700.517—Affiliations and financial interests.
(a)
Commission personnel shall not engage in any personal, business, or professional activity, or receive or retain any direct or indirect financial interest, which places them in a position of conflict or apparent conflict between their private interests and the public interests of the United States as related to the duties of their Commission positions.
(b)
Employees are prohibited from accepting money, goods or services other than official compensation for any act performed by the employee as part of his or her official duties.
(c)
Commission personnel shall not use, directly or indirectly, inside information for private gain for themselves, family members, or others if that information is not generally available to the public and was obtained as a result of Commission employment.
(d)
Commission personnel are prohibited from using their official positions to induce, coerce, or in any manner influence any person, including subordinates, to provide any improper benefit, financial or otherwise, to themselves or others.
(e)
Employees may not have any personal interest in transactions which are directed, regulated, or effected by the Commission pursuant to the authorities vested in the agency by Pub. L. 93-531 and Pub. L. 96-395. Specifically:
(1)
No Commission employee shall have a personal interest in a contract, subcontract, memorandum of understanding or agreement, or other arrangement resulting in payment for the delivery of goods, services, or supplies to the Commission, to the Navajo or Hopi tribal governments, or to individual relocatees or groups of relocatees.
(2)
No Commission employee shall have or seek an interest in real or personal property acquired for transfer to the Navajo or Hopi Tribes.
(3)
No Commission employee shall have or seek an interest in any activity supported financially by the Commission through the award of Discretionary Funds.
(4)
During the process of acquiring replacement housing for relocatees no employee may have a personal interest in the activities of a contractor, realtor, or other business entity selected by the relocatee to furnish replacement housing; nor may the employee influence the relocatee to select any realtor, contractor or other business entity with which the employee has personal or business affiliations.
(5)
Nothing in this section shall restrict a relocatee's right to exercise free and independent judgment in selecting a realtor, contractor, or other vendor or service provider; regardless of any personal or business relationship of that entity to a Commission employee, provided the employee has not influenced the choice of the relocatee in any manner.
(6)
Nothing in this section shall restrict a Commission employee who is eligible for relocation benefits from applying for and obtaining such benefits according to published criteria; nor to prevent the Commission from employing a member of the Hopi or Navajo Tribe who has been, or is in the process, of being relocated pursuant to the law.
(7)
Commission employees shall disqualify themselves from investigating and preparing recommendations regarding eligibility determination for applicants to whom they are closely related by blood or marriage.