66184 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 214 / Friday, November 3, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

State and county Location

Dates and name of newspaper where notice was

published

Chief executive officer of community Effective date of

modification

Community

No.

Lancaster ...... City of Lancaster .. July 25, 2000, August 1,

2000, Intelligencer Journal.

The Honorable Charles W. Smithgall,

Mayor of the City of Lancaster,

P.O. Box 1599, 120 North Duke

Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

17603–1599.

July 5, 2000 ......... 420552 B

Lancaster ...... Township of

Manheim.

July 25, 2000, August 1,

2000, Intelligencer Journal.

Mr. Thomas Woodland, President,

Manheim Township Board of Commissioners, 1840 Municipal Drive,

Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601–

4162.

July 5, 2000 ......... 420556 C

Montgomery .. Township of Plymouth.July 18, 2000, July 25,

2000, Times Herald.

Ms. Joan Mower, Township of Plymouth Manager, 700 Belvoir Road,

Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania

19462.

July 7, 2000 ......... 420955 E

Rhode Island:

Kent ............... City of Warwick .... August 18, 2000, August

25, 2000, The Kent

County Daily Times.

The Honorable Scott Avedisian,

Mayor of the City of Warwick, 3275

Post Road, Warwick, Rhode Island

02886.

November 24,

2000.

445409

Virginia:

Brunswick ...... Unincorporated

areas.

September 13, 2000, September 20, 2000, Lake

Gaston Gazette.

Mr. J. Grady Martin, Chairman of the

Brunswick County Board of Supervisors, County Courthouse, P.O.

Box 399, Lawrenceville, Virginia

23868.

September 6,

2000.

510236 B

Independent

City.

City of Winchester August 30, 2000, September 5, 2000, Winchester Star.Mr. Edwin C. Daley, City of Winchester Manager, Rouss City Hall,

15 North Cameron Street, Winchester, Virginia 22601.

November 20,

2000.

510173 B

Independent

City.

City of Winchester July 5, 2000, July 12,

2000, Winchester Star.

Mr. Edwin C. Daley, City of Winchester Manager, Rouss City Hall,

15 North Cameron Street, Winchester, Virginia 22601.

June 23, 2000 ...... 510173 B

Wisconsin:

Calumet ......... City of Brillion ....... June 8, 2000, June 15,

2000, The Brillion News.

The Honorable Robert Mathiebe,

Mayor of the City of Brillion, 130

Calumet Street, City Hall, Brillion,

Wisconsin 54110.

September 14,

2000.

550036 C

Calumet ......... Unincorporated

areas.

June 8, 2000, June 15,

2000, Chilton TimesJournal.

Ms. Allison Blackmer, Calumet County Board of Commissioners, Courthouse, 206 Court Street, Chilton,

Wisconsin 53014.

September 14,

2000.

550035 B

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No.

83.100, ‘‘Flood Insurance’’)

Dated: October 30, 2000.

Margaret E. Lawless,

Deputy Associate Director for Mitigation.

[FR Doc. 00–28257 Filed 11–2–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6718–04–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 0 and 19

[FCC 00–365]

Nonpublic Information

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Commission is amending

its rules to establish a procedure to deal

with the improper release of nonpublic

information. The current rules prohibit

the unauthorized release of nonpublic

information by Commission officials.

The revised rules add language

requiring persons regulated by or

practicing before the Commission who

receive written nonpublic information

to return it to the Commission’s Office

of the Inspector General without further

distribution or use of the material. The

amended rules also highlight the

sanctions available to the Commission

to address willful violation of the rules

by either employees of the Commission

or individuals who are regulated by or

practicing before it.

DATES: Effective December 4, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patrick J. Carney, Office of General

Counsel, (202) 418–1720.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Recent unauthorized disclosures of

nonpublic internal Commission draft

orders and documents in marketsensitive proceedings prompt us to

adopt this order to amend § 19.735–203

of our rules, 47 CFR 19.735–203.

Section 19.735–203 currently governs

the disclosure and misuse by

Commission personnel of nonpublic

information that is contained in

Commission records or obtained in

connection with Commission

employment. The purpose of the

amendment is to emphasize the

responsibilities of Commission

employees in this area and to provide

guidance to persons who receive

nonpublic documents under

circumstances where it appears that the

release of the documents was either

inadvertent or otherwise unauthorized.

2. Currently, § 19.735–203 prohibits

the unauthorized release of nonpublic

information, including documents, by

Commission officials. Specifically,

§ 19.735–203(a) states that ‘‘[e]xcept as

authorized in writing by the Chairman

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 214 / Friday, November 3, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 66185

* * *, or otherwise as authorized by the

Commission or its rules, nonpublic

information shall not be disclosed,

directly or indirectly, to any person

outside the commission.’’ Such

nonpublic information clearly includes

drafts of Commission orders,

memoranda and other documents (such

as e-mail) containing internal staff

recommendations. See 5 CFR 2635.703

(‘‘nonpublic information is information

that * * * has not been made available

to the general public’’ including

documents that are ‘‘designated as

confidential by an agency.’’). We take

this opportunity to emphasize that,

pursuant to § 19.735–107 of our rules,

employees that disclose such

documents (or their contents) are

subject to significant disciplinary action

up to and including removal for cause,

in addition to any other penalty

prescribed by law. See 47 CFR 19.735–

107. Our amendment of § 19.735–203

cross-references this rule governing the

Commission’s disciplinary and remedial

authority.

