This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

2048

Vol. 62, No. 10

Wednesday, January 15, 1997

OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS

5 CFR Part 2634

RIN 3209–AA00

Executive Branch Financial Disclosure,

Qualified Trusts, and Certificates of

Divestiture

AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics

(OGE).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Office of Government

Ethics is proposing to amend the

regulation governing confidential

financial disclosure for executive

branch employees, to: update the

standardized confidential disclosure

report form designation by adding

reference to the new OGE Form 450,

which is replacing the old SF 450; and

authorize all executive branch agencies

to use a standardized certificate of no

new interests (OGE Optional Form 450–

A) as an alternative procedure in lieu of

OGE Form 450, for regular employee

annual confidential disclosure filers

who can make the required

certifications.

DATES: Comments are invited and must

be received on or before March 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the

Office of Government Ethics, Suite 500,

1201 New York Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20005–3917, Attention:

G. Sid Smith. Copies of the draft

proposed OGE Optional Form 450–A are

available by contacting Mr. Smith or Mr.

Gressman at OGE, telephone: 202–208–

8000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: G.

Sid Smith, Associate General Counsel,

Office of Government Ethics; telephone:

202–208–8000; TDD:202–208–8025;

FAX: 202–208–8037; Internet E-mail

address: usoge@oge.gov (for E-mail

messages, the subject line should

include the following reference—

Proposed Certificate of No New Interests

Regulation).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On April 7, 1992, the Office of

Government Ethics (OGE) published a

new financial disclosure regulation for

the executive branch, as codified at 5

CFR part 2634, which implemented

provisions of the Ethics Reform Act of

1989 and Executive Order 12674 (as

modified by E.O. 12731), to reauthorize

both a public and a confidential

financial disclosure system for certain

executive branch employees. See 57 FR

11800–11830, as corrected at 57 FR

21854–21855 and 62605. Among other

subsequent revisions, OGE amended

§ 2634.601 of that regulation on July 21,

1993, to supply the then-current

designation, Standard Form (SF) 450,

for the form used by confidential

disclosure filers throughout the

executive branch. See 58 FR 38911–

38913. On November 30, 1993, OGE also

amended § 2634.907 of that regulation,

to exempt from the confidential

reporting requirement certain deposit

accounts, money market funds and

accounts, and U.S. Government

obligations and securities. See 58 FR

63023–63024.

Those exemptions, along with several

clarifying and simplifying features, were

incorporated into a new OGE Form 450,

after appropriate Federal Register

paperwork notices on September 1 and

December 6, 1995, and clearance

through the Office of Management and

Budget. See 60 FR 45722–45723 and

62469–62471. A camera-ready copy of

the new OGE Form 450 was distributed

by OGE on February 27, 1996, to all

designated agency ethics officials, for

local copying and immediate use as a

replacement for the SF 450.

The proposed regulatory amendment

that is being published herein would

update 5 CFR 2634.601, to reflect the

new form’s designation as OGE Form

450. Supplies of the old SF 450 that are

held by agencies or obtained from the

Federal Supply Service may continue to

be used first, if agencies prefer, until the

old SF 450’s clearance under the

Paperwork Reduction Act expires on

August 31, 1997. The form designation

in the regulation is proposed to be

amended, to reflect the phaseout of the

SF 450 and its ongoing replacement

with OGE Form 450, which has already

become the primary format in general

use.

The second purpose of this proposed

regulatory amendment would be to

authorize all executive branch agencies

to use a standardized certificate of no

new interests as an alternative

procedure in lieu of OGE Form 450, for

regular employee annual confidential

disclosure filers who can make the

required certifications. The current

regulation provides at 5 CFR 2634.905

that agencies may exclude certain

employees from confidential financial

disclosure reporting, even though their

positions have been designated for

filing. To exclude such employees, an

agency must determine that, because of

the nature of their duties, either (a) the

possibility of a conflict is remote, or (b)

their duties involve a low level of

responsibility, or (c) the use of an

alternative procedure, approved in

writing by OGE, is adequate to prevent

conflicts. The proposed regulatory

amendment being published herein

concerns alternative procedures, and

would authorize all executive branch

agencies to use a new optional

alternative certificate for certain regular

employees.

