[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 93 (Tuesday, May 14, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21315-21320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09874]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Housing Service

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

Rural Utilities Service


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and 
Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 
as amended; Section 12204 of the Agricultural Act of 2014, Rural 
Development (RD) gives notice of its proposal to modify the system of 
records entitled USDA/RD-1 Current or Prospective Producers or 
Landowners, Applicants, Borrowers, Grantees, Tenants, and other 
participants in RD programs.
    To communicate the revision to the USDA RD-1 Systems of Records 
Notice in which the addition of Routine Use 26 below is published.
    However, this was not the only revised Routine Use--these were also 
revised:
    1. Routine Use 21 was revised,
    2. Routine Use 22 was added [OMB M-17-12 items],
    3. In addition, Routine Uses 23 and 24 were renumbered to 24 and 
25, respectively.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than June 13, 2019. This 
system of records will be effective June 13, 2019 unless RD determines 
otherwise.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this notice by any of the 
following methods:
     You may submit written or electronic comments on this 
notice by any of the following methods: Federal rulemaking Portal: 
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments via the U.S. Postal Service 
to the Team Lead, Innovation Center, Regulations Management Team, Rural 
Development, Mail Stop 1522, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 
20250.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Submit written comments via Federal 
Express Mail or other courier service requiring a street address to the 
Team Lead, Innovation Center, Rural Development, 1400 Independence Ave. 
SW, Washington, DC 20250, Mail Stop 1522.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions, please contact:

[[Page 21316]]

Michael Gardner, RD Privacy Act Officer, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, MS 
0707, Room 0168-S, Washington, DC 20250; Telephone: 202-692-0212.
    For privacy issues, please contact: USDA Privacy Team, Information 
Security Center, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Department of 
Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 401-W, South Building, 
Washington, DC 20250; phone 202-205-0926 or at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 
U.S.C. 552a), requires agencies to publish in the Federal Register 
notice of new or revised systems of records maintained by the agency. 
In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular 
A-130, Rural Development of the United States Department of Agriculture 
(USDA) is proposing to revise an existing Privacy Act system of 
records, which was last published in full on April 28, 2016 (FR 2016-
09938).
    The agency proposes to revise to USDA/RD-1 routine uses concerning:
    a. The Agency also has revised Routine use 21 and added Routine use 
22 to include the latest routine use from OMB M-17-12.
    b. Routine use 23 renumbered to Routine use 24,
    c. Routine use 24 is renumbered to Routine 25.
    d. Added Routine use 26 added to allow records to be disclosed to 
financial institutions (including government sponsored enterprises), 
Federal agencies, and other entities for the purposes of enhancing 
program operations and performance through automated underwriting, 
credit scoring and risk management. Routine Use 26 will also apply to 
records already identified in USDA/RD-1.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    USDA/RD-1 Current or Prospective Producers or Landowners, 
Applicants, Borrowers, Grantees, Tenants, and other participants in RD 
programs

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Records are in the local, area, or state office through which the 
financial assistance is sought or was obtained; in the Customer Service 
Center (CSC); and in the National Finance Office in St. Louis, 
Missouri. A state office version of the local or area office record may 
be in or accessible by the state office which is responsible for that 
local or area office. Correspondence regarding borrowers is located in 
the state and national office files.
    A list of all state offices and any additional states offices for 
which an office is responsible is as follows:

    Montgomery, AL
    Palmer, AK
    Phoenix, AZ
    Little Rock, AR
    Davis, CA
    Lakewood, CO
    Dover, DE (includes Maryland)
    Gainesville, FL (includes U.S. Virgin Islands)
    Athens, GA
    Hilo, HI (includes Western Pacific Territories of American Samoa, 
Guam, and Commonwealth of the Marianas Islands, Federated States of 
Micronesia, Republic of Palau, and the Marshall Islands)
    Boise, ID
    Champaign, IL
    Indianapolis, IN
    Des Moines, IA
    Topeka, KS
    Lexington, KY
    Alexandria, LA
    Bangor, ME
    Amherst, MA (includes Connecticut and Rhode Island)
    East Lansing, MI
    St. Paul, MN
    Jackson, MS
    Columbia, MO
    Bozeman, MT
    Lincoln, NE
    Carson City, NV
    Mt. Laurel, NJ
    Albuquerque, NM
    Syracuse, NY
    Raleigh, NC
    Bismarck, ND
    Columbus, OH
    Stillwater, OK
    Portland, OR
    Harrisburg, PA
    San Juan, PR
    Columbia, SC
    Huron, SD
    Nashville, TN
    Temple, TX
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Montpelier, VT (includes New Hampshire)
    Richmond, VA
    Olympia, WA
    Morgantown, WV
    Stevens Point, WI
    Casper, WY

