[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 45, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 45CFR73.735-904]

[Page 177]
 
                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE
 
                           AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 73--STANDARDS OF CONDUCT--Table of Contents
 
                Subpart I--Reporting Financial Interests
 
Sec. 73.735-904  Resolution of apparent or actual conflicts of interest.

    (a) Disqualification from participating in a particular matter or 
category of matters is an appropriate method for resolving apparent or 
actual conflicts of interest when the interest or activity giving rise 
to the problem:
    (1) Bears a direct or indirect relationship to particular, 
identifiable duties of the employee involved; and
    (2) Is not so substantial as to affect or give the appearance of 
affecting the integrity of the services which the Government may expect 
of the employee. Whenever disqualification is employed to resolve an 
apparent or actual conflict of interest, the disqualified employee shall 
sign a written statement reflecting the scope of the disqualification 
and the precise nature of the conflicting interest or activity. The 
reviewing official shall keep a file of all such disqualification 
statements and shall monitor compliance with these statements on a 
regular basis.
    (b) Change of assignment is an appropriate method for resolving 
apparent or actual conflicts of interest when the interest giving rise 
to the problem bears a direct or indirect relationship to particular, 
identifiable duties of the employee involved, and those duties 
constitute a significant portion of the employee's position.
    (c) Waiver under 18 U.S.C. 208(b) is an appropriate method for 
resolving apparent or actual conflicts of interest when:
    (1) The employee seeking the waiver reported the financial interest 
that bears some relationship to his or her official duties, and the 
reviewing official, in consultation with a deputy ethics counselor or 
the Department Ethics Counselor, determines that the financial interest 
is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of 
the services which the Government may expect from such employee; or
    (2) By general rule or regulation published in the Federal Register, 
the Department has exempted the financial interest from the requirements 
of 18 U.S.C. 208 and this part as being too remote or too 
inconsequential to affect the integrity of the Government officers' 
service.
    (d) A trust containing a financial interest which may give rise to 
an apparent or actual conflict of interest is an appropriate method of 
resolving such conflicts when:
    (1) The trust is qualified under section 202(f) of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-521), as amended, and subject to the 
regulations of the Office of Government Ethics; or
    (2) In the opinion of the Department's Ethics Counselor, it is 
sufficiently independent of the employee involved so that the integrity 
of the employee's services to the Government are not compromised.
    (e) Divestiture is an appropriate method for resolving actual 
conflicts of interest when the nature of the financial interest is such 
that the conflict of interest cannot be adequately resolved by any of 
the methods set forth in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this 
section.
    (f) Terminating an appointment as a method for resolving an actual 
conflict of interest should be used only when it is clear that no other 
remedy can be found which would be acceptable to both the Department and 
the employee. Generally, this method will be employed only in the most 
extreme cases. Such a termination would be subject to adverse action.