This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

20117

Vol. 61, No. 88

Monday, May 6, 1996

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

5 CFR Chapter LXIX

18 CFR Part 1300

Supplemental Standards of Ethical

Conduct for Employees of the

Tennessee Valley Authority

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority

(TVA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley

Authority, with the concurrence of the

Office of Government Ethics (OGE), is

issuing regulations for employees of

TVA that supplement the Standards of

Ethical Conduct for Employees of the

Executive Branch (Standards) issued by

OGE by adding a requirement to obtain

prior approval for outside employment.

By this final rule, TVA also is repealing

those sections of its existing conduct

standards that are superseded by the

new Standards as supplemented by this

final rule and by the executive branch

financial disclosure regulations

inserting in their place a cross-reference

to the new 5 CFR provisions, and

reissuing those provisions in the TVA

conduct standards which have not been

superseded.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 6, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William L. Osteen, Designated Agency

Ethics Official, 423–632–4142, FAX

423–632–2422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On August 7, 1992, OGE published

new Standards of Ethical Conduct for

Employees of the Executive Branch

(Standards). See 57 FR 35006–35067, as

corrected at 57 FR 48557 and 57 FR

52583, with additional grace period

extensions at 59 FR 4779–4780 and 60

FR 6390–6391. Codified at 5 CFR part

2635, the new standards became

effective on February 3, 1993.

With the concurrence of OGE, 5 CFR

2635.105 authorizes executive branch

agencies to publish agency-specific

supplemental regulations that are

necessary to implement their respective

ethics programs. TVA, with OGE’s

concurrence, has determined that the

following supplemental rules, being

codified in new chapter LXIX of 5 CFR,

are necessary to the success of its ethics

program. Simultaneously, TVA is

repealing superseded provisions of 18

CFR part 1300, replacing those

provisions with a section that provides

cross-references to 5 CFR parts 2634 and

2635 and to TVA’s new supplemental

regulations, and reissuing existing

provisions of 18 CFR part 1300 which

have not been superseded.

II. Analysis of the Regulations

Section 7901.101 General

Section 7901.101 explains that these

regulations supplement the executive

branch-wide Standards and reminds

TVA employees that they are subject to

the Standards and to the executive

branch-wide financial disclosure

regulations, in addition to these

regulations.

Section 7901.102 Prior Approval for

Outside Employment

Where it is determined to be

necessary or desirable for the purpose of

administering its ethics program, 5 CFR

2635.803 authorizes an individual

agency to issue supplemental

regulations requiring agency employees

to obtain prior approval before engaging

in outside employment. TVA has for

many years had a prior approval

requirement, expressed partly in TVA

conduct standards at 18 CFR 1300.735–

13(b) and partly in uncodified

instructions. Based on its findings that

this requirement has helped ensure that

employees’ outside employment

conforms to applicable statutes and

regulations, TVA has determined that

continuing this requirement is necessary

for the purpose of its ethics program.

Paragraph (a) clarifies that the outside

employment, except for Special

Government Employees, must be

approved by the employee’s supervising

TVA vice president or designee. The

employee is required to request

approval in writing, describing the

organizations, duties, hours of work,

and remuneration pertaining to the

outside employment. Paragraph (b)

clarifies the standard for review and

approval. To ensure that § 7901.102 is

not in itself construed as authority to

totally prohibit outside employment,

§ 7901.102(b) states that approval will

be granted only upon a determination

that the prospective outside

employment is not expected to involve

conduct prohibited by statute or Federal

regulations, including 5 CFR part 2635.

Paragraph (c) is intended to foster

efficient administration by allowing

exclusion from the approval

requirement for classes of employees as

to which outside employment is

unlikely to raise issues of compliance

with 5 CFR part 2635. Paragraph (d)

adds a definition of employment for

purposes of applying the requirement

for prior approval set forth in paragraph

(a) of the section.