    The address of local, area, and state offices are listed in the 
telephone directory of the appropriate city or town under the heading, 
``United States Government, Department of Agriculture, and Rural 
Development.'' The Finance Office and CSC are located at 4300 
Goodfellow Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63120-0011.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    The Community Development Manager at the Local Office; the RD 
Manager at the Area Office; and the State Director at the State Office; 
the Deputy Chief Financial Officer in St. Louis, MO; and the respective 
Administrators in the National Office at the following addresses: 
Administrator, Rural Housing Service, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue 
SW, Room 5014, South Building, Stop 0701, Washington, DC 20250-0701; 
Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA, 1400 
Independence Ave. SW, Rm. 5803-S, Stop 3201, Washington, DC 20250-3201; 
Administrator, Rural Utilities Service,--USDA 1400 Independence Ave. 
SW, Rm. 5135, Stop 1510, Washington, DC 20250-1510. Contact information 
can be found at http://www.rd.usda.gov.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972, as amended; 
Section 12204 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79); 
Agricultural Credit of 1961 & Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 
Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.); Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et 
seq.); Section 901 of the Food Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 
(Pub L. 110-246); Rural Electrification and Telephone Service (7 U.S.C. 
901 et seq.).

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The purpose of this system is for Rural Development (RD) to 
maintain information that is used for current or prospective producers 
or landowners, applicants, borrowers, grantees, tenants, and other 
participants in RD programs designed to help improve the economy and 
quality of life in rural America. These financial systems support such 
essential public facilities and service as water and sewer systems, 
housing, health clinics, emergency service facilities, and electric and 
telephone services. Additionally, RD systems and feeder applications 
promote economic development by supporting loans to businesses through 
banks, credit unions, and community-managed lending pools. The suite of 
RD systems covered by this system of records is developed and 
maintained by the Chief Information Officer Washington DC.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Current or prospective producers or landowners, applicants, 
borrowers, grantees, tenants, and their respective household members, 
including members of associations and other participants in RD 
programs.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Records include individual's social security or employer 
identification

[[Page 21317]]

