preceding period of 365 consecutive days.

§ 0.735-26 Disqualification of former officers and employees in matters connected with former duties or official responsibilities; disqualification of partners of current officers and employees (based on 18 U.S.C. 207).

(a) No employee, after terminating NRC employment, shall knowingly act as agent or attorney for, or otherwise represent, any other person (except the United States) in any formal or informal appearance before, or, with the intent to influence, make any oral or written communication on behalf of any other person (except the United States) to:

(1) Any department, agency, court, courtmartial, or any civil, military or naval commission of the United States or the District of Columbia, or any officer or employee thereof, and

(2) In connection with any judicial or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, investigation, charge, accusation, arrest, or other particular matter involving a specific party or parties in which the United States or the District of Columbia is a party or has a direct and substantial interest, and

(3) In which the individual participated personally and substantially as an employee through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation or otherwise, while so employed.

(b)(1) No employee shall, within two years after terminating NRC employment, knowingly act as agent or attorney for, or otherwise represent, any other person (except the United States), in any formal or informal appearance before, or, with the intent to influence, make any oral or written communication on behalf of any other person (except the United States) to:

(i) Any department, agency, court, courtmartial, or any civil, military or naval commission of the United States or the District of Columbia, or any officer or employer thereof, and

(ii) In connection with any judicial or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, in

vestigation, charge, accusation, arrest or other particular matter involving a specific party or parties in which the United States or the District of Columbia is a party or has a direct and substantial interest, and

(iii) Which was actually pending under the individual's official responsibility as an employee within a period of one year prior to the termination of such responsibility.

(2) No employee shall, within two years after terminating NRC employment, as specified in paragraph (d) of this section, knowingly represent, or aid, counsel, advise counsel or assist in representing any other person (except the United States) by personal presence at any formal or informal appearance before:

(i) Any department, agency, court, courtmartial, or any civil, military or naval commission of the United States or the District of Columbia, or any officer or employer thereof, and

(ii) In connection with any judicial or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, investigation, charge, accusation, arrest or other particular matter involving a specific party or parties in which the United States or the District of Columbia is a party or has a direct and substantial interest, and

(iii) In which the individual participated personally and substantially as an employee.

(c) No employee, other than a special Government employee who serves for less than sixty days in a given calendar year, having been employed as specified in paragraph (d) of this section, shall, within one year after termination of NRC employment, knowingly act as agent or attorney for, or otherwise represent, anyone other than the United States in any formal or informal appearance before, or, with the intent to influence, make any oral or written communication on behalf of anyone other than the United States, to:

(1) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and

(2) In connection with any judicial, rulemaking, or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, contro

versy, investigation, charge, accusation, arrest, or other particular matter, and

(3) Which is pending before the Commission or in which the Commission has a direct and substantial interest.

(d)(1) Paragraph (c) of this section applies to a person employed:

(i) At a rate of pay specified in or fixed according to Subchapter II of Chapter 53 of Title 5, United States Code, or a comparable or greater rate of pay under other authority, or

(ii) In a position which involves significant decision-making or supervisory responsibility, as designated by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, in consultation with the Commission. Only positions for which the basic rate of pay for GG-17 of the General Schedule prescribed by section 5332 of Title 5, United States Code, or positions which are established within the Senior Executive Service pursuant to the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 may be designated.

(2) The prohibition of paragraph (c) of this section shall not apply to appearances, communications, or representation by a former employee, who is:

(i) An elected official of a State or local government, or

(ii) Whose principal occupation or employment is with (A) an agency or instrumentality of a State or local government, (B) an accredited, degreegranting institution of higher education, as defined in section 1201(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, or (C) a hospital or medical research organization, exempted and defined under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and the appearance, communication, or representation is on behalf of such government, institution, hospital, or organization.

(e) The prohibitions of paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section shall not apply with respect to the making of communications solely for the purpose of furnishing scientific or technological information under procedures acceptable to the Commission, or if the Commissioners, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, make a certification,

published in the FEDERAL REGISTER, that the former employee has outstanding qualifications in a scientific, technological, or other technical discipline, and is acting with respect to a particular matter which requires such qualifications, and that the national interest would be served by the participation of the former officer or employee.

(f) A partner of an NRC employee, including a special government employee, shall not act as agent or attorney for anyone other than the United States before any department, agency, court, court-martial, or any civil, military, or naval commission of the United States or the District of Columbia, or any officer or employee thereof, in connection with any judicial or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, investigation, charge, accusation, arrest, or other particular matter in which the United States or District of Columbia is a party or has a direct and substantial interest, and in which such employee participates or has participated personally and substantially as an employee through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise, or which is the subject of his official responsibility.

(g) Nothing in this section shall prevent a former employee from giving testimony under oath, or from making statements required to be made under penalty of perjury.

