[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 175 (Monday, September 11, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47240-47241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-22381]
[[Page 47239]]
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Part IV
Postal Service
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5 CFR Ch. LX
39 CFR Part 447
Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct and Conforming Amendments;
Final Rules
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 175 / Monday, September 11, 1995 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 47240]]
POSTAL SERVICE
5 CFR Chapter LX
RIN 3209-AA15
Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the
United States Postal Service
AGENCY: Postal Service.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The United States Postal Service, with the concurrence of the
Office of Government Ethics (OGE), is issuing a final rule establishing
regulations applicable to employees of the Postal Service to supplement
the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch
issued by OGE. The final rule is a necessary supplement to the
Executive Branch-wide Standards because it addresses ethical issues
unique to the Postal Service. The final rule is effective upon
publication and establishes regulations which prohibit certain outside
activities and require prior approval for employees to engage in other
specified outside employment or activities.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 11, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mitchell J. Benowitz, Ethics and
Information Law, Postal Service, (202) 268-2967.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 27, 1995, the Postal Service, with
OGE's concurrence, published for comment a proposed rule to establish
supplemental standards of ethical conduct for Postal Service employees
(60 FR 15700-15703). The proposed rule was intended to supplement the
Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch
published by OGE on August 7, 1992, and effective February 3, 1993 (5
CFR part 2635; see also the grace period extensions at 59 FR 4779-4780,
February 2, 1994, and 60 FR 6390-6391, February 2, 1995). The proposed
rule was issued pursuant to 5 CFR 2635.105, which authorizes executive
branch agencies to publish agency-specific supplemental regulations
that are necessary to implement their ethics programs. The Postal
Service, with OGE's concurrence, determined that the supplemental
regulations contained in the proposed rule were necessary to implement
the Postal Service's ethics program successfully, considering the
unique programs and operations of the Postal Service.
The proposed rule prescribed a 60-day comment period and invited
comments from all interested parties. No comments have been received by
the Postal Service. Therefore, no changes have been made in the final
rule. The Postal Service, with OGE's concurrence, is now publishing as
a final rule the Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for
Employees of the United States Postal Service, to be codified at a new
part 7001, Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
The Executive Branch-wide Standards have superseded many provisions
of the Code of Ethical Conduct for Postal Employees (Code), 39 CFR part
447. Certain other provisions of the Code that prohibited the holding
of specified financial interests, 39 CFR 447.22(b)(1)-(7), and those
provisions of 39 CFR 447.23 that involve compensated outside employment
relationships, remained temporarily in effect pursuant to the note
following 5 CFR 2635.403(a), as extended at 59 FR 4779-4780 and 60 FR
6390-6391. The note following 5 CFR 2635.403(a) provides that such
prohibitions shall cease to be effective upon the issuance of agency
supplemental regulations. Therefore, the provisions of 39 CFR part 447
concerning prohibited financial interests or compensated outside
employment relationships are now superseded. In a separate document
published in this issue of the Federal Register, the Postal Service is
amending 39 CFR part 447 to repeal the financial interest prohibitions
and those provisions that have been superseded by the Executive Branch-
wide Standards.
List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 7001
Conflict of interests, Ethical standards, Executive branch
standards of conduct, Government employees.
Dated: August 2, 1995.
Mary S. Elcano,
Senior Vice President, General Counsel, United States Postal Service.
Approved: August 4, 1995.
Stephen D. Potts,
Director, Office of Government Ethics.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the United States Postal
Service, with the concurrence of the Office of Government Ethics, is
amending title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations by adding a new
chapter LX, consisting of part 7001, as follows:
CHAPTER LX--UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
PART 7001--SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES
OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
Sec.
7001.101 General.
7001.102 Restrictions on outside employment and business
activities.
7001.103 Statutory prohibition against interests in contracts to
carry mail and acting as agent for contractors.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 7301; 5 U.S.C. App. (Ethics in Government
Act of 1978); 39 U.S.C. 401; E.O. 12674, 54 FR 15159, 3 CFR, 1989
Comp., p. 215, as modified by E.O. 12731, 55 FR 42547, 3 CFR, 1990
Comp., p. 306; 5 CFR 2635.105, 2635.802, and 2635.803.
Sec. 7001.101 General.
In accordance with 5 CFR 2635.105, the regulations in this part
supplement the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the
Executive Branch contained in 5 CFR part 2635, as applied to employees
of the United States Postal Service (Postal Service). Postal Service
employees are subject, in addition to the standards in 5 CFR part 2635
and this part, to the executive branch financial disclosure regulations
contained in 5 CFR part 2634, and to any rules of conduct issued
separately by the Postal Service, including but not limited to
regulations contained in 39 CFR part 447, the Postal Service's Employee
and Labor Relations Manual, and the Postal Service's Procurement
Manual.
