[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 115 (Thursday, June 13, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30009-30012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-15027]
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ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT AGENCY
22 CFR Part 603
Privacy Act Policy and Procedures
AGENCY: Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA)
proposes to revise and restate in their entirety its rules that govern
the means by which individuals can examine and request correction of
ACDA records containing personal information. By clarifying these
rules, this proposal will help the public interact better with ACDA and
is part of ACDA's effort to update and streamline its regulations. ACDA
invites comments from interested groups and members of the public on
the proposed regulations.
DATES: To be considered, comments must be delivered by mail or in
person to the address, or faxed to the telephone number, listed below
by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 19, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be directed to the Office of the General
Counsel, United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Room 5635,
320 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20451; FAX (202) 647-0024.
Comments will be available for inspection between 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m.
at the same address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Frederick Smith, Jr., United States Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency, Room 5635, 320 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20451,
telephone (202) 647-3596.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: ACDA proposes to update, clarify,
reorganize, and streamline its rules implementing the Privacy Act, as
amended. In addition to containing internal policies and procedures,
these regulations set forth procedures whereby an individual can
determine if a system of records maintained by ACDA contains records
pertaining to the individual and can request disclosure and amendment
of such records. These regulations also set forth the bases for denying
amendment requests and the procedures for appealing such denials. ACDA
does not intend the proposed rules to materially affect current ACDA
standards, policies, or practices.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
It is hereby certified that the proposed rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required.
Executive Order 12866 Determination
ACDA has determined that the proposed rule is not a significant
regulatory action within the meaning of section 3(f) of that Executive
Order.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
The proposed rule is not subject to the provisions of the Paperwork
Reduction Act because it does not contain any information collection
requirements within the meaning of that Act.
Unfunded Mandates Act Determination
ACDA has determined that the proposed rule will not result in
expenditures by state, local, and tribal governments, or by the private
sector, of more than $100 million in any one year. Accordingly, a
budgetary impact statement is not required under section 202 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1532.
List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 603
Privacy Act.
The Proposed Regulations
ACDA proposes to revise 22 CFR part 603 to read as follows:
PART 603--PRIVACY ACT POLICY AND PROCEDURES
Sec.
603.1 Purpose and scope.
603.2 Definitions.
603.3 Policy.
603.4 Requests for determination of existence of records.
603.5 Requests for disclosure to an individual of records
pertaining to the individual.
603.6 Requests for amendment of records.
603.7 Appeals from denials of requests.
603.8 Exemptions.
603.9 New and amended systems of records.
603.10 Fees.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a; 22 U.S.C. 2581; and 31 U.S.C. 9701.
Sec. 603.1 Purpose and scope.
This part 603 contains the regulations of the U.S. Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency implementing the provisions of the Privacy Act of
1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a. In addition to containing internal policies and
procedures, these regulations set forth procedures whereby an
individual can determine if a system of records maintained by the
Agency contains records pertaining to the individual and can request
disclosure and amendment of such records. These regulations also set
forth the bases for denying amendment requests and the procedures for
appealing such denials.
Sec. 603.2 Definitions.
As used in this part:
(a) Act means the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a.
(b) ACDA and Agency mean the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency.
(c) Privacy Act Officer means the Agency official who receives and
acts upon inquiries, requests for access and requests for amendment.
(d) Deputy Director means the Deputy Director of the Agency.
(e) Individual means a citizen of the United States or an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence;
(f) Maintain includes maintain, collect, use, or disseminate;
(g) Record means any item, collection, or grouping of information
about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not
limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and
criminal or employment history and that contains the name of, or the
identifying number, symbol, or other identification particularly
assigned to, the individual, such as a finger or voice print or a
photograph;
(h) System of records means a group of any records under the
control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name
of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other
identification particularly assigned to the individual;
(i) Statistical record means a record in a system of records
maintained for statistical research or reporting purposes only and not
used in whole or in part in making any determination about an
identifiable individual, except as provided by section 8 of title 13
U.S.C.; and
(j) Routine use means, with respect to the disclosure of a record,
the use of such record for a purpose which is compatible with the
purpose for which it was collected.
[[Page 30010]]
Sec. 603.3 Policy.
