[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68559-68561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-28667]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary


Privacy Act of 1974; Revision of System of Records

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of revision of Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) proposes to amend the Privacy Act system of records 
FCIC-2, entitled Compliance Review Cases. The system of records is 
maintained by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), a wholly-
owned Government Corporation administered by the Risk Management Agency 
(RMA), an agency of USDA. The compliance review cases system of records 
is being revised to reflect changes in the administration and 
management of the Federal crop insurance program.

DATES: This notice will be effective without further notice on December 
12, 2002 unless modified by a subsequent notice to incorporate comments 
received from the public. Although the Privacy Act requires only that 
the portion of the system which describes the ``routine uses'' of the 
system be published for comment, USDA invites comment on all portions 
of this notice. Comments must be received by the contact person listed 
below on or before December 12, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deputy Administrator for Compliance, 
Risk Management Agency, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 0806, Washington, DC 20250-0806, 
telephone number (202) 720-0642.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The changes to the system of records modify 
the: system location; categories of individuals covered by the system; 
categories of records in the system; routine uses of records maintained 
in the system; policies and practices for storing, retrieving, 
accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system; and, the 
system manager. These revisions are being made to reflect changes in 
the crop insurance program and RMA operations and organization. The 
major revisions to this system of records are the result of mandates 
included in the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000. These 
include, establishment of a Farm Service Agency monitoring program, and 
utilization of the information technologies known as data mining and 
data warehousing and other available information technologies. The 
``categories of records in the system'' is revised to include the 
results of the research and analyses that may be conducted on the data 
by RMA or its contractors. The ``routine uses of records'' are revised 
to: Update routine use number (1) to include agencies that regulate; 
add routine use number (5) to permit research and analysis on data for 
the purposes of detecting fraud, waste, or abuse; add routine use 
number (6) permitting investigations and referrals to determine whether 
information has been correctly reported and compliance with program 
requirements; and, add routine use number (7) to allow records to be 
used as necessary to administer, analyze, and evaluate the Federal crop 
insurance program.
    In conformance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), as implemented by OMB 
Circular A-130 the Department of Agriculture sent a report reflecting 
these proposed changes to the Chairman, Committee on Governmental 
Affairs, United States Senate; the Chairman, Committee on Government 
Reform, United States House of Representatives; and the Administrator, 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of

[[Page 68560]]

Management and Budget on November 5, 2002.

    Signed at Washington, DC on November 5, 2002.
Ann M. Veneman,
Secretary of Agriculture.
USDA/FCIC-2

System name:
    Compliance Review Cases.

Security classification:
    None.

System location:
    Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, Risk Management Agency, 6501 
Beacon Drive, Stop 0814, Kansas City, Missouri 64133-4676, headquarters 
and regional compliance offices for the Federal Crop Insurance 
Corporation, and the Center for Agribusiness Excellence, Tarleton State 
University, 1333 W. Washington St., Stephenville, Texas, 76402. 
Addresses for headquarters and each regional compliance office may be 
obtained from the Deputy Administrator for Compliance, Risk Management 
Agency, United States Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Stop 0806, room 6094-S, Washington, DC 20250-0806.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    The system consists of: (1) Individuals or other legal entities 
that presently have or have had insurance with the Federal Crop 
Insurance Corporation (FCIC) or a private insurance company reinsured 
by FCIC; (2) individuals who are under contract with or employed by a 
private insurance company to solicit and service crop insurance 
contracts, who meet the licensing requirements set by the individual 
States and requirements established by FCIC for such activities; (3) 
persons authorized by FCIC or the State to perform loss adjustment and 
related activities; and (4) private insurance companies and other 
individuals or entities alleged to have committed acts that could 
subject them to disqualification, suspension, disbarment or any other 
administrative action, who are the subject of a compliance review or 
investigation.

