[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 10 (Thursday, January 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2092-2094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00434]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2014-0032]


Establishment-Specific Data Release Strategic Plan

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FSIS is announcing the availability of the Agency's draft 
Establishment-Specific Data Release Strategic Plan (the draft Plan) for 
sharing data on federally inspected meat and poultry establishments 
with the public. FSIS developed the Plan in response to memoranda 
released by President Obama and the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) that called for increased data sharing; an Executive Order for 
agencies to develop plans for making information available to the 
public; National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection 
(NACMPI) recommendations; and a National Research Council (NRC) review. 
FSIS is seeking public comments on the draft Plan.

DATES: Submit comments on or before March 16, 2015.

ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on the 
draft data release Plan. Comments may be submitted by one of the 
following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: This Web site provides the ability to 
type short comments directly into the comment field on this Web page or 
attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions at that site for 
submitting comments.
    Mail, CD-ROMs: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Patriots Plaza 3, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Mailstop 3782, Room 8-163B, Washington, DC 
20250-3700.
    Hand- or courier-delivered submittals: Deliver to Patriots Plaza 3, 
355 E Street SW., Room 8-163A, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
    Instructions: All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must 
include the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2014-0032. Comments 
received in response to this docket will be made available for public 
inspection and posted without change, including any personal 
information, to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: For access to background documents or to comments received, 
go to the FSIS Docket Room at Patriots Plaza 3, 355 E Street SW., Room 
164-A, Washington, DC 20250-3700 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Daniel L. Engeljohn, Assistant 
Administrator, Office of Policy and Program Development; Telephone: 
(202) 205-0495.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) administers a 
regulatory program under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) (21 
U.S.C. 451 et seq.), and the Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA) (21 
U.S.C. 1031 et seq.) to protect the health and welfare of consumers. 
The Agency is responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial 
supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, not 
adulterated, and correctly labeled and packaged.
    FSIS inspects these products at official slaughtering and 
processing establishments, verifying that the establishments meet 
regulatory requirements and enforcing those requirements as necessary.
    Additionally, FSIS employees (inspectors, veterinarians, 
laboratorians, and Enforcement, Investigations, and Analysis Officers 
(EIAOs)) perform a variety of activities, including conducting 
inspections, ensuring compliance with existing regulations, and 
collecting and testing microbiological and chemical residue samples to 
verify whether establishments maintain Hazard Analysis and Critical 
Control Point (HACCP) or other food safety systems that address these 
hazards. While conducting these activities and performing many other 
key functions, FSIS collects a large volume of establishment-specific 
data on pathogens and residues. For example, FSIS collects data on 
regulated, domestic slaughter and processing establishments and on 
product imported from foreign countries with inspection systems 
equivalent to that of the United States.
    FSIS produces reports using this data for internal use, as well as 
reports and data shared publicly through the Agency's Web site \1\ and 
other public communication venues. FSIS aggregates most of the data it 
shares with the