Under authority of 5 CFR 2634.905(c),

approximately 20 individual

departments and agencies have already

received written approval from OGE for

alternative procedures which were

found to be adequate in preventing

conflicts, either as supplements to or in

lieu of the SF/OGE Form 450. Some of

these alternatives require affirmative

disclosure of certain financial interests,

and some have taken the form of a

certificate of no conflict between the

employee s official duties and outside

financial interests (the latter being used

primarily for special Government

employees who serve for a short period

of time). All of these previously

approved agency-specific alternatives

would remain valid and unaffected by

the proposed additional alternative

certificate that this regulatory

amendment would authorize as an

option for all executive branch agencies.

In response to a Cabinet-level

department s request in 1995, OGE

approved on an experimental basis the

use of a certificate of no new interests

in lieu of filing an annual SF/OGE Form

450, by that department s regular

employees who would otherwise have

to file confidential financial disclosure

reports. That proposal offered a unique

opportunity to test a new alternative not
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 1997 / Proposed Rules 2049

previously authorized for any agency—

a statement certifying that filers (and

their spouse and dependent children)

have acquired no new interests since

filing their most recent SF/OGE Form

450, and that neither the filer nor

spouse has changed jobs or job

responsibilities since filing that report.

The department which tested this

alternative reported to OGE in April

1996 that the experiment was an

overwhelming success during the 1995

filing cycle, from the standpoint of

easing the administrative burden on

filers and agency ethics officials, while

continuing to guard against conflicts of

interest. Over half (718) of that

department s 1277 regular employees

who would otherwise have had to file

an annual SF/OGE Form 450 utilized

the alternative certificate. The

department recommended that this

alternative certificate be continued, and

that it be expanded for use by other

departments and agencies.

Prior to proposing expanded use of

this alternative certificate, OGE wanted

to obtain suggestions from the various

executive branch agencies.

Consequently, OGE conducted a survey

of agency ethics officials in June 1996,

to which 79 agencies responded, and a

focus group of approximately 100 ethics

officials in attendance at the September

1996 OGE Ethics Conference in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to discuss

the issue. The survey revealed that all

respondents were in favor of expanding

the option of using this certificate to

their agencies. A significant number of

participants at the focus group also

expressed their support for its use.

Based on input from both the survey

and the focus group, OGE has now

determined that it would be appropriate

to propose to authorize throughout the

executive branch the optional use of an

OGE-developed certificate of no new

interests in lieu of an OGE Form 450, for

regular employee annual confidential

financial disclosure filers who can make

the required certifications. (If a filer

could not make the proposed required

certifications because there had been

changes, then a new OGE Form 450

would have to be filed.) The proposed

regulatory amendment being published

herein would accomplish that

authorization, and would prescribe a

uniform format and methodology.

Note that this proposed certificate of

no new interests would be a

confidential document, and would have

to be accorded the same privacy

protections as the OGE Form 450. Thus,

no member of the public could have

access to a completed certificate of no

new interests, except as authorized by

law. See 5 CFR 2634.604(b) and

2634.901(d). The draft OGE Optional

Form 450–A includes a Privacy Act

statement to that effect.

While this proposed regulatory

amendment concerns regular employees

only, a similar standardized certificate

for special Government employees

(SGE) who serve on advisory

committees for more than one year

remains under consideration. Agencies

and members of the public are

encouraged to provide comments to

OGE during this rulemaking if they

believe that use of such a certificate for

SGEs would also be appropriate.

