, May 25, 2000

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

4 CFR Chapter I

Claims, Waiver of Claims and

Transportation Issues

AGENCY: General Accounting Office.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The General Accounting

Office (GAO) is removing regulations

which relate to the settlement of claims,

settlement of accounts of deceased and

incompetent individuals, transportation

transactions, and waiver of claims for

erroneous payments. The Legislative

Branch Appropriations Act of 1996

transferred these functions to the

executive branch, but these regulations

were kept for a transition period. This

final rule eliminates these regulations as

unnecessary because the functions are

no longer carried out by GAO but have

been transferred to other federal

agencies.

DATES: Effective May 25, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Barry L. Shillito, 202–512–4663;

shillitob.ogc@gao.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Claims Settlements Authority

In Subchapter C (Claims; General),

Parts 30–36 set out the Comptroller

General’s regulations for the settlement

of (1) claims and (2) accounts of certain

deceased and incompetent individuals.

The Legislative Branch Appropriations

Act of 1996, Public Law 104–53, sec.

211(a), 109 Stat. 514, 535 (1996),

transferred certain of the Comptroller

General’s authority to settle claims and

accounts to the Director of the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB), and

provided for the Director of OMB to

delegate this authority to other

appropriate agencies. The Director of

OMB delegated his authority to several

executive branch agencies.

Subsequently, the General Accounting

Office Act of 1996, Public Law 104–316,

110 Stat. 3826 (1996), set out in detail,

among other things, the authority given

to the Director of OMB and other heads

of agencies to settle the claims and

accounts formerly subject to settlement

by the Comptroller General. Section

202(n) of the GAO Act of 1996 made a

conforming amendment to 31 U.S.C. 732

to set out the executive branch agencies

to whom the Director of OMB delegated

the authority to settle claims formerly

within the authority of the Comptroller

General. Additionally, section 103(c) of

the GAO Act of 1996 transferred the

Comptroller General’s authority to

promulgate regulations with respect to

the designation of beneficiaries for

certain deceased and incompetent

persons to various specified officials in

the three branches of government.

The Director of OMB delegated to the

Director of the Office of Personnel

Management (OPM) the authority to

settle claims against the United States

involving Federal employee

compensation and leave, deceased

employees’ compensation, and proceeds

of canceled checks payable to deceased

beneficiaries. Individuals with these

types of claims should no longer contact

GAO but should contact OPM.

The Director of OMB delegated to the

Administrator of General Services the

authority to settle claims involving

expenses incurred by Federal civilian

employees for official travel and

transportation and for relocation

expenses incident to transfers of official

duty station. Individuals with these type

of claims should no longer contact GAO

but should contact the General Services

Administration.

OMB delegated to the Secretary of

Defense the authority to settle claims for

military pay, allowances, travel,

transportation, retired pay, and survivor

benefits as well as claims by

transportation carriers involving

amounts collected from them for loss or

damage incurred to property incident to

shipment at Government expense.

Individuals with these types of claims

should no longer contact GAO but

should contact the Department of

Defense.

Accordingly, the Comptroller General

no longer has the authority to prescribe

the regulations in 4 CFR parts 30–32,

regarding claims settlement, and parts

33–36, regarding settlement of accounts

for certain deceased and incompetent

persons.

Transportation

Sections 125 and 127(d) of the GAO

Act of 1996, transferred the Comptroller

General’s authority to promulgate

regulations for transportation

transactions for use of U.S. flag carriers

pursuant to the Merchant Marine Act of

1936, 46 U.S.C. 1241a, and the Fly

America Act, 49 U.S.C. 40118(c), to the

Administrator of General Services.

Accordingly, the Comptroller General

no longer has authority to prescribe the

regulations found at 4 CFR part 52. With

the removal of part 52, there is no

further need for 4 CFR part 51.

Section 202(o)(2) of the GAO Act of

1996 transferred the Comptroller

General’s authority to promulgate

regulations governing the review of GSA

transportation settlement actions

pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3726(g)(1) to the

Administrator of General Services.

Accordingly the Comptroller General no

longer has authority to prescribe the

regulations found at 4 CFR part 53.

Section 202(o)(1) of the GAO Act of

1996, 110 Stat. 3826, 3844 (1996),

removed the Comptroller General’s

authority to jointly prescribe standards,

with the Secretary of Treasury, for

advance payment of charges for

transportation services pursuant to 31

U.S.C. 3726(f). Accordingly, the

Comptroller General no longer has

authority to prescribe the regulations

found at 4 CFR part 56.

Given the above discussion, there is

no long current need for a subchapter

devoted to transportation (Subchapter

D).

Waiver

Sections 103 of the GAO Act of 1996

transferred the Comptroller General’s

authority to waive claims against

civilian employees arising out of

erroneous payments of pay and

allowances, travel, transportation and

relocation benefits to the head of an

agency with respect to a legislative

branch employee, or to the Director of

OMB with respect to any other agency

or employee. Further, the Comptroller

General’s authority over such claims

against members of the military and the

National Guard was transferred to the

Director of OMB by sections 105(b) and

116 of the GAO Act of 1996. The

Director of OMB has delegated his

authority to the head of the agency that

33738 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 102 / Thursday, May 25, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

made the erroneous payment.

