[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49392-49395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-19176]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice of Establishment of New System of Records.

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SUMMARY: The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552(e)(4)) requires that all 
agencies publish in the Federal Register a notice of the existence and 
character of their systems of records. Notice is hereby given that the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is establishing a new system of 
records entitled, ``Alternative Dispute Resolution Tracking System-VA'' 
(116VA09).

DATES: Comments on this new system of records must be received no later 
than August 29, 2002. If no public comment is received, the new system 
will become effective August 29, 2002.

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand-deliver written comments concerning the 
proposed new system of records to the Office of Regulations Management 
(02D), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20420; or fax comments to (202) 273-9289; or email 
comments to [email protected]. All relevant material received 
before August 29, 2002 will be considered. Comments will be available 
for public inspection at the above address in the Office of Regulations 
Management, Room 1158, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday (except holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frederic Conway (09), Department of 
Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420. (202) 
273-6743.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

I. Description of Proposed Systems of Records

    VA is committed to the appropriate use of alternative dispute 
resolution (ADR) for resolving conflicts and disputes. To monitor the 
use of ADR within VA, VA is creating an ADR tracking system. The 
proposed system will capture information about the type and frequency 
of use of ADR within VA. It will track the number of times ADR is 
utilized, the types of disputes submitted to ADR, the length of time it 
took to use the ADR process, the outcome of the ADR and the degree of 
satisfaction of the users of ADR with the process. Collection and 
analysis of this data will enable VA to determine the effectiveness of 
the ADR program and identify areas for improvement.
    VA will gather the information through a web-based tracking system. 
Individual ADR coordinators at the facility or regional level will 
enter data in the system. Regional levels are determined by the VA 
Staff Office or Administration involved. For example, the regional 
level in the Veterans Health Administration is the Veterans Integrated 
Service Network (VISN) level. ADR coordinators will have individually 
assigned unique passwords to enter and access data, and will only be 
able to access the data that they enter. This information may be 
maintained locally by the ADR coordinator and will be maintained 
nationally by the Dispute Resolution Specialist (09).
    The Categories of Individuals Covered by the System may include the 
ADR Coordinators, the individuals who conduct the ADR process, e.g., 
mediators and arbitrators, the individuals who requested ADR, the 
respondents, and the representatives of the ADR requesters and 
respondents. ADR requesters are any individuals who may use the VA ADR 
process and who seek to use ADR as a method to resolve disputes. 
Examples of ADR requesters may include management officials, VA 
employees, contract employees, or individuals who have filed a tort 
claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act based upon a claim allegedly 
involving VA or its employees. Respondents may be any individuals who 
have been asked to participate in an ADR process, such as management 
officials, co-workers, or contracting officers.
    The Categories of Records in the System may include such 
information as: the name, grade and step of the ADR requesters and 
respondents; the type of ADR requested, e.g., mediation or arbitration; 
the source of the individual(s) conducting the ADR, e.g., another 
Federal agency; the grades and steps of the individuals conducting the 
ADR process; administrative data on the particular ADR case, e.g., date 
requested; date concluded and total hours spent on the ADR; the nature 
of the dispute, e.g., discrimination or harassment; the stage in the 
dispute in which ADR is inserted, the jurisdictional forum in which the 
dispute was located when ADR was requested, any waiver of rights under 
29 CFR part 1614, the terms of any settlement agreement, e.g., damages, 
attorneys fees, reassignment, and the satisfaction of the parties with 
the ADR process.
    The Department is gathering this information for the following 
purposes. VA will use the information to track and monitor agency 
dispute resolution activities at the local level. VA also intends to 
analyze the data to evaluate ADR utilization VA-wide, identify agency 
ADR best practices, and determine whether certain forms of ADR may be 
more appropriate in various types of cases.
    VA's policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, 
retaining and disposing of records will be as follows. VA will store 
the ADR tracking system on a server located in a [enter site location 
and operator]. Records are indexed and retrieved by the names or 
identification numbers of the ADR program participants, such as the ADR 
requestors respondents, and mediators. The safeguards for the data 
limit access to only those individuals who either administer the ADR 
tracking system or serve as ADR coordinators. VA will retain and 
dispose of these records in accordance with the applicable records 
control schedule approved by the Archivist of the United States.

