201_83-I_ 2013 Supporting Statement

U.S. Office of Government Ethics
OMB 83-I Supporting Statement for the OGE Form 201
REQUEST TO INSPECT OR RECEIVE COPIES OF
EXECUTIVE BRANCH PERSONNEL PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS
OR OTHER COVERED RECORDS

A. Justification
1.- 2. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Form 201 reflects the requirements of the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 as amended (EIGA), the Stop Trading on Congressional
Knowledge Act of 2012 (STOCK Act), and OGE’s implementing regulations. See EIGA at
5 U.S.C. app. §§ 105(b) and (c), and 402(b)(1); the STOCK Act, Public Law 112-105
(April 4, 2012), as amended by Public Law 113-7 (April 15, 2013); and
5 C.F.R. §§ 2634.603(c) and (f)
of
OGE’s
executive
branchwide
regulations.
5 U.S.C. app. § 105(b) provides for access by members of the public to OGE Form 278/SF 278
public financial disclosure reports, including OGE Form 278-T Periodic Transaction Reports
(collectively referred to as 278 reports or public financial disclosure reports). Public financial
disclosure reports are generally publicly available for six years upon the proper submission of a
written application giving the name, occupation and address of the requestor, the same
information for others (if any) on whose behalf the request is made and an indication that there is
notice of the prohibited uses of public financial disclosure reports as specified under
section 105(c) of EIGA, 5 U.S.C. app. § 105(c). Under 5 U.S.C. app. § 402(b)(1) OGE is
authorized to establish procedures for providing public access to public financial disclosure
reports. OGE, as the supervising ethics office for the executive branch (see section 109(18)(D)
of EIGA), has provided for information on the OGE Form 201 application statement, entitled
"Request to Inspect or Receive Copies of Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial
Disclosure Reports or Other Covered Records," that meets the statutory requirements for
permitting access to public financial disclosure reports as well as other covered records. Other
types of records covered by the same EIGA access procedures (as listed in part III of the
OGE Form 201) are certificates of divestiture, certain publicly available qualified trust
documents, section 208 waiver determinations (after removal of any information exempt from
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act), other access requests, OGE-approved gifts
reporting waiver request cover letters, and OGE-approved public reporting waiver request cover
letters for certain less than 130-day special Government employees.1 The information collected

1 See sections 101(i), 102(a)(2)(C), (f)(5)(D) & (f)(7)(B) and 105(b) of the Ethics in Government Act,
5 U.S.C. app. 18 U.S.C. § 208(d)(1); and OGE’s implementing executive branch regulations at
5 C.F.R. §§ 2634.205(b)(4), 2634.304(f)(2), 2634.408(a)(1)(i), (a)(3) & (d), 2634.603(a), (c), (f) & (g), and
2634.1004, as well as appendices A, B and C to part 2634, and OGE’s executive branchwide implementing financial
interests regulation at 5 C.F.R. § 2640.304.

