Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 99 / Wednesday, May 24, 2017 / Proposed Rules 23765 

1 Independent federal agencies exist outside of 

the federal executive departments headed by a 

Cabinet secretary and the Executive Office of the 

President. See Humphrey’s Executor v. United 

States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935); 5 U.S.C. 104. 

2See Remarks of Acting Chairman J. Christopher 

Giancarlo before the 42nd Annual International 

Futures Industry Conference in Boca Raton, FL, 

Mar. 15, 2017, available at http://www.cftc.gov/ 

PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opagiancarlo-20. 

divestiture specified in paragraphs (e) 

through (f) of this section. 

(3) Disqualification pending 

divestiture. Pending divestiture of 

prohibited securities, an employee must 

disqualify himself or herself, in 

accordance with § 2635.402 of this title, 

from participation in particular matters 

which, as a result of continued 

ownership of the prohibited securities, 

would affect the financial interests of 

the employee, or those of the spouse or 

dependent child of the employee. 

(g) Waivers. The DAEO may grant a 

written waiver from this section based 

on a determination that the waiver is 

not inconsistent with 5 CFR part 2635 

of this title or otherwise prohibited by 

law and that, under the particular 

circumstances, application of the 

prohibition is not necessary to avoid the 

appearance of an employee’s misuse of 

position or loss of impartiality, or to 

otherwise ensure confidence in the 

impartiality and objectivity with which 

the Commission’s programs are 

administered, or in the case of a special 

Government employee, divestiture 

would result in substantial financial 

hardship. A waiver under this 

paragraph must be in writing and may 

impose conditions, such as requiring 

execution of a written disqualification. 

§ 5601.103 Notice of disqualification when 

seeking employment. 

(a) An employee who has been 

assigned to or is supervising work on a 

particular matter that affects the 

financial interests of a prospective 

employer and who is required, in 

accordance with § 2635.604(a) of this 

title, to disqualify himself or herself 

from participation in that matter shall 

provide written notice of 

disqualification to the DAEO within 3 

business days. The DAEO shall inform 

the employee’s supervisor that the 

employee is disqualified from the 

matter. Public filers must comply with 

the notification requirements set forth in 

§ 2635.607 of this title even when not 

required to disqualify from participation 

in a particular matter. Employees who 

file a notification statement in 

compliance with § 2635.607 of this title 

are not required to file a separate notice 

under this section. 

(b) An employee may withdraw 

written notice under paragraph (a) of 

this section upon determining that 

disqualification from participation in 

the matter is no longer required. A 

withdrawal of disqualification shall be 

in writing and shall be provided to the 

DAEO. The DAEO shall inform the 

employee’s supervisor that the 

employee is no longer disqualified from 

the matter. 

§ 5601.104 Prohibited outside 

employment. 

An employee shall not engage in 

outside employment, either on a paid or 

unpaid basis, with or for an entity on 

the prohibited securities list described 

in § 5601.102(b)(1)(i)–(b)(1)(vi). 

§ 5601.105 Prior approval for outside 

employment. 

(a) Prior approval for outside 

employment. An employee who wishes 

to engage in outside employment, either 

on a paid or unpaid basis, shall obtain 

the prior written approval of the DAEO. 

A request for such approval shall be 

submitted in writing with sufficient 

description of the employment to enable 

the DAEO to give approval based on an 

informed determination that the outside 

employment is not expected to involve 

conduct prohibited by statute or Federal 

regulation, including paragraph (a) of 

this section and part 2635 of this title. 

The DAEO shall provide a copy of any 

written approvals for outside 

employment to the employee’s 

supervisor. 

(b) Scope of approval. An employee 

must submit a new request for approval 

upon either a significant change in the 

nature or scope of the outside 

employment or a change in the 

employee’s Commission position or 

assigned responsibilities. 

[FR Doc. 2017–10613 Filed 5–23–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

17 CFR Chapter I 

RIN 3038–AE55 

Project KISS 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Request for Information; 

Correction. 