II. Proposed Routine Use Disclosures of Data in the System

    VA is proposing to establish the following Routine Use disclosures 
of information maintained in the system:
    1. Disclosure may be made to a Congressional office from the record 
of an individual in response to an inquiry from the Congressional 
office made at the request of that individual.
    Individuals sometimes request the help of a Member of Congress in 
resolving some issue relating to a matter before VA. The Member of 
Congress then writes VA, and VA must be able to give sufficient 
information to be responsive to the inquiry.
    2. Disclosure may be made to the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) in records management inspections conducted under 
the authority of Title 44 U.S.C.
    NARA is responsible for archiving old records no longer actively 
used, but which may be appropriate for preservation; they are 
responsible in general for the physical maintenance of the Federal 
Government's records. VA must be able to turn records over to NARA in 
order to determine the proper disposition of such records.

[[Page 49393]]

    3. Records from this system of records may be disclosed to the 
Department of Justice (DOJ) or in a proceeding before a court, 
adjudicative body, or other administrative body before which the Agency 
is authorized to appear when: (1) The Agency, or any component thereof; 
(2) any employee of the Agency in his or her official capacity, where 
DOJ or the Agency has agreed to represent the employee; or (3) the 
United States, when the Agency determines that litigation is likely to 
affect the Agency or any of its components; is a party to litigation, 
and has an interest in such litigation, and the use of such records by 
DOJ or the Agency is deemed by the Agency to be relevant and necessary 
to the litigation, provided, however, that the disclosure is compatible 
with the purpose for which the records were collected.
    Whenever VA is involved in litigation, or occasionally when another 
party is involved in litigation and VA policies or operations could be 
affected by the outcome of the litigation, VA would be able to disclose 
information to the court or parties involved. A determination would be 
made in each instance that, under the circumstances involved, the 
purpose served by use of the information in the particular litigation 
is compatible with a purpose for which VA collects the information.
    4. Disclosure of relevant information may be made to individuals, 
organizations, private or public agencies, or other entities with whom 
VA has a contract or agreement or where there is a subcontract to 
perform such services as VA may deem practicable for the purposes of 
laws administered by VA, in order for the contractor or subcontractor 
to perform the services of the contract or agreement.
    VA must be able to provide information to contractors or 
subcontractors with whom VA has a contract or agreement in order to 
perform the services of the contract or agreement.
    5. VA may disclose on its own initiative any information in this 
system that is relevant to a suspected or reasonably imminent violation 
of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature and whether 
arising by general or program statute or by regulation, rule or order 
issued pursuant thereto, to a Federal, State, local, tribal, or foreign 
agency charged with the responsibility of investigating or prosecuting 
such violation, or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, 
regulation, rule or order.
    VA must be able to comply with the requirements of agencies charged 
with enforcing the law and investigations of violations or possible 
violations of law. VA must also be able to provide information to 
Federal, State, local, tribal and foreign agencies charged with 
protecting the public health as set forth in law.
    6. Disclosure may be made to an appeal, grievance, hearing, or 
complaints examiner; an equal employment opportunity investigator, 
arbitrator, or mediator; and an exclusive representative or other 
person authorized to investigate or settle a grievance, complaint, or 
appeal filed by an individual who is the subject of the record.
    Whenever VA is involved in an appeal, grievance, or complaint, or 
occasionally when another party is involved and VA policies or 
operations could be affected by the outcome, VA would be able to 
disclose information to the examiner or other official or parties 
involved. A determination would be made in each instance that, under 
the circumstances involved, the purpose served by use of the 
information is compatible with a purpose for which VA collects the 
information. The information may be needed by the examiner or 
investigator in order to resolve a grievance. Inability to release the 
data may have a negative impact on the individual filing the grievance.
    7. Disclosure may be made to the Office of Personnel Management 
(OPM), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the General 
Accounting Office (GAO) in order for them to perform their 
responsibilities for evaluating Federal programs.
    VA must be able to provide information to these agencies in order 
for them to carry out their responsibilities for evaluating Federal 
programs.
    8. Information may be disclosed to officials of labor organizations 
recognized under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71, when relevant and necessary to 
their duties of exclusive representation concerning personnel policies, 
practices, and matters affecting working conditions.
    VA must be able to disclose information to officials of labor 
organizations to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities in 
representing employees. This routine use is intended to provide no 
greater authority to release records to officials of labor unions than 
provided under 5 U.S.C. 7114(b)(4).
    9. Information may be disclosed to officials of the Merit Systems 
Protection Board or the Office of the Special Counsel when requested in 
connection with appeals, special studies of the civil service and other 
merit systems, review of rules and regulations, investigation of 
alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, and such other 
functions, promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as may be 
authorized by law.
    VA must be able to disclose information to these agencies to assist 
them in fulfilling their responsibilities.
    10. Information may be disclosed to the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission when requested in connection with investigations 
of alleged or possible discriminatory practices, examination of Federal 
affirmative employment programs, or for other functions of the 
Commission as authorized by law.
    VA must be able to disclose information to the Commission in order 
for it to fulfill its responsibilities to protect employee rights.
    11. Information may be disclosed to the Federal Labor Relations 
Authority (including its General Counsel) when appropriate jurisdiction 
has been established and the information has been requested in 
connection with the investigation and resolution of allegations of 
unfair labor practices or in connection with the resolution of 
exceptions to arbitration awards when a question of material fact is 
raised; and to the Federal Service Impasses Panel in matters they are 
considering.
    VA must be able to disclose information to these agencies in order 
for them to fulfill their responsibilities.