III. Repeal of Superseded TVA

Standards of Conduct Regulations

The Tennessee Valley Authority is

repealing those sections of its standards

of conduct regulations at 18 CFR part

1300 which have been superseded by

the OGE regulations at 5 CFR parts 2634

or 2635 or by the TVA’s supplemental

regulations at new 5 CFR 7901 made

effective by this final rule. To ensure

that employees are on notice of the

ethical standards to which they are

subject, TVA is replacing the

superseded standards at 18 CFR part

1300 with a provision that crossreferences 5 CFR parts 2634, 2635, and

7901. To accommodate the removal of

superseded provisions. TVA is

renumbering and reissuing existing

sections of 18 CFR part 1300 dealing

with gambling, harassment, and conduct

prejudicial to the Government which

have not been superseded. The Office of

Government Ethics (OGE) concurs in the

reissuance of these regulations only

insofar as it has determined that the

substance of new 18 CFR 1300.102–

1300.107 need not be issued as part of

TVA’s supplemental regulations at 5

CFR part 7901. Pursuant to 5 CFR

2635.402(d), TVA is also renumbering

and reissuing, with a revised heading,

its regulatory waivers at 18 CFR

1300.734–14(c) which were issued

under the authority of 18 U.S.C.

208(b)(2); it is anticipated that these

waivers will be superseded in the future

by new OGE regulations. See 60 FR
20118 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 88 / Monday, May 6, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

44706–44709 (August 28, 1995) and 60

FR 47208–47233 (September 11, 1995).

IV. Matters of Regulatory Procedure

Administrative Procedure Act

TVA has found that good cause exists

under 5 U.S.C. 553 (b) and (d)(3) for

waiving, as unnecessary and contrary to

the public interest, the general notice of

proposed rulemaking and the 30-day

delay in effectiveness as to these rules

and repeals. The supplemental

regulations are essentially a restatement

of rules previously contained in the

standards of conduct, and TVA believes

that it is important to a smooth

transition from TVA standards of

conduct to the Executive branch

standards that these rules become

effective as soon as possible.

Furthermore, this rulemaking is related

to TVA organization, procedure, and

practice.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

TVA has determined under the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.

chapter 6) that these regulations will not

have a significant impact on small

business entities because they affect

only TVA employees.

Paperwork Reduction Act

TVA has determined that the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

chapter 35) does not apply because

these regulations do not contain any

information collection requirements that

require the approval of the Office of

Management and Budget.

Environmental Impact

This decision will not have a

significant impact upon the quality of

the human environment or the

conservation of energy resources

List of Subjects

5 CFR Part 7901

Conflict of interests, Government

employees.

18 CFR Part 1300

Government employees.

Dated: April 5, 1996.

William L. Osteen,

Associate General Counsel and Designated

Agency Ethics Official, Tennessee Valley

Authority.

Approved: April 12, 1996.

Stephen D. Potts,

Director, Office of Government Ethics.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, the Tennessee Valley

Authority, with the concurrence of the

Office of Government Ethics, is

amending title 5 of the Code of Federal

Regulations and title 18, chapter XIII of

the Code of Federal Regulations as

follows:

TITLE 5—[AMENDED]

1. A new chapter LXIX, consisting of

part 7901, is added to title 5 of the Code

of Federal Regulations to read as

follows:

CHAPTER LXIX—TENNESSEE VALLEY

AUTHORITY

PART 7901—SUPPLEMENTAL

STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT

FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

Sec.

7901.101 General.

7901.102 Prior approval for outside

employment.

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

Government Act of 1978); 16 U.S.C. 831–

831dd; 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; 5 CFR

2635.105, 2635.803.

§ 7901.101 General.

In accordance with 5 CFR 2635.105,

the regulations in this part apply to

employees of the Tennessee Valley

Authority (TVA) and supplement the

Standards of Ethical Conduct for

Employees of the Executive Branch

contained in 5 CFR part 2635. In

addition, some TVA employees are

subject to the executive branch financial

disclosure regulations at 5 CFR part

2634.

§ 7901.102 Prior approval for outside

employment.