SUMMARY: This is a correction to a 

Request for Information published by 

the Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’ or 

‘‘CFTC’’) in the Federal Register of May 

9, 2017 regarding the submission by the 

public of suggestions about how the 

Commission’s existing rules, 

regulations, or practices could be 

applied in a simpler, less burdensome, 

and less costly manner. This correction 

changes the web address to which 

suggestions may be submitted. The 

incorrect web address appeared in two 

places in the original document. To 

avoid any confusion and to ensure the 

public has all necessary information in 

one place, the Request for Information is 

being republished in full with the 

corrected web address. 

DATES: Suggestions must be received on 

or before September 30, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit 

suggestions, identified by RIN number 

3038–AE55, by any of the following 

methods: 

• The agency’s Web site, at 

www.cftc.gov/projectkiss. Follow the 

instructions for submitting a Project 

KISS suggestion through the Public 

Comment Form. 

• Mail: Christopher Kirkpatrick, 

Secretary of the Commission, 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20581. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as 

Mail, above. 

Please submit your suggestions using 

only one method. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Gill, Regulatory Reform Officer, 

(202) 418–5713, mgill@cftc.gov, 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1151 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 

20581; or KISS@cftc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

February 24, 2017, President Donald J. 

Trump issued Executive Order 13777: 

Enforcing the Regulatory Reform 

Agenda (‘‘EO 13777’’). EO 13777 directs 

federal agencies, among other things, to 

designate a Regulatory Reform Officer 

and establish a Regulatory Reform Task 

Force. Although the CFTC, as an 

independent federal agency,1 is not 

bound by EO 13777, the Commission is 

nevertheless commencing an agencywide review of its rules, regulations, 

and practices to make them simpler, less 

burdensome, and less costly. This 

initiative is called Project KISS, which 

stands for ‘‘Keep It Simple Stupid.’’ 2 In 

support of these efforts, the Commission 

has approved the solicitation of 

suggestions from the public regarding 

how the Commission’s existing rules, 

regulations, or practices could be 

applied in a simpler, less burdensome, 

and less costly manner. The public may 

submit Project KISS suggestions through 

the Public Comment Form on the 

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23766 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 99 / Wednesday, May 24, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

3 17 CFR 13.2. 

4 17 CFR 140.99. 

5 17 CFR 145.9. 

1See Order No. 3906, Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking on Amendments to Supplemental 

Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the 

Postal Regulatory Commission, May 19, 2017. 

2See 36 FR 5412 (Mar. 23, 1971). 

3 58 FR 42873 (Aug. 12, 1993). 

4 66 FR 32544 (Jun. 15, 2001). 

5Public Law 109–435, 120 Stat. 3198, sections 

201–202 (2006) (amending 39 U.S.C. 3621–3622 

(2005) and repealing sections 3623–3624). 

6The PAEA introduced the division of Postal 

Service products into market dominant products 

(products delivered under the Postal Service 

monopoly) and competitive products (all other 

products). 39 U.S.C. 3621–3622 and 39 CFR part 

3010 (regulation of rates for market dominant 

products); 39 U.S.C. 3631–3634 and 39 CFR part 

3015 (regulation of rates for competitive products). 

Commission’s Web site, at 

www.cftc.gov/projectkiss. 

The Commission is not asking the 

public to identify rules for revocation, 

suspension, annulment, withdrawal, 

limitation, amendment, modification, 

conditioning or repeal. The submission 

of a Project KISS suggestion will not 

constitute a petition for issuance, 

amendment, or repeal of a rule pursuant 

to § 13.2 of the Commission’s 

regulations,3 nor will it constitute a 

request for an exemptive, no-action, or 

interpretive letter pursuant to § 140.99 

of the Commission’s regulations.4 The 

Commission will treat Project KISS 

suggestions like the Commission treats 

other correspondence that it receives. 

Submission of a Project KISS suggestion 

may not result in Commission action. 