number, bank routing and account numbers; and their respective 
household members' characteristics, such as gross and net income, 
sources of income, capital, assets and liabilities, net worth, age, 
race, number of dependents, marital status, reference material, farm or 
ranch operating plans, and property appraisal. The system also tracks 
credit reports and personal references from credit agencies, lenders, 
businesses, and individuals. In addition, a running record of 
observation concerning the operations of the person being financed is 
included. A record of deposits to and withdrawals from an individual's 
supervised bank account is also contained in those files where 
appropriate. In some local offices, this record is maintained in a 
separate folder containing only information relating to activity within 
supervised bank accounts. Some items of information are extracted from 
the individual's file and placed in a card file for quick reference.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Information in this system comes primarily from credit reports. 
Personal references come primarily from current or prospective 
producers or landowners, applicants, borrowers, grantees, tenant, 
credit agencies, and creditors.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE GROUP OF APPLICATIONS, 
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 information 
contained in this system may be disclosed outside USDA as a routine use 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. a(b)(3) as follows:
    1. When a record on its face, or in conjunction with other records, 
indicates a violation or potential violation of law, whether civil, 
criminal or regulatory in nature, and whether arising by general 
statute or particular program statute, or by regulation, rule, or order 
issued pursuant thereto, disclosure may be made to the appropriate 
agency, whether Federal, foreign, state, local, or tribal, or other 
public authority responsible for enforcing, investigating or 
prosecuting such violation or charged with enforcing or implementing 
the statute, or rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto, if 
the information disclosed is relevant to any enforcement, regulatory, 
investigative or prospective responsibility of the receiving entity.
    2. To a Member of Congress or to a Congressional staff member in 
response to an inquiry of the Congressional office made at the written 
request of the constituent about whom the record is maintained.
    3. RD will provide information from these systems to the U.S. 
Department of the Treasury and to other Federal agencies maintaining 
debt servicing centers, in connection with overdue debts, in order to 
participate in the Treasury's Offset Program as required by the Debt 
Collection Improvements Act, Public Law 104-134, section 31001.
    4. Disclosure to RD of name, home addresses, and information 
concerning default on loan repayment when the default involves a 
security interest in tribal allotted or trust land. Pursuant to the 
Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12701 et seq.), liquidation may be pursued only after offering to 
transfer the account to an eligible tribal member, the tribe, or the 
Indian housing authority serving the tribe(s).
    5. Disclosure of names, home addresses, social security numbers, 
and financial information to a collection or servicing contractor, 
financial institution, or a local, state, or Federal agency, when RD 
determines such referral is appropriate for servicing or collecting the 
borrower's account or as provided for in contracts with servicing or 
collection agencies.
    6. To a court or adjudicative body in a proceeding when: (a) The 
agency or any component thereof; or (b) any employee of the agency in 
his or her official capacity; or (c) any employee of the agency in his 
or her individual capacity where the agency has agreed to represent the 
employee; or (d) the United States Government, is a party to litigation 
or has an interest in such litigation, and by careful review, the 
agency determines that the records are both relevant and necessary to 
the litigation and the use of such records is therefore deemed by the 
agency to be for a purpose that is compatible with the purpose for 
which the agency collected the records.
    7. Disclosure of names, home addresses, and financial information 
for selected borrowers to financial consultants, advisors, lending 
institutions, packagers, agents, and private or commercial credit 
sources, when RD determines such referral is appropriate to encourage 
the borrower to refinance his RD indebtedness as required by Title V of 
the Housing Act of 1949, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1471), or to assist the 
borrower in the sale of the property.
    8. Disclosure of legally enforceable debts to the Department of the 
Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to be offset against any tax 
refund that may become due the debtor for the tax year in which the 
referral is made, in accordance with the IRS regulations at 26 CFR 
301.6402-6T, Offset of Past Due Legally Enforceable Debt Against 
Overpayment, and under the authority contained in 31 U.S.C. 3720A.
    9. Disclosure of information regarding indebtedness to the Defense 
Manpower Data Center, Department of Defense, and the United States 
Postal Service for the purpose of conducting computer matching programs 
to identify and locate individuals receiving Federal salary or benefit 
payments and who are delinquent in their repayment of debts owed to the 
U.S. Government under certain programs administered by RD in order to 
collect debts under the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 
(5 U.S.C. 5514) by voluntary repayment, administrative or salary offset 
procedures, or by collection agencies.
    10. Disclosure of names, home addresses, and financial information 
to lending institutions when RD determines the individual may be 
financially capable of qualifying for credit with or without a 
guarantee.
    11. Disclosure of names, home addresses, social security numbers, 
and financial information to lending institutions that have a lien 
against the same property as RD for the purpose of the collection of 
the debt. These loans may be under the direct and guaranteed loan 
programs.
    12. Disclosure to private attorneys under contract with either RD 
or with the Department of Justice for the purpose of foreclosure and 
possession actions and collection of past due accounts in connection 
with RD.
    13. To the Department of Justice when: (a) The agency or any 
component thereof; or (b) any employee of the agency in his or her 
official capacity where the Department of Justice has agreed to 
represent the employee; or (c) the United States Government, is a party 
to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and by careful 
review, the agency determines that the records are both relevant and 
necessary to the litigation and the use of such records by the 
Department of Justice is therefore deemed by the agency to be for a 
purpose that is compatible with the purpose for which the agency 
collected the records.
    14. Disclosure of names, home addresses, social security numbers, 
and financial information to the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development for the purpose of evaluating a loan applicant's 
creditworthiness, information that will allow for the pre-screening of 
applicants through the Credit Alert Verification Reporting