(a) It is the policy of the Agency that only such information about
an individual as is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of
the Agency required to be accomplished by statute or by executive order
of the President shall be maintained in an Agency record. No
information about the political or religious beliefs and activities of
an individual will be maintained within such records unless
specifically authorized by statute or by the subject individual, or
unless pertinent to and within the scope of a law enforcement activity.
(b) The Agency will not disclose any record that is contained in a
system of records to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant
to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the
individual to whom the record pertains, unless disclosure of the record
is:
(1) To those officers and employees of the Agency who have a need
for the record in the performance of their duties;
(2) Required under the Freedom of Information Act, as amended (5
U.S.C. 552);
(3) For a routine use, notice of which has been published in
accordance with the Act;
(4) To the Bureau of the Census for purposes of planning or
carrying out a census or survey or related activity pursuant to the
provisions of title 13 U.S.C.;
(5) To a recipient who has provided the Agency with advance
adequate written assurance that the record will be used solely as a
statistical research or reporting record, and the record is to be
transferred in a form that is not individually identifiable;
(6) To the National Archives of the United States as a record that
has sufficient historical or other value to warrant its continued
preservation by the United States Government, or for evaluation by the
Administrator of General Services or his/her designee to determine
whether the record has such value;
(7) To another agency or to an instrumentality of any governmental
jurisdiction within or under the control of the United States for a
civil or criminal law enforcement activity if the activity is
authorized by law, and if the head of the agency or instrumentality has
made a written request to the Agency that maintains the record
specifying the particular portion desired and the law enforcement
activity for which the record is sought;
(8) To a person pursuant to a showing of compelling circumstances
affecting the health or safety of an individual if upon such disclosure
notification is transmitted to the last known address of such
individual;
(9) To either House of Congress, or, to the extent of matter within
its jurisdiction, any committee or subcommittee thereof, any joint
committee of Congress or subcommittee of any such joint committee;
(10) To the Comptroller General, or any authorized representatives,
in the course of the performance of the duties of the General
Accounting Office; or
(11) Pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(c) Except for disclosures of information to Agency employees
having need for the information in the official performance of their
duties or required under the provisions of the Freedom of Information
Act, an accurate accounting of each disclosure will be made and
retained for five years after the disclosure or for the life of the
record, whichever is longer. The accounting will include the date,
nature, and purpose of each disclosure and the name and address of the
person or agency to whom the disclosure is made. Each such disclosure,
unless made to agencies engaged in law enforcement activities in
accordance with paragraph (b)(7) of this section, will be made
available to the individual upon request.
(d) To the greatest extent practicable, information that may result
in an adverse determination about an individual shall be collected from
that individual, and the individual will be informed of the purposes
for which the information will be used and any rights, benefits, and
obligations with respect to supplying the data.
(e) The Agency shall ensure that all records that are used by the
Agency to make a determination about any individual are maintained with
such accuracy, relevance, timeliness and completeness as is reasonably
necessary to assure fairness to the individual. Whenever information
about an individual contained in an Agency record is used or disclosed,
the custodian of the system of records in which the record is located
will make every effort to ensure that it is accurate, relevant, timely
and complete.
(f) The Agency shall establish appropriate administrative,
technical, and physical safeguards to ensure that records are disclosed
only to those who are authorized to have access to them and to protect
against any anticipated threats or hazards to their security or
integrity that would result in substantial harm, embarrassment,
inconvenience, or unfairness to any individual on whom information is
maintained.
(g) Agency records pertaining to an individual shall be made
available to that individual to the greatest extent possible.
(h) No lists of names and addresses will be rented or sold unless
such action is specifically authorized by law, provided that names and
addresses otherwise permitted to be made public will not necessarily be
withheld when requested.
(i) All requests for information under the Privacy Act received by
the Agency will be acted upon as promptly as possible.
Sec. 603.4 Requests for determination of existence of records.
Any individual desiring to know whether any system of records
maintained by the Agency contains a record pertaining to the individual
shall send a written request to the Privacy Act Officer, U.S. Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency, 320 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC
20451. All requests for determination of the existence of records
should include sufficient information to identify the system of
records, such as its name or Federal Register identifier number if
known, in addition to such identifying information as the individual's
name and date of birth.
