[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 140 (Thursday, July 21, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47418-47419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17209]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Privacy Act of 1974; Publication in Full of All Notices of 
Systems of Records, Including Several New Systems, Substantive 
Amendments to Existing Systems, Decommissioning of Obsolete Legacy 
Systems, and Publication of Proposed Routines Uses

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Labor.

ACTION: Notice: Response to Comments on the Department's April 29, 2016 
System of Records Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a response to public comments on the 
Department's April 29, 2016 System of

[[Page 47419]]

Records Notice. In response to comments, the Department is revising one 
SORN. That SORN, and the remainder of SORNs published on April 29, 
2016, will become effective on the date of publication of this notice.

DATES: The effective date for the Department's System of Records Notice 
is the date of publication of this notice. Effective Date: The date of 
publication of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph J. Plick, Counsel for FOIA and 
Information Law, Office of the Solicitor, Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-2420, Washington, DC 20210, telephone 
(202) 693-5527, or by email to [email protected].
    Background: On April 29, 2016, the Department of Labor issued a 
Publication In Full of All Notices of Systems of Records, including 
several new systems; substantive amendments to systems; decommissioning 
of obsolete legacy systems; and publication of new universal routine 
uses for all system of records. The Department received several public 
comments and one Federal agency comment on this System of Records 
Notice during the public comment period, which ended June 8, 2016. The 
Department required additional time to review and address the comments, 
so, by Federal Register notice of June 21, 2016, 81 FR 40352, the 
effective date was postponed to July 23, 2016.
    The Department is now publishing this notice to address the eleven 
comments to and revise SORN DOL/Central-5 in response to those 
comments.
    Comment: Several comments criticized Universal Routine Use #14, 
which ``permits the Department to disclose information to the United 
States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (FBI) that will be included in the National Instant 
Criminal Background Check System (NICS).'' The commenters argued that 
this Routine Use impermissibly infringes on Second Amendment rights. 
One commenter stated, for example:

    This rule (which refers specifically to 23 executive actions 
that Obama took on Jan. 16, 2013) infringes on the Second Amendment 
by having developed through rule, manner in which protected health 
information (PHI) is now authorized to be released 
unconstitutionally by HHS to agenc(ies) of the federal government 
without the affected individual's consent, and the PHI is thus used 
in a manner to target individuals and unconstitutionally remove 
access to weapons in connection with NICS.

    Response: The Department is required by law--the Brady Handgun 
Violence Prevention Act, as amended by the NICS Improvement Amendments 
Act of 2007--to provide information to the Attorney General to carry 
out its provisions. Therefore, the Department is declining to make 
changes to Universal Routine Use #14.
    Comment: One comment was critical of Universal Routine Use #13, 
which allows the Department to disclose information to a state or local 
government agency in charge of issuing licenses to attorneys and health 
care professionals. The commenter raised the concern that state laws, 
particularly California's state laws, prohibit information sharing with 
state and local agencies.
    Response: Under the Supremacy Clause, federal law takes precedence 
over state law. But to the extent that state law in California may 
apply, the Department has not identified any laws which prohibit the 
disclosure contemplated by Universal Routine Use #13. On the contrary, 
California's most broadly applicable privacy law--the Information 
Practices Act of 1977--explicitly allows sharing ``To a law enforcement 
or regulatory agency when required for an investigation of unlawful 
activity or for licensing, certification, or regulatory purposes, 
unless the disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law.'' The Department 
declines to make changes in response to this comment.
    Comment: Several comments did not specifically reference or provide 
substantive feedback on any section of the SORN. One commenter stated, 
for example, ``I do not favor the use of funds for rail support that is 
not directly supportive of General Aviation or Airline services, viz. 
flights.'' Another argued ``No undocumented alien should have the same 
ability to sue for discrimination because of their country of origin, 
as an American Citizen does.''
    Response: The Department was unable to identify any sections of the 
SORN relevant to these comments, and, therefore, is making no changes 
in response.
    Comment: Three commenters, including the Office of Government 
Information Services (OGIS) (within the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA)) suggested changing the text of Routine Use (b) 
in the DOL/Central-5 SORN, which covers the Department's Freedom of 
Information Act files, to follow model language drafted by OGIS and to 
explicitly note that disclosure to OGIS is a permissible routine use 
for FOIA files. Specifically, the OGIS model language states:

    To the National Archives and Records Administration, Office of 
Government Information Services (OGIS), to the extent necessary to 
fulfill its responsibilities in 5 U.S.C. 552(h), to review 
administrative agency policies, procedures and compliance with the 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and to facilitate OGIS' offering 
of mediation services to resolve disputes between persons making 
FOIA requests and administrative agencies.

    Response: The Department agrees that additional language can be 
helpful to clarify that the scope of permissible disclosures of FOIA 
files under Routine Use (b) of DOL/Central 5 SORN includes disclosure 
to OGIS in order to facilitate its responsibilities related to FOIA 
compliance and mediation. Accordingly, the Department is revising this 
routine use to incorporate this model language. Routine Use (b) will 
now read:

    Information to other Federal agencies (e.g., Department of 
Justice or the Office of Government Information Services within the 
National Archives and Records Administration) in order to obtain 
advice and recommendations concerning matters on which the agency 
has specialized experience or particular competence; for use in 
making required determinations; to fulfill agency responsibilities 
to review administrative agency policies, procedures, and compliance 
under the Freedom of Information Act or the Privacy Act of 1974; or 
to facilitate mediation services between administrative agencies and 
persons making Freedom of Information requests.

    The SORN will become effective, with the change to DOL/Central-5, 
on the date of publication of this notice.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 15th July, 2016.
Thomas E. Perez,
Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2016-17209 Filed 7-20-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-HL-P