[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66803-66806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26522]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

ACTION: Notice of Amendment to System of Records.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(e), 
notice is hereby given that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is 
amending the system of records currently entitled ``Veterans Appellate 
Records System--VA'' (44VA01) established at 40 FR 38095 (8/26/75) and 
revised at 53 FR 46741-03 (11/18/88), 56 FR 15663-03 (4/17/91), 63 FR 
37941-02 (7/14/98), 66 FR 47725-02 (9/13/01), and 70 FR 6079-02, (2/4/
05). VA is amending the system by revising the Storage and Retention 
and Disposal sections and adding six routine uses.

DATES: Comments on the amendment of this system of records must be 
received no later than December 6, 2013. If no public comment is 
received, the amended system will become effective December 6, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through 
www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to: Director, Regulation 
Policy and Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Avenue NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 
273-9026. All comments received will be available

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for public inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and 
Management, Room 1063B, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 273-9515 for 
an appointment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura H. Eskenazi, Vice Chairman and 
Executive in Charge, Board of Veterans' Appeals (012), Department of 
Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420, (202) 
632-4603.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA, Board) 
proposes to make changes to the Storage and Retention and Disposal 
sections of this system of records to reflect current practice and add 
six routine uses.
    Hearings are currently recorded digitally and the recordings stored 
indefinitely. Some facilities may still need to record hearings on 
audio tape. In those instances, the tapes are sent to the Wilkes-Barre 
VA facility, where they are transcribed and, as in the past, the tapes 
are maintained for one year from the date of the hearing, after which 
time they are destroyed.
    The first new routine use will permit the release of information 
from this system of records to representatives and Veterans Service 
Organizations. The representative will have to be of record and the 
information released must pertain only to a client. Veterans Service 
Organizations at the Board will have computer access to the Veterans 
Appeals Control and Locator System records of their clients. They will 
not be able to read any other records and will not be able to alter the 
records of their clients'. Since representatives are entitled to access 
data pertaining to their clients, this computer access will save time 
and effort in the appropriate dissemination of this information.
    The second new routine use will permit the Board to release 
information from this system of records to the Comptroller General, or 
his or her authorized representative, in the course of the performance 
of the duties of the United States General Accountability Office.
    The third new routine use will permit disclosure of information to 
the Department of Justice (DoJ), either on VA's initiative or in 
response to DoJ's request for information relevant to DoJ's 
representation of the United States in legal proceedings, provided that 
such a release would be a use of the information that is compatible 
with the purposes for which the records were collected.
    The fourth new routine use will permit the release of relevant 
information to individuals, organizations, private or public agencies, 
or other entities with whom VA has a contract or agreement and the 
information is necessary for the entities to complete their contractual 
obligations to VA.
    The fifth new routine use permits disclosure to other Federal 
agencies to assist such agencies in preventing and detecting possible 
fraud or abuse by individuals in their programs or operations.
    The sixth new routine use permits VA to disclose information to 
appropriate agencies, entities, or persons when VA suspects or has 
confirmed that the integrity or confidentiality of information in the 
system of records has been compromised, or the Department has 
determined that there is a risk of embarrassment or harm to the 
reputations of the record subjects, harm to economic or property 
interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security of the 
system or other systems or programs.
    The Privacy Act permits VA to disclose information about 
individuals without their consent for a routine use when the 
information will be used for a purpose that is compatible with the 
purpose for which the information was collected. In all of the routine 
use disclosures described above, the recipient of the information will 
use the information in connection with a matter relating to one of VA's 
programs, will use the information to provide a benefit to VA, or 
disclosure is required by law.

    Approved: October 9, 2013.
Jose D. Riojas,
Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs.
SOR 44VA01

SYSTEM NAME:
    Veterans Appellate Records System-VA

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Board of Veterans' Appeals, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 
810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420, at the Wilkes-Barre VA 
facility, 1127 East End Boulevard, Building 42, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702, 
and with the Board's contractor, Promisel & Korn, Inc., 3228 Amberley 
Lane, Fairfax, VA 22031.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Veterans, other appellants, Veterans Law Judges, Board staff 
attorneys and Members of Congress.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The computer database entitled Veterans Appeals Control and Locator 
System (VACOLS) is a part of this system and can include electronically 
attached copies of Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions and remands; 
personal information on appellants and contesting parties including 
names, addresses, identifying numbers, phone numbers, service dates and 
issues on appeal; names, addresses and phone numbers of 
representatives, powers of attorney and attorney fee agreements; 
information on and dates of procedural steps taken in claims; records 
of and electronic copies of correspondence concerning appeals; diary 
entries, notations of mail received, information requests; transcripts 
of hearings; tracking information as to file location and employee 
productivity information. Material in this system that is not 
maintained in VACOLS includes verbatim digital recordings of hearings 
that are maintained indefinitely, microfiche decision locator tables 
and indices to decisions from 1983 to 1994, and microfiche reels with 
texts of decisions from 1977 to 1989.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    38 U.S.C. 7101(a), 7104, 5904.