3. Our rules prohibiting the disclosure

of nonpublic information serve to

protect the integrity of the

Commission’s deliberative processes.

Disclosure by Commission staff of draft

orders, internal confidential memoranda

and nonpublic information violates

these rules, and we will vigorously

investigate and address violations of

these rules by Commission personnel.

4. While our existing rules and our

guidance in this order make clear our

commitment to ensure that Commission

personnel do not disclose nonpublic

documents, the existing rules do not

address the steps that are to be taken by

persons regulated by or practicing

before the Commission who receive

such documents. The revision to

§ 19.735–203 adds language requiring

such persons who come into possession

of written nonpublic information

(including written material transmitted

in electronic form), the release of which

they know or reasonably should know

was either inadvertent or otherwise

unauthorized, to promptly return such

written nonpublic information to the

Commission’s Office of the Inspector

General, without further distribution or

use of the material.

5. Persons regulated by or practicing

before the FCC may be subject to

appropriate sanctions for willful

violation of this section. In the case of

attorneys practicing before the

Commission such sanctions may

include disciplinary action under the

provisions of § 1.24 of the Commission’s

rules. (Cf., D.C. Rules of Professional

Conduct, Rule 1.15 and Opinion no.

256, adopted May 16, 1995. See also:

ABA Formal Opinion 92–368, Nov. 10,

1992; Florida Bar Op. 93–3, Feb. 1,

1994; and Oregon Bar Formal Op. No.

1998–150, approved Apr. 1998).

6. The revision also adds a cross

reference to § 19.735–203 in a new

§ 0.458 of the Commission’s rules, 47

CFR 0.458. New § 0.458 is within the

Commission’s part 0 rules dealing with

public and nonpublic information.

7. The requirements set forth in 5

U.S.C. 553(b) and (d) pertaining to

notice and comment and the effective

date in rulemaking proceedings do not

apply to this amendment because it

concerns matters of agency organization,

procedure or practice. See 5 U.S.C.

553(b)(A); 553(d).

8. Accordingly, pursuant to sections

4(i), 4(j), 303(r), 47 U.S.C. 4(i), 4(j),

303(r), parts 0 and 19 of the

Commission’s rules, 47 CFR part 19,

ARE AMENDED as set forth, and is

effective December 4, 2000.

List of Subjects

47 CFR Part 0

Classified information.

47 CFR Part 19

Conflict of interests, Nonpublic

information.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

Rule Changes

For the reasons discussed in the

preamble, the Federal Communications

Commission amends 47 CFR parts 0 and

19 as follows:

PART 0—COMMISSION

ORGANIZATION

1. The authority citation for part 0

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Sec. 5, 48 Stat. 1068, as

amended; 47 U.S.C. 155.

2. Section 0.458 is added to read as

follows:

§ 0.458 Nonpublic information.

Any person regulated by or practicing

before the Commission coming into

possession of written nonpublic

information (including written material

transmitted in electronic form) as

described in § 19.735–203(a) of this

chapter under circumstances where it

appears that its release was inadvertent

or otherwise unauthorized shall be

obligated to return the information to

the Commission’s Office of Inspector

General pursuant to that section. See 47

CFR 19.735–203.

PART 19—EMPLOYEE

RESPONSIBILITIES AND CONDUCT

3. The authority citation for part 19

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 7301; 47 U.S.C. 154 (b),

(i), (j) and 303 (r).

4. Section 19.735–203 is amended by

adding paragraph (d) and a new

sentence immediately preceding the

second sentence of the note to the

section to read as follows:

§ 19.735–203 Nonpublic information.

* * * * *

(d) Any person regulated by or

practicing before the Commission

coming into possession of written

nonpublic information (including

written material transmitted in

electronic form) as described in

paragraph (a) of this section under

circumstances where it appears that its

release was inadvertent or otherwise

unauthorized shall promptly return the

written information to the Commission’s

Office of the Inspector General without

further distribution or use of the written

nonpublic information. Any person

regulated by or practicing before the

Commission who willfully violates this

section by failing to promptly notify the

Commission’s Office of the Inspector

General of the receipt of written

nonpublic information (including

written material transmitted in

electronic form) that he knew or should

have known was released inadvertently

or in any otherwise unauthorized

manner may be subject to appropriate

sanctions by the Commission. In the

case of attorneys practicing before the

Commission, such sanctions may

include disciplinary action under the

provisions of § 1.24 of this chapter.

Note: * * * Additionally, employees

should refer to § 19.735–107 of this part,

which provides that employees of the

Commission who violate this part may be

subject to disciplinary action which may be

in addition to any other penalty prescribed

by law.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 00–28061 Filed 11–2–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–U