(a) Before engaging in outside

employment, with or without

compensation, an employee, other than

a special Government employee, must

obtain written approval from the

supervising TVA vice president or

designee. The written request shall be

submitted through the employee’s

supervisor or human resource office and

shall, at a minimum, identify the

employer or other person for whom the

services are to be provided, as well as

the duties, hours of work, and

compensation involved in the proposed

outside employment.

(b) Approval under paragraph (a) of

this section shall be granted only upon

a determination that the outside

employment is not expected to involve

conduct prohibited by statute or Federal

regulation, including 5 CFR part 2635.

(c) Vice presidents or other officers of

TVA may, after consultation with the

Designated Agency Ethics Official,

exempt specified classes of employees

from this section based upon a

determination that the official duties of

employees in the class are such that

their outside employment activities are

not likely to raise issues of compliance

with 5 CFR part 2635.

(d) For purposes of this section,

employment means any form of nonFederal employment or business

relationship involving the provision of

services by the employee. It includes,

but is not limited to, personal services

as an officer, director, employee, agent,

attorney, consultant, contractor, general

partner, trustee, teacher, or speaker. It

includes writing when done under an

arrangement with another person for

production or publication of the written

product. It does not, however, include

participation in the activities of a

nonprofit charitable, religious,

professional, social, fraternal,

educational, recreational, public service,

or civic organization, unless such

activities involve the provision of

professional services or advice or are for

compensation other than reimbursement

for actual expenses.

18 CFR CHAPTER XIII—TENNESSEE

VALLEY AUTHORITY

2. Part 1300 is revised to read as

follows:

PART 1300—STANDARDS OF

CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

Sec.

1300.101 Cross reference to employee

ethical conduct standards and other

applicable regulations.

1300.102 Gambling, betting, and lotteries.

1300.103 General conduct prejudicial to

TVA.

1300.104 Sexual harassment.

1300.105 National origin harassment.

1300.106 Harassment on the basis of race,

color, religion, age, or disability.

1300.107 Financial interest exemptions.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 831–831dd; 18 U.S.C.

208(b)(2).

§ 1300.101 Cross references to employee

ethical conduct standards and other

applicable regulations.

Employees of the Tennessee Valley

Authority (TVA) are subject to the

executive branch-wide standards of

ethical conduct at 5 CFR part 2635 and

to the TVA regulations at 5 CFR part

7901 which supplement the executive

branch-wide standards. In addition,

certain TVA employees are subject to

executive branch-wide financial

disclosure regulations at 5 CFR part

2634.

§ 1300.102 Gambling, betting, and

lotteries.

An employee shall not participate,

while on Government- or TVA-owned or

leased property or while on TVA duty,

in any gambling activity including the

operation of a gambling device, in
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 88 / Monday, May 6, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 20119

conducting a lottery or pool, in a game

for money or property, or in selling or

purchasing a numbers slip or ticket.

However, this section does not preclude

activities:

(a) Necessitated by an employee’s law

enforcement duties; or

(b) Under section 7 of Executive Order

12353 (47 FR 12785, 3 CFR, 1982

Comp., p. 139) and similar TVAapproved activities.

§ 1300.103 General conduct prejudicial to

TVA.

An employee shall not engage in

criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral,

or notoriously disgraceful conduct, or

other conduct prejudicial to TVA.

§ 1300.104 Sexual harassment.

It is TVA policy that all TVA

employees are responsible for assuring

that the workplace is free from sexual

harassment. Accordingly, all employees

must avoid any action or conduct which

could be viewed as sexual harassment

including:

(a) Unwelcome sexual advances;

(b) Requests for sexual favors; and

(c) Other verbal or physical conduct

of a sexual nature when:

(1) Submission to such conduct is

made either explicitly or implicitly a

term or condition of an individual’s

employment;

(2) Submission to or rejection of such

conduct by an individual is used as the

basis for employment decisions

affecting such individual; or

(3) Such conduct has the purpose or

effect of unreasonably interfering with

an individual’s work performance or

creating an intimidating, hostile, or

offensive working environment.

§ 1300.105 National origin harassment.