(h) The prohibition contained in paragraph (c) of this section shall not apply to appearances or communications by a former employee concerning matters of a personal and individual nature, such as personal income taxes or pension benefits; nor shall the prohibition of that subsection prevent a former employee from making or providing a statement, which is based on the former employee's own special knowledge in the particular area that is the subject of the statement, provided that no compenstion is thereby received, other than that regularly provided for by law or regulation for witnesses.

(i) If the Commission finds, after notice and opportunity for a hearing,

that the former employee violated paragraph (a), (b), or (c) of this section, the Commission may prohibit that person from making on behalf of any other person (except the United States), any informal or formal appearance before, or, with the intent to influence, any oral or written communication to, the Commission on a pending matter of business for a period not to exceed five years, or may take other appropriate disciplinary action. Such disciplinary action shall be subject to review in an appropriate United States district court. The Commission's procedures for implementing this subsection are contained in NRC Manual Chapter 4124.

(j) The Office of Personnel Management has promulgated detailed regulations explaining and interpreting the post-employment regulations set forth in this section. See 5 CFR Part 737. [46 FR 51716, Oct. 22, 1981]

§ 0.735-27 Appearances by former employees before NRC.

When a former employee proposes to act as agent or attorney before an NRC office on behalf of anyone other than the United States in connection with any of the matters cited in § 0.735-26, he is expected to make known to the appropriate official of the NRC office the fact of his former assignment with NRC. The head of the office or division or employee before whom the former employee appears, before transacting business with the former employee or authorizing employees under his jurisdiction to transact any business with the former employee, shall call the former employee's attention to the restrictions and penalties contained in 18 U.S.C. 207. No NRC official or employee, except the General Counsel, shall offer to the former employee an interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 207 as applied to the situation at hand.

§ 0.735-28 Confidential statements of employment and financial interests.

(a) Categories of employees required to submit statements. The following employees shall submit confidential statements of employment and financial interest prepared in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section.

These employees have duties and responsibilities which require the incumbent to report employment and financial interests in order to avoid involvement in a possible conflicts of interest situation, to protect the integrity of the government, and to carry out the purposes of the Federal laws, executive orders and regulations pertaining to conflicts of interest.

(1) All employees paid at the levels of GG-13, GG-14, or GG-15.

(2) All employees occupying professional staff positions in the Office of Policy Evaluation, all contracting officers in the Office of Administration, and all attorneys in the Offices of the General Counsel and Executive Legal Director (including those employees being paid below the GG-13 level).

(3) All special Government employees except those who have worked 60 days or more in the previous calendar year and were paid during that period at a level of GG-16 or above, or an equivalent thereto.

(b) Notice of employees of time and place to submit statements. Upon commencing NRC employment, the Office of Administration will provide all employees covered by the reporting requirement with a copy of the statement form. Each employee covered by the reporting requirement shall submit his statement to the head of his office not later than 30 days after his entrance on duty. Statements of special Government employees shall be submitted prior to appointment. Each regular and special Government employee covered by the reporting requirement shall submit to the head of his office a supplementary annual statement by May 15 of each year. The information provided in this annual supplement should reflect the individual's interests as of April 30. Notwithstanding the filing of the report(s) required by this section, each employee shall at all times avoid acquiring a financial interest that could result, or taking an action that would result, in a violation of the conflictsof-interest provisions of section 208 of Title 18, United States Code, or this Part 0.

(c) Preparation of statement. Statements shall be prepared in accordance with the following:

(1) Statement Form. The forms prescribed by NRC are:

Regular Government employees-Form NRC 269. Special NRC 443.

Government employees-Form

(2) Statement content-(i) Interests of employee's relatives. The interest of a spouse, minor child, or other member of an employee's immediate household is considered to be an interest of the employee and must be reported. For the purpose of this paragraph, "member of an employee's immediate household" means full-time residents of the employee's household.

(ii) Information not known by employees. If any information required to be included on the statement or supplementary statement, including holdings placed in trust, is not known to the employee but is known to another person, the employee shall request that other person to submit information on his behalf, and shall report such request in Part IV of Form NRC 269 or item 16b. of Form NRC 443.

(iii) Information not required to be submitted. A statement or supplementary statement need not contain the following:

(A) Any information relating to the employee's connection with, or interest in, a professional society or a charitable, religious, social, fraternal, recreational, public service, civic, or political organization or a similar organization not conducted as a business enterprise and which is not engaged in the ownership or conduct of a business enterprise. For the purpose of this section, educational and other institutions doing research and development or related work involving grants of money from or contracts with the Government are deemed "business enterprises" and are required to be included in an employee's statement.