II. Analysis of Amendments to the

Regulation

The following sections of 5 CFR part

2634 are proposed to be amended to

accomplish the two changes outlined

above. The first change proposed,

adding the new form designation, would

be purely administrative. The second

proposed change would exercise

existing OGE authority in § 2634.905(c)

of the regulation to approve alternative

procedures in writing, and would do so

by means of a general regulatory

amendment (new proposed paragraph

(d) of § 2634.905), rather than on an

agency-by-agency basis. Furthermore,

use of this alternative certificate would

be entirely optional with each agency,

and even if the agency did decide it

would be beneficial to adopt, each

affected employee would retain the

option of either using the certificate (if

applicable) or filing a new OGE Form

450. Thus, this proposed regulatory

amendment would not mandate any

new requirements for agencies or their

employees. It would simply respond to

a need for additional flexibility that

OGE and a number of agencies and

employees have identified.

Section 2634.601

In addition to the proposed addition

of a reference to the new OGE Form 450

designation, the amendments to this

section of the regulation would add

reference to a new OGE Optional Form

450–A (Confidential Certificate of No

New Interests), as proposed, which

would be authorized by new

§ 2634.905(d). The proposed

amendments would also describe how

both forms may be obtained and

stocked. Specifically, OGE has

previously provided a camera-ready

version of the OGE Form 450 to each

designated agency ethics official

(DAEO), who then has supplies

reproduced locally. Likewise, OGE

intends to distribute a camera-ready

version of the proposed OGE Optional

Form 450–A, once a final version of it

is adopted at the time this rulemaking

is finalized, for local reproduction of

supplies by DAEOs. The OGE Form 450

is also available from OGE in electronic

format, from which paper copies may be

printed. The electronic format may be

obtained from OGE on computer disk, or

through OGE s electronic bulletin board

TEBBS (‘‘The Ethics Bulletin Board

System’’) at 202–208–8030, or via OGE’s

World Wide Web Site at http://

www.access.gpo.gov/usoge. The Office

of Government Ethics will make the

proposed OGE Optional Form 450–A,

once finally adopted as referenced in

the regulation, so available in electronic

format. For now, the proposed form is

available for review by contacting OGE

directly.

Section 2634.905(d)

The format and methodology for the

proposed certificate of no new interests

which would be authorized for certain

confidential filers by the amendments as

proposed to this section of the

regulation have been formulated to

accommodate the general consensus of

opinions expressed in OGE s recent

survey and focus group, as follows:

(a) The proposed format would retain

its essential character as a certificate of

no new interests, as proposed and tested

at a Cabinet-level department last year

and favored by 84% of the respondents

to OGE s survey, rather than a certificate

of no change (no new interests and no

divestitures), or a statement

affirmatively detailing new interests and

divestitures. A certificate of no new

interests would permit the greatest

number of filers to use this alternative

to OGE Form 450, while avoiding

ambiguity and confusion in a filer’s

disclosure history.

(b) Only regular employee annual

filers (not new entrants or special

Government employees) would be

eligible to use the proposed certificate of

no new interests, as its use would

presuppose that an initial OGE Form

450 had been filed for the position, that

could serve as a point of reference. Its

due date would be the same as specified

in the regulation for the annual OGE

Form 450 that would otherwise be due.

(c) Filers could use the proposed

certificate for a maximum of three

consecutive years before being required

to file a new OGE Form 450 every fourth

year. Over half (58%) of the respondents

to OGE s survey recommended this time

frame. Alternatively, the proposed

amendments would authorize agencies

to choose, under this section of the

regulation, to allow use of the certificate

for only one year (or two years), and to

require a new OGE Form 450 every

second (or third) year.
2050 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 1997 / Proposed Rules

(d) In each year divisible by four,

beginning in 2000 (or divisible by two

or three, beginning in 1998, if agencies

were to choose one of the more frequent

options), all regular employee annual

confidential disclosure filers would

have to file a new OGE Form 450,

regardless of how recently they might

have filed that form (either as a new

entrant or as an annual filer in years

when they could not qualify to use, or

chose not to use, the optional

certificate). Although this proposed

requirement might be time-consuming

for filers and ethics officials

periodically, it is necessary in order to

eliminate the significant administrative

difficulties inherent in a proposed

system that would otherwise permit

tracking on an individual basis the

number of years each filer had used the

alternative certificate. Furthermore, it

was preferred by 63% of the

respondents to OGE s survey.

(e) As indicated on OGE Optional

Form 450–A, eligible filers would have

the option of using either OGE Optional

Form 450–A (if applicable) or OGE

Form 450, whichever they prefer.

Agencies would, therefore, normally

provide them with a blank OGE Form

450 and its accompanying three pages of

instructions at the same time that the

future blank OGE Optional Form 450–A

were distributed. This proposed

suggestion is the result of OGE’s test of

the certificate last year, as well as its

survey and focus group. First, the

instructions to OGE Form 450 would be

necessary as guidance to certificate

users on what is meant by reportable

interests. Second, it is anticipated that,

even once the new proposed certificate

system is finally adopted,

approximately half of annual

confidential disclosure filers will still

file the OGE Form 450 rather than the

optional certificate, either because they

will have new reportable interests or

they will otherwise choose to file a new

OGE Form 450. That was the case at the

department where OGE tested this

procedure last year. If agencies preferred

not to attach a blank OGE Form 450 and

its accompanying instructions, then

they could develop separate written

guidance to advise certificate users of

what is meant by reportable interests, or

they might refer users to the guidance

contained in any agency-approved

electronic software for the OGE Form

450 and its accompanying instructions,

if readily available.

(f) Since the proposed certificate

would be a partial update of a previous

OGE Form 450 that had already been

reviewed and kept on file by the agency,

certificate users would generally not be

required by the amendments to the

regulation as proposed to attach their

previous OGE Form 450. However, they

would have to certify as part of the

alternative format that they had

reexamined their most recent previous

filing. In this regard, filers ought to be

encouraged to retain copies of the most

recent OGE Form 450 which they have

filed, so that an agency’s ethics office

would not become overburdened with

providing them copies. Not requiring

certificate users to attach their previous

OGE Form 450 would promote the

purposes for using a certificate as

proposed: to reduce paperwork and to

simplify procedures for both filers and

ethics officials. However, under these

proposed amendments, an agency could

require its employees to attach a copy of

their previous OGE Form 450, if it

determined that the previous form

should be reexamined by supervisors or

that its attachment were otherwise

necessary.

While not all agencies will agree with

these specific requirements as proposed,

they are necessary in OGE’s view in

order to preserve general uniformity and

to maintain adequate checks on

potential employee conflicts of interest

in the least confusing or burdensome

manner. The proposed requirements

outlined above offer considerable

flexibility, within the prescribed

framework, such that a variety of

agencies should find this alternative

procedure workable once finally

adopted. Of course, agencies would not

be required to use a certificate of no new

interests at all; this proposed regulatory

amendment would merely establish a

pre-approved option for their

consideration. However, if agencies

chose to use the option as proposed,

they would have to follow the

prescribed methodology and format.

Under these proposed amendments, if

an agency wished to deviate from the

prescribed methodology and format, it

would have to seek separate OGE

approval in writing. In this regard, OGE

has already determined, through

consultation with the Office of

Management and Budget, that the

particular certificate format proposed to

be authorized herein is in conformity

with the Paperwork Reduction Act, and

would require no further clearance. This

is because its use would be strictly

optional for employees, it would be

used exclusively by current Government

employees, and it would not require

affirmative disclosure of substantive

information.

As noted above, the proposed general

executive-branchwide regulatory

authorization for a certificate of no new

interests would not eliminate any other

alternative procedures that have been

approved by OGE in writing, on an

agency-specific basis.

Before using the alternative certificate

to be authorized by this proposed

amendment, agencies would have to

make the determination required by

new § 2634.905(d) of the regulation, as

proposed, that the certificate would be

adequate to prevent conflicts of interest.

Once that determination had been

made, an agency could use the proposed

alternative certificate for all or specified

groups of its eligible filers, provided

they were given the option of either

filing the certificate (if applicable) or a

new OGE Form 450, whichever the

employee preferred.

