TREASURY DIRECTIVE: 61-06
DATE: December 29, 2008
SUBJECT: Responsibilities of the Designated Agency Ethics Official
1. PURPOSE. Pursuant to 5 CFR 2638.203, Treasury’s
Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) is responsible for coordinating and
managing the agency’s ethics program. This directive provides a mechanism
for the DAEO’s continued accomplishment of these responsibilities.
2. SCOPE.
This directive applies to the
Departmental Offices (DO), the Treasury bureaus, the Office of the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), and the Office of the
Inspector General (OIG). The authority of the Inspectors General is set forth in
Section 3 of the Inspector General Act and the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring
and Reform Act, and defined in Treasury Order 114-01 (OIG) and Treasury Order
115-01 (TIGTA), or successor orders. The provisions of this Directive
shall not be construed to interfere with that authority.
3. DEFINITIONS.
a. Bureau includes the Departmental Offices (DO), the Treasury bureaus, and the offices of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
b. Designated Agency Ethics Official (or DAEO), pursuant to Treasury Order 107-01, is the Assistant General Counsel for General Law, Ethics, and Regulation.
c. Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official (or ADAEO), pursuant to Treasury Order 107-01, is the Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Ethics.
d. Deputy Ethics Official (DEO) is an individual to whom the DAEO has delegated, in writing, the authority to perform any of the DAEO’s duties, and who works under the supervision of the DAEO in carrying out such delegated functions.
4. BACKGROUND. The DAEO, or the ADAEO in the DAEO’s absence, is responsible for coordinating and managing the Department’s ethics program, including ensuring that:
a. the Department maintains close liaison with, and provides requested information in a complete and timely manner to, the Office of Government Ethics;
b. each bureau has an effective system and procedure for collecting, tracking, reviewing, and maintaining financial disclosure reports;
c. each bureau creates and maintains a quality ethics education and training program; and
d. prompt and effective action, including administrative action, is taken to remedy known violations of ethics rules and laws.
5. DAEO OPERATIONAL and OVERSIGHT RESPONSIBILITIES.
a. In order to assist the DAEO in carrying out the ethics program responsibilities assigned under government-wide regulation, the DAEO will designate each bureau’s Chief or Legal Counsel as a DEO who may perform these duties, in whole or in part, for that bureau. The DAEO, in consultation with a bureau’s Chief or Legal Counsel, may designate one or more additional DEOs for that Bureau, as needed. Pursuant to 5 CFR 2638.204(a), each DEO will work under the supervision of the DAEO in carrying out these delegated functions.
b. The DAEO will establish and issue, as needed, written Department-wide policies and procedures for the consistent and effective operation of the Department’s ethics program, including, but not limited to, such policies and procedures regarding:
1) issuing conflict of interest waivers, pursuant to 18 USC 208(b)(1) or (b)(3); and
2) periodically reviewing the effectiveness of the DEOs’ performance of delegated ethics program functions.
6. AUTHORITIES. 5 CFR Part 2638
7. REFERENCES. 31 CFR Part 0
8. OFFICES OF PRIMARY INTEREST. Office of the General Counsel; Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Chief Human Capital Officer.
/S/
Robert F. Hoyt
General Counsel