Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14071 

participating either virtually or in 

person will be able to provide 

comments verbally or in writing. A link 

to register to attend the public meeting 

virtually, via Zoom, is available at 

www.gsa.gov/Alcan. Members of the 

public may attend the meeting in person 

at Northway Community Center, Main 

Hall, 183 Circle Drive, Northway, AK 

99764. 

Comments sent by any other method, 

to any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period may not be considered by GSA. 

All comments received are part of the 

public record. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. GSA will accept 

anonymous comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Aaron Evanson, Capital Project 

Manager, (206) 445–5876, AlcanLPOE@

gsa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: GSA 

identified one action alternative that 

meets the stated purpose and need of 

the proposed project and thus has been 

analyzed in detail in the DEIS. GSA also 

analyzed a ‘‘No Action’’ alternative, 

which evaluates the effects that would 

occur if GSA continued to operate the 

LPOE under current conditions (i.e., the 

status quo). 

Alternative 1 consists of expanding 

and modernizing the existing Alcan 

LPOE. Alternative 1 would include: 

land acquisition; site preparation and 

grading; construction of a new Main 

LPOE Building, enclosed inspection 

vehicle spaces, new housing units with 

improved security measures, a firing 

range, and a helipad; and demolition of 

the existing LPOE structures. Land 

acquisition under Alternative 1 would 

expand the port to include up to 2.5 

acres of land south of and across the 

Alaska Highway from the existing 

LPOE. 

All facility and infrastructure 

improvements proposed under 

Alternative 1 would incorporate a 

sustainable, climate-resilient, cybersecure, and operationally efficient 

design. GSA would seek to meet or 

exceed energy and sustainability goals 

established by federal guidelines and 

policies, along with industry standard 

building codes and best practices. 

Based on CBP and GSA design 

standards, the total enclosed building 

area required for the modernized Alcan 

LPOE and housing would be 129,145 

square feet (sf) with an additional 3,820 

sf of booths and canopies and 3,600 sf 

of outdoor parking and hard surfaces. 

Alternative 1 would provide dualpurpose inspection lanes to allow for 

flexibility of inspection operations as 

well as enclosed spaces for secondary 

inspection of POVs and commercial 

vehicles. A modernized Main LPOE 

Building would also enhance the 

holding and interview capabilities of the 

Alcan LPOE to meet current CBP 

security standards. 

There would be approximately 15 

acres of temporary ground disturbance 

and 5 acres of permanent ground 

disturbance under Alternative 1. 

Approximately 5 acres would be used as 

a staging area during construction. 

There are currently 8 acres of 

impermeable surfaces at the LPOE; 

expansion and modernization would 

add an estimated 4 additional acres of 

impervious surfaces. 

GSA and CBP are considering an 

option under Alternative 1 to pursue 

joint operation of the Alcan LPOE with 

the Canada Border Services Agency 

(CBSA). CBSA and CBP officers would 

jointly operate the facility to conduct 

inspections of U.S. commercial vehicles 

and POVs entering Canada; however, no 

housing would be provided for CBSA 

officers at Alcan. This option would not 

affect the design or CBP staffing of the 

expanded and modernized Alcan LPOE, 

nor contribute additional environmental 

impacts under the action alternative, 

and hence is not analyzed further in the 

DEIS. 

GSA also evaluated a No Action 

alternative, which assumes that 

expansion or modernization of the 

LPOE would not occur and that port 

operations would continue under 

current conditions. The No Action 

alternative does not meet the stated 

purpose and need of the proposed 

project. 

Classification: The DEIS was prepared 

in compliance with the NEPA, as 

amended (42 United States Code 

[U.S.C.] et seq.), which requires federal 

agencies to examine the impacts of their 

proposed projects or actions on the 

human and natural environment and 

consider alternatives to the proposal 

before deciding on taking an action. The 

DEIS complies with the 2020 Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA 

regulations (40 Code of Federal 

Regulations [CFR] § 1500–1508), as 

modified by the Phase I 2022 revisions. 

