[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 245 (Friday, December 19, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77810-77813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-29848]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DHS-2008-0145]


Privacy Act of 1974; United States Coast Guard--020 Substance 
Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program System of Records

AGENCY: Privacy Office; DHS.

ACTION: Notice of Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and as part of the 
Department of Homeland Security's ongoing effort to review and update 
legacy system of records notices, the Department of Homeland Security 
is giving notice that it proposes to update and reissue the following 
legacy record system, DOT/CG 638 Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program 
Record System as a Department of Homeland Security/United States Coast 
Guard system of records notice titled, DHS/USCG--020 Substance Abuse 
Prevention and Treatment Program. This system of records notice will 
allow the USCG to collect and maintain the USCG's Substance Abuse 
Prevention and Treatment Program records. Categories of individuals, 
categories of records, and the routine uses of this legacy system of 
records notice have been reviewed and updated to better reflect the 
Department of Homeland Security/United States Coast Guard's--020 
Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program record system. This 
new system will be included in the Department of Homeland Security's 
inventory of record systems.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before January 20, 
2009. This new system will be effective January 20, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2008-0145 by one of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-866-466-5370.
     Mail: Hugo Teufel III, Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy 
Office, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
     Instructions: All submissions received must include the 
agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments 
received will be posted without change and may be read at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.

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     Docket: For access to the docket, to read background 
documents, or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions please contact: 
David Roberts (202-475-3521), Privacy Officer, United States Coast 
Guard. For privacy issues please contact: Hugo Teufel III (703-235-
0780), Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, U.S. Department of 
Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Pursuant to the savings clause in the Homeland Security Act of 
2002, Public Law 107-296, Section 1512, 116 Stat. 2310 (November 25, 
2002), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/United States Coast 
Guard (USCG) have relied on preexisting Privacy Act systems of records 
notices for the collection and maintenance of records that concern the 
DHS/USCG--020 Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program.
    As part of its efforts to streamline and consolidate its record 
systems, DHS is updating and reissuing a DHS/USCG system of records 
under the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) that deals with active duty 
military personnel receiving substance abuse rehabilitation treatment. 
This record system will allow DHS/USCG to collect and maintain records 
regarding active duty military personnel receiving substance abuse 
rehabilitation treatment. The collection and maintenance of this 
information will assist DHS/USCG in meeting its obligation to assist 
active duty USCG personnel needing substance abuse rehabilitation 
treatment.
    In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and as part of the DHS's 
ongoing effort to review and update legacy system of records notices, 
DHS is giving notice that it proposes to update and reissue the 
following legacy record system DOT/CG 638 Alcohol Abuse Prevention 
Program Record System (65 FR 19475 4/11/2000) as a DHS/USCG system of 
records notice titled, Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
Program. This system of records notice will allow the USCG to collect 
and maintain the USCG's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
Program records. Categories of individuals and categories of records 
have been reviewed, and the routine uses of this legacy system of 
records notice have been updated to better reflect the DHS/USCG's 
Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program record system. This 
new system will be included in the DHS inventory of record systems.

II. Privacy Act

    The Privacy Act embodies fair information principles in a statutory 
framework governing the means by which the United States Government 
collects, maintains, uses and disseminates individual's information. 
The Privacy Act applies to information that is maintained in a ``system 
of records.'' A ``system of records'' is a group of any records under 
the control of an agency from which information is stored and retrieved 
by the name of the individual or by some identifying number such as 
property address, mailing address, or symbol assigned to the 
individual. In the Privacy Act, an individual is defined to encompass 
United States citizens and lawful permanent residents. DHS extends 
administrative Privacy Act protections to all individuals where 
information is maintained on both U.S. citizens, lawful permanent 
residents, and visitors. Individuals may request their own records that 
are maintained in a system of records in the possession or under the 
control of DHS by complying with DHS Privacy Act regulations, 6 CFR 
5.21.
    The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish in the Federal 
Register a description denoting the type and character of each system 
of records that the agency maintains, and the routine uses that are 
contained in each system in order to make agency record keeping 
practices transparent, to notify individuals regarding the uses of 
their records, and to assist individuals to more easily find such files 
within the agency. Below is the description of the Substance Abuse 
Prevention and Treatment Program System of Records.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), DHS has provided a report of 
this new system of records to the Office of Management and Budget and 
to Congress.

III. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

    This system of records contains individually identifiable health 
information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 
1996, applies to most of such health information. Department of Defense 
6025.18-R may place additional procedural requirements on the uses and 
disclosures of such information beyond those found in the Privacy Act 
of 1974 or mentioned in this system of records notice.

System of Records:
    DHS/USCG-020.

System name:
    United States Coast Guard--020 Substance Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Program.

Security classification:
    Unclassified.

System location:
    Records are maintained at the USCG Headquarters in Washington, DC 
and field offices.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Categories of individuals covered by this system include Coast 
Guard personnel, active duty and reserve, receiving substance abuse 
rehabilitation treatment, and those screened in connection with 
substance abuse issues.

Categories of records in the system:
    Categories of records in this system include:
     Individual's name;
     Employee ID Number (EMPLID);
     Rate/Rank;
     History of substance abuse;
     Operation facility code;
     Treatment center;
     Diagnosis;
     Dates of treatment;
     Treatment records;
     Notes on aftercare; and
     Final disposition and type.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    5 U.S.C. 301; 5 U.S.C. 7901; 14 U.S.C. 632; 42 U.S.C. 4541; 
COMDTINST M6200.1A, the Coast Guard Health Promotion Manual.

Purpose(s):
    The purpose of this system is to administer the USCG Substance 
Abuse Prevention and Treatment program, including to identify alcohol 
and drug abusers within the USCG; to treat, counsel, and rehabilitate 
individuals who participate in the USCG Substance Abuse Program; as a 
management tool to identify trends, judge the magnitude of drug and 
alcohol abuse, and to measure the effectiveness of drug and alcohol 
prevention efforts in the USCG.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    Note: For records of identity, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment 
of any client/patient, irrespective of whether or when he/she ceases to 
be a client/patient, maintained in connection with the performance of 
any alcohol or drug abuse prevention and treatment function conducted, 
requested, or directly or indirectly assisted by any department or 
agency of the United

[[Page 77812]]

States, shall, except as provided therein, be confidential and be 
disclosed only for the purposes and under circumstances expressly 
authorized in 42 U.S.C. 290dd-2. The routine uses set forth below do 
not apply to this information. This statute takes precedence over the 
Privacy Act of 1974 to the extent that disclosure is more limited. 
However, access to the record by the individual to whom the record 
pertains is governed by the Privacy Act.

    Note: For those records not described above, this system of 
records contains individually identifiable health information. The 
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, applies 
to most of such health information. Department of Defense 6025.18-R 
may place additional procedural requirements on the uses and 
disclosures of such information beyond those found in the Privacy 
Act of 1974 or mentioned in this system of records notice. 
Therefore, routine uses outlined below may not apply to such health 
information.

    In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b) of the Privacy Act, all or a portion of the records of 
information contained in this system may be disclosed outside DHS as a 
routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as follows:
    A. To the Department of Justice (including United States Attorney 
Offices) or other Federal agency conducting litigation or in 
proceedings before any court, adjudicative or administrative body when 
it is necessary to the litigation and one of the following is a party 
to the litigation or has an interest in such litigation:
    1. DHS or any component thereof;
    2. any employee of DHS in his/her official capacity;
    3. any employee of DHS in his/her individual capacity where the 
Department of Justice or DHS has agreed to represent the employee; or
    4. the United States or any agency thereof, is a party to the 
litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and DHS determines 
that the records are both relevant and necessary to the litigation and 
the use of such records is compatible with the purpose for which DHS 
collected the records.
    B. To a congressional office from the record of an individual in 
response to an inquiry from that congressional office made at the 
request of and with the consent of the individual to whom the record 
pertains in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 290dd-2(g).
    C. To contractors and their agents, grantees, experts, consultants, 
and others performing or working on a contract, service, grant, 
cooperative agreement, or other assignment for DHS, when necessary to 
accomplish an agency function related to this system of records. 
Individuals provided information under this routine use are subject to 
the same Privacy Act requirements and limitations on disclosure as are 
applicable to DHS officers and employees.
    D. To appropriate State and local authorities to report, under 
State law, incidents of suspected child abuse or neglect to the extent 
described under 42 CFR 2.12 and in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 290dd-
2(e).
    E. To any person or entity to the extent necessary to prevent an 
imminent and potential crime that directly threatens loss of life or 
serious bodily injury.
    F. To report to appropriate authorities when an individual is 
potentially at risk to harm himself/herself or others.
    G. To health care components of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
furnishing health care to veterans.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    None.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Records in this system are stored electronically or on paper in 
secure facilities in a locked drawer behind a locked door. The records 
are stored on magnetic disc, tape, digital media, and CD-ROM.

Retrievability:
    Records may be retrieved by individual name, EMPLID, or unit 
operation facility code.

Safeguards:
    Records in this system are safeguarded in accordance with 
applicable rules and policies, including all applicable DHS automated 
systems security and access policies. Strict controls have been imposed 
to minimize the risk of compromising the information that is being 
stored. Access to the computer system containing the records in this 
system is limited to those individual who have a need to know the 
information for the performance of their official duties and who have 
appropriate clearances or permissions.

Retention and disposal:
    Records in this system are stored electronically in secure 
facilities behind a locked door. The records are stored on an 
electronic server. Records are destroyed when three years old or when 
superseded or obsolete (GRS 1, item 36).

System Manager and address:
    Commandant, CG-11, United States Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 2nd 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001.

Notification procedure:
    Individuals seeking notification of and access to any record 
contained in this system of records, or seeking to contest its content, 
may submit a request in writing to Commandant, CG-11, United States 
Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 2nd Street, SW., Washington, DC 20593-
0001.
    When seeking records about yourself from this system of records or 
any other USCG system of records your request must conform to the 
Privacy Act regulations set forth in 6 CFR Part 5. You must first 
verify your identity, meaning that you must provide your full name, 
current address and date and place of birth. You must sign your 
request, and your signature must either be notarized or submitted to 
you under 28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that permits statements to be made 
under penalty of perjury as a substitute for notarization. While no 
specific form is required, you may obtain forms for this purpose from 
the Director, Disclosure and FOIA, http://www.dhs.gov or 1-866-431-
0486. In addition you should provide the following:
     An explanation of why you believe the Department would 
have information on you,
     Specify when you believe the records would have been 
created,
     If your request is seeking records pertaining to another 
living individual, you must include a statement from that individual 
certifying his/her agreement for you to access his/her records.
    Without this bulleted information the USCG may not be able to 
conduct an effective search, and your request may be denied due to lack 
of specificity or lack of compliance with applicable regulations.

Record access procedures:
    See ``Notification procedure'' above.

Contesting record procedures:
    See ``Notification procedure'' above.

Record source categories:
    Information originates from personnel who submit to drug and 
alcohol testing, DHS and its components and offices, and testing and 
treatment facilities.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.


[[Page 77813]]


    Dated: December 10, 2008.
Hugo Teufel III,
Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
 [FR Doc. E8-29848 Filed 12-18-08; 8:45 am]
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