[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 139 (Monday, July 20, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43681-43682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14544]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 139 / Monday, July 20, 2020 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 43681]]
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
5 CFR Part 7101
RIN 3209-AA57
Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the
National Labor Relations Board
AGENCY: National Labor Relations Board.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The National Labor Relations Board (``NLRB'' or ``Board''),
with the concurrence of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE), is
issuing this final procedural rule amending the Supplemental Standards
of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB Supplemental Ethics Regulations) to eliminate an out-of-date and
unnecessary reference to the identity of its Designated Agency Ethics
Official (DAEO) and Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official (ADAEO)
from its regulations.
DATES: This amendment is effective July 20, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roxanne Rothschild, Executive
Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, 1015 Half Street SE,
Washington, DC 20570-0001, (202) 273-1940 (this is not a toll-free
number), 1-866-315-6572 (TTY/TDD).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On August 7, 1992, OGE published the Standards of Ethical Conduct
for Employees of the Executive Branch (OGE Standards). See 57 FR 35006-
35067, as corrected at 57 FR 48557, 57 FR 52483, and 60 FR 51167. The
OGE Standards, codified at 5 CFR part 2635, established uniform
standards of ethical conduct that apply to all executive branch
personnel.
Pursuant to 5 CFR 2635.105, executive branch agencies are
authorized to publish, with the concurrence of OGE, agency-specific
supplemental regulations that are deemed necessary to properly
implement their respective ethics programs. On February 12, 1997, the
NLRB, with OGE's concurrence, published in the Federal Register an
interim final rule to establish the NLRB Supplemental Ethics
Regulations. 62 FR 6445. The NLRB is now amending the NLRB Supplemental
Ethics Regulations to remove an out-of-date provision, 5 CFR
7101.101(b), which designates the Director of the NLRB's Division of
Administration as the NLRB's DAEO and the Deputy Director of
Administration as the NLRB's ADAEO.
The NLRB, in concurrence with OGE, is making this change because
these provisions are inconsistent with the NLRB's current
organizational structure. The Board restructured its headquarters
offices in 2013 and 2016, resulting in a separate Ethics Office that is
apart from the Division of Administration. The Board, in 2016,
designated the head of the Ethics Office as the DAEO and submitted that
designation to OGE. The Board notified the public of these
organizational changes at the time they occurred in Federal Register
notices. 81 FR 4069 (Jan. 25, 2016); 78 FR 44981 (July 25, 2013). The
Board intends no change to its 2016 DAEO designation with this
rulemaking.
The NLRB is also removing provisions in Sec. 7101.101(b) that list
some of the DAEO's responsibilities, which are similarly out of date.
Detailed qualifications and responsibilities for DAEOs and ADAEOs at
all agencies are found in OGE's regulations at 5 CFR 2638.104. Thus,
removing the redundant provisions from paragraph (b) will eliminate
confusion that could result from any inconsistencies between the two
regulations.
The deletion of Sec. 7101.101(b) will therefore update the NLRB's
Supplemental Ethics Regulations so that they are no longer inconsistent
with the NLRB's current organizational structure. This change will make
the NLRB Supplemental Ethics Regulations consistent with those of most
other executive branch agencies, which do not designate ethics
officials or delineate their responsibilities in their supplemental
ethics regulations.
The Board is also revising the introductory sentence of the
redesignated Sec. 7101.101(b) (formerly Sec. 7101.101(c)) to read
``Agency's designee'' instead of ``Agency designees'' because the
revised regulation solely refers to the DAEO, and no longer refers to
both the DAEO and ADAEO.
II. Matters of Regulatory Procedure
Administrative Procedure Act
This rule is published as a final rule. The NLRB considers this
rule to be a procedural rule that is exempt from notice and public
comment, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A), as a rule of ``agency
organization, procedure, or practice.''
Paperwork Reduction Act
The amended regulations contain no additional information-
collection or record-keeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 7101
Conflict of interests, Government employees.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the NLRB amends 5 CFR
part 7101 as follows:
PART 7101--SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES
OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
0
1. The authority citation for 5 CFR part 7101 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 7301; 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government
Act of 1978); 29 U.S.C. 141, 156; E.O. 12674, 54 FR 15159, 3 CFR,
1989 Comp., p. 215, as modified by E.O. 12731, 55 FR 42457, 3 CFR,
1990 Comp., p. 306; 5 CFR 2635.105, 2635.402(c), 2635.803, and
2638.202(b).
Sec. 7101.101 [Amended]
0
2. Amend Sec. 7101.101 by
0
a. Removing paragraph (b) and redesignating paragraph (c) as paragraph
(b);
0
b. Amending newly redesignated paragraph (b) by removing the words
``Agency's designees'' and adding in their place ``Agency designee.''
[[Page 43682]]
Dated: June 2, 2020.
Roxanne L. Rothschild,
Executive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board.
Emory Rounds,
Director, U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
[FR Doc. 2020-14544 Filed 7-17-20; 8:45 am]
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