[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 246 (Wednesday, December 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71138-71141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33870]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Privacy Act System of Records

ACTION: Notice of a combined and revised Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended, (5 U.S.C. 552a), the FCC is combining former systems PRB/02, 
``Application and License File'' and CCB-4, ``Public Land Mobile 
Individual Users File.'' The FCC will use the revised system to perform 
the licensing and enforcement functions performed by the Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau. The combined system of records will be a 
component of a system referred to as the Universal Licensing System 
(ULS). The FCC is also revising its system of records to gather 
Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) in order to meet the 
requirements of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996. This 
notice meets the requirement of documenting the change to the 
Commission's system of records, and provides the public, Congress and 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an opportunity to comment.

DATES: Any interested person may submit written comments concerning the 
routine uses of this system on or before January 22, 1999. The OMB, 
which has oversight responsibility under the Privacy Act to review the 
system may submit comments on or before February 1, 1999. This proposed 
system shall be effective on February 1, 1999, unless the FCC receives 
comments that require a contrary determination. The Commission will 
publish a document in the Federal Register notifying the public if any 
changes are necessary. The Commission will publish Public Notices in 
accordance with 47 CFR 0.422 as radio services are converted and added 
to the ULS.

ADDRESSES: Address comments to Kathy Abbate, FCC, Performance 
Evaluation and Record Management, Room 1A827, Washington, DC 20554, or 
via internet at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Knowles-Kellett, Commercial 
Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at (717) 338-
2505 or via internet at [email protected] or Dorothy Conway, Management 
and Planning Staff,

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Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at (202) 418-0217 or via internet 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of maintaining ULS is to allow 
the Commission and the public access to current accurate information 
regarding the status of applications and licenses in radio services 
licensed by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau under parts 13, 22, 
24, 26, 27, 80, 87, 90, 95, 97, and 101 of the Commission's rules, as 
well as Broadcast Auxiliary applications and licenses, part 74 of the 
Commission's rules, that are processed by the Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau (pursuant to an agreement with Mass Media 
Bureau) (inclusively referred to hereafter as ``Wireless Services''). 
This will facilitate efficient management and use of the spectrum 
managed by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and serve to make 
available to all the people of the United States a rapid, efficient, 
nation-wide and world-wide radio communication service.
    The proposed combined and altered system is as follows:
    FCC/WTB-1, ``Wireless Services Licensing Records.'' This system is 
used to administer the FCC's regulatory responsibilities including 
licensing, enforcement, rulemaking, and other actions necessary to 
perform spectrum management duties. The system will also be maintained 
to provide public access to pending requests for authorizations and 
information regarding current licensees.
FCC/WTB-1

SYSTEM NAME:
    Wireless Services Licensing Records.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 1919 M Street, Washington, 
DC 20554. The records are maintained in electronic form for agency use; 
paper records will be archived. The scope of records includes 
applications, licenses and pleadings relating to such applications and 
licenses in the Wireless Services.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Licensees and applicants (including persons or entities with 
attributable interests therein as described below); tower owners; and 
contact persons relating to radio systems licensed or processed by the 
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau under parts 13, 22, 24, 26, 27, 74, 
80, 87, 90, 95, 97, and 101 of the Commission's rules (Wireless 
Services).

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Applications, licenses, pleadings, and correspondence relating to 
authorizations and requests for authorizations in the Wireless 
Services. The current application forms will include the collection of 
Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) as defined by 26 U.S.C. 6109. 
The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, 31 U.S.C. 7701, (DCIA) now 
requires the agency to collect TINs from all individuals or entities 
``doing business'' with the FCC. The DCIA states that a person is 
``doing business'' before an agency if a person is ``* * * an applicant 
for or recipient of a Federal license, * * *'' The FCC considers 
persons and entities with attributable interests under 47 CFR 1.2112 as 
being ``applicant(s) for, or recipient[s] of, a Federal license * * *'' 
for purposes of the DCIA. Entities subject to the disclosure 
requirements of Sec. 1.2112--entities from whom we require submission 
of ownership information regarding their relationship with the 
applicant of record--are components of the applicant and thus 
constitute ``an applicant for, or recipient of, a Federal license * * 
*.'' Biennial Regulatory Review--Amendment of parts 0, 1, 13, 22, 24, 
26, 27, 80, 87, 90, 95, 97, and 101 of the Commission's rules to 
Facilitate the Development and Use of the Universal Licensing System in 
the Wireless Telecommunications Services, Report and Order, WT Docket 
No. 98-20, FCC 98-234,__ FCC Rcd __(released October 21, 1998)(paras. 
132-42).