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public or provides the data in summary format.
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    \1\ For more information, please visit: http://www.fsis.usda.gov.
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    On January 21, 2009, President Obama issued a ``Memorandum on 
Transparency and Open Government'',\2\ intended to promote increased 
public trust in the Government through ``a system of transparency, 
public participation, and collaboration.'' A month later, OMB sent a 
memorandum to Executive Departments and agencies on ``The President's 
Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government--Interagency 
Collaboration,'' \3\ which enclosed a copy of the Presidential 
memorandum and announced plans for developing a directive on 
transparency, participation, and collaboration across Government and 
with groups outside the Government. On December 8, 2009, OMB issued the 
Open Government Directive, requiring the Departments and agencies to 
take various steps toward creating a more open Government, such as by 
publishing information online in an open format that is available to 
the public without restrictions.\4\
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    \2\ ``Transparency and Open Government: Memorandum for the Heads 
of Executive Departments and Agencies''. (74 FR 4685; Jan. 26, 
2009), pp. 4685-4686. Available at:http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment.
    \3\ ``Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
Agencies: President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open 
Government--Interagency Collaboration.'' Memorandum Number: M-09-12. 
24 February, 2009. Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/memoranda_fy2009/m09-12.pdf.
    \4\ ``Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
Agencies: President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open 
Government--Interagency Collaboration.'' Memorandum Number: M-10-06. 
8 December, 2009. Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directive.
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    In 2010, in response to the memoranda and directive discussed in 
the preceding paragraph, and a desire to more publicly share data 
collected by the Agency, FSIS began exploring how best to share 
establishment-specific data with the public. As a first step, FSIS 
consulted NACMPI, which recommended that FSIS obtain guidance from the 
National Academies or other entities with recognized expertise in data 
management and analysis to improve data accessibility and usefulness 
for internal and external stakeholders.\5\
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    \5\ ``The National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry 
Inspection Data Collection, Analysis, and Transparency 
`Subcommittee.'' 2010. Available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/caa395aa-5f88-467e-b20f-a010e95cb4db/Data_Subcommittee_Final_Report.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.
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    Acting on the NACMPI recommendation, FSIS asked the National 
Academies' NRC in late 2010 to study the potential food safety benefits 
and other consequences of making establishment-specific data publicly 
available on the Internet.\6\ The NRC convened a committee that in 2011 
issued a report laying out an approach for FSIS's release of 
establishment-specific data that considered the benefits and costs of 
data sharing. In exploring how other Government agencies share data 
with the public, the NRC selected for review a number of regulatory and 
non-regulatory agencies that share data on their activities. 
Information about data sharing within and from these agencies is 
available in the NRC report.
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    \6\ National Research Council, Committee on a Study of Food 
Safety and Other Consequences of Publishing Establishment-Specific 
Data. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety 
and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. 2011. Available 
at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13304.
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    The NRC Committee concluded, on the basis of its review of the 
design and implementation of data release efforts by other regulatory 
and non-regulatory agencies, that FSIS could ``benefit from 
consultation with these agencies and could build on their effective 
practices when designing a public data release program.'' The NRC 
Committee found that, on the whole, there were ``strong arguments 
supporting public release of establishment-specific FSIS data, 
especially data that are subject to release under [the Freedom of 
Information Act].'' To maximize its effectiveness and minimize its 
potential adverse unintended consequences, FSIS's ``data disclosure 
should be guided by a carefully designed information-disclosure 
strategy.'' \7\ The NRC Committee specifically recommended that FSIS 
develop a strategic plan to guide it in the release of establishment-
specific data.
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    \7\ National Research Council, Committee on a Study of Food 
Safety and Other Consequences of Publishing Establishment-Specific 
Data. ``The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety 
and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data.'' 2011. 
Available at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13304.
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    FSIS also conducted its own in-depth review of Federal data sharing 
procedures and resources. This review focused on both regulatory and 
non-regulatory agencies and identified model Web sites, data-sharing 
portals, and other public data-sharing resources. As a consequence of 
its review and the recommendations that it received, the Agency 
developed the draft Establishment-Specific Data Release Strategic Plan 
(the draft Plan). The draft Plan is accessible at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/98c33278-53dd-4228-a695-54f429cf4413/Establishment-Specific-Data-Release-Plan.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.
    In January 2014, as a follow-up to its 2010 meeting, FSIS shared 
the draft Plan with NACMPI to gather input and seek feedback before the 
public release and implementation of the Plan. NACMPI recommended that 
FSIS prioritize the release of establishment-level datasets that FSIS 
already publishes in a aggregated or summary form and datasets related 
to sampling programs for pathogens that are considered adulterants. 
NACMPI also recommended that FSIS consider releasing additional 
datasets and adding this information to the Plan. The Agency has 
incorporated this input in the version of the draft Plan that the 
present document announces.
    Meanwhile, in the effort to identify and plan for the release of 
additional data to the public, FSIS and other regulatory agencies have 
been encouraged by President Obama's ''Memorandum on Regulatory 
Compliance'' \8\ and the Executive Order, ``Making Open and Machine 
Readable the New Default for Government Information,'' \9\ to develop 
plans for making information on regulatory compliance and enforcement 
activities available in machine-readable format and accessible, 
downloadable, and searchable online. Under the draft Plan, FSIS will 
use Data.gov as a repository and point-of-access for released data. 
Data.gov is a Federal, government-sponsored Web site designed to 
``increase the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use 
datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government.''\10\ 
FSIS will provide a link to Data.gov on its Web site.
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    \8\ ``Memorandum on Regulatory Compliance.'' 76 Federal Register 
14 (21 January 2011), pp. 3825-3826.
    \9\ Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for 
Government Information.'' Executive Order 13642. 78 Federal Register 
93 (14 May 2013), pp. 28111-28113.
    \10\ About Data.gov.'' Data.gov. Available at: http://www.data.gov/about.
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    The draft Plan covers dataset selection criteria, data release 
procedures, a preliminary list of Agency datasets for public release, 
and performance measures for evaluating the effectiveness of data 
release. It also provides details on the specific sampling programs 
from which the establishment-specific data are drawn.
    The draft Plan includes a preliminary list of Agency datasets for 
public release. The data to be released first will be demographic 
datasets for all regulated establishments (expanding the data currently 
available through the

