[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 50 (Monday, March 15, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12147-12148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5676]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records; Employee Conduct--
Government Ethics (18-09-03)




AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of an altered system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 
(Privacy Act), the Department of Education (Department) publishes this 
notice of an altered system of records entitled ``Employee Conduct--
Government Ethics (18-09-03),'' last published in the Federal Register 
on June 4, 1999 (64 FR 30149-50). The Department amends this notice by: 
(1) Updating the categories of individuals covered by the system to 
include employees who are required to attend ethics training; (2) 
revising the categories of records in the system to exclude records 
covered by two government-wide executive branch Privacy Act systems of 
records of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE): OGE/GOVT-1 and OGE/
GOVT-2 and to include records relating to compliance with ethics 
training requirements; (3) revising the authority for the system; (4) 
adding that a purpose of the system is to ensure compliance with ethics 
training requirements; (5) adding a new routine use to allow 
disclosures to the Office of Government Ethics pursuant to its 
oversight responsibilities; (6) revising the paragraph on storage to 
include electronic records; (7) revising the paragraph on safeguards to 
include the measures taken to protect electronic records; (8) revising 
the paragraph on retention and disposal to state that the records in 
the system will be destroyed in accordance with the National Archives 
and Records Administration's General Records Schedule (GRS) 25 for 
Ethics Program Records; and (9) adding a new paragraph on record source 
categories, which was inadvertently omitted from the last publication 
of the system of records notice.

DATES: The Department seeks comments on the altered system of records 
described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the 
Privacy Act. We must receive your comments on the proposed routine uses 
for the system of records included in this notice on or before April 
14, 2004.
    The Department filed a report describing the revisions to the 
system of records covered by this notice with the Chair of the 
Committee on Governmental Affairs of the United States Senate, the 
Chair of the Committee on Government Reform of the United States House 
of Representatives, and the Administrator of the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on March 
9, 2004. The changes made in this notice will become effective at the 
later date of--(1) the expiration of the 40-day period for OMB review 
on April 18, 2004 or (2) April 14, 2004, unless the system of records 
needs to be changed as a result of public comment or OMB review. The 
Department will publish any changes to the routine uses.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the proposed routine uses to 
Karen Santoro, Ethics Division, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 6E231, 
Washington, DC 20202-2110. If you prefer to send comments through the 
Internet, use the following address: [email protected]. You must include 
the term ``Employee Conduct'' in the subject line of the electronic 
message.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all comments 
about this notice in room 6E231, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Eastern time, Monday 
through Friday of each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Santoro. Telephone: (202) 401-
8309. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339.

[[Page 12148]]

    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) requires the Department to publish 
in the Federal Register this notice of an altered system of records 
maintained by the Department. The Department's regulations implementing 
the Privacy Act are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
in 34 CFR part 5b.
    The Privacy Act applies to information about an individual that 
contains individually identifiable information that is retrieved by a 
unique identifier associated with each individual, such as a name or 
social security number. The information about each individual is called 
a ``record'' and the system, whether manual or computer-based, is 
called a ``system of records.''
    The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish a notice of a 
system of records in the Federal Register and to prepare a report to 
OMB, whenever the agency publishes a new system of records or makes a 
significant change to an established system of records. Each agency is 
also required to send copies of the report to the Chair of the Senate 
Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Chair of the House Committee 
on Government Reform. The report is intended to permit an evaluation of 
the probable or potential effect of the proposal on the privacy rights 
of individuals.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: 
http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498, or in 
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: March 9, 2004.
Brian W. Jones,
General Counsel.
    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the General Counsel of 
the U.S. Department of Education publishes a notice of an altered 
system of records. The following amendments are made in the Notice of 
New, Amended, Altered and Deleted Systems of Records published in the 
Federal Register on June 4, 1999 (64 FR 30105-30191):
    1. On page 30149, 2nd column, under the headings Categories of 
Individuals Covered by the System, Categories of Records in the System, 
Authority for Maintenance of the System, and Purpose(s), the paragraphs 
are revised to read as follows:

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    This system contains information about current and past Department 
employees (1) who have requested and/or received advice or guidance in 
subject matter areas relating to employee conduct, or (2) who are 
required to attend ethics training.

Categories of Records in the System:
    This system contains documents and records not covered by two 
government-wide executive branch Privacy Act systems of records of the 
Office of Government Ethics (OGE): OGE/GOVT-1 and OGE/GOVT-2. These 
documents and records may include, but are not limited to, information 
relating to acceptance or offer of gifts, entertainment and favors, or 
outside employment; financial interests; use of government funds, 
property, or official information; partisan political activity; 
compliance with ethics training requirements; or other matters relating 
to employee conduct.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    Pub. L. 95-521, Ethics in Government Act of 1978; Pub. L. 101-194, 
Ethics Reform Act of 1989, as amended; and Executive Orders 12674, 
12565, and 11222, as amended.

Purpose(s):
    The records in this system are maintained in order for the Office 
of the General Counsel to provide advice and guidance in subject matter 
areas relating to employee conduct and to ensure that employees comply 
with ethics requirements.
    2. On page 30150, 1st column, make the following changes:
    A. After the paragraph labeled ``(6) Congressional Member 
Disclosures,'' a new paragraph is added as follows:
    (7) Office of Government Ethics Disclosure. The Department may 
disclose records to the Office of Government Ethics if the disclosure 
is relevant to the Office of Government Ethics' review of the 
Department's ethics program or if the Department seeks the advice of 
the Office of Government Ethics on matters relating to the Department's 
ethics program, including, but not limited to, the program's structure 
and staffing, education and training, counseling or advice, public 
financial disclosures, confidential financial disclosures, outside 
employment and activities, or post employment.
    B. Under the heading Storage, the paragraph is revised to read as 
follows:

Storage:
    Paper records are kept in legal size files in filing cabinets; 
electronic records are kept in a database maintained and managed by the 
Ethics Division of the Office of the General Counsel.
    3. On page 30150, 2nd column, make the following changes:
    A. Under the heading Safeguards, the paragraph is revised to read 
as follows:

Safeguards:
    These records are only accessible to staff of the Ethics Division 
of the Office of General Counsel. Paper records are kept in filing 
cabinets that are locked after the close of the business day, and 
electronic records are kept only on authorized users' computers, which 
are password-protected.
    B. Under the heading Retention and Disposal, the paragraph is 
revised to read as follows:

Retention and Disposal:
    The records in this system will be retained and disposed of in 
accordance with the National Archives and Records Administration's 
General Records Schedule (GRS) 25 for Ethics Program Records.
    C. After the heading Contesting Record Procedures, a new paragraph 
is added to read as follows:

Record Source Categories:
    Information is obtained from individuals who request advice and 
from employees and other Department records in connection with the 
administration of the ethics training program.

[FR Doc. 04-5676 Filed 3-12-04; 8:45 am]
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