The effective date of the 2022 revisions 

was May 20, 2022, and reviews that 

began after this date are required to 

apply the 2020 regulations as modified 

by the Phase I revisions unless there is 

a clear and fundamental conflict with an 

applicable statute. The DEIS effort began 

on January 10, 2023, and accordingly 

proceeds under the 2020 regulations as 

modified by the Phase I revisions. In 

addition, the DEIS also complies with 

the GSA Public Buildings Service NEPA 

Desk Guide and other relevant federal 

and state laws and regulations and 

executive orders and integrates the 

consultation processes required under 

Section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act and Section 7 of the 

Endangered Species Act with the NEPA 

process. 

Anamarie Crawley, 

Director, R10 Facilities Management Division, 

10PM. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03780 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–DL–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). 

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 278e Executive Branch Personnel 

Public Financial Disclosure Report. 

DATES: Written comments by the public 

and agencies on the 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 278e 

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– 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14072 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

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 

public in PDF form. Most public 

disclosure filers now use Integrity to file 

the OGE Form 278e. However, OGE also 

continues to maintain an Excel version 

of the form and a 508 compliant PDF 

version accessible to users who use 

screen readers to access and interact 

with digital information. 

OGE seeks renewal of the OGE Form 

278e 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 

Integrity. 

The proposed modifications are 

described below. These changes apply 

to the English language versions of the 

form only; OGE will update its Spanish 

and Chinese instructional versions at a 

later date. 

Changes to All English Versions (Excel, 

PDF, and Integrity) 

OGE proposes to add a question for all 

filers regarding their type of 

appointment. The options offered are 

‘‘PAS,’’ ‘‘Non-Career,’’ and ‘‘Career.’’ 

The information may be provided by the 

filer or by their agency. This 

information will appear on the cover 

page. This change was requested by a 

good government group in order to help 

the public understand the filer’s 

potential conflicts. One of the primary 

purposes of the public financial 

disclosure report is to allow the public 

to understand any potential conflicts of 

interest the filer might have. Knowing 

the filer’s type of appointment is 

important to this understanding because 

different types of officials have different 

ethics requirements. 

OGE also proposes to identify the date 

of appointment on the cover page of 

reports for all filers other than nominees 

(who have not yet been appointed at the 

time they complete the form). Integrity 

currently identifies the date of 

appointment on the cover page of a new 

entrant report only. The Excel and PDF 

versions currently have one field for 

both date of appointment and date of 

termination, which OGE proposes 

separating into two fields. The purpose 

is to benefit the public’s understanding 

of the time period during which the 

individual was in a public filing 

position. 

Lastly, OGE proposes to add a link to 

its online Public Financial Disclosure 

Guide, the most widely used resource 

for completing and reviewing public 

financial disclosure reports. 

Changes to the Excel and PDF Versions 

Only 

OGE proposes instructional changes 

to the Excel and PDF versions to 

provide better guidance to those filers 

who do not use the Integrity application. 

OGE does not propose any changes to 

the information collected on the Excel 

and PDF versions of the form, beyond 

the addition of ‘‘appointment type’’ 

discussed above. 

OGE proposes two changes to the 

initial instructions page to improve 

clarity: (1) changing the topic headings 

to plain language questions (e.g., 

changing ‘‘Late Filing’’ to ‘‘What 

Happens if I File Late?’’); and (2) 

consolidating the guidance on which 

parts to complete into a new section 

headed ‘‘What Parts Must I Complete?’’ 

In the rest of the instructions, OGE 

proposes to add clarifying guidance on 

reporting requirements, exceptions to 

reporting requirements, and definitions. 

OGE also proposes to add specific 

instructions to avoid reporting 

unnecessary personal information. 

Finally, OGE proposes to add a note 

indicating that the reporting thresholds 

for gifts are applicable for calendar years 

2023–2025 and that the amounts are 

adjusted every three years. 

OMB Control Number: 3209–0001. 

Type of Information Collection: 

Extension of a currently approved 

collection. 

Type of Review Request: Regular. 

Affected Public: 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 VicePresidential candidates. 

Estimated Annual Number of 

Respondents: 4,257. 

Estimated Time per Response: 10 

hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

42,570 hours. 

Request for Comments: OGE is 

publishing this first round notice of its 

intent to request paperwork clearance 

renewal for OGE Form 278e. 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 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
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