[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 2, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67397-67399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27621]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Proposed Guidance on Appointment of Lobbyists to Federal Boards 
and Commissions

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.

ACTION: Notice of proposed guidance.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is issuing proposed 
guidance to Executive Departments and agencies concerning the 
appointment of federally registered lobbyists to boards and 
commissions. On June 18, 2010, President Obama issued ``Lobbyists on 
Agency Boards and Commissions,'' a memorandum directing agencies and 
departments in the Executive Branch not to appoint or re-appoint 
Federally registered lobbyists to advisory committees and other boards 
and commissions. The Presidential Memorandum further directed the 
Director of OMB to ``issue proposed guidance to implement this policy 
to the full extent permitted by law.'' Final guidance will be issued by 
OMB after a thirty-day public comment period on the proposed guidance. 
The Presidential Memorandum is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-lobbyists-agency-boards-and-commissions.
    Comment Date: OMB invites comments from interested parties in both 
the public and private sectors to be considered in the formulation of 
the final guidance. Interested parties should submit comments in 
writing to the address below on or before 30 days from the publication 
of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> E-mail: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#442b2327042b29266a212b346a232b32"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fe91999dbe91939cd09b918ed0999188">[email protected]</span></a>.
    <bullet> Facsimile: (202) 395-7289.
    <bullet> Mail: Office of General Counsel, Eisenhower Executive 
Office Building, Room 289, 1650 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20500.

A. Proposed Guidance

    On June 18, 2010, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum 
directing agencies in the Executive Branch not to appoint or re-appoint 
Federally registered lobbyists to advisory committees and other boards 
and commissions. That memorandum directed the Office of Management and 
Budget to propose implementing guidance, which follows in the form of 
questions and answers:
    Q1: Who is affected by the policy directed in the June 18, 2010 
Presidential Memorandum (the ``Memorandum'')?
    A1: This policy applies to Federally registered lobbyists and does 
not apply to individuals who are registered as lobbyists only at the 
State level. A lobbyist for purposes of the Memorandum is any 
individual who is subject to the registration and reporting 
requirements of the Lobbying Disclosure

[[Page 67398]]