Categories of records in the system:
    The system consists of: (1) Compliance review files containing 
evidence gathered in the course of a compliance review; (2) the results 
of any research and analyses conducted on the information contained in 
any of the systems of records maintained by FCIC that are anomalous or 
indicate the existence of fraud, waste or abuse; (3) the identification 
of policyholders identified through other means where there are 
indications of potential fraud, waste or abuse; and (4) reports and 
inter/intra-Agency recommendations from the Office of Inspector 
General, the Farm Service Agency, other USDA agencies, private 
insurance companies, and any other sources regarding individuals or 
entities who may have failed to comply with the Federal Crop Insurance 
Act, any regulations promulgated thereunder, the terms of the policy, 
or any procedure or directive established by FCIC.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. and 7 CFR part 1, subpart G, Appendix A.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
Records contained in this system may be used as follows:
    (1) Referral to the appropriate agency, whether Federal, State, 
local or foreign, charged with the responsibility of investigating or 
prosecuting a violation of law, responsible for enforcing or 
implementing a statute, rule, regulation or order issued pursuant 
thereto, when information available indicates a violation or potential 
violation of law, whether civil, criminal, or regulatory in nature 
arising by general statute, program statute, rule, regulation or order 
pursuant thereto.
    (2) Referral to the Department of Justice when (a) the agency, or 
any component thereof; or (b) any employee of the agency in his or her 
official capacity; or any employee of the agency in his or her 
individual capacity where the Department of Justice has agreed to 
represent the employee; or (c) the United States, where the agency 
determines that litigation is likely to affect the agency or any of its 
components, is a party to litigation or has an interest in such 
litigation, and the use of such records by the Department of Justice is 
deemed by the agency to be relevant and necessary to the litigation, 
provided, however, in each case, the agency determines that disclosure 
of the records to the Department of Justice is a use of the information 
contained in the records that is compatible with the purpose for which 
the records were collected.
    (3) Disclosure in a proceeding before a court or adjudicative body 
before which the agency is authorized to appear, when (a) the agency, 
or any component thereof; or (b) any employee of the agency in his or 
her official capacity; or (c) any employee of the agency in his or her 
individual capacity where the agency has agreed to represent the 
employee; or (d) the United States, where the agency determines 
litigation is likely to affect the agency or any of its components, is 
a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and the 
agency determines that use of such records is relevant and necessary to 
the litigation, provided, however, that in each case, the agency 
determines that disclosure of the records to the court is a use of the 
information contained in the records that is compatible with the 
purpose for which the records were collected.
    (4) Disclosure in response to a request for discovery or for the 
appearance of a witness, to the extent that the agency determines that 
the information sought is relevant to the subject matter involved in a 
pending judicial or administrative proceeding.
    (5) Referral to contractors/cooperators for purposes of conducting 
research and analyses to identify trends, patterns, anomalies, 
instances and relationships of private insurance companies, agents, 
loss adjusters and policyholders that may be indicative of fraud, 
waste, or abuse.
    (6) Referral to the Farm Service Agency or to the responsible 
private insurance company to verify the accuracy of information 
reported by an individual or entity to FCIC or a private insurance 
company with respect to a policy or plan of insurance authorized under 
the Federal Crop Insurance Act.
    (7) Disclosure to private insurance companies, contractors, 
cooperators, partners of FCIC, and other Federal agencies for any 
purpose relating to the sale, service, administration, analysis or 
evaluation of the Federal crop insurance program.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Records are maintained electronically, on computer printouts and in 
the file folders at the addresses listed under ``System Location.''

Retrievability:
    Records may be indexed and retrieved by the individual or entity 
name, tax identification number (including social security number), the 
private insurance company name, subject of the compliance review or the 
case number. Data research and analyses records may be indexed and 
retrieved by State and County, individual or entity name, tax 
identification number (including social security number), or contract 
number.

Safeguards:
    Records are accessible only to authorized personnel and are

[[Page 68561]]

maintained in offices that are locked during non-duty hours. The 
computer database is controlled by password protection and the computer 
network is protected by means of a firewall. File folders are stored in 
locked file cabinets.

Retention and disposal:
    Record retention and disposal are handled in accordance with 
instructions outlined in the Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service 
Handbook, ``Records Management, 2-AS (Revision 10), Amendment 1.''

System Manager/s/ and Address:
    Deputy Administrator for Compliance, Risk Management Agency, 
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW. Stop 
0806, Washington, DC 20250-0806, telephone number (202) 720-0642.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    Pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), material in this 
system of records is exempt from the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 
552(a)(c)(3), (d), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H) and (I), and (f) because it 
contains investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes. 
See 7 CFR 1.123.
    5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3) requires that an accounting of disclosures be 
made available to an individual. This would impair compliance reviews 
by alerting the subject of the review to the existence of those 
compliance reviews. The release of information from these files could 
result in the destruction or alteration of documentary evidence 
necessary to prosecution, improper influence or witnesses and other 
activities which could impede or compromise the review.
    5 U.S.C. 552a(d) requires that an individual is given access to and 
the right to amend files pertaining to him or her. Such individual 
access to these files could hamper reviews in progress by alerting 
subjects involved in compliance reviews that their actions are under 
scrutiny, and allow them time to take measures to prevent detection of 
any illegal activities or escape prosecution. Release of these records 
also would disclose investigatory techniques and review procedures 
employed by the RMA Office of Risk Compliance, Federal Crop Insurance 
Corporation and other agencies, which may impair law enforcement 
activities.
    5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(1) permits the maintenance of only such 
information as is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the 
Agency required by statute or Executive Order. Exemption from this 
provision is required because determination of relevance and necessity 
can be made only after information is evaluated. Evaluation at the time 
of collection is too time consuming for the effective conduct of a 
compliance review. Further, the determination of relevance or necessity 
of specific information at the early stages of the compliance review is 
not possible.
    5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)(G), (H) and (f) provide for notification and 
access procedures. If these requirements were followed it would 
necessarily alert subjects of the compliance review to the existence of 
the review and could impair the outcome of the review. Similarly, 
access to the records could interfere with compliance review and 
ultimate law enforcement proceedings; disclose confidential informants 
and information; constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy 
of others; and reveal confidential investigative techniques and 
procedures.
    5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)(I) requires that categories of records in each 
system be published. Application of this provision could disclose 
investigative techniques and procedures employed by compliance 
reviewers, which may impair law enforcement activities.

[FR Doc. 02-28667 Filed 11-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-08-P