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FSIS Meat, Poultry, and Egg Inspection Directory). ``Demographics'' 
here refers to identifying characteristics of meat and poultry 
establishments that are subject to FSIS inspection.\11\ These include, 
but are not limited to, the following variables: Establishments' 
``HACCP size''--large, small, or very small; products the 
establishments' produce; and their USDA official establishment number.
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    \11\ The preliminary demographics dataset will not include 
information on egg products establishments. FSIS will release this 
information at a later date.
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    At a later date, FSIS will release Agency datasets on testing data 
on Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in raw, non-intact 
beef products and on Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella in RTE 
products. Additional Agency datasets FSIS intends to release include, 
but are not limited to, testing and serotype data on Salmonella and 
Campylobacter in young chickens and young turkeys; Salmonella and 
Campylobacter in comminuted poultry; Salmonella in raw ground beef; 
routine chemical residue testing data in meat and poultry products; 
advanced meat recovery (AMR) testing data. These preliminary Agency 
datasets will not all be released at the same time and before releasing 
the final datasets. FSIS will publish a Constituent Update with a link 
to a sample dataset for stakeholder review.
    Besides the preliminary datasets that the Agency will be releasing, 
as stated in the draft Plan, FSIS is considering additional data 
sources for future release. These include: Inspection task data 
associated with verification of compliance with each regulation; humane 
handling task data; and import sampling task data relating to STEC, 
Salmonella, and residue testing.
    The Agency is sharing the draft Plan with the larger public to 
benefit from any comments and suggestions that the public may provide. 
The Agency will consider all comments submitted before releasing and 
posting any datasets. The Agency will revise the draft Plan as 
necessary.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

    No agency, officer, or employee of the USDA shall, on the grounds 
of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual 
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, 
income derived from a public assistance program, or political beliefs, 
exclude from participation in, deny the benefits of, or subject to 
discrimination any person in the United States under any program or 
activity conducted by the USDA.
    To file a complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program 
Discrimination Complaint Form, which may be accessed online at http://www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you or your 
authorized representative.
    Send your completed complaint form or letter to USDA by mail, fax, 
or email:

Mail

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 
1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410.

Fax

    (202) 690-7442.

Email

    [email protected].

    Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for 
communication (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact 
USDA's TARGET Center at (202)720-2600 (voice and TDD).

Additional Public Notification

    FSIS will announce this notice online through the FSIS Web page 
located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register.
    FSIS will also make copies of this Federal Register publication 
available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide 
information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal 
Register notices, FSIS public meetings, and other types of information 
that could affect or would be of interest to constituents and 
stakeholders. The Update is communicated via Listserv, a free 
electronic mail subscription service for industry, trade groups, 
consumer interest groups, health professionals, and other individuals 
who have asked to be included. The Update is also available on the FSIS 
Web page. In addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription 
service which provides automatic and customized access to selected food 
safety news and information. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. Options range from recalls to export 
information to regulations, directives, and notices. Customers can add 
or delete subscriptions themselves, and have the option to password 
protect their accounts.

    Done at Washington, DC, on: January 9, 2015.
Alfred V. Almanza,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-00434 Filed 1-14-15; 8:45 am]
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