(B) Precise amounts of financial interests, indebtedness, or value of real property. The employee may, however, at a later time be required to reveal precise amounts if the NRC needs that information in order to carry out its responsibilities under applicable laws and regulations.

(C) Remote or inconsequential financial interests, as set forth in § 0.735-21(c).

(D) For special Government employees: Those financial interests which are determined by the official responsible for such employee's appointment as not to be related either directly or indirectly to the duties and responsibilities of said employee.

(d) Reviewing statements and reporting conflicts of interest. (1) The employee shall prepare the statement in duplicate, retain one copy, and submit one copy to the head of his office.

(2) The office head, in reviewing the statement, shall assess it for conflicts or the appearance of conflicts of interest in the context of the employee's assigned duties and responsibilities in the NRC.

(3) If the office head desires advice and guidance, he may discuss the statement with the counselor or appropriate deputy counselor.

(4) The office head shall discuss with the employee and point out any aspects of the statement which give rise, in the office head's opinion, to questions of conflict or of appearance of conflict. (The office head shall not take, or direct the employee to take, any action with respect to such conflict without first seeking the advice of the counselor or appropriate deputy counselor.)

(5) The office head shall in all cases record his opinion as to the presence or absence of a conflict on the statement and forward same to the NRC counselor or deputy counselor.

(6) The NRC counselor or deputy counselor shall review the statement, and discuss any questions with the employee and/or his respective office head.

(7) If the NRC counselor or deputy counselor believes that the statement evidences no question of conflict of interest, he shall record his opinion on the statement, and notify the office head.

(8) If the NRC counselor or deputy counselor believes there is a question of conflict of interest, he shall return the statement to the office head with his opinion recorded thereon. (The counselor or deputy counselor shall make his services available to the office head and employee involved to assist in effecting a resolution of any

conflict or appearance of conflict.) The reviewer shall report to the counselor or deputy counselor the results of endeavors to effect resolution of the conflict at the employee-office head level, which results shall be recorded on the employee's statement and submitted to the counselor or deputy counselor for review and approval.

(9) When a statement submitted or information from other sources indicates a conflict between the interests of an employee and the performance of his service for the NRC and when the conflict or appearance of conflict is not resolved by the head of the employee's office, or the counselor or deputy counselor, the information concerning the conflict or appearance of conflict shall be reported to the Commission, or the Executive Director for Operations, as appropriate. The employee concerned shall be provided an opportunity to explain the conflict or appearance of conflict.

(10) When, after consideration of the explanation of the employee provided for in paragraph (d)(9) of this section, the Commission, or the Executive Director for Operations, as appropriate, decides that remedial action is required, immediate action to end the conflict or appearance of conflict of interest shall be taken. Remedial action may include, but is not limited to:

(i) Changes in assigned duties; (ii) Divestment by the employee of his conflicting interest;

(iii) Disciplinary action; or

(iv) Disqualification for a particular assignment.

Remedial action, whether disciplinary or otherwise, shall be effected in accordance with any applicable laws, Executive Orders, and regulations. Disciplinary remedial action with respect to an employee of another Government agency assigned or detailed to the NRC shall be effected only by the parent agency.

(11) Upon completion of processing, the statement shall be filed in the office of the counselor or deputy counselor, in a special file maintained for that purpose. An NRC office may request a copy of a statement from the counselor or deputy counselor: Pro

vided, That it is required for purposes of carrying out responsibilities under this part.

(12) The required supplementary statements shall be processed in the same manner as an initial statement.

(e) Confidentiality of employees' statements. NRC shall hold each statement of employment and financial interests, and each supplementary statement, in confidence. To insure this confidentiality only the NRC counselor, deputy counselor(s), and those office heads to whom reports are to be submitted (including those employees specifically designated by them to assist in the review as may be necessary) are authorized to review the statements as provided in this section. The foregoing employees are responsible for maintaining the statements in confidence and shall not allow access to, or allow information to be disclosed from, a statement except to carry out the purpose of this part. NRC shall not disclose information from a statement except in accordance with procedures set forth in paragraph (d) of this section, or as the Commission, or the Executive Director for Operations, as appropriate, or the Office of Personnel Management shall determine for good cause shown.

(f) Effect of employee's statements on other requirements. The statements of employment and financial interests and supplementary statements required of employees are in addition to, and not in substitution for, or in derogation of, any similar requirement imposed by law, order, or regulation. The submission of a statement or supplementary statement by an employee or the absence of any requirement that an employee submit such a statement does not permit him or any other person to participate in a matter in which his or the other person's participation is prohibited by law, order, or regulation.

(g) Availability of review. Any employee who believes that his position has been improperly included under this section as one requiring the submission of a statement of employment and financial interests may submit a grievance. A non-bargaining unit employee must use the grievance procedure in NRC Manual Chapter 4157 for