Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Office of Government Ethics

# AGENCY:

Office of Government Ethics (OGE).

# ACTION:

Notice of request for agency and public comments.

# SUMMARY:

After this first round notice and public comment period, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) intends to submit a modified OGE Form 278e Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

# DATES:

Written comments by the public and the agencies on this proposed extension are invited and must be received on or before September 10, 2018.

# ADDRESSES:

Comments may be submitted to OGE, by any of the following methods:

*Email: usoge@oge.gov*                         (Include reference to “OGE Form 278e paperwork comment” in the subject line of the message.)                    

*FAX:*                         202-482-9237, Attn: Sara Nekou.                    

*Mail, Hand Delivery/Courier:*                         Office of Government Ethics, 1201 New York Avenue NW, Suite 500, Attention: Sara Nekou, Assistant Counsel, Washington, DC 20005-3917.                    

*Instructions:*                         Comments may be posted on OGE's website,                         *www.oge.gov.*                         Sensitive personal information, such as account numbers or Social Security numbers, should not be included. Comments generally will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information.                    

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

                        Sara Nekou at the U.S. Office of Government Ethics; telephone: 202-482-9229; TTY: 800-877-8339; FAX: 202-482-9237; Email:                         *Snekou@oge.gov.*                         An electronic copy of the OGE Form 278e is available in the Forms Library section of OGE's website at                         *http://www.oge.gov.*                         A paper copy may also be obtained, without charge, by contacting Ms. Nekou.                    

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

*Title:*                     Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report.                

*Form Number:*                     OGE Form 278e.                

*OMB Control Number:*                     3209-0001.                

*Type of Information Collection:*                     Revision of a currently approved collection.                

*Type of Review Request:*                     Regular.                

*Respondents:*                     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:*                     4,821.                

*Estimated Time per Response:*                     10 hours.                

*Estimated Total Annual Burden:*                     48,210 hours.                

*Abstract:*                     The OGE Form 278 collects information from certain officers and high-level employees in the executive branch for conflicts of interest review and public disclosure. The form is also completed by 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 financial 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. The information is collected in accordance with section                           ( print page 32123)                        102 of the Ethics in Government Act, 5 U.S.C. app. sec. 102, as amended by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-105) (STOCK Act) and OGE's implementing financial disclosure regulations at 5 CFR part 2634.                

                    In 2013, OGE sought and received approval for the OGE Form 278e, an electronic version of the Form 278, implemented pursuant to the e-filing system mandated under section 11(b) of the STOCK Act. The OGE Form 278e collects the same information as the OGE Form 278. In 2014, OGE sought and received approval to incorporate the OGE Form 278e into its new                     *Integrity*                     e-filing application.                     *Integrity*                     has been in use since January 1, 2015, and OGE now requires filers to use a version of the OGE Form 278e rather than the old OGE Form 278. 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.                

                    On October 5, 2016, OGE published a proposed rule for amending 5 CFR part 2634.                     *See*81 FR 69204-69238 (October 5, 2016). The proposed modifications to the OGE Form 278e revise the instructions to reflect the changes to the financial disclosure regulation, if adopted as final. Specifically, OGE proposes to: Revise the reporting period for termination reports to include the entire preceding calendar year if a required annual report has not been filed; revise the income disclosure requirement to include only received income; revise the “widely diversified” criterion for purposes of determining whether a fund qualifies as an “excepted investment fund;” add a new feature (checkbox) for purposes of managing early termination report filing on the                     *Integrity*                     version of the Form 278e; clarify the Definition section of Part 2; clarify when a source of compensation need not be disclosed and the method for disclosing the existence of such sources; and eliminate the disclosure of transactions that occurred before the reporting individual became subject to the public financial disclosure requirements.                

OGE is also proposing to update the Privacy Act statement in accordance with changes to the applicable system of records and to make certain minor formatting changes and corrections to the instructions and one of the data entry fields.

*Request for Comments:*                     Agency and 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). 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: July 3, 2018.

David Apol,

Acting Director and General Counsel, Office of Government Ethics.

[FR Doc. 2018-14840 Filed 7-10-18; 8:45 am]

 BILLING CODE 6345-03-P