Sec. 603.5 Requests for disclosure to an individual of records
pertaining to the individual.
(a) An individual desiring access to or copies of records
maintained by the Agency shall send a written request to the Privacy
Act Officer, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 320 21st Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20451. All requests for disclosure to an individual
of records pertaining to that individual should include sufficient
information to identify the record or system of records such as its
name or Federal Register identifier number if known, in addition to
such identifying information as the individual's name and date of
birth.
(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section:
(i) If the individual making a written request is not personally
known to the Privacy Act Officer or to other Agency personnel
processing the request, the written request must include satisfactory
evidence that the requester is in fact the individual to whom the
requested records pertain. For this purpose, the Agency normally will
be satisfied by the receipt of the requester's statement of identity
made under penalty of perjury.
(ii) If the individual making a request in person is not personally
known to the
[[Page 30011]]
Privacy Act Officer or to other Agency personnel processing the
request, the requester must present two identification documents (at
least one of which must bear the requester's picture) containing the
individual's signature and other suitable evidence of identity.
Examples of acceptable evidence are a driver's license, passport,
employee identification card, or military identification card.
(2) Evidence that the requester is in fact the individual to whom
the requested records pertain is not required for information that
would be required to be made available to a third party under the
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).
(c)(1) Access to or copies of records requested pursuant to this
section shall be furnished except as provided in paragraph (c)(3) of
this section:
(i) To an individual making a request in person, upon verification
of personal identity as required in paragraph (b) of this section, to
that individual, and if the individual is accompanied by any other
person, upon the individual's request, to that person, except that the
Agency may require the individual to furnish a written statement
authorizing disclosure of the individual's record in the presence of
the accompanying person.
(ii) To an authorized representative or designee of an individual,
if the individual has provided verification of personal identity as
required in paragraph (b) of this section, and submits a signed,
notarized statement authorizing and consenting to access or disclosure
to the representative or designee.
(iii) To a physician authorized by a signed, notarized statement
made by the individual making the request, in the event that the
records requested are medical records of such a nature that the Privacy
Act Officer has determined that the release of such medical information
directly to the requester could have an adverse effect on the
requester. The individual making the request must also provide
verification of personal identity as required in paragraph (b) of this
section.
(2) Access to records or copies of records requested shall be
furnished as promptly as possible.
(3) Access to or copies of records requested pursuant to this
section shall not be granted if:
(i) The individual making the request does not comply with the
requirements for verification of personal identity as required in
paragraph (b) of this section; or
(ii) The records are exempt from disclosure pursuant to Sec. 603.8.
Sec. 603.6 Requests for amendment of records.
(a) An individual may request amendment of a record pertaining to
that individual by sending a written request to the Privacy Act
Officer, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 320 21st Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20451. The request should identify the record
sought to be amended, specify the precise nature of the requested
amendment, and state why the requester believes that the record is not
accurate, relevant, timely or complete.
(b) Not later than ten (10) days after receipt of such request
(excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays), the Privacy Act
Officer will promptly:
(1) Make any correction of any portion of the record pertaining to
the individual which the Agency considers appropriate; and
(2) Inform the requester in writing of the action taken by the
Agency, of the reasons for refusing to comply with any portion of the
request, and of the procedures established by the Agency to consider
requests for review of such refusals.
(c) The Privacy Act Officer will refuse to amend a record if the
information therein is deemed by the Agency:
(1) To be relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the
Agency required to be accomplished by statute or by executive order of
the President; and
(2) To be maintained with such accuracy, relevance, timeliness and
completeness as is reasonably necessary to assure fairness to the
individual in making any determination about the individual; and
(3) Not to describe how the individual exercises rights guaranteed
by the First Amendment unless expressly authorized by statute or by the
individual about whom the record is maintained.
(d) When the Privacy Act Officer agrees to amend a record, written
notice that the record has been amended and the substance of the
amendment will be sent to the last known address of all previous
recipients of that record shown in Agency's Privacy Act Requests File.
Sec. 603.7 Appeals from denials of requests.
(a) An individual who disagrees with the refusal of the Privacy Act
Officer to disclose or amend a record may request a review of such
refusal within 30 days of receipt of notice of the refusal. Such
request should be addressed to the Deputy Director, U.S. Arms Control
and Disarmament Agency, 320 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20451, and
should include a copy of the written request that was refused, a copy
of the denial complained of, and reasons for appeal from the denial.
