[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 161 (Monday, August 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50091-50092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20407]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Office of Inspector General, 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 to revise the system of records notice for the Investigative 
Files of the Inspector General (18-10-01), 64 FR 30151-30153 (June 4, 
1999), as corrected by 67 FR 4415-4417 (January 30, 2002), as amended 
by 68 FR 38153-38158 (June 26, 2003), as amended by 75 FR 33608-33610 
(June 14, 2010), as corrected by 75 FR 36374-36375 (June 25, 2010). The 
Department amends this system of records notice by: proposing to revise 
routine use (14), ``Disclosure to the Recovery Accountability and 
Transparency Board (RATB),'' to allow disclosure to any successor 
entity of the RATB, to the Government Accountability and Transparency 
Board (GATB) or any successor entity, or to any other Federal, State, 
local, or foreign agency or other entity responsible for coordinating 
and conducting oversight of Federal funds, in order to prevent fraud, 
waste, and abuse related to Federal funds, or for assisting in the 
enforcement, investigation, prosecution, or oversight of violations of 
administrative, civil, or criminal law or regulation. This system of 
records provides essential support for investigative activities of the 
Office of Inspector General (OIG) relating to the Department's programs 
and operations, enabling the OIG to secure and maintain the necessary 
information and to coordinate with other law enforcement agencies as 
appropriate.

DATES: The Department seeks comments on the altered routine use of the 
information in the system of records described in this notice, in 
accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act. We must receive 
your comments on or before September 19, 2012.
    The Department filed a report describing the altered system of 
records covered by this notice with the Chair of the Senate Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Chair of the House 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Administrator of 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) on August 15, 2012. This altered system of records 
will become effective at the later date of--(1) the expiration of the 
40-day period for OMB review on September 24, 2012, unless OMB waives 
10 days of its 40-day review period for compelling reasons shown by the 
Department, in which case on September 14, 2012, or (2) September 19, 
2012, 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 revised routine use that results from public comment or OMB 
review of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the proposed altered routine use 
to this system of records to William Hamel,

[[Page 50092]]

Assistant Inspector General for Investigation Services, Office of 
Inspector General, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue 
SW., Room 8166, PCP Building, Washington, DC 20202-1510. If you prefer 
to send your comments by email, use the following address: 
[email protected].
    You must include the term ``OIG Investigative Files'' in the 
subject line of your electronic message.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this notice at the U.S. Department of Education, Room 
8166, PCP Building, 500 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20202-0028, 
between the hours of 8:00 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 accommodation or auxiliary 
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: Benjamin Shapiro, Assistant Counsel to 
the Inspector General, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., PCP Building, Room 
8166, Washington, DC 20202-1510. Telephone: (202) 245-7601.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

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 (5 
U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11)). The Department's regulations implementing 
the Privacy Act are contained in part 5b of title 34 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR).
    The Privacy Act applies to a record about an individual that 
contains individually identifying 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 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 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Chair 
of the House Committee on Oversight and 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.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well 
as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF 
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the 
site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: August 15, 2012.
Kathleen S. Tighe,
Inspector General.
    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Inspector General of 
the U.S. Department of Education publishes a notice of an altered 
system of records. The following amendments are made to the Notice of 
an Altered System of Records for the system of records entitled 
``Investigative Files of the Inspector General'' (18-10-01), as 
published in the Federal Register on June 4, 1999 (64 FR 30151-30153 
(June 4, 1999)), as corrected by 67 FR 4415-4417 (January 30, 2002), as 
amended by 68 FR 38153-38158 (June 26, 2003), as amended by 75 FR 
33608-33610 (June 14, 2010), as corrected by 75 FR 36374-36375 (June 
25, 2010):
    1. On 68 FR 38157, 1st column, as amended by 75 FR 33610 (June 14, 
2010), the paragraph labeled ``(14) Disclosure to the Recovery 
Accountability and Transparency Board (RATB),'' is revised to read as 
follows:
    (14) Disclosure to Entities Responsible for Oversight of Federal 
Funds. The OIG may disclose records as a routine use to the Recovery 
Accountability and Transparency Board (RATB) or any successor entity, 
to the Government Accountability and Transparency Board (GATB) or any 
successor entity, or to any other Federal, State, local, or foreign 
agency or other entity responsible for coordinating and conducting 
oversight of Federal funds, in order to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse 
related to Federal funds, or for assisting in the enforcement, 
investigation, prosecution, or oversight of violations of 
administrative, civil, or criminal law or regulation, if that 
information is relevant to any enforcement, regulatory, investigative, 
prosecutorial, or oversight responsibility of the Department or of the 
receiving entity.

[FR Doc. 2012-20407 Filed 8-17-12; 8:45 am]
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