III. Compatibility of the Proposed Routine Uses

    The Privacy Act permits VA to disclose information about 
individuals without their consent for a routine use when the 
information will be used for a purpose that is compatible with the 
purpose for which we collected the information. In all of the routine 
use disclosures described above, the recipient of the information will 
use the information in connection with a matter relating to one of VA's 
programs, will use the information to provide a benefit to VA, or 
disclosure is required by law.
    The notice of intent to publish and an advance copy of the system 
notice have been sent to the appropriate Congressional committees and 
to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as 
required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) (Privacy Act) and guidelines issued by OMB 
(65 FR 77677), December 12, 2000.


[[Page 49394]]


    Approved: July 15, 2002.
Anthony J. Principi,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
116VA09

System Name:
    Alternative Dispute Resolution Tracking System-VA.

System Location:
    VA will store the ADR tracking system on a web development server 
located in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Categories of Individuals Covered By the System:
    The records include information concerning VA employees and other 
individuals who have participated in a VA alternative dispute 
resolution program.

Categories of Records in the System:
    The records may contain information related to the name, grade and 
step of the ADR requesters and respondents; the type of ADR requested, 
e.g., mediation or arbitration; the type of ADR used; the source of the 
individual(s) conducting the ADR, e.g., another Federal agency; the 
grades and steps of the individuals conducting the ADR process; 
administrative data on the particular ADR case, e.g., date requested; 
date concluded and total hours spent on the ADR; the nature of the 
dispute, e.g., discrimination or harassment; the stage in the dispute 
in which ADR is inserted, the jurisdictional forum in which the dispute 
was located when ADR was requested, any waiver of rights under 29 CFR 
part 1614, the terms of any settlement agreement, e.g., damages, 
attorneys fees, reassignment, and the satisfaction of the parties with 
the ADR process, and. the source of the neutral third party who 
conducted the procedure, e.g., the facility's program, a local shared 
neutral's program, the national program, or a private, non governmental 
program.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    Title 5, United States Code, sections 571-584; Federal Acquisition 
Regulation; Part 33, Protests, Disputes, and Appeals and/or VA 
Acquisition Regulation, Part 833, Protests, Disputes, and Appeals; and 
Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, section 1614.