(b) Review shall be made by the Deputy Director on the submitted
record. No personal appearance, oral argument, or hearing shall be
permitted.
(c) Review will be completed and a final determination made not
later than 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays)
from the date on which the request for such review is received. This
30-day limitation may be extended, at the discretion of the Agency for
good cause shown. The requester will be notified in writing of the
Agency's final determination.
(d) If, after completion of the review, the Deputy Director also
refuses to disclose or amend the record as requested, the notice to the
individual will advise the individual of the right to file with the
Agency a concise statement setting forth the reasons for disagreement
with this refusal.
(e) When an individual has filed with the Agency a statement of
disagreement following a refusal to amend the record as requested, the
Agency will clearly note that portion of the record that is disputed
and will send copies of the statement of disagreement to the last known
address of all previous recipients of the disputed record shown in the
Agency's Privacy Act Requests File.
Sec. 603.8 Exemptions.
(a) As authorized by the Act, the following categories of records
are hereby exempted from the requirements of sections (c)(3), (d),
(e)(4)(G), (H) and (I), and (f) of 5 U.S.C. 552a, and will not be
disclosed to the individuals to which they pertain:
(1) System of Records of ACDA-4--Statements by Principals during
the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, Mutual Balanced Force Reduction
negotiations, and the Standing Consultative Committee. This system
contains information classified pursuant to Executive Order 12958 that
is exempt from disclosure by the Act (5 U.S.C. 522a(k)(1)) in that
disclosure could damage national security.
(2) System of Records ACDA-3--Security Records. This system
contains investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes
which is exempt from disclosure by the Act (5 U.S.C. 522a(k)(2)):
Provided, however, that if any individual is denied any right,
privilege, or benefit to which the individual would otherwise be
entitled by Federal law, or for which the individual would otherwise be
eligible, as a result of the maintenance of such material, such
material will be provided to such individual, except to the extent that
disclosure of such material would
[[Page 30012]]
reveal the identity of a source who furnished information to the
Government under an express promise that the identity of the source
would be held in confidence, or, if furnished to the Government prior
to September 27, 1975, under an implied promise that the identity of
the source would be held in confidence.
(3) Systems of Records ACDA-3--Security Records. This system
contains investigatory materials compiled solely for the purpose of
determining suitability, eligibility, or qualifications for Federal
civilian employment, military service, Federal contracts, or access to
classified information which is exempt from disclosure by the Act (5
U.S.C. 552a(k)(5)), but only to the extent that disclosure of such
material would reveal the identity of a source who furnished
information to the Government under an express promise that the
identity of the source would be held in confidence, or, if furnished to
the Government prior to September 27, 1975, under an implied promise
that the identity of the source would be held in confidence.
(b) Nothing in these regulations shall be construed to allow an
individual access to:
(1) Any information compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil
action or proceeding; or
(2) Testing or examination material used solely to determine
individual qualification for appointment or promotion in the Federal
Service, the disclosure of which would compromise the objectivity or
fairness of the testing or examination process.
Sec. 603.9 New and amended systems of records.
(a) The Agency shall provide adequate advance notice to Congress
and to the Office of Management and Budget of any proposal to establish
or alter any system of records. Such notice shall be in a form
consistent with guidance on content, format and timing issued by the
Office of Management and Budget.
(b) The Agency shall publish by August 31 of each year in the
Federal Register a notice of the existence and character of each system
of records maintained by the Agency. Such notice shall be consistent
with guidance on format contained in the Act and issued by the General
Services Administration. At least 30 days before any new or changed
routine use of records contained within a system of records can be
made, the Agency shall publish notice of such new or changed use in the
Federal Register.
Sec. 603.10 Fees.
Fees to be charged in responding to requests under the Privacy Act
shall be, to the extent permitted by paragraph (f)(5) of the Act, the
rates established in title 22 CFR 602.20 for responding to requests
under the Freedom of Information Act.
Dated: May 30, 1996.
Mary Elizabeth Hoinkes,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 96-15027 Filed 6-12-96; 8:45 am]
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