[This document was published at 62 Federal Register 60093-60094
(November 6, 1997).]

OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS

Notice of Planned Termination of The Ethics Bulletin Board System 

AGENCY: Office of Government Ethics (OGE).

ACTION: Notice.
__________________________________________
SUMMARY: The Office of Government Ethics is planning to terminate
The Ethics Bulletin Board System (TEBBS), its electronic bulletin
board service for executive branch Government ethics information,
effective January 1, 1998.  In its place, OGE will continue to
enhance its Internet World Wide Web site, established last year,
which contains most of the same electronic materials as well as
additional informational resources and links to other pertinent
Internet sites.

DATES: Comments by the agencies and the public are invited and
should be submitted to OGE by December 8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the Office of Government Ethics,
Suite 500, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20005-3917,
Attention: James V. Parle.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James V. Parle, Chief, Office of
Information Resources Management, Office of Government Ethics;
telephone: 202-208-8000; TDD: 202-208-8025; FAX: 202-208-8037;
Internet E-mail address: usoge@oge.gov (for E-mail messages, the
subject line should include the following reference -- Comment on
planned TEBBS termination).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
     Notice is hereby given that, effective January 1, 1998, the
Office of Government Ethics is planning to terminate the operation
of its "The Ethics Bulletin Board System" (TEBBS).  This notice is
also being posted on TEBBS and OGE's Web site.  In light of the
creation last year of OGE's new Web site on the Internet, OGE has
initially determined that TEBBS is no longer needed for electronic
dissemination of OGE Government ethics information to the agencies
and the public.  Nonetheless, OGE invites comments from the
agencies and the public on this planned termination of TEBBS, to be
received by December 8, 1997, and will carefully consider any
comments received before reaching a final decision.  If OGE does
decide to delay or reverse the planned termination of TEBBS, OGE
will publish a further notice to this effect in the FEDERAL
REGISTER, as well as posting it on both TEBBS and the OGE Web site.
     The Office of Government Ethics introduced TEBBS to the
executive branch ethics community at the September 1992 Government
Ethics Conference.  Since then, TEBBS has been used to disseminate
electronic copies of OGE's executive branchwide ethics regulations,
along with its advisory memoranda and letters.  The TEBBS bulletin
board also electronically provides access to various ethics program
administration aids, such as ethics reporting forms, training
materials, and OGE publications.
     When OGE introduced the TEBBS service in 1992, electronic
bulletin boards were the principal means for the Government to
disseminate information electronically.  However, since that time,
information technology has changed significantly.  Today, the World
Wide Web on the Internet has become the primary electronic means of
disseminating information.  The Office of Government Ethics
introduced its own Web site at the September 1996 Government Ethics
Conference.
     The current uniform resource locator (URL) address for OGE's
Internet World Wide Web site is http://www.usoge.gov.  The OGE Web
site contains, either on-site or via links to other Web sites, most
of the same electronic information that is available on TEBBS as
noted above, as well as that on OGE's ethics CD-ROM, which OGE will
continue to publish twice a year.  The Web site also provides
access to additional informational resources, such as electronic
copies of pertinent Government ethics laws and Executive orders. 
Further, the Web site includes all the current OGE forms and
publications in Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF) files
that can be downloaded and used as needed by agencies and their
employees.  The Office of Government Ethics continually updates its
Web site as new material becomes available for electronic
dissemination.
     Response to OGE's Web site has been better than expected. 
Since OGE put its Web site into service a year ago, the number of
"hits" (visits to a page or downloading of a document) has grown
steadily.  The volume now averages some 34,000 "hits" a month.  The
Office of Government Ethics expects this number to continue to grow
as it adds additional functionality and information to the site. 
Not surprisingly, there has been a corresponding decrease in the
use of TEBBS.  With OGE's limited resources, the largely redundant
and less flexible capabilities offered by TEBBS has become too
expensive to operate and maintain.  The additional resources and
capabilities of OGE's Web site should more than compensate for the
termination of the TEBBS electronic bulletin board service.

Approved: October 31, 1997.

________________________________________
Stephen D. Potts,
Director, Office of Government Ethics.