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    47 U.S.C. 301, 303, 309, 312, 362, 364, 386, 507 and 510. Authority 
to collect TINs is contained in 31 U.S.C. 7701.

PURPOSE(S):
    Records are kept to administer the FCC's regulatory 
responsibilities including licensing, enforcement, rulemaking, and 
other actions necessary to perform spectrum management duties. The 
system will also be maintained to provide public access to pending 
requests for authorizations and information regarding current 
licensees. License records are routinely used to determine the 
availability of spectrum for licensing. The records are also used to 
determine when compliance filings, renewal applications and fees are 
due from licensees. FCC licensee records are used to resolve disputes 
between radio operators regarding who has certain rights to use 
particular frequency bands in particular geographic areas. The records 
may also be used to resolve cross border disputes e.g. disputes with 
entities operating in Canada and Mexico. Records will be used to allow 
licensees to transfer or assign their interests in particular licenses 
or portions of licenses as the rules permit (after agency approval). 
Records will be used to evaluate the completeness and sufficiency of 
requests for new or modified authorizations. Public access to license 
data (except TIN numbers) will promote the economically efficient 
allocation of spectrum and the resolution of radio interference 
problems.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    The licensee records will be publicly available and routinely used 
in accordance with subsection (b) of the Privacy Act. TIN Numbers and 
material which is afforded confidential treatment pursuant to a request 
made under 47 CFR 0.459 will not be available for Public inspection, 
however, these and all other records may also be disclosed for the 
following purposes:
    1. A record from this system may be disclosed where there is an 
indication of a violation or potential violation of a statute, 
regulation or order, records from this system may be used to conduct 
enforcement proceedings within the agency, or may be referred to 
Federal, state, or local law enforcement personnel responsible for 
investigating, prosecuting or for enforcing or implementing the 
statute, regulation or order.
    2. Records may be utilized to report to the President, NTIA and 
other federal agencies regarding the current uses and utilization of 
the spectrum that the FCC manages.
    3. A record on an individual may be used where pertinent in any 
legal proceeding to which the Commission is a party before a court or 
administrative body.
    4. A record from this system may be disclosed to the Department of 
Justice or in a proceeding before a court or adjudicative body when:
    (a) The United States, the Commission, a component of the 
Commission, or, when arising from his employment, an employee of the 
Commission is a party to litigation or anticipated litigation or has an 
interest in such litigation, and
    (b) The Commission determines that the disclosure is relevant or 
necessary to the litigation.
    5. A record from this system may be disclosed to debt collection 
contractors (31 U.S.C. 3718) or to other Federal agencies such as the 
Department of the Treasury (Treasury) for the purpose of collecting and 
reporting on delinquent