Act of 1995 (LDA), as amended, 2 U.S.C. 1605, at the time of 
appointment or reappointment to an advisory board or commission. 
Databases maintained by the House of Representatives and the Senate may 
be helpful in identifying Federally registered lobbyists.\1\
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    \1\ Lobbying Disclosure, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of 
Representatives: http://lobbyingdisclosure.house.gov; LDA Reports, 
U.S. Senate: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/Public_Disclosure/LDA_reports.htm.
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    Any individual who previously served as a Federally registered 
lobbyist may be appointed or re-appointed only if he or she has either 
filed a bona fide de-registration or has been de-listed by his or her 
employer as an active lobbyist reflecting the actual cessation of 
lobbying activities or if they have not appeared on a quarterly 
lobbying report for three consecutive quarters as a result of their 
actual cessation of lobbying activities.
    Q2: Does the policy restrict the appointment of individuals who are 
themselves not Federally registered lobbyists but are employed by 
organizations that engage in lobbying activities?
    A2: The policy established by the Memorandum applies to Federally 
registered lobbyists and does not apply to non-lobbyists employed by 
organizations that lobby.
    Q3: What entities constitute ``boards and commissions'' under the 
policy?
    A3: The policy directed in the Memorandum applies to any committee, 
board, commission, council, delegation, conference, panel, task force, 
or other similar group (or subgroup) created by the President, the 
Congress, or an Executive Branch department or agency to serve a 
specific function to which formal appointment is required, regardless 
of whether it is subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 
amended (5 U.S.C. App.). Boards and commissions include Federal 
advisory committees.
    Q4: Does the policy apply to non-Federal members of delegations to 
international bodies?
    A4: Delegations organized to present the Unites States' position to 
international bodies are considered to be boards or commissions for the 
purposes of this policy. Therefore, agencies should not appoint 
Federally registered lobbyists to these delegations.
    Q5: Which ``members'' of those boards and commissions are covered 
by the policy?
    A5: The policy applies to all members of boards and commissions who 
are not full-time Federal employees, including both those who have been 
designated to serve in a representative capacity on behalf of an 
interested group or constituency and those who have been designated to 
serve as Special Government Employees, and who are appointed by the 
President or an Executive Branch agency or official. Members of boards 
and commissions do not include individuals who are invited to attend 
meetings of boards or commissions on an ad hoc basis.
    Q6: How does the policy apply if a statute or presidential 
directive provides for appointments to be made by State Governors or by 
members of Congress?
    A6: While the discretion of appointing authorities outside of the 
Executive Branch will be respected, those appointing authorities should 
be encouraged to appoint individuals who are not Federally registered 
lobbyists whenever possible.
    Q7: How does the policy apply when a statute or presidential 
directive requires the appointment of a specific representative from an 
organization and that representative is a Federally registered 
lobbyist?
    A7: The policy does not supersede board or commission membership 
requirements established by statute or presidential directive. 
Committee charters in effect at the time of the new policy that require 
a lobbyist to be appointed as a member of the committee should, 
wherever possible and at the earliest possible time, be amended to 
remove that requirement, consistent with statutes and presidential 
directives.
    Q8: How will the guidance affect lobbyists who were serving on 
boards and commissions at the time the policy was established?
    A8: The prohibition on the appointment of Federally registered 
lobbyists to boards and commissions established by the Memorandum 
applies to appointments and re-appointments made after June 18, 2010. 
In order to ensure that there is no disruption of ongoing work of 
boards and commissions, Federally registered lobbyists who already were 
serving on boards and commissions on that date may serve out the 
remainder of their terms, but may not be reappointed so long as they 
remain registered lobbyists.
    Q9: Does this policy also restrict the participation of lobbyists 
as members of a subcommittee or other work group that performs 
preparatory work for its parent board or commission?
    A9: Yes, the policy does not permit the appointment of Federally 
registered lobbyists to a subcommittee or any other subgroup that 
performs preparatory work for a parent board or commission, whether or 
not its members are appointed in the same manner as are members to the 
parent committee. The goal of the Memorandum is to restrict the undue 
influence of lobbyists on Federal government through their membership 
on boards and commissions, which would include subcommittees and other 
bodies that require formal appointment.
    Q10: Does this policy also restrict the participation of lobbyists 
as witnesses or experts who appear before boards and commissions or 
submit advice or materials to them?
    A10: Lobbyists may still appear before or otherwise communicate 
with a board or commission to provide testimony, information, or input 
in the same manner as non-lobbyists who are not members of or 
appointees to the board, commission, or any of its subgroups, to the 
extent permitted by law and regulation. The purpose of the policy is to 
prevent lobbyists from being in privileged positions in government. It 
is not designed to prevent lobbyists or others from petitioning their 
government. When lobbyists do testify, boards and commissions should 
make reasonable efforts to ensure that they hear a balance of 
perspectives and are not gathering information or advice exclusively 
from registered lobbyists.
    Q11: What should an agency do if it appoints to a board or 
commission an individual who is not a Federally registered lobbyist at 
the time of appointment, but who, after appointment, becomes a 
Federally registered lobbyist?
    A11: Agencies should make clear to all board and commission 
members, whether appointed as representatives or Special Government 
Employees, that their conduct of activities that would require them to 
be Federally registered lobbyists after appointment would necessitate 
their resignation or removal from membership on boards or commissions. 
The appointing officers or their delegates shall ensure, at least 
annually, that board or commission members are not Federally registered 
lobbyists and, upon reappointment of the members, either shall require 
each member to certify that he or she is not a Federally registered 
lobbyist or shall check the Federal lobbyist databases to confirm that 
each member has not registered as a lobbyist since appointment. If an 
agency finds that, following appointment to a board or commission, a 
member subsequently has become a Federally registered lobbyist or has 
engaged in activities that would require registration, the agency shall 
request the resignation of the member.
    Q12: Will there be any waivers available for circumstances in which 
a

[[Page 67399]]

Federally registered lobbyist possesses unique or exceptional value to 
a board or commission?
    A12: The policy makes no provisions for waivers, and waivers will 
not be permitted under this policy.

Preeta D. Bansal,
OMB General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Management and 
Budget.
[FR Doc. 2010-27621 Filed 11-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P


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