PURPOSE(S):
    Initial decisions on claims for Federal Veterans' benefits are made 
at VA field offices throughout the nation. Claimants may appeal those 
decisions to the Board of Veterans' Appeals. See 38 U.S.C. Chapter 71. 
The Board gathers or creates the records in this system in order to 
carry out its appellate function, to statistically evaluate the 
appellate process, and to evaluate employee performance.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    1. Disclosure to law enforcement personnel and security guards may 
be made in order to alert them to the presence of dangerous persons in 
VA facilities or at VA activities conducted in non-VA facilities.
    2. VA may disclose on its own initiative any information in this 
system, except the names and home addresses of Veterans and their 
dependents, which is relevant to a suspected or reasonably imminent 
violation of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature and 
whether arising by general or program statute or by regulation, rule or 
order issued pursuant thereto, to a Federal, State, local, tribal, or 
foreign agency charged with the responsibility of investigating or 
prosecuting such violation, or charged with enforcing or implementing 
the statute, regulation, rule or order. On

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its own initiative, VA may also disclose the names and addresses of 
Veterans and their dependents to a Federal agency charged with the 
responsibility of investigating or prosecuting civil, criminal or 
regulatory violations of law, or charged with enforcing or implementing 
the statute, regulation, rule or order issued pursuant thereto.
    3. A record from this system of records may be disclosed to a 
Veteran, claimant or a third party claimant (e.g., a Veteran's 
survivors or dependents) to the extent necessary for the development of 
that claimant's claim for VA benefits.
    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 at the request of that individual.
    5. Disclosure may be made to the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) in records management inspections conducted under 
authority of Title 44 U.S.C.
    6. A record from this system (other than the address of the 
beneficiary) may be disclosed to a former representative of a 
beneficiary to the extent necessary to develop and adjudicate a claim 
for payment of attorney fees to such representative from past due 
benefits under 38 U.S.C. 5904(d).
    7. Where VA determines that there is good cause to question the 
legality or ethical propriety of the conduct of a person or 
organization prospectively, presently or formerly representing a person 
in a matter before VA, a record from this system may be disclosed, on 
VA's initiative, to any or all of the following: (1) Applicable civil 
or criminal law enforcement authorities; (2) a person or entity 
responsible for the licensing, supervision, or professional discipline 
of the person or organization prospectively, presently or formerly 
representing a person in a matter before VA; (3) to other Federal and 
State agencies and to Federal courts when such information may be 
relevant to the individual's or organization's provision of 
representational services before such agency or court. Names and home 
addresses of Veterans and their dependents will be released on VA's 
initiative under this routine use only to Federal entities.
    8. Disclosure may be made to the VA-appointed representative of an 
employee, including all notices, determinations, decisions, or other 
written communications issued to the employee in connection with an 
examination ordered by VA under medical evaluation (formerly fitness-
for-duty) examination procedures or Department-filed disability 
retirement procedures.
    9. Disclosure may be made to officials of the Merit Systems 
Protection Board, or the Office of Special Counsel, or both, when 
requested in connection with appeals, special studies of the civil 
service and other merit systems, review of rules and regulations, 
investigation of alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, 
and such other functions, promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as 
may be authorized by law.
    10. Disclosure may be made to the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission when requested in connection with investigations of alleged 
or possible discrimination practices, examination of Federal 
affirmative employment programs, compliance with the Uniform Guidelines 
of Employee Selection Procedures, or other functions of the Commission 
as authorized by law or regulation.
    11. VA may disclose to the Federal Labor Relations Authority 
(FLRA), including its General Counsel, information from this system 
related to the establishment of jurisdiction, investigation, and 
resolution of allegations of unfair labor practices, or the resolution 
of exceptions to arbitration awards when a question of material fact is 
raised and to address matters properly before the Federal Services 
Impasses Panel, investigate representation petitions, and conduct or 
supervise representation elections.
    12. Disclosure of information in this system of records may be made 
to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims when 
requested by the Court to further the performance of its duties as 
delineated in Chapter 72 of Title 38 of the United States Code 
Annotated with respect to any action brought under that chapter.
    13. A record from this system may be disclosed to a Service 
Organization where the Service Organization is the representative of 
record of the subject of the records to be released.
    14. As permitted by the Privacy Act at 5 U.S.C.A. Sec.  
552a(b)(10), the Board will release information from this system of 
records to the Comptroller General, or any of his or her authorized 
representatives, in the course of the performance of the duties of the 
United States General Accountability Office.
    15. VA may disclose information from this system of records to the 
Department of Justice (DoJ), either on VA's initiative or in response 
to DoJ's request for the information, after either VA or DoJ determines 
that such information is relevant to DoJ's representation of the United 
States or any of its components in legal proceedings before a court or 
adjudicative body, provided that, in each case, the agency also 
determines prior to disclosure that release of the records to DoJ is a 
use of the information contained in the records that is compatible with 
the purpose for which VA collected the records. VA, on its own 
initiative, may disclose records in this system of records in legal 
proceedings before a court or administrative body after determining 
that the disclosure of the records to the court or administrative body 
is a use of the information contained in the records that is compatible 
with the purpose for which VA collected the records.
    16. Disclosure of relevant information may be made to individuals, 
organizations, private or public agencies, or other entities with whom 
VA has a contract or agreement or where there is a subcontract to 
perform such services as VA may deem practicable for the purpose of 
laws administered by VA, in order for the contractor or subcontractor 
to perform the services of the contract or agreement.
    17. Disclosure to other Federal agencies may be made to assist such 
agencies in preventing and detecting possible fraud or abuse by 
individuals in their operations and programs.
    18. VA may, on its own initiative, disclose any information or 
records to appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) VA 
suspects or has confirmed that the integrity 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 embarrassment or harm to the 
reputations of the record subjects, harm to economic or property 
interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security, 
confidentiality, or integrity of this system or other systems or 
programs (whether maintained by the Department or another agency or 
entity) that rely upon the potentially compromised information; and (3) 
the disclosure is to agencies, entities, or persons whom VA determines 
are reasonably necessary to assist or carry out the Department's 
efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and 
prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm. This routine use permits 
disclosures by the Department to respond to a suspected or confirmed 
data breach, including the conduct of any risk analysis or provision of 
credit protection services as provided in 38 U.S.C. 5724, as the terms 
are defined in 38 U.S.C. 5727.
    Note: Any record maintained in this system of records, which may 
include