[[Page 21318]]

System (CAIVRS) computer matching program. An applicant shall be pre-
screened for any debts owed or loans guaranteed by the Federal 
government to ascertain if the applicant is delinquent in paying a debt 
owed to or insured by the Federal government. Authorized employees of, 
and approved private lenders acting on behalf of, the Federal agencies 
participating in the CAIVRS computer matching program will be able to 
search the CAIVRS database.
    Explanatory Text: Credit Alert Verification Reporting System 
(CAIVRS) is a Federal government database of delinquent Federal debtors 
that when reviewed, allows Federal agencies to reduce the risk to 
Federal loan and loan guarantee programs. CAIVRS alerts participating 
Federal lending agencies when an applicant for credit benefits has a 
Federal lien, judgment, or a Federal loan that is currently in default 
or foreclosure or has had a claim paid by a reporting agency. CAIVRS 
allows authorized employees of participating Federal agencies to access 
a database of delinquent Federal borrowers for the purpose of pre-
screening direct loan applicants for credit worthiness and also permits 
approved private lenders acting on behalf of the Federal agency to 
access the delinquent borrower database for the purpose of pre-
screening the credit worthiness of applicants for federally guaranteed 
loans. CAIVRS authority derives from the Computer Matching and Privacy 
Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-503) as amended, Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars A-129 (Managing Federal Credit 
Programs) and A-70 (Policies and Guidelines for Federal Credit 
Programs), the Budget and Accounting Acts of 1921 and 1950, as amended, 
the Debt Collection Act of 1982, as amended, the Deficit Reduction Act 
of 1984, as amended, and the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, 
as amended.
    15. Disclosure of names, home addresses, social security numbers, 
and financial information to the Department of Labor, State Wage 
Information Collection Agencies, and other Federal, State, and local 
agencies, as well as those responsible for verifying information 
furnished to qualify for Federal benefits, to conduct wage and benefit 
matching through manual and/or automated means, for the purpose of 
determining compliance with Federal regulations and appropriate 
servicing actions against those not entitled to program benefits, 
including possible recovery of improper benefits.
    16. Disclosure of names, home addresses, and financial information 
to financial consultants, advisors, or underwriters, when RD determines 
such referral is appropriate for developing packaging and marketing 
strategies involving the sale of RD loan assets.
    17. Disclosure of names, home and work addresses, home telephone 
numbers, social security numbers, and financial information to escrow 
agents (which also could include attorneys and title companies) 
selected by the applicant or borrower for the purpose of closing the 
loan.
    18. Disclosure to Health and Human Services (HHS) parent locator 
system for finding parents who do not pay child support: The name and 
current address of record of an individual may be disclosed from this 
system of records to the parent locator service of the Department of 
HHS or authorized persons defined by Public Law 93-647, 42 U.S.C. 653.
    19. To agency contractors, grantees, experts, consultants or 
volunteers who have been engaged by the agency to assist in the 
performance of a service related to this system of records and who need 
to have access to the records to perform the activity. Recipients shall 
be required to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, 
as amended, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(m).
    20. Disclosure to customer service agents for training and 
evaluation purposes. Information is collected during calls made by the 
client to the CSC Customer Service Section to discuss questions or 
concerns pertaining to their mortgage account(s) with RD. The 
information discussed during the call to the CSC help desk is captured 
and used for training and evaluation purposes to ensure proper 
procedures are being followed and accurate information is provided when 
assisting the client.
    21. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) RD 
suspects or has confirmed that there has been a breach of the system of 
records,[middot] (2) RD has determined that as a result of the 
suspected or confirmed breach there is a risk of harm to individuals, 
RD (including its information systems, programs, and operations), the 
Federal Government, or national security; and (3) the disclosure made 
to such agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to 
assist in connection with RD efforts to respond to the suspected or 
confirmed breach or to prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm'' 
suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy such 
harm.
    22. To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when RD determines 
that information from this system of records is reasonably necessary to 
assist the recipient agency or entity in (1) responding to a suspected 
or confirmed breach or (2) preventing, minimizing, or remedying the 
risk of harm to individuals, the recipient agency or entity (including 
its information systems, programs, and operations), the Federal 
Government, or national security, resulting from a suspected or 
confirmed breach.
    23. To comply with Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency 
Act (FFATA) and similar statutory requirements for public disclosure in 
situations where records reflect loans, grants, or other payments to 
members of the public: USDA will disclose information about individuals 
from this system of records in accordance with the Federal Funding 
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-282; codified 
at 31 U.S.C. 6101, et seq.); section 204 of the E-Government Act of 
2002 (Pub. L. 107-347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note), and the Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403 et seq.), or similar statutes 
requiring agencies to make available publicly information concerning 
Federal financial assistance, including grants, sub grants, loan 
awards, cooperative agreements and other financial assistance; and 
contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, task orders, and delivery 
orders.
    24. To the National Archives and Records Administration for to the 
National Archives and Records Administration for records management 
inspections conducted under 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    25. To the Department of the Treasury for the purpose of 
identifying, preventing, or recouping improper payments to an applicant 
for, or recipient of, Federal funds, including funds disbursed by a 
State in a State-administered, federally funded program, information 
that will allow for pre-payment eligibility review of a loan applicant 
through the Do Not Pay computer matching program. Authorized employees 
of, and approved private lenders acting on behalf of, the Federal 
agencies participating in the Do Not Pay computer matching program will 
be able to search the Do Not Pay database. The disclosure may include 
applicant's name, home address, Social Security Number, income/
financial data, date of birth, personal telephone number, and personal 
email address.
    Explanatory Text: To help eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in 
Federal programs, Federal agencies are to focus on preventing payment 
errors before they occur. The purpose of the

