43 U.S.C. § 1743: Disclosure of financial…

Summary

Any officer or employee who works for the Secretary or the Bureau and carries out duties under this Act, and who knows they have money or other financial ties to a person or company that applies for or gets permits, leases, rights-of-way, or land under the Act, must file a written statement with the Secretary each year. The first required filing date is February 1, 1977, and each statement covers the previous calendar year. Those statements must be open for the public to see. The Secretary must, within ninety days after October 21, 1976, define what counts as a "known financial interest" and set up how filings will be made, checked, and enforced. The Secretary must also report to Congress on June 1 each year about the disclosures and actions taken for the prior year. The Secretary may exempt certain nonregulatory or nonpolicymaking jobs. An officer or employee who is subject to this rule and knowingly breaks it can be fined up to $2,500, jailed up to one year, or both.

Title 43, §1743

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(a)Annual written statement; availability to public

Each officer or employee of the Secretary and the Bureau who—

(1)performs any function or duty under this Act; and

(2)has any known financial interest in any person who (A) applies for or receives any permit, lease, or right-of-way under, or (B) applies for or acquires any land or interests therein under, or (C) is otherwise subject to the provisions of, this Act,

shall, beginning on February 1, 1977, annually file with the Secretary a written statement concerning all such interests held by such officer or employee during the preceding calendar year. Such statement shall be available to the public.

(b)Implementation of requirements

The Secretary shall—

(1)act within ninety days after October 21, 1976—

(A)to define the term “known financial interests” for the purposes of subsection (a) of this section; and

(B)to establish the methods by which the requirement to file written statements specified in subsection (a) of this section will be monitored and enforced, including appropriate provisions for the filing by such officers and employees of such statements and the review by the Secretary of such statements; and

(2)report to the Congress on June 1 of each calendar year with respect to such disclosures and the actions taken in regard thereto during the preceding calendar year.

(c)Exempted personnel

In the rules prescribed in subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary may identify specific positions within the Department of the Interior which are of a nonregulatory or nonpolicymaking nature and provide that officers or employees occupying such positions shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.

(d)Violations; criminal penalties

Any officer or employee who is subject to, and knowingly violates, this section, shall be fined not more than $2,500 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), (2), is Pub. L. 94–579, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2743, known as the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Termination of Reporting RequirementsFor termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in subsec. (b) of this section relating to the requirement that the Secretary report to Congress on June 1 of each calendar year, see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance, and the 2nd item on page 108 of House Document No. 103–7.

§1743 Disclosure of Financial Interests by Officers or Employees