It is TVA policy that all TVA

employees are responsible for assuring

that the workplace is free from national

origin harassment. Accordingly, all

employees must avoid any action or

conduct which could be viewed as

national origin harassment, including

ethnic slurs and other verbal or physical

conduct relating to an individual’s

national origin when such conduct:

(a) Has the purpose or effect of

creating an intimidating, hostile, or

offensive working environment;

(b) Has the purpose or effect of

unreasonably interfering with an

individual’s work performance; or

(c) Otherwise adversely affects an

individual’s employment opportunities.

§ 1300.106 Harassment on the basis of

race, color, religion, age, or disability.

It is TVA policy that all TVA

employees are responsible for assuring

that the workplace is free from

harassment on the basis of race, color,

religion, age, or disability. Accordingly,

all employees must avoid any action or

conduct which could be viewed as

harassment on these bases, including

any verbal or physical conduct relating

to an individual’s race, color, religion,

age, or disability when such conduct:

(a) Has the purpose or effect of

creating an intimidating, hostile, or

offensive working environment;

(b) Has the purpose or effect of

unreasonably interfering with an

individual’s work performance; or

(c) Otherwise adversely affects an

individual’s employment opportunities.

§ 1300.107 Financial interest exemptions.

In accordance with the provisions of

18 U.S.C. 208(b)(2), TVA has exempted

the following financial interests of its

employees from the requirements of 18

U.S.C. 208(a) upon the ground that such

interests are too remote or too

inconsequential to affect the integrity of

such employees’ services. When any of

the following exemptions applies only

to a limited range of official actions,

rather than all official acts, the range of

actions will be specified within the

language of the exemption.

(a) An investment in a business

enterprise in the form of ownership of

bonds, notes, and other evidences of

indebtness which are not convertible

into shares of preferred or common

stock and have no warrants attached

entitling the holder to purchase stock

provided that the estimated market

value of the interest does not exceed

$5,000;

(b) An investment in the form of

shares in the ownership of enterprises,

including preferred and common stocks

whether voting or nonvoting, or

warrants to purchase such shares, or

evidences of indebtedness convertible

into such shares provided that the

estimated market value of the interest

does not exceed $5,000 and does not

exceed 1 percent of the estimated

market value of all the outstanding

shares of the enterprise;

(c) Shares or investments in a welldiversified money market or mutual

fund;

(d) Vested interests in a pension fund

arising out of former employment and to

which no further contributions are being

made in the employee’s behalf,

provided that, if the pension plan is a

defined benefit plan, the assets of the

plan are diversified. For the purpose of

this provision, payments are not

considered to be made ‘‘in the

employee’s behalf’’ if they are made

solely to maintain adequate plan

funding rather than to provide specific

benefits for the employee; or

(e) The interest an employee has by

virtue of his or her personal or family

use of electric power or through his or

her interests in an organization using

electric power generated or distributed

by TVA, for purposes of his or her

official actions at TVA in the process of

developing or approving TVA power

rate schedules.

[FR Doc. 96–10940 Filed 5–3–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8120–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 946

[Docket No. FV96–946–2IFR]

Irish Potatoes Grown in Washington;

Assessment Rate

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request

for comments.

SUMMARY: This interim final rule

establishes an assessment rate for the

State of Washington Potato Committee

(Committee) under Marketing Order No.

946 for the 1996–97 and subsequent

fiscal periods. The Committee is

responsible for local administration of

the marketing order which regulates the

handling of Irish potatoes grown in

Washington. Authorization to assess

potato handlers enables the Committee

to incur expenses that are reasonable

and necessary to administer the

program.

DATES: Effective on July 1, 1996.

Comments received by June 5, 1996,

will be considered prior to issuance of

a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments

concerning this rule. Comments must be

sent in triplicate to the Docket Clerk,

Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS,

USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2523–S,

Washington, DC 20090–6456, FAX 202–

720–5698. Comments should reference

the docket number and the date and

page number of this issue of the Federal

Register and will be available for public

inspection in the Office of the Docket

Clerk during regular business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 96456, room 2523–S, Washington,

DC 20090–6456, telephone 202–720–

9918, FAX 202–720–5698, or Dennis L.

West, Northwest Marketing Field Office,

Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS,