Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 44719 

request that the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) renew its approval 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act for 

an existing information collection, 

entitled the OGE Form 278e Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial 

Disclosure Report. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Grant Anderson at the U.S. Office of 

Government Ethics; telephone: 202– 

482–9318; TTY: 800–877–8339; Email: 

Grant.Anderson@oge.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Executive Branch Personnel 

Public Financial Disclosure Report. 

Agency Form Number: OGE Form 

278e. 

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 highlevel 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 

102 of the Ethics in Government Act, 5 

U.S.C. app. sec. 102, as amended by the 

Representative Louise McIntosh 

Slaughter Stop Trading on 

Congressional Knowledge Act (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 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. OGE 

also continues to maintain an Excel 

version of the form and a 508 compliant 

PDF version on its website. 

A Federal Register Notice with a 60- 

day comment period soliciting 

comments on this information 

collection was published on June 2, 

2021 (86 FR 29583). OGE received four 

responses to that notice, two of which 

contained several suggestions. 

Several of the suggestions addressed 

the reporting requirements, for example 

eliminating the requirement to report 

diversified mutual funds. The financial 

disclosure requirements are dictated by 

the Ethics in Government Act (EIGA), 5 

U.S.C. app. sec. 102, as amended. 

Therefore, these suggested changes 

could not be made without revisions to 

the EIGA. Several of the suggestions 

proposed user experience changes to the 

Integrity system. There is a pre-existing 

process to collect, analyze, and 

prioritize proposed changes to the 

Integrity system through the Integrity 

Advisory Council (IAC). Agency 

employees should forward suggestions 

concerning Integrity to their agency’s 

Integrity administrator or an agency 

ethics official who can present the 

suggestions for IAC consideration. 

Two suggestions involved the clarity 

of the form’s instructions. One of these 

suggestions was considered, but it was 

determined that making the change 

would actually decrease the overall 

clarity of the instructions. The other 

suggestion made a valid point that a 

particular instruction can be confusing 

to filers, but offered no specific 

alternative. Without a specific 

alternative to consider, OGE is unable to 

make this change as part of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act renewal 

process. OGE intends to study the issue 

for a future revision. 

Finally, several suggestions made by 

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in 

Washington (CREW) focused on 

requiring additional personal 

information from filers, which would 

increase the burden of the information 

collection and may implicate privacy 

concerns. One CREW proposal 

suggested requiring more information 

about filers’ assets. That idea was 

previously considered and OGE 

determined that the resulting burden to 

the filer would be too high. Some of 

CREW’s suggestions are not directly 

related to the purpose of the form and/ 

or would require a legislative or 

regulatory change. To the extent that the 

proposed changes may assist the 

government in identifying potential 

conflicts of interest, they will be 

considered for a future iteration of the 

form. 

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: 3,196. 

Estimated Time per Response: 10 

hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

31,960 hours. 

Request for Comments: OGE is 

publishing this second 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). The 

comments will become a matter of 

public record. 

Approved: August 10, 2021. 

Emory Rounds, 

Director, U.S. Office of Government Ethics. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17330 Filed 8–12–21; 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 publication of this 

second round notice, the Office of 

Government Ethics (OGE) plans to 

request that the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) renew its approval 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
44720 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act for 

an existing information collection, 

entitled the OGE Form 450 Executive 

Branch Confidential Financial 

Disclosure Report. 

Comments: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Grant Anderson at the U.S. Office of 

Government Ethics; telephone: 202– 

482–9318; TTY: 800–877–8339; Email: 

Grant.Anderson@oge.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Executive Branch Confidential 

Financial Disclosure Report. 

Agency Form Number: OGE Form 

450. 

Abstract: The OGE Form 450 collects 

information from covered department 

and agency 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 section 107(a) 

of the Ethics in Government Act, 5 

U.S.C. app. sec. 107(a). OGE maintains 

the form in three formats on its website: 

A PDF version, a 508 compliant PDF 

version, and an Excel spreadsheet 

version. OGE seeks renewal of the OGE 

Form 450 without modification. 

A Federal Register Notice with a 60- 

day comment period soliciting 

comments on this information 

collection was published on June 2, 

2021 (86 FR 29584). OGE received five 

responses to that notice, one of which 

did not directly address the information 

collection. 

The other four comments suggest 

requiring additional information, 

apparently for the benefit of the 

government employees tasked with 

reviewing the information. These 

suggestions would add additional 

reporting burden to filers and could 

have privacy implications. One of the 

suggestions would also require a 

regulatory change. Accordingly, OGE 

declined to adopt these suggestions in 

seeking Paperwork Reduction Act 

renewal for the OGE Form 450. 

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: 30,449. 

Estimated Time per Response: 3 

hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

91,347 hours. 

Request for Comments: OGE is 

publishing this second 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). The 

comments will become a matter of 

public record. 

Approved: August 10, 2021. 

Emory Rounds, 

Director, U.S. Office of Government Ethics. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17331 Filed 8–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6345–03–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Toxic Substances and 

Disease Registry 

[60Day–21–0048; Docket No. ATSDR–2021– 

0007] 

Proposed Data Collection Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances 

and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice with comment period. 

SUMMARY: The Agency for Toxic 

Substances and Disease Registry 

(ATSDR), as part of its continuing effort 

to reduce public burden and maximize 

the utility of government information, 

invites the general public and other 

Federal agencies the opportunity to 

comment on a proposed and/or 

continuing information collection, as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995. This notice invites 

comment on a proposed information 

collection project titled ATSDR 

Exposure Investigations (EIs). The 

information collection is designed to 

evaluate public health issues at a site 

resulting from environmental exposure. 

ATSDR EIs fill data gaps by conducting 

environmental and biological sampling. 

DATES: ATSDR must receive written 

comments on or before October 12, 

2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. ATSDR–2021– 

0007 by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

Regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 

for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information 

Collection Review Office, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 

Clifton Road NE, MS–D74, Atlanta, 

Georgia 30329. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

Docket Number. ATSDR will post, 

without change, all relevant comments 

to Regulations.gov. 

Please note: Submit all comments through 

the Federal eRulemaking portal 

(regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the 

address listed above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request more information on the 

proposed project or to obtain a copy of 

the information collection plan and 

instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Information Collection Review Office, 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS– 

D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 

404–639–7118; Email: omb@cdc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 

(44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal agencies 

must obtain approval from the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for each 

collection of information they conduct 

or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also 

requires Federal agencies to provide a 

60-day notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information, including each new 

proposed collection, each proposed 

extension of existing collection of 

information, and each reinstatement of 

previously approved information 

collection before submitting the 

collection to the OMB for approval. To 

comply with this requirement, we are 

publishing this notice of a proposed 

data collection as described below. 

The OMB is particularly interested in 

comments that will help: 

1. Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

2. Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES