October 16, 1996
DO-96-038
MEMORANDUM
TO: Designated Agency Ethics Officials
FROM: Stephen D. Potts
Director
SUBJECT: Paperwork Renewal of OGE Form 201 Access Form (Revised)
and SF 278 Public Financial Disclosure Report
The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) recently obtained from
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) renewed approval for
three years under the Paperwork Reduction Act for two of the forms
it sponsors.
Revised OGE Form 201
The first form is a revised version of the OGE Form 201,
"Request to Inspect or Receive Copies of SF 278 Executive Branch
Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report or Other Covered
Record." This new July 1996 edition of the OGE Form 201 is being
distributed to all executive departments and agencies as an
attachment to this memorandum. The form is also available on OGE's
electronic bulletin board TEBBS (telephone: 202-208-8030), on OGE's
new World Wide Web Site via the Internet (address:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/usoge), and will be included in the next
edition of the ethics CD-ROM. The new edition of the OGE Form 201
should be used in lieu of the prior July 1993 edition. See also
the OGE paperwork notices for this form, as published in the
Federal Register at 61 FR 357-358 (January 4, 1996) and 61 FR
24796-24798 (May 16, 1996).
The OGE Form 201 continues to serve as the standardized form
for seeking access to SF 278 reports and certain other publicly
available materials under the provisions of section 105 of the
Ethics in Government Act and 5 C.F.R. § 2634.603 of OGE's
regulations thereunder. The revised form now includes in Part III
(Other Covered Records) a listing of publicly available qualified
trust documents that can be requested (i.e., the trust instruments
for both qualified blind and qualified diversified trusts, the list
of assets transferred to such trusts, the list of assets sold in
the case of a qualified blind trust, and the certificates of
independence and compliance). In addition, Part II.C of the form
now includes a newly mandated notification under the amended
Paperwork Reduction Act and implementing OMB regulations to the
effect that: "an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and no person
is required to respond to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number (that number is
displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the front page of this
OGE Form 201)."
Departments and agencies are encouraged to use the OGE
Form 201, which is locally reproducible. Alternatively,
departments and agencies may develop and use their own access
forms, provided all the statutorily mandated information (i.e.,
name, address and occupation of the requester, name and address of
any other person on whose behalf access is sought, and a statement
of prohibited uses) is contained thereon. In such case, proper
Paperwork Reduction Act and Privacy Act approvals and notifications
have to be obtained by the department or agency concerned.
SF 278
The second form for which OGE has secured renewed paperwork
clearance is the Standard Form (SF) 278 Executive Branch Personnel
Public Financial Disclosure Report. This form has not been
modified. However, in the next year or two OGE will undertake a
review of this report form to identify any possible improvements
for the future as well as to reflect the new requirements noted
below. For now, OGE is asking agencies to inform filers of certain
higher value categories for major assets, income and liabilities
over $1,000,000 as required under amendments to the Ethics in
Government Act enacted as part of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of
1995. See the discussion in the OGE paperwork notices for this
form as published in the Federal Register at 61 FR 8941-8942
(March 6, 1996) and 61 FR 41162-41164 (August 7, 1996) and OGE
DAEOgrams DO-96-006 (January 29, 1996) and DO-96-023 (April 25,
1996). In addition, as required under the revised Paperwork
Reduction Act and OMB regulations, OGE asks that agencies inform
SF 278 filers in writing of the new paperwork notification as
follows: "An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and no person is
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number (that number is
displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the first page of the
SF 278)." This paperwork notification can accompany the
supplementary instructions regarding reporting for higher value
categories noted above that OGE has asked departments and agencies
to provide all filers by memorandum at the time blank SF 278 report
forms are distributed. Departments and agencies should continue to
order the SF 278 report forms from the Customer Supply Centers of
the Federal Supply Service, General Services Administration (the
National Stock Number (NSN) for the form is 7540-01-070-8444).
Any questions about the forms matters discussed in this
memorandum can be directed to William E. Gressman in the OGE
General Counsel's Office (telephone: 202-208-8000, extension 1110).