Sec. 7001.102 Restrictions on outside employment and business
activities.
(a) Prohibited outside employment and business activities. No
Postal Service employee shall:
(1) Engage in outside employment or business activities with or for
a person, including oneself, engaged in:
(i) The manufacture of any uniform or other product required by the
Postal Service for use by its employees or customers;
(ii) The transportation of mail under Postal Service contract to or
from the postal facility at which the employee works, or to or from a
postal facility within the delivery area of a post office in which the
employee works;
(iii) Providing consultation, advice, or any subcontracting
service, with respect to the operations, programs, or procedures of the
Postal Service, to any person who has a contract with the Postal
Service or who the employee has reason to believe will compete for such
a contract; or
[[Page 47241]]
(iv) The operation of a commercial mail receiving agency registered
with the Postal Service, or the delivery outside the mails of any type
of mailable matter, except daily newspapers; or
(2) Engage in any sales activity, including the solicitation of
business or the receipt of orders, for oneself or any other person,
while on duty or in uniform, or at any postal facility.
(b) Prior approval for outside employment and business activities--
(1) Requirement for approval. A Postal Service employee shall obtain
approval, in accordance with paragraph (b)(2) of this section, prior
to:
(i) Engaging in outside employment or business activities with or
for any person with whom the employee has official dealings on behalf
of the Postal Service; or
(ii) Engaging in outside employment or business activities, with or
for a person, including oneself, whose interests are:
(A) Substantially dependent upon, or potentially affected to a
significant degree by, postal rates, fees, or classifications; or
(B) Substantially dependent upon providing goods or services to, or
for use in connection with, the Postal Service.
(2) Submission and contents of request for approval. An employee
who wishes to engage in outside employment or business activities for
which prior approval is required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section
shall submit a written request for approval to the Postal Service
Ethical Conduct Officer or appropriate delegate. The request shall be
accompanied by a statement from the employee's supervisor briefly
summarizing the employee's duties and stating any workplace concerns
raised by the employee's request for approval. The request for approval
shall include:
(i) A brief description of the employee's official duties;
(ii) The name of the outside employer, or a statement that the
employee will be engaging in employment or business activities on his
or her own behalf;
(iii) The type of employment or business activities in which the
outside employer, if any, is engaged;
(iv) The type of services to be performed by the employee in
connection with the outside employment or business activities;
(v) A description of the employee's official dealings, if any, with
the outside employer on behalf of the Postal Service; and
(vi) Any additional information requested by the Ethical Conduct
Officer or delegate that is needed to determine whether approval should
be granted.
(3) Standard for approval. The approval required by paragraph
(b)(1) of this section shall be granted only upon a determination that
the outside employment or business activity will not involve conduct
prohibited by statute or federal regulation, including 5 CFR part 2635,
which includes, among other provisions, the principle stated at 5 CFR
2635.101(b)(14) that employees shall endeavor to avoid any actions
creating the appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical
standards set forth in part 2635.
(c) Definitions. For purposes of this section:
(1) Outside employment or business activity means any form of
employment or business, whether or not for compensation. It includes,
but is not limited to, the provision of personal services as officer,
employee, agent, attorney, consultant, contractor, trustee, teacher, or
speaker. It also includes, but is not limited to, engagement as
principal, proprietor, general partner, holder of a franchise,
operator, manager, or director. It does not include equitable ownership
through the holding of publicly traded shares of a corporation.
(2) A person having interests substantially dependent upon, or
potentially affected to a significant degree by, postal rates, fees, or
classifications includes a person:
(i) Primarily engaged in the business of publishing or distributing
a publication mailed at second-class rates of postage;
(ii) Primarily engaged in the business of sending advertising,
promotional, or other material on behalf of other persons through the
mails;
(iii) Engaged in a business that depends substantially upon the
mails for the solicitation or receipt of orders for, or the delivery
of, goods or services; or
(iv) Who is, or within the past 4 years has been, a party to a
proceeding before the Postal Rate Commission.
(3) A person having interests substantially dependent upon
providing goods or services to or for use in connection with the Postal
Service includes a person:
(i) Providing goods or services under contract with the Postal
Service that can be expected to provide revenue exceeding $100,000 over
the term of the contract and that provides five percent or more of the
person's gross income for the person's current fiscal year; or
(ii) Substantially engaged in the business of preparing items for
others for mailing through the Postal Service.
Sec. 7001.103 Statutory prohibition against interests in contracts to
carry mail and acting as agent for contractors.
Section 440 of title 18, United States Code, makes it unlawful for
any Postal Service employee to become interested in any contract for
carrying the mail, or to act as agent, with or without compensation,
for any contractor or person offering to become a contractor in any
business before the Postal Service.
Stanley F. Mires,
Chief Counsel, Legislative.
[FR Doc. 95-22381 Filed 9-8-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P