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debts as authorized by the Debt Collection Act of 1982 or the Debt 
Collection Improvement Act of 1996;
    6. A record from this system may be disclosed to Treasury; the 
Defense Manpower Data Center, Department of Defense; the United States 
Postal Service; government corporations; or any other Federal, State, 
or local agency to conduct an authorized computer matching program in 
compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, to identify and 
locate individuals, including Federal employees, who are delinquent in 
their repayment of certain debts owed to the U.S. Government, including 
those incurred under certain programs or services administered by the 
FCC, in order to collect debts under common law or under the provisions 
of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 or the Debt Collection Improvement 
Act of 1996 which include by voluntary repayment, administrative or 
salary offset, and referral to debt collection contractors.
    7. A record from this system may be disclosed to the Department of 
Justice, United States Attorney, Treasury, or other Federal agencies 
for further collection action on any delinquent account when 
circumstances warrant.
    8. A record from this system may be disclosed to credit reporting 
agencies/credit bureaus for the purpose of either adding to a credit 
history file or obtaining a credit history file or comparable credit 
information for use in the administration of debt collection. As 
authorized by the DCIA, the FCC may report current (not delinquent) as 
well as delinquent consumer and commercial debt to these entities in 
order to aid in the collection of debts, typically by providing an 
incentive to the person to repay the debt timely. Proposed revisions to 
the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) published in the Federal 
Register on December 31, 1997, direct agencies to report information on 
delinquent debts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's 
Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System (CAIVRS). The FCC will 
report this information to CAIVRS if the proposed requirement is 
contained in the final rule amending the FCCS.
    9. A record from this system may be disclosed to any Federal agency 
where the debtor is employed or receiving some form of remuneration for 
the purpose of enabling that agency to collect a debt owed the Federal 
government on the FCC's behalf. The FCC may counsel the debtor for 
voluntary repayment or may initiate administrative or salary offset 
procedures, or other authorized debt collection methods under the 
provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 or the Debt Collection 
Improvement Act of 1996. Pursuant to the DCIA, the FCC may garnish non-
Federal wages of certain delinquent debtors so long as required due 
process procedures are followed. In these instances, the FCC's notice 
to the employer will disclose only the information that may be 
necessary for the employer to comply with the withholding order.
    10. A record from this system may be disclosed to the Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) by computer matching to obtain the mailing 
address of a taxpayer for the purpose of locating such taxpayer to 
collect or to compromise a Federal claim by the FCC against the 
taxpayer pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 6103(m)(2) and in accordance with 31 
U.S.C. 3711, 3717, and 3718 or common law. Disclosure of a mailing 
address obtained from the IRS may be made only for debt collection 
purposes, including to a debt collection agent to facilitate the 
collection or compromise of a Federal claim under the Debt Collection 
Act of 1982 or the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, except that 
disclosure of a mailing address to a reporting agency is for the 
limited purpose of obtaining a credit report on the particular 
taxpayer. Any mailing address information obtained from the IRS will 
not be used or shared for any other FCC purpose or disclosed by the FCC 
to another Federal, State, or local agency which seeks to locate the 
same taxpayer for its own debt collection purposes.
    11. A record from this system may be disclosed to refer legally 
enforceable debts to the IRS or to Treasury's Debt Management Services 
to be offset against the debtor's tax refunds under the Federal Tax 
Refund Offset Program.
    12. A record from this system may be disclosed to prepare W-2, 
1099, or other forms or electronic submittals, to forward to the IRS 
and applicable State and local governments for tax reporting purposes. 
Under the provisions of the DCIA, the FCC is permitted to provide 
Treasury with Form 1099-C information on discharged debts so that 
Treasury may file the form on the FCC's behalf with the IRS. W-2 and 
1099 Forms contain information on items to be considered as income to 
an individual, including payments made to persons not treated as 
employees (e.g., fees to consultants and experts), and amounts written-
off as legally or administratively uncollectible, in whole or in part.
    13. A record from this system may be disclosed to banks enrolled in 
the Treasury Credit Card Network to collect a payment or debt when the 
individual has given his or her credit card number for this purpose.
    14. A record from this system may be disclosed to another Federal 
agency that has asked the FCC to effect an administrative offset under 
common law or under 31 U.S.C. 3716 to help collect a debt owed the 
United States. Disclosure under this routine use is limited to name, 
address, TIN, and other information necessary to identify the 
individual; information about the money payable to or held for the 
individual; and other information concerning the administrative offset.
    15. A record from this system may be disclosed to Treasury or other 
Federal agencies with whom the FCC has entered into an agreement 
establishing the terms and conditions for debt collection cross 
servicing operations on behalf of the FCC to satisfy, in whole or in 
part, debts owed to the U.S. government. Cross servicing includes the 
possible use of all debt collection tools such as administrative 
offset, tax refund offset, referral to debt collection contractors, and 
referral to the Department of Justice. The DCIA requires agencies to 
transfer to Treasury or Treasury-designated Debt Collection Centers for 
cross servicing certain nontax debt over 180 days delinquent. Treasury 
has the authority to act in the Federal government's best interest to 
service, collect, compromise, suspend, or terminate collection action 
in accordance with existing laws under which the debts arise.
    16. Information on past due, legally enforceable nontax debts more 
than 180 days delinquent will be referred to Treasury for the purpose 
of locating the debtor and/or effecting administrative offset against 
monies payable by the government to the debtor, or held by the 
government for the debtor under the DCIA's mandatory, government-wide 
Treasury Offset Program (TOP). Under TOP, Treasury maintains a database 
of all qualified delinquent nontax debts, and works with agencies to 
match by computer their payments against the delinquent debtor database 
in order to divert payments to pay the delinquent debt. Treasury has 
the authority to waive the computer matching requirement for the FCC 
and other agencies upon written certification that administrative due 
process notice requirements have been complied with.
    17. For debt collection purposes, the FCC may publish or otherwise 
publicly disseminate information regarding the identity of delinquent 
nontax debtors and the existence of the nontax debts under the 
provisions of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996.