on the form, and as required by the underlying OGE regulation, is necessary and appropriate
under the law.
The OGE Form 201, a locally reproducible form for executive branch department and
agency use, has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (control # 3209-0002). The current paperwork approval is scheduled
to expire November 30, 2013. OGE is requesting a three-year paperwork approval from OMB.
OGE proposes several modifications to both the non-automated and automated versions of the
form for this renewal submission: to modify the title of the form, to add a warning to requestors
that intentional falsification of the information required by the form may result in prosecution
under 18 U.S.C. §1001, and to update the Privacy Act Statement to include an additional routine
use.
Persons seeking access to public financial disclosure reports or other covered records
must fill out the OGE Form 201 (or any substitute agency form). Such requestors include
members of the press, public interest groups, other private citizens and other agencies and
agency employees. The information requested on the application form is reviewed and used by
OGE and other executive branch agency ethics officials to determine that the requestor has
complied with the requirements of EIGA and OGE’s regulations before allowing inspection
and/or release of copies of requested public financial disclosure reports or other covered records.
The application form itself is then retained by the executive branch agency concerned and, as
noted, is itself subject to public access under EIGA.
The OGE Form 201 currently includes notice of a civil monetary penalty (CMP) of up to
$11,000 for improperly obtaining or using public financial disclosure reports or other covered
records to which access has been gained for a prohibited purpose. The CMP amount indicated
on the current form does not require updating at this time, although OGE anticipates that this
amount will be increased in the near future. OGE requests permission from OMB to
automatically update the amount on the OGE Form 201 if and when the referenced amount is
changed during the three-year period covered by this submission.
3. A non-automated version of the OGE Form 201 is available on the OGE Website at
http://www.usoge.gov as a downloadable PDF, both fillable and printable. This version
provides a locally reproducible form for use as needed by agencies and the public. OGE will
continue to allow agencies to electronically duplicate this version of the OGE Form 201,
provided the electronic versions precisely duplicate the OGE version. OGE is proposing that this
renewal submission to OMB also cover a new, fully automated version of the OGE Form 201.
Initially launched in March 2012, the fully automated version is available only through the
OGE Website. A requestor using the new automated access form is able to submit the completed
request form online, and immediately obtain access to financial disclosure reports of most
individuals who have been nominated by the President to executive branch positions requiring
Senate confirmation (PAS officials) and individuals who have declared their candidacy for the
Office of the President of the United States. The automated OGE Website version of the form
also can be used by requestors to download or view a list of all OGE Form 201 requests for
access to public financial disclosure reports for a specific filer that were provided through the
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OGE Website. The basis for the electronic initiatives described above is to lessen the public
burden and to facilitate dissemination and use of the access form by agencies and requestors.
4. Not applicable. The OGE Form 201 access form, under section 105 of EIGA and the
other cited provisions of law and OGE's regulations, is the sole source of the information needed
to process access requests. Subsequent to the enactment of the STOCK Act of 2012,
OGE obtained emergency approval from OMB for the temporary use of the OGE Form 201-A to
cover access to certain public financial disclosure reports. (The OGE Form 201-A is also
controlled under OMB number 3209-0002.) Amendments to the STOCK Act in 2013 obviated
the OGE 201-A. This OGE Form 201 renewal submission, when approved by OMB, will cover
providing access to the OGE Form 278-T Periodic Transaction Reports mandated by the
STOCK Act, as amended. OGE anticipates that most executive branch departments and
agencies will continue using the non-automated version of the OGE Form 201 access application
form. Agencies choosing to develop their own forms must ensure that all the statutory
requirements for providing access to public financial disclosure forms and other covered records
are met.
5. Not applicable. This collection of information does not impact small businesses or
other small entities.
6. Not applicable. This form is filed by persons requesting access, from time to time, to
executive branch public financial disclosure reports and other covered records. (See also items
1.-2. above.)
7. No special circumstances exist as outlined in the instructions for this item.
8. The information on the proposed modified OGE Form 201 is required by the abovenoted provisions of law and OGE's implementing regulations at 5 C.F.R. part 2634.
OGE provided a first round Federal Register notice on April 26, 2013. See 78 FR 24749-24750.
As noted in the second round Federal Register notice of September 13, 2013, OGE received and
fully addressed comments received from two agencies in response to the first round notice.
See 78 FR 56704-56705. No comments were received concerning specific cost or burden hour
issues for the OGE Form 201. OGE is not aware of any suggestions for improvement that may
have been received by the OMB Desk Officer for OGE during the course of public comment on
the second round notice.
OGE continually seeks comments from persons outside the agency concerning the impact
of its information collection instruments upon filers and agency ethics programs. OGE provides
opportunities for comment at ethics conferences and symposia. OGE routinely alerts
professionals in the ethics community to recently published OGE Federal Register paperwork
notices via the Ethics News and Information Listserv, the OMB Max Website and various social
media applications, and Advisory Memoranda sent to designated agency ethics officers. Visitors
to the OGE Website are provided the opportunity to contact OGE with comments or suggestions.
In addition, OGE has remained open to suggestions for improvement received in the course of
public comment on the first and second round paperwork notices published in the
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Federal Register. Any ongoing comments received as a result of these means of availability will
be considered by OGE for the next paperwork renewal cycle in three years.
9. Not applicable. No payments or gifts have been provided to respondents.
10. There is no assurance of confidentiality as to the OGE Form 201. Rather, the form
itself is publicly available for a period of six years upon a proper request in accordance with the
provisions of the EIGA and OGE's implementing regulations noted in items 1.-2. above.
11. All of the information required on the OGE Form 201 and in the underlying
regulation is deemed necessary by OGE for proper requests by persons seeking access to public
financial disclosure reports and other covered records as well as for agency review for purposes
of ensuring compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements for permitting access and
determining the records requested.
12. OGE estimates that an average of 870 OGE Form 201s will be filed throughout the
executive branch each year by members of the public (primarily by news media, public interest
groups and private citizens) during the period 2013 through 2015. This figure is based on the
number of OGE Form 201s filed at OGE by members of the public (101 for 2010, 125 for 2011
and 1,072 for 2012) and those filed at other departments and agencies in the executive branch
(380 for 2010, 496 for 2011 and 438 for 2012) as reported on OGE’s annual agency ethics
program questionnaire. The total number of OGE Form 201s submitted in 2010 is 481; in 2011
is 621; and in 2012 is 1,510, for a total of 2,612 forms submitted over the three-year period.
That total divided by three provides the basis for an estimated annual average of 870 forms filed
over the next three-year period. The estimated average amount of time to complete the form,
including review of the instructions, remains at 10 minutes for both the non-automated and
automated versions of the form. Thus, the estimated annual public burden for the
OGE Form 201 (throughout the executive branch) is 145 hours (870 forms X 10 minutes
per form). This annual hour burden, a significant increase from the current estimated annual
burden of 75 hours, is the result of the increased use of the OGE Form 201 access form by the
public. The chief contributing factor to the increased use of the form is the availability, since
March 2012, of the new, fully automated form via the OGE Website.
13. The private sector capital and other economic cost burden to respondents for the
OGE Form 201 is estimated to be "zero." Almost all the total annual cost burden is borne by the
Federal Government and the agency ethics officials who review and process the relatively simple
and short access forms.
14. The annual cost to the Federal Government to implement the OGE Form 201 for the
executive branch to provide, under EIGA, access to public financial disclosure reports is now
estimated to be approximately $200,000. This estimate is based on the anticipated number of
access form filers and the estimated time needed for OGE and agencies to review and process the
forms, including providing copies (or inspection) of requested records. The estimated annual
cost to the Federal Government does not include OGE’s costs to design and develop the fully
automated Website application version of the form implemented in 2012.
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15. The total burden hours reported have increased over the past three years in the
average number of public access requests processed annually by the executive branch, from
some 450 for the three year period (2006-2008) to 870 on average over the immediate past three
years (2010-2012). The total burden hours are now estimated at 145 (870 forms x 10 minutes
per form), versus 75 hours three years ago, because the number of public access requests has
increased. The chief contributing factor to the increased use of the form is the availability, since
March 2012, of the new, fully automated 201 form via the OGE Website.
16. Not applicable.
17. OGE requests permission to not display the expiration date on the OGE Form 201 as
proposed so that it may continue to be used beyond the three-year paperwork approval period
requested, subject to appropriate further OMB approval, if the form is not sooner modified.
18. Certification items (c), (f) and (i) are not applicable to this information collection.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
Not applicable. This information collection does not employ statistical methods.

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