In deciding whether to adopt this

proposed optional alternative certificate

at a particular agency, once the new

procedure is finally adopted by OGE for

the executive-branchwide use at each

agency’s option, the agency should give

consideration to its unique

circumstances. For some, a certificate of

no new interests might not be suitable

because the potential for conflict might

change from year to year, even though

an employee’s actual job description or

official responsibilities remained

unchanged and the employee did not

acquire any new financial interests.

Agencies with relatively few

confidential filers or a high percentage

of filers with new interests each year

might decide that authorizing a

certificate in lieu of an annual OGE

Form 450 might not significantly reduce

their administrative burden. Agencies

with large numbers of filers might be

concerned that any administrative time

saved could be outweighed by the

potential for confusing filers, or that use

of the certificate might burden filers

with the need to maintain copies of

previously filed OGE Form 450s for

examination prior to certifying that they

had not acquired any new interests, or

that the agency itself might be

inundated with requests for copies of

previously filed reports. Some agencies

might decide that the certificate

proposed would not meet their needs

because it would not account for

divestitures. Other agencies might be

concerned that filers would lose the

proper focus on conflict prevention, if

filing requirements were relaxed.

While these concerns should not

present insurmountable problems for

most agencies, they were raised by some

respondents during OGE s recent survey

and focus group. Therefore, comments

are welcome thereon and such concerns

should be carefully considered by

agencies prior to deciding whether to

adopt the proposed alternative

certificate, when and if it is finally

adopted by OGE for executive-
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 1997 / Proposed Rules 2051

branchwide use. Some agencies might

find it appropriate to test the alternative

for one year, to gauge its effectiveness

before deciding to adopt it on a longterm basis. This could easily be

accomplished, under the regulatory

amendments as proposed, by initially

selecting the proposed option described

above of permitting use of the certificate

for one year only, with a new OGE Form

450 being required in the second year.

III. Matters of Regulatory Procedure

Executive Order 12866

In promulgating these proposed rule

amendments, the Office of Government

Ethics has adhered to the regulatory

philosophy and the applicable

principles of regulation set forth in

section 1 of Executive Order 12866,

Regulatory Planning and Review. These

proposed amendments have also been

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget under that Executive order.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

As Director of the Office of

Government Ethics, I certify under the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.

chapter 6) that this proposed

amendatory rule will not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities,

because it primarily affects Federal

executive branch employees.

Paperwork Reduction Act

The Paperwork Reduction Act (44

U.S.C. chapter 35) does not apply,

because these proposed amendments do

not contain information collection

requirements that require the approval

of the Office of Management and

Budget.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 2634

Administrative practice and

procedure, Certificates of divestiture,

Conflict of interests, Financial

disclosure, Government employees,

Penalties, Privacy, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Trusts and

trustees.

Approved: January 2, 1997.

Stephen D. Potts,

Director, Office of Government Ethics.

Accordingly, for the reasons set forth

in the preamble, the Office of

Government Ethics proposes to amend

part 2634 of subchapter B of chapter

XVI of title 5 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, as follows:

PART 2634—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 2634

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in

Government Act of 1978); 26 U.S.C. 1043;

E.O. 12674, 54 FR 15159, 3 CFR, 1989 Comp.,

p. 215, as modified by E.O. 12731, 55 FR

42547, 3 CFR, 1990 Comp., p. 306.

Subpart F—Procedure

2. Section 2634.601 is amended by

revising paragraph (a) and adding a new

paragraph (d) to read as follows:

§ 2634.601 Report forms.

(a) The Office of Government Ethics

provides, through the Federal Supply

Service of the General Services

Administration (GSA), a standard form,

the SF 278 (Public Financial Disclosure

Report), for reporting the information

described in subpart B of this part on

executive branch public disclosure. The

Office of Government Ethics also

provides two uniform formats relating to

confidential financial disclosure: OGE

Form 450 (Confidential Financial

Disclosure Report) for reporting the

information described in subpart I of

this part on executive branch

confidential disclosure; and OGE

Optional Form 450–A (Confidential

Certificate of No New Interests) for

voluntary use by certain employees in

lieu of filing an annual OGE Form 450,

if authorized by their agency, in

accordance with § 2634.905(d) of

subpart I. Supplies of the two

confidential forms are to be reproduced

locally by each agency, from a cameraready copy or an electronic format made

available by the Office of Government

Ethics. (Until August 31, 1997, the old

SF 450 remains usable, rather than the

new OGE Form 450, and is available

from GSA’s Federal Supply Service.)

* * * * *

(d) The information collection and

recordkeeping requirements have been

approved by the Office of Management

and Budget under control number 3209–

0001 for the SF 278, and control number

3209–0006 for OGE Form 450/SF 450.

OGE Optional Form 450–A has been

determined not to require an OMB

paperwork control number, as its use is

strictly optional for employees, it is

used exclusively by current Government

employees, and it does not require

affirmative disclosure of substantive

information.

Subpart I—Confidential Financial

Disclosure Reports

3. Section 2634.905 is amended by

revising the introductory text and by

adding a paragraph (d) before the

examples, to read as follows:

§ 2634.905 Exclusions from filing

requirements.

Any individual or class of individuals

described in § 2634.904 of this subpart,

including special Government

employees unless otherwise noted, may

be excluded from all or a portion of the

confidential reporting requirements of

this subpart, when the agency head or

designee determines that:

* * * * *

(d) The use of OGE Optional Form

450–A (Confidential Certificate of No

New Interests) is adequate to prevent

possible conflicts of interest. This form

may be used by eligible filers, as

described in this paragraph, who can

certify, after reexamining their most

recent previous OGE Form 450, that

they (and their spouse and dependent

children) have acquired no new

interests, and that neither the filer nor

spouse has changed jobs or job

responsibilities since filing that

previous report. OGE Optional Form

450–A will be used under the following

conditions:

(1) OGE Optional Form 450–A will

only be made available for use by

current employees who are not special

Government employees.

(2) OGE Optional Form 450–A will

only be used by incumbent filers, as

described in § 2634.903(a) of this

subpart, in lieu of filing an annual OGE

Form 450, who have a previous OGE

Form 450 on file with their agency for

the position they currently hold. Its due

date is as specified in § 2634.903(a),

unless extended under § 2634.903(d).

(3) As indicated on the OGE Optional

Form 450–A, eligible filers may use

OGE Optional Form 450–A, if

applicable, or they may file a new OGE

Form 450, at their option. Therefore, a

blank OGE Form 450 and its

accompanying written instructions

should ordinarily be distributed to

them, along with the blank OGE

Optional Form 450–A. The instructions

to OGE Form 450 will also provide

guidance on what is meant by

‘‘reportable’’ interests on OGE Optional

Form 450–A. In lieu of attaching a blank

OGE Form 450 and its instructions,

agencies may choose to develop

separate written guidance on what is

meant by ‘‘reportable’’ interests, or they

may refer certificate users to the

guidance contained in any agencyapproved electronic software for the

OGE Form 450 and its accompanying

instructions, if readily available. Filers

would then also need to be advised of

where to obtain a blank OGE Form 450,

if needed.

(4) OGE Optional Form 450–A may be

used by eligible filers for a maximum of
2052 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 1997 / Proposed Rules

three consecutive years before they are

required to complete a new OGE Form

450, every fourth year. Agencies may,

however, elect to permit use of the OGE

Optional Form 450–A for only one year

(or two years), and to require a new OGE

Form 450 every second (or third) year.

(5) In each year divisible by four,

beginning in 2000 (or divisible by two

or three, beginning in 1998, for agencies

that choose one of the more frequent

options described in the second

sentence of paragraph (d)(4) of this

section), all incumbent filers, as

described in § 2634.903(a) of this

subpart, must file a new OGE Form 450

rather than OGE Optional Form 450–A,

regardless of how recently they may

have filed an OGE Form 450 (either as

a new entrant or as an annual filer who

was not eligible to use, or chose not to

use, the optional certificate).

(6) When using OGE Optional Form

450–A, filers are not required to attach

their previous OGE Form 450, unless

their agency determines that it is

necessary.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97–961 Filed 1–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6345–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

7 CFR Part 400

RIN 0563–AB26

General Administrative Regulations;

Collection and Storage of Social

Security Account Numbers and

Employer Identification Numbers

AGENCY: Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The regulations contained in

this subpart are issued pursuant to the

Federal Crop Insurance Act, as amended

(FCIA) (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.). The

intended effect of this revision is to

comply with the statutory mandate that

requires the collection of Social Security

Number (SSN) and Employer

Identification Number (EIN) information

of participating agents, loss adjusters,

and policyholders and to establish the

procedures to be used by the Federal

Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) and

insurance providers in the collection,

use, and storage of documents

containing SSN or EIN information.

DATES: Written comments, data, and

opinions on this proposed rule will be

accepted until close of business March

17, 1997 and will be considered when

the rule is to be made final. The

comment period for information

collections under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 continues

through March 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments, data,

and opinions on this proposed rule

should be sent to the Director, Product

Development Division, Risk

Management Agency (RMA), United

States Department of Agriculture

(USDA), 9435 Holmes Road, Kansas

City, MO 64131, telephone (816) 926–

7730. Written comments will be

available for public inspection and

copying in room 0324, South Building,

USDA, 14th and Independence Avenue,

SW., Washington, DC., 8:15 a.m.—4:45

p.m., est, Monday through Friday,

except holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information, contact Bill Smith,

Supervisory Insurance Management

Specialist, Research and Development,

Product Development Division, RMA, at

the Kansas City, MO address listed

above, telephone (816) 926–7743.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12866

This action has been reviewed under

USDA procedures established by

Executive Order 12866. This action

constitutes a review as to the need,

currency, clarity, and effectiveness of

these regulations under those

procedures.

This rule has been determined to be

not significant for the purposes of

Executive Order 12866, and, therefore,

has been reviewed by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB).

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

The information collection

requirements contained in these

regulations have been submitted to

OMB for their approval under section

3507(j) of the Paperwork Reduction Act

of 1995. This proposed rule will amend

the information collection requirements

under OMB number 0563–0047, through

November 30, 1999. The FCIC will be

amending the information collection to

adjust the estimated reporting hours and

seek a valid approval for 3 years under

section 3507(d) of the Act.

Revised reporting estimates and

requirements for usage of OMB control

number 0563–0047 will be submitted to

OMB for approval under the provisions

of 44 U.S.C. chapter 35. Public

comments are due by March 17, 1997.

The title of this information collection

is ‘‘Social Security Number (SSN) and

Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Reporting Form.’’ Collection of the SSN

and the EIN is required by section 506

of the FCIA (7 U.S.C. 1506). The FCIA

requires the collection of SSN and EIN

information of policyholders,

participating agents, and loss adjusters

and sets forth the procedures to be used

by FCIC and insurance providers in the

collection, use, and storage of

documents containing SSN and EIN

information. The primary use of the

SSN and EIN under this proposed rule

will be to correctly identify the

participant, and any other person with

an interest in the policyholder’s

operation of at least 10%, as a

policyholder within the systems

maintained by FCIC.

The information requested is

necessary to for the insurance providers

and FCIC to provide insurance and

reinsurance, determine eligibility,

determine the correct parties to the

agreement or contract, determine and

collect premiums, and pay indemnities.

Failure to furnish this number will

result in rejection of or substantial

reduction in any claim for indemnity,

ineligibility for insurance, and a

unilateral determination of the amount

of premium due.

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to be 15 minutes per

response.

Respondents: Policyholders and those

with a substantial beneficial interest in

the policyholder or any person having

any interest in the policyholder and

receiving separate benefits under

another USDA program as a direct result

of such interest.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

2,032,800.

Estimated Number of Responses per

Respondent: 1 per year.

Estimated Total Burden Hours:

508,200.

The comment period for information

collections under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 continues on the

following: (a) Whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the agency, including

whether the information shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on respondents, including through the

use of automated collection techniques

or other forms of information gathering

technology.

Comments regarding paperwork

reduction should be submitted to the

Desk Officer of Agriculture, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,