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    18. A record from this system may be disclosed to the Department of 
Labor (DOL) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to 
conduct an authorized computer matching program in compliance with the 
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, to match the FCC's debtor records with 
the records of DOL and HHS to obtain names, name controls, names of 
employers, addresses, dates of birth, and TINs. The DCIA requires all 
Federal agencies to obtain taxpayer identification numbers from each 
individual or entity doing business with the agency, including 
applicants and recipients of licenses, grants, or benefit payments; 
contractors; and entities and individuals owing fines, fees, or 
penalties to the agency. The FCC will use TINs in collecting and 
reporting any delinquent amounts resulting from doing business with 
applicants and licensees.
    19. If the FCC decides or is required to sell a delinquent nontax 
debt pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3711(i), information in this system of 
records may be disclosed to purchasers, potential purchasers, and 
contractors engaged to assist in the sale or to obtain information 
necessary for potential purchasers to formulate bids and information 
necessary for purchasers to pursue collection remedies.
    20. If the FCC has current and delinquent collateralized nontax 
debts pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3711(i)(4)(A), certain information in this 
system of records on its portfolio of loans, notes and guarantees, and 
other collateralized debts will be reported to Congress based on 
standards developed by the Office of Management and Budget, in 
consultation with Treasury.
    21. A record from this system may be disclosed to Treasury in order 
to request a payment to individuals owed money by the FCC.
    22. A record from this system may be disclosed to the National 
Archives and Records Administration or to the General Services 
Administration for records management inspections conducted under 44 
U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    In each of these cases the FCC will determine whether such use of 
the records is compatible with the purpose for which the records were 
collected.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    All records will be stored and accessed electronically. Records 
that are submitted to the FCC on paper will be scanned or keyed into 
the computer system as appropriate. Paper records submitted to the FCC 
will be archived after being entered into ULS. Tape backups of records 
will be periodically created. Records of prior licensees will be 
archived.

RETRIEVAL:
    Records may be retrieved by searching electronically using a 
variety of parameters including name, a licensee's unique identifier, 
call sign, file number, etc. Paper records which contain TINs will not 
be available for Public Inspection. A primary purpose of the system is 
to provide easy access to the information.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Records (other than TINs and materials which are afforded 
confidential treatment under 47 CFR 0.459) are accessible to the 
public. Access to certain records may be available on the internet. 
Access to other records will be available using a web browser on the 
Commission wide area network. The ability to enter and change 
individual records will be protected by passwords issued to applicants 
and licensees. Records will be protected from unauthorized changes by 
passwords and other computer security measures within the agency. TINs 
reported to the agency as requested on appropriate forms will not be 
available to the public. (The agency cannot be responsible for the 
disclosure of TINs by applicants in attachments to applications or 
pleadings in situations where confidentiality is not requested.) Each 
applicant or licensee will be given a unique identifier generated by 
the ULS after such applicant or licensee provides its TIN to the 
agency. These identifiers will be used within the agency and by the 
public to obtain information on the licenses held by particular 
individuals or entities. These identifiers will be used in lieu of 
tracking by TINs so that the agency can avoid unnecessary disclosure of 
TINs. Within the agency, access to TINs will be available only to those 
persons whose jobs require such access (e.g., FCC staff who report debt 
information to the U.S. Department of Treasury).

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Records will be actively maintained as long as an individual 
remains a licensee. Paper records will be archived after being keyed or 
scanned into the system. Electronic records will be backed up on tape. 
Electronic and paper records will be maintained for at least eleven 
years.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, 2025 M Street, 
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    Address inquiries to the system manager. In order to identify a 
specific record please indicate name, address, type of record as well 
as file number or call sign where applicable.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Information regarding procedures for accessing records can be found 
at the FCC Web site <www.fcc.gov> or by calling 888-CALL-FCC.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Individuals wishing to request amendment of their records should 
contact the system manager indicated above.
    An individual requesting amendment must also follow the FCC Privacy 
Act regulations regarding verification of identity and amendment of 
records (47 CFR 0.556 and 0.557).

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The individual to whom the information applies.

Federal Communications Commission,

Shirley S. Suggs,
Chief, Publications Branch.
[FR Doc. 98-33870 Filed 12-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P