[[Page 21319]]

Department of the Treasury's Do Not Pay program is to reduce improper 
payments by intensifying efforts to eliminate payment error, waste, 
fraud, and abuse in the major programs administered by the Federal 
Government, while continuing to ensure that Federal programs serve and 
provide access to their intended beneficiaries. Federal agencies shall 
thoroughly review the Do Not Pay computer matching database, to the 
extent permitted by law to determine applicant eligibility before the 
release of any Federal funds. By checking the Do Not Pay database 
before making payments, Federal agencies can identify ineligible 
recipients and prevent certain improper payments from being made. The 
Do Not Pay program authority derives from the Improper Payments 
Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-248).
    26. To financial institutions (including government sponsored 
enterprises), Federal agencies, and other entities for the purposes of 
enhancing program operations and performance through automated 
underwriting, credit scoring and risk management.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
    Disclosures pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (b) (12): Disclosures may be 
made from this system to consumer reporting agencies as defined in the 
Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a (f)) or the Federal Claims 
Collection Act (31 U.S.C. 3701(a) (3)).

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Records are maintained in file folders at the local, area, state, 
and national offices. All records are converted to electronic format 
and stored on a USDA managed certified and accredited storage 
repository. Once agency employees convert the paper documents to 
digital records, verify that the digital record is readable and 
successfully ported to the imaging repository the manual documents are 
destroyed in compliance with RD regulation (shredding). Other program 
imaging repositories are utilized to allow multi-point access to 
electronic records, but the manual documents are retained securely in 
the local office until such time as the account is considered closed 
per Rural Development Regulation 2033-A. At that time, the documents/
case files are destroyed in a manner as outlined in RD regulation. If 
the office cannot accommodate proper, manual file retention standards 
(inadequate space to secure and house documents/files that require 
retention), inactive documents/case files (i.e., charge-offs, pay-offs, 
denials, withdrawn) can be retired to the Federal Records Center. Any 
records shipped to the Center for retention must be clearly inventoried 
and marked with a destroy-by date. The destroy date is determined by 
the record type after it is closed (e.g., loss to the government 
retention is 7 years after case is closed). The retention schedule can 
be found at RD 2033-A and the Operational Records Manual. For further 
information contact the RD Records Officer. If closed/inactive files 
are retained at the local office until such time as they are eligible 
for destruction, they are stored in a secured location.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    Records are indexed by name, identification number, and type of 
loan or grant. Data may be retrieved from the paper records or the 
electronic storage. All RD state and field offices as well as the 
financial office and the Customer Service Center (CSC) have the 
telecommunications capability available to access this subset of data.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    Records are retained for Financial Systems under National Archives 
and Records Administration General Schedule 7.
    Records are maintained subject to the Federal Records Disposal Act 
of 1943 (44 U.S.C. 33), and as amended in accordance with RD disposal 
schedules. The local, area, state, and national offices dispose of 
records by shredding, burning, or other suitable disposal methods after 
established retention periods have been fulfilled. (Destruction methods 
may never compromise the confidentiality of information contained in 
the records.) Applications, including credit reports and personal 
references, which are rejected, withdrawn, or otherwise terminated are 
kept in the local, area, or state offices for two full fiscal years and 
one month after the end of the fiscal year in which the application was 
rejected, withdrawn, canceled, or expired. If final action was taken on 
the application, including an appeal, investigation, or litigation, the 
application is kept for one full fiscal year after the end of the 