Purpose(s):
    VA will use the information to track and monitor agency dispute 
resolution activities at the local level. VA also intends to analyze 
the data to evaluate ADR utilization VA-wide, identify agency ADR best 
practices, and determine whether certain forms of ADR may be more 
appropriate in various types of cases.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purposes of Such Uses:
    VA is proposing to establish the following routine use disclosures 
of the information that will be maintained in the system:
    1. Disclosure may be made to a Congressional office from the record 
of an individual in response to an inquiry from the Congressional 
office made at the request of that individual.
    2. Disclosure may be made to the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) in records management inspections conducted under 
the authority of Title 44 U.S.C.
    3. Records from this system of records may be disclosed to the 
Department of Justice (DOJ) or in a proceeding before a court, 
adjudicative body, or other administrative body before which the Agency 
is authorized to appear when: (1) The Agency, or any component thereof; 
(2) any employee of the Agency in his or her official capacity, where 
DOJ or the Agency has agreed to represent the employee; or (3) the 
United States, when the Agency determines that litigation is likely to 
affect the Agency or any of its components; is a party to litigation, 
and has an interest in such litigation, and the use of such records by 
DOJ or the Agency is deemed by the Agency to be relevant and necessary 
to the litigation, provided, however, that the disclosure is compatible 
with the purpose for which the records were collected.
    4. Disclosure of relevant information may be made to individuals, 
organizations, private or public agencies, or other entities with whom 
VA has a contract or agreement or where there is a subcontract to 
perform such services as VA may deem practicable for the purposes of 
laws administered by VA, in order for the contractor or subcontractor 
to perform the services of the contract or agreement.
    5. VA may disclose on its own initiative any information in this 
system that is relevant to a suspected or reasonably imminent violation 
of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature and whether 
arising by general or program statute or by regulation, rule or order 
issued pursuant thereto, to a Federal, State, local, tribal, or foreign 
agency charged with the responsibility of investigating or prosecuting 
such violation, or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, 
regulation, rule or order. VA must be able to comply with the 
requirements of agencies charged with enforcing the law and 
investigations of violations or possible violations of law.
    6. Disclosure may be made to an appeal, grievance, hearing, or 
complaints examiner; an equal employment opportunity investigator, 
arbitrator, or mediator; and an exclusive representative or other 
person authorized to investigate or settle a grievance, complaint, or 
appeal filed by an individual who is the subject of the record.
    7. Disclosure may be made to the Office of Personnel Management 
(OPM), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the General 
Accounting Office (GAO) in order for them to perform their 
responsibilities for evaluating Federal programs.
    8. Information may be disclosed to officials of labor organizations 
recognized under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71, when relevant and necessary to 
their duties of exclusive representation concerning personnel policies, 
practices, and matters affecting working conditions.
    9. Information may be disclosed to officials of the Merit Systems 
Protection Board or the Office of the Special Counsel when requested in 
connection with appeals, special studies of the civil service and other 
merit systems, review of rules and regulations, investigation of 
alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, and such other 
functions, promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as may be 
authorized by law.
    10. Information may be disclosed to the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission when requested in connection with investigations 
of alleged or possible discriminatory practices, examination of Federal 
affirmative employment programs, or for other functions of the 
Commission as authorized by law.
    11. Information may be disclosed to the Federal Labor Relations 
Authority (including its General Counsel) when appropriate jurisdiction 
has been established and the information has been requested in 
connection with the investigation and resolution of allegations of 
unfair labor practices or in connection with the resolution of 
exceptions to arbitration awards when a question of material fact is 
raised; and to the Federal Service Impasses Panel in matters they are 
considering.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    Records are maintained on a web development server.

[[Page 49395]]

Retrievability:
    Records are retrieved by name or other assigned identifiers of the 
individuals who participate in the VA ADR process.

Safeguards:
    1. Access to and use of these records is limited to those persons 
whose official duties require such access.
    2. Access to the ADR tracking system is controlled by using an 
individually unique user identification code.
    3. Access to the VA facility where the ADR tracking system is 
maintained is controlled at all hours by the Federal Protective 
Service, VA, or other security personnel and security access control 
devices.
    4. Public use files prepared for purposes of research and analysis 
are purged of personal identifiers.

Retention and Disposal:
    Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with records 
disposition authority approved by the Archivist of the United States.

System Manager(s) and Address:
    Official responsible for policies and procedures: Dispute 
Resolution Specialist (09), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420.

Notification Procedure:
    Individuals who wish to determine whether this system of records 
contains information about them should address written inquiries to 
Dispute Resolution Specialist (09), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420.

Record Access Procedure:
    Individuals seeking information regarding access to and contesting 
of records in this system may write Dispute Resolution Specialist (09), 
Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20420.

Contesting Record Procedures:
    (See Record Access Procedures above.)

Record Source Categories:
    Information in this system of records is provided by employees who 
serve as local ADR program coordinators who obtain information from the 
ADR program participants.

[FR Doc. 02-19176 Filed 7-29-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P