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HomeMy WebLinkAbout81-641 LorenzenMr. Douglas J. Lorenzen 213 Heather Drive Harrisburg, PA 17112 Mailing Address: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION P.O. BOX 1 179 HARRISBURG, PA 17108 TELEPHONE: (717) 783 -1610 November 16, 1981 ADVICE OF COUNSEL 81 -641 RE: Restrictions on Representation, Section 3(e), Department of Environmental Resources Retiree Dear Mr. Lorenzen: This responds to your letter of October 20, 1981 requesting advice from the State Ethics Commission. Issue: You asked whether the Ethics Act forbids you from participating in certain activities as a former public employee in the Hazardous Waste Management Division of the Department of Environmental Resources (DER). Facts: Prior to your retirement on November 6, 1981, you had worked in the Department of Environmental Resources, Division of Hazardous Waste Management for the past ten years. Following your retirement from state employment, you plan to work for a small environmental consulting firm. The firm specializes in waste utilization, disposal and geotechnical services for both utility and industrial wastes. Discussion: During your employment with the Department of Environmental Resources, Division of Hazardous Waste Manage- ment, you were a public employee for the purposes of the State Ethics Act, 65 P.S. Section 401 et seq. Section 3(e) of the Ethics Act affects the conduct of a "former public employee" and states: State Ethics Commission • 308 Finance Building f) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Douglas J. Lorenzen November 16, 1981 Page 2 No former official or public employee shall represent a person, with or without compen- sation, on any matter before the govern- mental body with which he has been associ- ated for one year after he leaves that body. 65 P.S. Section 403(e). As a former public employee, you are subject to the restrictions imposed by Section 3(e). In your case, the governmental body with which you were associated is the Department of Environmental Resources. Thus, you are pro- hibited from representing any person before DER for the one year period that began on November 6, 1981, your retirement date. According to the regulations of the Ethics Commission, 51 Pa. Code Section 1.1, representation means "any act on behalf of another person or advice to any person for the purposes of influencing the outcome of any event." This includes for that one year period: (1) personally appearing before the governmental body (here, DER), including but not limited to contract negotiations; (2) attempting to influence the governmental body; (3) participating in any manner in a specific case, matter or contract which you supervised, in which you were directly involved, or for which you were responsible during your employment with the governmenatl body; (4) lobbying, representing the interests of any person before that body regarding legislation, regulations, etc.; (5) signing and submitting under your own signature proposals, contracts, or applications to the body; (6) including your name on a bid proposal as an individual who would be involved in adminis- tering any contract to provide technical assistance which is the subject of the pro- posal. You may, however within the first year after leaving DER, engage in the following activities: Douglas J. Lorenzen November 16, 1981 Page 3 (1) administer, rather than negotiate, any contract that is to be awarded to any future employer or client by DER as long as the contract is awarded without your name being included as noted in items 5 and 6 above; (2) make general, informational inquiries of DER as long as you do not attempt to influence DER or to obtain information not generally available to the public; (3) consulting clients, utilizing the knowledge and expertise gained during your tenure as a public employee, except as set forth above. This includes providing technical and admin- istrative assistance to clients. You may assist in preparation of documents that clients will present to DER as long as your name does not appear on them; (4) represent any person, on behalf of any client or new employer, before any governmental agency other than DER and in relation to lobbying activities other than those with DER. You may also provide expert advice before any agency other than DER. This includes appearing, on client's behalf in appeal proceedings in county, state or federal courts. Conclusion: As a former public employee, you are subject to the Section 3(e) restrictions that have been outlined in this advice. Additionally, you must file a Financial Interest Statement for each year that you served as a public employee and for the year following your effective date of retirement. Thus, the Ethics Act requires you to file a Financial Interest Statement no later than May 1, 1982. Pursuant to Section 7(9)(ii), this Advice is a complete defense in any enforcement proceeding initiated by the Commission, and evidence of good faith conduct in any other civil or criminal proceeding, providing the requestor has disclosed truthfully all the material facts and committed the acts complained of in reliance on the Advice given. Douglas J. Lorenzen November 16, 1981 Page 4 This letter is a public record and will be made available as such. Finally, if you disagree with this Advice or if you have any reason to challenge same, you may request that the full Commission review this Advice. A personal appearance before the Commission may be scheduled and a formal Opinion from the Commission will be issued. You should make such a request or indicate your disapproval of this Advice within the next 30 days. Sincerely, SSC /lma 6665 cc; Edward J. Miller, Deputy Secretary for Administration andra S. 'hristianson General Counsel