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information relating to drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, 
infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, or sickle cell anemia 
will be disclosed pursuant to an applicable routine use for the system 
only when permitted by 38 U.S.C. 7332.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Information is kept in a computer database entitled VACOLS and 
backed up on computer tape. Archived records that were created prior to 
expansion of the Board of Veterans' Appeals' electronic storage 
capability may be stored in filing folders or cabinets, microfiche, 
computer disks, or computer tape. Hearings before the Board are 
digitally recorded and stored indefinitely. Where a facility must use 
audio tape to record hearings, the recording is maintained for one year 
after which period it is destroyed. A transcript is made for each 
hearing held and is electronically attached to the record in VACOLS. 
Digital recordings of hearings are maintained on a back-up server. 
Under the Vital Records Schedule, electronic back-up tapes are updated 
quarterly. A back-up tape is transferred weekly to the Board's 
contractor for quick access back-up tape storage.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    VACOLS records in this system may be retrieved by any searchable 
field in the VACOLS database. This system notice covers only 
information retrieved by an individual's name or other identifier. 
Archived material from this system that is not in VACOLS may be 
retrieved by Veteran's name, VA file number, or BVA archive citation 
number.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Files are under custody of designated VA employees, including 
employees of the Board of Veterans' Appeals and its contractor, all of 
whom have a need to know the contents of the system of records in order 
to perform their duties. Access to VACOLS is strictly limited to 
reflect the need individual employees have for the different records in 
the system. Where a Veterans Service Organization office is located in 
a VA facility and has access to VACOLS through the Wide Area Network, 
that access is strictly limited to viewing records of current clients 
of the organization. No personal identifiers are used in statistical 
and management reports, and personal identifiers are removed from all 
archived Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions and other records in this 
system before VA makes them available to the public. Files kept by the 
contractor are in a locked safe in locked rooms in a secured building.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Records in this system, in VACOLS, and those collected prior to 
VACOLS' use as a repository are retained indefinitely as Category B 
Vital Records unless otherwise specifically noted. Under the Vital 
Records Schedule, electronic back-up tapes are destroyed by erasure 
upon receipt of the next quarterly tape set. Recordings of hearings 
will be made as described in Rule 714, 38 CFR 20.714, and 
transcriptions of recordings of hearings will be attached 
electronically in VACOLS. Electronic recordings of hearings will be 
retained for at least one year from the date of the hearing, giving the 
hearing subject the opportunity to challenge the accuracy of the 
transcript.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    Chairman (01), Board of Veterans' Appeals, 810 Vermont Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20420.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    An individual desiring to know whether this system of records 
contains a record pertaining to him or her, how she or he may gain 
access to such a record, and how she or he may contest the content of 
such a record may write to the following address: Privacy Act Officer 
(01C1), Board of Veterans' Appeals, 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, 
DC 20420. The following information, or as much as is available, should 
be furnished in order to identify the record: Name of Veteran, name of 
appellant other than the Veteran (if any), and Department of Veterans 
Affairs file number. For information about hearing transcripts or tape 
recordings, also furnish the date, or the approximate date, of the 
hearing.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals seeking information regarding access to information 
contained in this system of records may write or call the Board of 
Veterans' Appeals Freedom of Information Act Officer, whose address and 
telephone number are as follows: Freedom of Information Act Officer 
(01C1), Board of Veterans' Appeals, 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, 
DC 20420.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    (See notification procedures above.)

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    VA Claims, insurance, loan guaranty, vocational rehabilitation, 
education, hospital records, and outpatient clinic records folders and 
associated folders; Board of Veterans' Appeals records; data presented 
by appellants and their representatives at hearings and in briefs and 
correspondence; and data furnished by Board of Veterans' Appeals 
employees.

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2013-26522 Filed 11-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P