Accordingly the Comptroller General no

longer has authority to promulgate the

regulations at 4 CFR parts 91 and 92

(Subchapter G—Standards for waiver of

claims for erroneous payments of pay

and allowances, and of travel,

transportation, and relocation expenses

and allowances). Individuals seeking a

waiver should no longer contact GAO

but should direct a request for waiver to

their employing agency.

Accordingly, as set forth in the

preamble and under the authority of

Public Law 104–53, sec. 211(a), 109

Stat. 535, and secs. 103(c), 103(d),

105(b), 116, 125, and 127 of Public Law

104–316, 110 Stat. 3826, GAO amends

4 CFR Chapter I as follows:

1. Subchapter C, consisting of parts 30

through 36, Subchapter D, consisting of

parts 51 through 53 and part 56, and

Subchapter G, consisting of parts 91

through 93, are removed and reserved.

Dated: May 19, 2000.

Robert P. Murphy,

General Counsel, General Accounting Office.

[FR Doc. 00–13192 Filed 5–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 1610–02–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 317

RIN 3206–A158

Employment in the Senior Executive

Service

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel

Management (OPM) is amending its

regulations governing career and limited

appointments to the Senior Executive

Services (SES). The amended

regulations emphasize the importance of

executive leadership qualifications in

agency SES selection criteria, strengthen

merit principles, and increase SES

staffing flexibilities to help agencies

recruit the brightest and most diverse

executive cadre possible.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 26, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Daliza Salas (202–606–1274, email

desalas@opm.gov) or Marcia Staten

(202–606–1832, email

mkstaten@opm.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

success of the Senior Executive Service

(SES) rests on the ability of agencies to

employ highly competent, motivated,

and diverse professionals dedicated to

public service who have the requisite

leadership expertise to meet the

challenges facing the Government and

the Nation now and into the future.

The final regulations and

accompanying guidance to agencies are

an outcome of extensive discussions

with stakeholders about improving the

SES. These discussions challenged

stakeholders to think about the future

and whether the way we develop, select,

and manage the SES cadre produces the

kind of executives the Government

needs to meet the leadership challenges

of the 21st century. Although

stakeholder views varied widely, there

was consensus on many ideas,

including increasing agency flexibilities

for SES staffing. Specifically, there was

general support for improving the SES

selection process to ensure that

leadership and executive qualifications

are the major selection criteria, reducing

the paperwork burden on applicants

and agencies, considering options for

delegating QRB administration, and

increasing agency authority to make

limited terms appointments.

On July 30, 1999, OPM published a

proposed rule in the Federal Register

(64 CFR 41334) to amend the

regulations governing career and limited

appointments to the Senior Executive

Service (SES) and Qualifications Review

Board (QRB) certification. We received

24 written comments during the

comment period: 16 from departments

and agencies, 4 from professional

organizations, and 4 from individuals.

There was broad support for the

changes, although some respondents

had serious reservations about the

proposal to delegate QRB administration

to individual agencies via delegation

agreement.

In addition to these regulatory

changes, we have modified internal

procedures and other requirements to

streamline the SES application process,

reduce paperwork requirements, and

improve the QRB certification process.

These modifications provide alternative

methods for documenting executive

qualifications for presentation to QRBs

and improved guidance and instructions

to QRBs to ensure that members fully

understand their role and

responsibilities. We have also suggested

ways for agencies to improve their

recruitment and selection procedures.

OPM’s administrative modifications and

the suggested changes at the agency

level will help agencies and candidates

focus on substance rather than process

and format, and they reinforce the goal

of achieving a highly-qualified, diverse

SES corps. We have summarized these

procedural modifications and

flexibilities in supplemental guidance to

agencies.

Emphasis on Executive Leadership

The key characteristic of an SES

position is executive leadership, and

therefore selection criteria should focus

primarily on leadership qualifications.

Further, the law at 5 U.S.C. 3393

requires agency Executive Resources

Boards to conduct the merit staffing

process for career entry into the SES,

including reviewing the executive

qualifications of each career SES

candidate.

During discussions on improving the

SES, stakeholders confirmed that, in

many agencies, the selection criteria

focuses mainly on candidates’

professional or technical qualifications,

and therefore consideration of executive

qualifications is not getting the full

attention intended by the SES

legislation. To strengthen that focus and

encourage agencies to fully integrate

consideration of executive leadership

qualifications into their selection

processes, the proposed regulations

amended the current provisions to

incorporate the statutory requirements.

Most commenters supported the

proposal. One agency felt there was not

pressing need to revise the current

wording, as what constitutes SES

qualifications changes over time with

new studies and emerging approaches

and theories. We do not agree, given

that the statute requires selection based

on executive qualifications and our

findings that many agencies are not

considering executive expertise in their

SES selections. An August 1999 survey

of SES members reinforces these

findings. Only 56 percent of the senior

executives responding to the survey said

that their agencies strongly emphasize

executive qualifications in evaluating

applications and use them as key factor

in determining who is selected for the

SES. Further, our research tells us that

the emphasis on executive skills and

expertise is even more critical than in

the past and will continue to be of

primary importance in the future. The

survey findings supported this as well.

When asked to rank qualifications for

SES positions now and in five years,

respondents rated executive

qualifications as more important than

technical qualifications today and even

more important in five years.

One agency, while not opposing the

proposal, was concerned that it might

lead to overly prescriptive procedural

requirements. This is not our intent.

Agencies will continue to have the

latitude to design merit staffing

processes to meet their unique mission

requirements, within the framework of