Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14073 

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: February 20, 2024. 

Shelley K. Finlayson, 

Acting Director, U.S. Office of Government 

Ethics. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03814 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6345–03–P 

OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Information Collection 

Renewal; Comment Request for OGE 

Form 450 Executive Branch 

Confidential Financial Disclosure 

Report 

AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics 

(OGE). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: After this first round notice 

and public comment period, 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. 

DATES: Written comments by the public 

and agencies on this proposed 

modification and extension are invited 

and must be received by April 26, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted to OGE by any of the 

following methods: 

Email: usoge@oge.gov (Include 

reference to ‘‘OGE Form 450 paperwork 

comment’’ in the subject line of the 

message.) 

Mail: Office of Government Ethics, 

Attention: Jennifer Matis, Associate 

Counsel, 250 E Street SW, Suite 750, 

Washington, DC 20024–3249. 

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: 

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 

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 

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. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14074 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

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. 

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 first 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: February 20, 2024. 

Shelley K. Finlayson, 

Acting Director, U.S. Office of Government 

Ethics. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03813 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6345–03–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[Docket No. CDC–2024–0015] 

Proposed Updates for Developing, 

Implementing, and Evaluating Infection 

Control Programs for Viral 

Hemorrhagic Fevers, Andes Virus, and 

Nipah Virus: Appendix A 

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice with comment period. 

SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC) in the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) announces the opening 

of a docket to obtain comment on Draft 

Proposed Updates for Viral hemorrhagic 

fevers, Andes virus, and Nipah virus: 

Appendix A (‘‘Draft Updates: Appendix 

A’’). The updated recommendations in 

the Draft Updates: Appendix A are 

intended for use by frontline healthcare 

personnel, as well as infection control 

personnel and other persons responsible 

for developing, implementing, and 

evaluating infection control programs 

for healthcare settings across the 

continuum of care. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before April 26, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. CDC–2024– 

0015 by either of the methods listed 

below. Do not submit comments by 

email. CDC does not accept comments 

by email. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Healthcare Infection Control 

Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) 

Secretariat, Division of Healthcare 

Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton 

Road NE, Mailstop H16–3, Atlanta, 

Georgia 30329, Attn: Docket Number 

CDC–2024–0015. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

Docket Number. All relevant comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. For 

access to the docket to read background 

documents or comments received, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Wells, Division of Healthcare 

Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton 

Road NE, Mailstop H16–2, Atlanta, 

Georgia 30329; Telephone: (404) 639– 

4000. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation 

Interested persons or organizations 

are invited to participate by submitting 

written views, recommendations, and 

data related to Draft Updates: Appendix 

A. 

Please note that comments received, 

including attachments and other 

supporting materials, are part of the 

public record and are subject to public 

disclosure. Comments will be posted on 

https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, 

do not include any information in your 

comment or supporting materials that 

you consider confidential or 

inappropriate for public disclosure. If 

you include your name, contact 

information, or other information that 

identifies you in the body of your 

comments, that information will be on 

public display. CDC will review all 

submissions and may choose to redact, 

or withhold, submissions containing 

private or proprietary information such 

as Social Security numbers, medical 

information, inappropriate language, or 

duplicate/near duplicate examples of a 

mass-mail campaign. Do not submit 

comments by email. CDC does not 

accept comment by email. 

Background 

The Draft Updates: Appendix A, 

located in the ‘‘Supporting and Related 

Material’’ tab of the docket, updates the 

recommendations in Appendix A of the 

Guideline for Isolation Precautions: 

Preventing Transmission of Infectious 

Agents in Healthcare Settings (2007) on 

the type and duration of isolation 

precautions for Viral hemorrhagic 

fevers, Andes virus, and Nipah virus. 

The Draft Updates: Appendix A 

provides recommendations to prevent 

transmission, focusing primarily on 

types and durations of precautions 

available to frontline healthcare 

personnel. The recommendations are 

being updated to include additional 

viruses with potential for importation to 

the United States. The Draft Updates: 

Appendix A is intended for use by 

frontline healthcare personnel, as well 

as infection control personnel and other 

persons responsible for developing, 

implementing, and evaluating infection 

control programs for healthcare settings 

across the continuum of care. Once the 

Draft Updates: Appendix A is finalized, 

the corresponding content in Appendix 

A of the Guideline for Isolation 

Precautions: Preventing Transmission of 

Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings 

(2007) will be updated on the CDC 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES