[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 3, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20087-20089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07671]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 64 / Wednesday, April 3, 2013 / 
Notices  

[[Page 20087]]



 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary


Privacy Act of 1974; Proposed New System of Records

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed new system of records

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SUMMARY: As required by the Privacy Act of 1974, the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) is publishing for comment a proposed new system of 
records, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, USDA/
GIPSA-1, Packers and Stockyards Automated System (PAS). PAS will be 
used by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration 
(GIPSA) to enforce the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act of 1921, as 
amended. PAS, an automated information management system, integrates 
case file management, data monitoring, and reporting into a single 
enterprise application that shares data across organizational units.

DATES: This notice will be adopted without further publication in the 
Federal Register on May 13, 2013 unless notified by a subsequent notice 
to incorporate comments received from the public. Although the Privacy 
Act requires only that a portion of the system that describes the 
``routine uses'' of the system be published for comment, USDA invites 
comments on all portions of this notice. Comments must be received by 
the contact person listed below on or before May 3, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number USDA/
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, by one of the 
following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: (202) 690-2173
     Mail: Irene Omade, GIPSA, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue 
SW., Room 2530-S, Washington, DC 20250-3642.
     Instructions: All submissions received must include the 
agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments 
received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided.
     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: 
Joanne C. Peterson, GIPSA Privacy Act Officer, 202-720-8087, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Room 2548-S, Washington, DC 20250-3642. For 
privacy issues, please contact: Ravoyne Payton, Chief Privacy Officer, 
Cyber and Privacy Policy and Oversight, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended (5 U.S.C. 552a), USDA announces a proposed new system of 
records titled ``USDA/GIPSA-1, Packers and Stockyards Automated System 
(PAS),'' which is managed by the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Program--
a mission area of USDA's GIPSA. The P&S Program administers the Packers 
and Stockyards Act, which was enacted by Congress to ensure fair 
competition and fair trade practices; to safeguard farmers and 
ranchers; to protect consumers; and to protect members of the 
livestock, meat, and poultry industries from unfair, deceptive, 
unjustly discriminatory, and monopolistic practices, 7 U.S.C. 181 et 
seq. Through its oversight activities, including monitoring programs 
and conducting reviews and investigations, the P&S Program fosters fair 
competition, provides payment protection, and guards against deceptive 
and fraudulent trade practices that affect the movement and price of 
most animals and their products. PAS integrates case file management, 
data monitoring, and reporting into a single enterprise application 
that shares data across organizational units. PAS is comprised of two 
components--Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and the Account 
Management System (AMS). The heart of the system is the ECM component, 
which manages the workflows that were developed from the P&S Program's 
core business processes and the documents that are generated as part of 
those processes, such as complaints from poultry contract growers, case 
files of investigations, and monitoring reviews of scale tests. These 
workflows include Registration; Bonding; Investigation; Regulatory 
Activities; Enforcement; Bond and Trust Claims; Bond Terminations and 
Expirations; and Collection of Mandatory Reports.
    The AMS component stores and manages regulated entity business 
data, supports queries, generates batch letters, and provides reporting 
capabilities. The following information is contained in PAS: name, 
trade name, business entity type, type of organization, mailing and 
operating address, telephone numbers, type of livestock handled, 
character of business, ownership information, scales and facilities 
used or owned by the business, Web sites where the regulated entities 
will operate, custodial account information (for market agencies 
selling on commission), bond information, and information registered 
entities submit in annual or special reports.
    The information collected and maintained in PAS is used to 
administer the registration, posting, and bonding provisions under the 
P&S Act; to adjudicate contract disputes; and to enforce the P&S Act 
and the regulations issued there under. Routine uses of the records 
maintained in PAS include disclosure to the Department of Justice; 
courts or adjudicative bodies; Members of Congress or Congressional 
staff members; Federal, state, foreign, or other public authorities; 
the National Archives and Records Administration; contractors, 
grantees, experts, consultants, or volunteers; and/or appropriate 
agencies, entities, and persons regarding the security of PAS.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), USDA has provided a report of 
this system of records to the Office of Management and Budget and to 
Congress.

Thomas J. Vilsack,
Secretary.
USDA/GIPSA-1

System name:
    Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, USDA/
GIPSA-1, Packers and Stockyards Automated System (PAS).

Security classification:
    Unclassified.

[[Page 20088]]

System location:
    PAS is physically located at the National Information Technology 
Center (NITC) in Kansas City, Missouri. PAS resides on computers of all 
users of the system who are located at GIPSA headquarters in 
Washington, DC; at regional offices that are located in Atlanta, 
Georgia; Des Moines, Iowa; and Denver, Colorado; and at resident agent 
offices that are dispersed across the United States. Resident agents 
are GIPSA employees stationed at various locations throughout the 
United States. Paper records are located in GIPSA offices, including 
resident agent offices, nationwide.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    The records in this system relate to entities and individuals that 
are regulated under the P&S Act, which include stockyard owners, market 
agencies, dealers, packers, swine contractors, and live poultry 
dealers. Also included is information regarding individuals who are 
interviewed by P&S Program investigatory personnel to provide 
statements and affidavits in connection with investigations.

Categories of records in the system:
     Business owners' names, trade names; home and business 
operating addresses; telephone numbers, type of livestock handled; 
character of business; ownership information; name and location of 
posted stockyards, auction markets, and feedlots; Web sites where they 
will operate, and custodial account numbers (for market agencies 
selling on commission).
     Packers, market agencies, and dealers who apply for a 
surety bond to meet the bonding requirements of the P&S Act provide 
bond number, principal name and address, surety name and address, 
condition of the bond, and power of attorney.
     Certain producers and growers file trust claims against 
packers and live poultry dealers for delayed or nonpayment of livestock 
and poultry transactions. Information provided includes name and 
address of claimant, name and address of respondent, date of 
transaction, amount claimed, name and address where transaction 
occurred, description of transaction, terms of contract, supporting 
documentation, and evidence.
     P&S Program investigative records and supporting 
documentation obtained from P&S investigative personnel, which includes 
names, addresses, and employment information regarding individuals who 
are interviewed and who provide statements and affidavits. P&S 
personnel also collect documents that reflect business transactions and 
banking information, such as account information.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    7 U.S.C. 222; 7 U.S.C. 181 et seq., generally.

Purpose(s):
    PAS is an automated information management system that is used by 
GIPSA's P&S Program to manage and to track its workflow processes for 
regulatory activities and investigations in the livestock and poultry 
industries and to store records and data that are related to these 
activities. PAS also captures and maintains documents and data for 
business entities that are regulated under the P&S Act; financial 
instruments to ensure financial protection to parties involved in the 
livestock, meat, and poultry industries; and weight scales that are 
managed by parties who conduct business in the livestock and meat 
industries.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    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 or 
information contained in PAS may be disclosed outside USDA 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. USDA or any component thereof;
    2. Any employee of USDA in his/her official capacity;
    3. Any employee of USDA in his/her individual capacity where DOJ or 
USDA 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 USDA 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 USDA 
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 
written request of the individual to whom the record pertains.
    C. To the National Archives and Records Administration or other 
Federal government agencies pursuant to records management inspections 
being conducted under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    D. To an agency, organization, or individual for the purpose of 
performing audit or oversight operations as authorized by law, but only 
such information as is necessary and relevant to such audit or 
oversight function.
    E. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when:
    1. The Department 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) or harm to 
the individual that rely upon the compromised information; and
    3. The disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is 
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.
    F. To contractors and their agents, grantees, experts, consultants, 
and others performing or working on a contract, service, grant, 
cooperative agreement, or other assignment for USDA, 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 USDA officers and employees.
    G. To an appropriate Federal, State, Tribal, local, international, 
or foreign law enforcement agency or other appropriate authority 
charged with investigating or prosecuting a violation or enforcing or 
implementing a law, rule, regulation, or order, where a record, either 
on its face or in conjunction with other information, indicates a 
violation or potential violation of law, which includes criminal, 
civil, or regulatory violations and such disclosure is proper and 
consistent with the official duties of the person making the 
disclosure.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    None.

[[Page 20089]]

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Records in PAS are stored electronically on magnetic disc, tape, 
digital media, and/or CD-ROM. PAS is a customized module within USDA's 
Enterprise Content Management (ECM), which is maintained by the Office 
of the Executive Secretariat. ECM is based upon a suite of document 
management applications that have been specifically designed for use by 
the employees and officers of USDA to manage documents associated with 
a wide range of administrative and business processes. PAS is hosted on 
servers located within secure computing environments at NITC in Kansas 
City, Missouri. Paper records are stored in GIPSA offices nationwide 
prior to scanning into PAS.

Retrievability:
    Records may be retrieved by applicant name, business entity name, 
owner name, facility name, respondent name, complainant name, alleged 
violator's name, and investigation or regulatory activity 
identification case number.

Safeguards:
    Computer records in PAS are safeguarded in accordance with 
applicable rules and policies, including all applicable USDA automated 
systems security and access policies. Strict controls have been imposed 
to minimize the risk of compromising the information that is stored. 
Access to PAS is limited to those who have a need to know. Permission 
level assignments allow users access only to those functions for which 
they are authorized to perform their official duties. System users, 
managers, and PAS Administrators have access to the data in the system. 
Access is controlled by the eAuthentication System (eAuth). Once an 
eAuth account has been created, the PAS Administrator will grant access 
to the user based on his/her position and title. Paper records are 
maintained in locked cabinets and in desks that are located in 
physically secured rooms.

Retention and disposal:
    Certain records in PAS are maintained for 3 years; others are 
maintained for 5 years, in accordance with General Records Schedule 20, 
Electronic Records, items 2a and Other Reports covered under the GRS 
20, 11(a)1. Paper records are retained in accordance with GRS 20, items 
1a, 2a, and 16.

System manager and address:
    GIPSA, P&S Program, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room 2055-S, 
Washington, DC 20250-3601.

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 the Headquarters or component's FOIA 
Officer, whose contact information can be found at http://www.da.usda.gov/foia.htm under ``USDA FOIA Points of Contact.'' If an 
individual believes more than one component maintains Privacy Act 
records concerning him or her, the individual may submit the request to 
the Chief FOIA Officer, Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence 
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250.
    When seeking records about yourself from this system of records or 
any other Departmental system of records, your request must conform 
with the Privacy Act regulations set forth in 7 CFR part 1, subpart G.

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

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

Record source categories:
    The information is obtained (1) From entities and individuals who 
are doing business in the livestock, meat, and poultry industries and 
who register under the P&S Act to conduct such business; (2) from 
individuals and businesses who file claims against registrants; (3) 
financial institutions, attorneys, accountants, and insurance 
companies; and (4) by GIPSA employees who collect the information 
during the course of their official responsibilities, such as 
investigative personnel.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.
[FR Doc. 2013-07671 Filed 4-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-KD-P