PRA Disclosure Form -- Supporting Statement 5-8-2014

Administrative Conference of the United States
Substitute Confidential Employment and Financial Disclosure Report
Supporting Statement for ICR

1.
The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is charged with developing
recommendations for the improvement of Federal administrative procedures (5 USC 591). Its
recommendations are the product of a research process overseen by a small staff, but ultimately
adopted by a statutory membership of 101 experts, including approximately 45 non-government
members -- 5 Council members and up to 40 others (5 USC 593(b) and 5 USC 595(b)). These individuals
are deemed to be "special government employees" within the meaning of 18 USC 202(a) and, therefore,
are subject to confidential financial disclosure requirements of the Ethics in Government Act (5 USC App.
107) and regulations of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). The ACUS substitute non-government
member “Confidential Employment and Financial Disclosure Report” (“Substitute Disclosure Report”) is
a substitute for OGE Form 450, which ACUS non-government members would otherwise be required to
file.
At the time the agency's funding was terminated in 1995, ACUS was authorized to use for this purpose a
simplified form that was a substitute for OGE Form 450. The simplified substitute form was approved by
OGE following a determination by the ACUS Chairman, pursuant to 5 CFR 2634.905(a), that greater
disclosure is not required because the limited nature of the agency's authority makes very remote the
possibility that a real or apparent conflict of interest will occur. In 1994, ACUS received Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) approval for this simplified substitute form.
ACUS was re-established in 2010, and OGE has renewed its approval for this simplified substitute form,
which ACUS must provide to its non-government members in advance of meetings of the full
membership. In September 2010, ACUS received emergency approval for a 6-month period so that
there would be no delay in commencing the committee and Conference activities of the nongovernment members necessary to the implementation of its statutory responsibilities to identify and
recommend improvements of Federal administrative procedures. Approval of both a paper and an
online version was granted subsequently through May 31, 2014. ACUS now seeks approval for use of
both versions of the substitute form for a renewal period of 3 years. The form now submitted for
approval is essentially unchanged other than a clarification that the form is to be used by nongovernment non-statutory participants in ACUS meetings (see section 2, below), as well as the 45
statutory non-government members. Also, subsequent to approval of the form in 2011 by the Office of
Management and Budget, OGE clarified its opinion and stated that non-government members would
need to submit the form only in connection with meetings of the full ACUS membership and not for
meetings of ACUS committees. Therefore, the form will no longer ask for the name of the member’s
committee.
As required by the Ethics in Government Act, 5 USC App. 107(a); Executive Order 12674, sec. 201(d); and
OGE regulations, 5 CFR 2634.901(d), copies of the substitute form submitted to ACUS by its members
will be held in strict confidence.

NOTE: This Information Collection Request is being submitted by ACUS without waiving the agency’s
position that the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) does not require OIRA review and approval of this
form, which is applicable solely to special government employees. The PRA does not apply to
information collection requirements directed to Federal employees (44 USC 3502(3)). The only reason
this form is required is that ACUS non-government members have been deemed by OGE (and OLC) to be
Federal “employees.”

2.
The Substitute Disclosure Report will be used by the statutory non-government members of the
Administrative Conference. The information collected will be used to identify any potential conflicts of
interest and to ensure that any participation in ACUS activities by such a member with a potential
conflict of interest does not violate either the statutory requirements cited above or the Bylaws of the
Administrative Conference. The number of statutory non-government members at any particular time is
approximately 45, although the identity of the individual members changes from time to time due to
expiration of members’ 2-year terms, resignation, change in employment status requiring termination of
membership, or for other reasons.
In addition to the statutory non-government members, the Chairman, with the approval of the Council,
may appoint additional persons in various categories, for participation in Conference activities, but
without voting privileges in meetings of the full membership. These categories include senior fellows,
special counsels, and liaison representatives. The estimated number of non-government individuals in
these categories who are required to submit this form at any particular time is approximately 45.
Submitted forms will be reviewed, as necessary, by the Chairman or the agency’s Designated Ethics
Official, and will be kept in a confidential file with limited access.

3.
The Substitute Disclosure Report will be available to ACUS members online or by e-mail.
Members will be offered the ability to submit the form electronically. The content and information
requested in the online form are identical to the content and information requested in the paper form.
The format is modified minimally to achieve better usability of the form on the website. Authenticity of
online submissions will be confirmed by e-mail follow-up. Completed forms may be submitted to the
agency electronically or on paper prior to each plenary session meeting of ACUS members.

