May 21, 1999
                                           DO-99-026



MEMORANDUM

TO:       Designated Agency Ethics Officials 

FROM:     Stephen D. Potts
          Director

SUBJECT:  Reporting Payments Accepted Under 31 U.S.C. § 1353


     Section 1353 of title 31, United States Code, authorizes the
acceptance by executive branch agencies of payments for travel,
subsistence, and related expenses from non-Federal sources in
connection with the attendance of employees at certain meetings or
similar functions.  The statute provides that the head of each
agency shall submit to the Director of the Office of Government
Ethics (OGE) semiannual reports of payments of more than $250
accepted under this authority.  The next semiannual report should
be submitted to OGE not later than May 31, 1999, concerning
payments received during the period beginning on October 1, 1998,
and ending on March 31, 1999.  Agencies are required to submit
negative reports.  

     The General Services Administration's (GSA) regulation
implementing 31 U.S.C. § 1353 and its reporting requirement are
codified at 41 C.F.R. part 304-1.  Additionally, the standard
reporting forms for reporting this information, SF 326, "Semiannual
Report of Payments Accepted from a Non-Federal Source" and SF 326A,
"Continuation Sheet" may be found at GSA's Web site.  You may
prepare  your report by use of these forms or continue to use your
format designed in accordance with § 304-1.9(a) of that regulation. 
If you wish to use standard forms to prepare your report, they may
also be downloaded from the GSA Web site at www.gsa.gov/forms under
the "Other Forms" section as Portable Document Format files.