[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6622-6624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2969]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary


The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Proposes to Revise 
Three of Its Privacy Act Systems of Records

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposes to revise 
three of its Privacy Act systems of records.

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DATES: Effective Date: This notice will be adopted without further 
publication in the Federal Register on April 12, 2010 unless modified 
by a subsequent notice to incorporate comments received from the 
public. While the Privacy Act requires an agency to solicit comments 
only on the routine uses of a system, USDA invites comments on all 
portions of this notice. Comments must be received by the contact 
person listed below on or before March 12, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry A. Chenault, Program Manager, 
Associate Chief Financial Officer for Financial Systems, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., Room 3021A South Building, Washington, DC, 
20250; telephone (202) 720-5957; electronic mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently, there are three separate System 
of Records Notices for the systems that encompass the Office of the 
Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) Financial Management Suite. The 
Financial Management Suite allows OCFO to process financial 
transactions electronically.
    This new System of Records Notice consolidates and replaces the 
information contained in the three existing System of Records Notices. 
This notice also updates the information collected and lists routine 
uses required by OCFO to execute its function.
    The systems affected by this Corporate Financial Management Systems 
suite are: USDA/OCFO--3, Billings and Collections Systems; USDA/OFM--4, 
Travel and Transportation System; and USDA/OFM--7, SF-1099 Reporting 
System. The purpose of the proposed revision is to replace the three 
named systems.
    The OCFO restructured its Privacy Act system notices in order to 
address information contained in the systems more logically from a 
functional

[[Page 6623]]

perspective. The Financial Systems, which will encompass all of the 
current electronic applications that OCFO uses, would be represented in 
a single System of Records Notice.
    Financial Systems consist of the electronic information technology 
systems that contain information concerning individuals and businesses 
that receive payments for providing goods and services to USDA. This 
proposed notice covers: (1) Individuals who have funds advanced to them 
for USDA official travel use, approving officials, and individuals who 
perform official USDA travel and are reimbursed with Government funds; 
(2) Individuals who receive payments in the form of rents, royalties, 
prizes, or awards; (3) Individuals who receive payments for non-
personal service contracts, commissions, or compensation for services, 
which are subject to Form 1099 reporting requirements are included in 
the suite of systems; (4) USDA employees who have been issued a 
Government purchase card, Government fleet card or a Government travel 
card; and (5) Employee information necessary to record employee salary 
disbursements in the financial system that is essential for Internal 
Revenue Service income tax reporting. The employee records are also 
used to pay employees for travel reimbursement and any other 
miscellaneous payments due to the employee.
    USDA determined that a consolidation of the multiple financial 
systems is the most efficient, logical, taxpayer-friendly, and user-
friendly method of complying with the publication requirements of the 
Privacy Act. The subject records reflect a common purpose, common 
functions, and common user community. USDA hereby deletes the following 
systems of records: USDA/OCFO--3, Billings and Collections Systems; 
USDA/OFM--4, Travel and Transportation System; and USDA/OFM--7, Form 
1099 Reporting System. A report on the new system of records, required 
by 5 U.S.C. 552a (r) as implemented by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, Management of Federal Information 
Resources was sent to the Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, United States Senate; the Chairman, Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight, U.S. House of Representatives; and the 
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB.

    Dated: February 3, 2010.
Thomas J. Vilsack,
Secretary.
Financial Systems, USDA/OCFO--10
System of Records

SYSTEM NAME:
    Financial Systems

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    The systems are operated from USDA headquarters located at 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250, with other operational 
locations within the continental United States.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    The Financial Systems contain information about individuals and 
businesses that receive payments for providing goods and services to 
the USDA. Individuals who have funds advanced to them for official 
travel use, approving officials, and individuals who perform official 
USDA travel and are reimbursed with Government funds are included in 
this system, as well as individuals (excluding USDA employees) who 
receive payments in the form of rents, royalties, prizes, or awards, 
individuals (excluding USDA employees) who receive payments for non-
personal service contracts, commissions, or compensation for services 
that are subject to Form 1099 reporting requirements, and USDA 
employees who have been issued a purchase card, fleet card or travel 
card are included in the system. Employee information contained in the 
Financial Systems is used to record the financial impact of employee 
salary disbursements in the financial system and for Internal Revenue 
Service income tax reporting. In addition, the employee records are 
used to pay employees for travel reimbursement and any other 
miscellaneous payments due to the employee.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The Financial Systems establish several databases containing the 
individual's and business' name, address, Social Security number (SSN) 
(or employer identification number), ZIP code, amount of payment, and 
other information necessary to accurately identify covered payment 
transactions.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990.

PURPOSE(S):
    The records in this system are used to record the financial 
transactions of the USDA and provide payments to businesses that 
provide goods and services to the USDA and payments to employees.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSE OF SUCH USES:
    1. Referral to the appropriate agency, whether Federal, State, 
local, or foreign, charged with the responsibility of investigating or 
prosecuting a violation of law, or of enforcing or implementing a 
statute or rule, regulation or order issued pursuant thereto, of any 
record within this system when information available indicates a 
violation or potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal, or 
regulatory in nature, and whether arising by general statute or 
particular program statute, or by rule, regulation, or order issued 
pursuant thereto.
    2. Referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) 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 DOJ has agreed to represent the employee; 
or (d) the United States, where the agency determines that litigation 
is likely to affect the agency or any of its components, is a party to 
the litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and the use of 
such records by the DOJ is deemed by the agency to be relevant and 
necessary to the litigation, providing, however, that in each case, the 
agency determines that disclosure of the records to the DOJ is a use of 
the information 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 DOJ has agreed to represent the employee; 
or (d) the United States, where the agency determines that litigation 
is likely to affect the agency or any of its components, is a party to 
the litigation, or has an interest in such litigation, and the use of 
such records by the DOJ is deemed by the agency to be relevant and 
necessary to the litigation, providing, however, that in each case, the 
agency determines that disclosure of the records to the DOJ is a use of 
the information that is compatible with the

[[Page 6624]]

purpose for which the records were collected.
    4. Disclosure may be made to a congressional office from the record 
of an individual in response to an inquiry from the congressional 
office made on behalf of that individual.
    5. Information from this system of records will be forwarded to the 
Internal Revenue Service for income tax purposes.
    6. Release of information to other USDA agencies may be made for 
internal processing purposes.
    7. Information will be reviewed during inquiry into payments to be 
made by the USDA to its employees.
    8. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) the 
agency suspects or has confirmed that the security or confidentiality 
of information in the system of records has been compromised; (2) the 
Department has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed compromise there is a risk of harm to economic or property 
interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security or 
integrity of this system or other systems or programs (whether 
maintained by the Department or another agency or entity) that rely 
upon the compromised information; and (3) the disclosure made to such 
agencies, entities, and persons as reasonably necessary to assist in 
connection with the Department's efforts to respond to the suspected or 
confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
    9. USDA will disclose information about individuals from the system 
of records in accordance with the Federal Funding Accountability and 
Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-282; codified at 31 U.S.C. 6101, 
et seq.); section 204 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347; 
44 U.S.C. 3501 note), and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act 
(41 U.S.C. 403 et seq.), or similar statutes requiring agencies to make 
public information concerning Federal financial assistance, including 
grants, sub-grants, loan awards, cooperative agreements, and other 
financial assistance; and contracts, purchase orders, task orders, and 
delivery orders.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Records are stored and maintained electronically on USDA-owned 
mainframes, servers, tapes, disks, and in file folders at USDA offices.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Records in the system are retrieved by SSNs or by employee 
identification numbers.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Magnetic tape files and disk files are kept in a locked computer 
room and tape library, which can be accessed by authorized personnel 
only. File folders are maintained in a secured area and access is only 
permitted to authorized personnel. On-line access by USDA personnel is 
password protected. Data that is transmitted electronically is 
encrypted. There are Memoranda of Understanding and Interconnectivity 
Security Agreements to govern the transmission of Financial Systems 
data. There are Service Level Agreements with data centers that provide 
computing services for the Financial Systems. Contracts contain 
specific language for contractors to protect private information and 
follow USDA privacy policy.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Master history magnetic tapes are retained in accordance with a 
tape library management schedule. Manual records are transferred to the 
Federal Records Center for storage and disposition in accordance with 
the appropriate retention schedules.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    USDA, Office of the Chief Financial Officer/Associate Chief 
Financial Officer for Financial Systems, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Room 3037 South Building, Washington, DC 20250.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    An individual may request information regarding this system of 
records or information as to whether the system contains records 
pertaining to such individual from the Office of the Chief Financial 
Officer, Washington, DC office. The request for information should 
contain the individual's name, SSN or tax identification number (TIN) 
and address. Before information of any record is released, the system 
manager may require the individual to provide proof of identity or 
require the requester to furnish authorization from the individual to 
permit release of information.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    An individual my obtain information as to the procedures for 
gaining access to a record in the system, which pertains to such 
individual, by submitting a request to the Privacy Act Officer, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., South Building, Washington, DC 20250. The 
envelope and letters should be marked ``Privacy Act Request.'' A 
request for information should contain name, address, and name of 
system of records, year of records in question, and any other pertinent 
information to help identify the file.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Procedures for contesting records are the same as procedures for 
record access. Include the reason for contesting the record and the 
proposed amendment to the information with supporting documentation to 
show how the record is inaccurate.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Records are loaded from the USDA payroll system to create records 
of USDA employees. Vendors who do business with the USDA submit their 
information into the Central Contractor Registration, which is 
subsequently loaded into the Financial Systems. This information 
includes but is not limited to SSN, TIN, name, address, and bank 
electronic funds transfer information. Records are also directly loaded 
on-line into the Financial Systems by agency personnel.

[FR Doc. 2010-2969 Filed 2-9-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-90-P