4.
The information needed to ensure compliance by non-government members with the applicable
ethics requirements is not available to ACUS from any other source. The only legal alternative to use of
such a form would be to require submission of OGE Form 450, which would impose a greater burden on
respondents. The Substitute Disclosure Report has been designed to reduce that burden to the
minimum needed for compliance.

5.
Administrative Conference members, regardless of their membership category, participate in
Conference activities and deliberations as individuals, and not necessarily as representatives of any
group or organization (ACUS Bylaws, sec. 302.2(a)). Any relationship between the non-government

members of ACUS and small businesses or other small entities is incidental, and there is thus minimal
impact, if any, on small entities.

6.
If the Substitute Disclosure Report were unavailable for use by ACUS members, then the
consequence would be the required use of the OGE Form 450, resulting in a greater recordkeeping and
time burden upon them.

7.
ACUS non-government members are required to disclose the information requested on the
Substitute Disclosure Report (or alternatively, the OGE Form 450) prior to Conference plenary sessions,
which are ordinarily scheduled semiannually. This filing requirement reflects an opinion received from
OGE subsequent to approval of the form in 2011 by the Office of Management and Budget, in which
OGE advised ACUS that non-government members would need to submit the form only in connection
with meetings of the full ACUS membership and not for meetings of ACUS committees. The average
number of such meetings per year is estimated to be 2 plenary sessions, so required new filings are
likely to average no more than 2 times per year for each member. This change will reduce the estimated
burden on each filer by approximately two-thirds. Moreover, given the types of information requested
on the form, the time and effort required after the initial filing will be minimal for most members.

8.
On March 4, 2014, ACUS published in the Federal Register the 60-day notice required by 5 CFR
1320.8(d), which invited the public to comment on the proposed information collection (79 FR 12143).
No comments were received. On May 8, 2014, ACUS published in the Federal Register the 30-day notice
required by 5 CFR 1320.10(a), requesting that comments be submitted to OMB (79 FR 26402). The
Substitute Disclosure Report has been used by the affected members of ACUS during the period
authorized by the current OMB approval. No problems have arisen and no issues have been reported in
connection with usage of either the paper form or the online version.

9.
There will be no payments or gifts to respondents other than reimbursement of authorized
travel and related expenses for non-government ACUS members who are attending meetings from
outside the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

10.
As required by the Ethics in Government Act, 5 USC App. 107(a); Executive Order 12674, sec.
201(d); and OGE regulations, 5 CFR 2634.901(d), copies of the substitute form submitted to ACUS by its
members will be held in strict confidence. Paper copies of submitted forms are retained in locked files
in the ACUS office. Electronic records are maintained in password-protected files on the agency’s
servers.

11.
The Substitute Disclosure Report requests no information of a sensitive nature, such as sexual
behavior, religious beliefs, etc. The form requests only information that would be included in OGE Form
450, but is less inclusive than that form.

12.

Burden Estimate:
Number of Respondents

90

Frequency of Responses
Per Year

2

Annual Number of
Responses

180

Estimated Time Per
Response

15 Minutes

Total Annual Hour Burden

45 Hours

Estimated Annual Hour
Burden Cost per Filer @
$300/hour

$150

13.
Respondents will not need any special record keeping. The total annual cost burden to
respondents is zero.

14.
The cost to the Federal government for collection and retention of the required information is
zero. Forms will be submitted to the Chairman or the agency’s Designated Ethics official and will be
retained in a confidential file, with limited access. Because the information requested is very minimal,
except under very unlikely circumstances, review will take no more than a few minutes except in those
very remote situations, and the cost of storage of records will be virtually zero.

15.
The figures shown on the burden worksheet under the heading “Program Change Due to Agency
Discretion” result from: (a) receipt of an opinion from OGE, subsequent to approval of the form in 2011
by the Office of Management and Budget, in which OGE advised ACUS that non-government members
would need to submit the form only in connection with meetings of the full ACUS membership and not
for meetings of ACUS committees, thereby reducing the number of annual responses from each filer;
and (b) an increase in the number of non-statutory non-government members.

16.

The information collected will be confidential and will not be published.

17.

The form will contain any applicable expiration date.

18.
Certification requirements under 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3) and 5 CFR 1320.9 are met except:
5 CFR 1320.9(f) There is no recordkeeping requirement for respondents.
5 CFR 1320.9(i) Use of “effective and efficient statistical survey methodology” is not applicable.