fiscal year in which final action was taken.
    The records, including credit reports, of borrowers who have paid 
or otherwise satisfied their obligation are retained in the local, 
area, or state office for one full fiscal year after the fiscal year in 
which the loan was paid in full. Correspondence records at the National 
Office which concern borrowers and applicants are retained for three 
full fiscal years after the last year in which there was 
correspondence.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS
    Paper records are kept in locked offices at the Local, Area, State, 
and National Offices. For electronic records and an online retrieval 
system at the Finance Office access is restricted to authorize Rural 
Development personnel. A system of operator and terminal passwords and 
code numbers is used to restrict access to the online system. Passwords 
and code numbers are changed as necessary.
    The records are protected by the confidentiality requirements of 
the USDA Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Cyber Security 
Manuals and the provisions of the Privacy Act. Only authorized USDA 
employees will have access to the records in this system on a need to 
know basis. Role based access controls are used and the systems are 
accessible via the USDA Intranet. Only authorized USDA personnel will 
have access to these records. The systems covered by this notice have 
been categorized as having a Moderate security categorization impact as 
identified in Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 199, 
Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and 
Information Systems. The security controls implemented within the 
systems will correspond with those published in the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-53, 
Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Technology 
Systems for a Moderate impact system.
    Users are only granted system access upon successful completion of 
information security training and each user is supplied with a unique 
and strong user-id and password. The user roles are restrictive and 
based on the principle of least privilege allowing for adequate 
performance of job functions and access to information is based on a 
need to know.
    Due to the financial nature of the systems covered by this notice, 
the systems also adhere to the security controls identified in the 
Federal Information Security Control Audit Manual (FISCAM). The 
mandatory requirements of FIPS 199 and FIPS 200, Minimum Security 
Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems, support 
the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and the FISCAM 
supports the mandated Office of Management and

[[Page 21320]]

Budget (OMB) Circular A-123, Management of Internal Controls.
    Moreover, specific USDA security requirements are adhered to 
through the USDA Cyber Security Manuals including but not limited to: 
DM3545-000, Personnel Security, and DM3510-001, Physical Security 
Standards for Information Technology Restricted Space.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Any individual may request information regarding this system of 
records or determine whether the system contains records pertaining to 
him/her, from the appropriate System Manager. If the specific location 
of the record is not known, the individual should address his or her 
request to: Rural Development, Freedom of information Officer, United 
States Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Stop 
0742, and Washington, DC 20250-0742.
    A request for information pertaining to an individual must include 
a name; an address; the RD office where the loan or grant was applied 
for, approved, and/or denied; the type of RD program; and the date of 
the request or approval.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES
    See ``Record Access Procedure'' above.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    See ``Record Access Procedure'' above.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    System of Records; USDA/Rural Development-1 Current or Prospective 
Producers or Landowners, Applicants, Borrowers, Grantees, Tenants, and 
Other Participants in RD Programs A Notice by the Rural Housing 
Service, the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and the Rural 
Utilities Service Published to the Federal Register 04/28/2016.

Joel C. Baxley,
Acting Assistant to the Secretary, Rural Development.
[FR Doc. 2019-09874 Filed 5-13-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-XT-P