All suggestions must be submitted in 

English, or if not, accompanied by an 

English translation. Suggestions will be 

posted as received to www.cftc.gov. You 

should submit only information that 

you wish to make available publicly. If 

you wish to submit information that you 

believe is exempt from disclosure under 

the Freedom of Information Act in your 

suggestion(s), please submit your 

suggestion(s) via Mail or Hand Delivery/ 

Courier and also submit a petition for 

confidential treatment of the exempt 

information according to the procedures 

established in § 145.9 of the 

Commission’s regulations.5

The Commission reserves the right, 

but shall have no obligation, to review, 

pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse or 

remove any or all of your suggestion(s) 

from www.cftc.gov that it may deem to 

be inappropriate for publication, such as 

a suggestion containing obscene 

language. Any suggestions that contain 

comments on the merits of an 

outstanding proposed rulemaking will 

be retained in the public comment file 

for that rulemaking and considered as 

required under the Administrative 

Procedure Act and other applicable 

laws. All suggestions that have been 

redacted or removed that contain 

comments on the merits of an 

outstanding proposed rulemaking will 

be retained in the public comment file 

and will be considered as required 

under the Administrative Procedure Act 

and other applicable laws, and may be 

accessible under the Freedom of 

Information Act. 

Dated: May 19, 2017. 

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2017–10622 Filed 5–23–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 

39 CFR Part 3000 

[Docket No. RM2017–4; Order No. 3907] 

Supplemental Standards of Ethical 

Conduct 

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Commission proposes to 

delete its existing ethics rules to avoid 

duplication and those changes proposed 

to by the Commission with the 

concurrence of the Office of 

Government Ethics. 

DATES: Comments are due: June 23, 

2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at 

202–789–6820. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Introduction 

II. Background 

III. Summary of the Proposed Regulatory 

Changes 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the 

Proposed Changes to 39 CFR Subpart A 

of Part 3000 

V. Section-by-Section Analysis of the 

Proposed Changes to the Title Identified 

in Subchapter A of Chapter III of Title 39 

VI. Administrative Actions 

VII. Ordering Paragraphs 

I. Introduction 

The Postal Regulatory Commission 

(Commission) establishes a rulemaking 

docket to consider amending the 

Commission’s ethics rules, 39 CFR 

subpart A of part 3000. The Commission 

proposes to delete its existing ethics 

rules to avoid duplication of 5 CFR part 

2635 and those changes proposed to 5 

CFR part 5601 by the Commission with 

the concurrence of the Office of 

Government Ethics (OGE).1 This 

rulemaking also proposes to replace the 

deleted ethics rules with new rules that 

reflect the Commission’s current 

regulatory role under the Postal 

Accountability and Enhancement Act 

(PAEA), Public Law 109–435, 120 Stat. 

3198 (2006). The proposed rules aim to 

treat employees’ and former employees’ 

interactions with the Postal Service 

substantially the same as if those 

interactions were with entities that are 

not part of the federal government. 

II. Background 

A. The Existing 39 CFR Subpart A of 

Part 3000 

The ethics rules contained in 39 CFR 

subpart A of part 3000 were adopted in 

a 1971 rulemaking, in which the Civil 

Service Commission promulgated 

employee conduct regulations on the 

Commission’s behalf.2 In 1993, the 

Commission collaborated with OGE to 

revise the Commission’s ethics rules in 

39 CFR subpart A of part 3000. The 

ethics rules in 39 CFR subpart A of part 

3000 retained ‘‘those portions of the 

current standards of conduct not 

superseded by [OGE’s] amendments to 

title 5 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations and incorporate[d] 

provisions of the Supplemental 

Standards of Ethical Conduct for 

Employees of the Postal Rate 

Commission issued in 5 CFR part 5601 

with the concurrence of [OGE].’’ 3 The 

Commission amended the ethics rules 

in 2001 to eliminate a redundant 

provision.4

In 2006, the PAEA made several 

changes to the Commission’s regulatory 

role. Specifically, the PAEA eliminated 

the responsibility to adjudicate omnibus 

rate cases each year, which set rates for 

all Postal Service products.5 Instead, 

under the PAEA the Commission, 

among other responsibilities, approves 

or denies discrete Postal Service 

requests to change rates of market 

dominant products or competitive 

products.6 Proposed rate changes 

include requests to change rates of 

general applicability, e.g., retail rates 

available to the public, and rates not of 

general applicability, e.g., negotiated 

service agreements (NSAs) with private 

parties. See id. Post-PAEA, the 

Commission must make an Annual 

Compliance Determination report 

concerning whether the rates or fees in 

effect for the year satisfied statutory and 

regulatory requirements and whether 

any service standards in effect during 

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