[Federal Register: October 1, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 190)]
[Notices]               
[Page 58946-58947]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01oc04-101]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO 850-1820-XA-241A]

 
Acceptance of Electronic Forms and Digital Signatures

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will accept the electronic 
submission of forms, including the use of digital signatures where 
practicable.

DATES: October 1, 2004.

ADDRESSES: 1849 C St., NW., Mail Stop LS 1000, Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on BLM's online forms, 
Karen Wrenn, BLM Forms Manager, 303-236-0233. For information on BLM's 
e-Government initiative, Peter G. D. Ertman, BLM e-Government Program 
Manager, 202-452-7706.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Effective October 1, 2004, the BLM will 
accept as ``properly filed'' any form in electronic format that was 
previously available only in paper format. If you choose to file on-
line, you must use the forms available from http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nc.blm.gov/blmforms.
 BLM will not accept as ``properly filed'' the use of 

electronic forms in other formats or from other sources. In addition to 
using the form from the BLM forms Web site, you must also have a 
Federal Bridge Trusted credential. This credential provides a secure 
means of identifying you across the Internet. At the present time, you 
may obtain these credentials from two

[[Page 58947]]

providers. The contact information for the current providers is: (1) 
Verisign, Inc., NPiazzola@verisign.com, 410-691-2100 and (2) Betrusted 
US, Inc., TGreco@betrusted.com, 443-367-7052, or JTLazo@betrusted.com, 

443-367-7011.
    BLM will consider an electronic form submission to be: (1) Received 
at the date and time BLM receives the submission electronically by the 
BLM; and (2) Received in the proper office if filed on-line.
    The Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998 (GPEA) mandates 
that the Federal Government accept electronically submitted forms. The 
GPEA specifically states that electronic records and their related 
electronic signatures are not to be denied legal effect, validity, or 
enforceability merely because they are in electronic form. The public 
may continue to use, and BLM will continue to accept, filings on paper 
forms.
    In many cases, our existing regulations require a written signature 
and filing of a paper form in a specific office. GPEA supercedes these 
regulations. Our intention is to propose regulations to address the 
inconsistency and to clarify that digital signatures and on-line filing 
(when performed as described above) is an acceptable way to file 
applications and other documents.
    For more information on electronic signatures and e-Government in 
general, please visit http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/ea.htm and 

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.egov.gov.


    Dated: September 8, 2004.
Lawrence E. Benna,
Assistant Director, Business and Fiscal Resources.
[FR Doc. 04-21785 Filed 9-30-04; 8:45 am]

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