$// Order,  DAEO/ADAEO,  FCC  94-193  //$

$/ 0.231 Authority Delegated /$
$/ 0.251 Authority Delegated /$



                           Before the Commission
                   FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION   
                          Washington, D.C. 20554

                                                                                        FCC 94-193
 
In the Matter of                            
                                                 
Amendment of Parts 0 and 19                 
of the Commission's Rules of          
Commission Organization               
and Governing Employee Standards  
of Ethical Conduct                        

                                   ORDER

          Adopted:  July 20, 1994;         Released:                       1994     

By the Commission:

     1.  On February 3, 1993, regulations of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) that
establish new uniform standards of ethical conduct for officers and employees of the
executive branch of the Federal Government became effective.   See 5 C.F.R. 2635, 57 Fed.
Reg. 35006 (1992).  OGE regulations also require the Commission to formally designate an
agency official to be the "designated agency ethics official" or "DAEO" to coordinate and
manage the Commission's ethics program.  In addition, these regulations require the agency
to appoint an alternate DAEO or "ADAEO" to serve in an acting capacity in the absence of
the primary designated agency ethics official.  See 5 C.F.R.  2638.201-2638.202.   The
purpose of this Order is to designate personnel in the Office of General Counsel to those
positions and to make the necessary changes in the Commission's rules to effect that
designation.  Specifically, this Order delegates authority to the General Counsel to assume
the responsibilities of the DAEO and to implement the ethics program established in the new
OGE regulations. 


     2.  Under the OGE regulations, the DAEO is required to be qualified to counsel
agency personnel concerning the new OGE ethics standards and to counsel departing and
former agency officials on post-employment conflict of interest standards. 5 C.F.R. 
 2638.202(b)(3)-(4).  In addition, the DAEO has responsibility for managing the agency's
ethics program, including liaison with OGE, reviewing financial disclosure reports,
monitoring ethics training, and monitoring administrative actions and sanctions.  The DAEO
may appoint "deputy" ethics officials to perform any of these functions, but such deputies
work under the DAEO's supervision.  See 5 C.F.R.  2638.204. 

     3.  Under current Commission rules, the General Counsel has broad delegated
authority to provide ethics counseling, and other duties that are very similar to the principal
functions performed by the DAEO under OGE's regulations.  Specifically, the General
Counsel now has overall delegated authority to act as "legal counselor for the Commission to
provide guidance on matters relating to ethical conduct," and to serve as the "Commission's
designee to the Office of Personnel Management" on matters covered by the OPM (now
OGE) rules governing ethical conduct.  47 C.F.R.  19.735-105(a)(1).  In fact, most of the
responsibilities set forth in the OGE regulations, with the exception of the management of the
financial disclosure statements, are already delegated to the Commission's General Counsel. 
Our informal survey of other agencies also indicates that designating the senior legal official
as the DAEO is consistent with the general practice of agencies of similar size.  In light of
these factors, we think it is appropriate to designate the General Counsel as the DAEO.
   
     4.  Accordingly we shall add a new section 0.251(a) to delegate authority to the
General Counsel to act as the "designated agency ethics official."  The rule will delegate
authority to the Associate General Counsel for Administrative Law to act as the  "alternate
designated agency ethics official." 

     5.  The amendments adopted in this Order are rules of agency organization and
therefore the Administrative Procedure Act's prior notice and effective date requirements do
not apply. 5 U.S.C.  553(b)(3)(A).  Authority for the amendments adopted herein is
contained in sections 4(i) and 5(c)(1) of the Communications Act. 47 U.S.C. 154(j) and
155(c)(1). 

     6.  IT IS ORDERED, effective July 20, 1994, that Part 0 of the Rules and
Regulations is amended as set forth in Appendix A.



 
                                   FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 


                                  
                                        William F. Caton
                                        Acting Secretary


                                APPENDIX A

Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part O, is amended as follows:

Part O

1. Authority for Part O of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations continues to read as
follows:

Sec. 5, 48 Stat. 1068, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 155

2. Section 0.231 is amended by removing section (h).

3. Section 0.251 is amended by adding section (a) to read as follows:

0.251 Authority Delegated

(a) The General Counsel is delegated authority to act as the "designated agency ethics
official."  The Associate General Counsel for Administrative Law is delegated authority
to act as the "alternate designated agency ethics official."

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