[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 14, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40385-40388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17461]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2014-0075]
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.
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SUMMARY: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service proposes to add
a system of records to its inventory of records systems subject to the
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. The system of records being proposed
is the Agricultural Quarantine Activity System, USDA/APHIS-20. This
notice is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act to
publish in the Federal Register notice of the existence and character
of record systems maintained by the agency. Although the Privacy Act
requires only that the portion of the system which describes the
``routine uses'' of the system be published for comment, we invite
comment on all portions of this notice.
DATES: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11), this notice
will become applicable upon publication, subject to a 30-day notice and
comment period in which to comment on the routine uses described below.
Please submit any comments by September 13, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0075.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2014-0075, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-
0075 or in our reading room, which is located in Room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC.
Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions, please contact
Mr. Emilio Vasquez, Business System Manager, QPAS, PPQ, APHIS, 4700
River Road, Unit 60, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 851-2257. For Privacy
Act questions concerning this system of records notice, please contact
Ms. Tonya Woods, Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Act
Staff, 4700 River Road, Unit 50, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 851-4076.
For USDA Privacy Act questions, please contact the USDA Chief Privacy
Officer, Information Security Center, Office of Chief Information
Officer, USDA, Jamie L. Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Ave. SW,
Washington, DC 20250; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy
Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), notice is given that the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) is proposing to add a new system of records, entitled the
Agricultural Quarantine Activity System (AQAS), USDA/APHIS-20, which
would be used to maintain a record of activities conducted by the
agency pursuant to its mission and responsibilities authorized by the
Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq. and 7 U.S.C. 7781 et seq.);
the Honey Bee Act (7 U.S.C. 281 et seq.); and the Animal Health
Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.).
APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program and Department
of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will
use AQAS to record trade-related activities conducted inside the United
States. The data associated with trade events includes shipment
arrivals, quarantine activities, invasive pest interceptions, and other
commodity inspection and pest exclusion actions. This system aids the
free flow of agricultural goods into the country by collecting
agricultural risk data that ultimately helps to minimize the impact of
quarantine activities on trade. Additionally, it records activities
conducted by APHIS within the U.S. borders pertaining to detecting the
unlawful entry and distribution of prohibited and/or non-compliant
products that may harbor exotic plant and animal pests, diseases, or
invasive species. These activities are captured in AQAS via subsystems
that are interrelated, web-based systems, and share a common platform.
A complete listing of the subsystems is included in the purposes
section of the document published with this notice.
APHIS will share information from the system pursuant to the
requirements of the Privacy Act and, in the case of its routine uses,
when the disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the
information was compiled. A full list of routine uses is included in
the routine uses section of the document published with this notice.
A report on the new system of records, required by 5 U.S.C.
552a(r), as implemented by Office of Management and Budget Circular A-
108, was sent to the Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, United States Senate; the Chairman, Committee on
Oversight and Reform, House of Representatives; and the Administrator,
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget.
Done in Washington, DC, this 8th day of August 2019.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
USDA/APHIS-20
SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER
Agricultural Quarantine Activity System (AQAS), USDA/APHIS-20.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
AQAS servers, files, data, and software are hosted at the National
Information Technology Center (NITC), 8930 Ward Parkway, Kansas City,
MO. The AQAS backup system is located at NITC enterprise data centers
at 4300 Goodfellow Blvd., St. Louis, MO.
SYSTEM MANAGER:
Director, Quarantine, Policy, Analysis and Support, Plant Health
Programs, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 60, Riverdale, MD 20737.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
The Plant Protection Act, 7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq. and 7 U.S.C. 7781
et seq.; the Honey Bee Act, 7 U.S.C. 281 et seq.; and the Animal Health
Protection Act, 7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.
PURPOSES OF THE SYSTEM:
The AQAS records agricultural quarantine activities conducted by
U.S.
[[Page 40386]]
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) employees at the U.S. ports of entry. This
system also records agricultural quarantine activities conducted inside
the United States that are related to trade. This system aids the free
flow of agricultural goods into the country by collecting agricultural
risk data that ultimately helps to minimize the impact of quarantine
activities on trade. Additionally, it records activities conducted by
APHIS within the U.S. borders pertaining to detecting the unlawful
entry and distribution of prohibited and/or noncompliant products that
may harbor exotic plant and animal pests, diseases, or invasive
species.
AQAS consists of subsystems that are interrelated, web-based
systems and share a common platform.
The AQAS subsystems include:
AQIM--Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Monitoring System
EAN--Emergency Action Notification Database
Pest ID--Pest Interception Database
PPQ280--Regulated Commodities Database
PPQ264--Propagative Imports Notification Database
Mail287--Mail Interception Notification Database
WADS--Work Accomplishment Data System
The AQIM system provides a systematic approach to determining the
risks of cargo approaching ports of entry into the United States by
collecting specific pieces of data about randomly sampled shipments and
analyzing the data to identify the high risk criteria and to target
inspections accordingly. The EAN system tracks the issuance of
Emergency Action Notifications. CBP and Plant Protection and Quarantine
(PPQ) officers at U.S. ports of entry and throughout the country
generate an EAN form when an actionable violation is detected related
to prohibited pests and/or agricultural products found in foreign cargo
or in U.S. marketplaces and domestic sites. The Pest ID system was
developed to replace the PIN309 system and records pest interceptions
in agricultural commodities at the U.S. ports of entry and throughout
the country. The PIN309 system captured all of the data in the current
Pest ID system and all data in the PIN309 system was migrated over to
the Pest ID system. The PPQ280 system tracks fruits, vegetables,
flowers, propagative material, logs, lumber, cotton products, and
certain miscellaneous products imported or transiting through a port.
It tracks the final disposition of the commodity, the number of
shipments, the weight or volume, the type, and the country of origin of
the commodity. The PPQ264 portion of the PPQ280 system is used by the
PPQ Plant Inspection Stations to track imported propagative material
and permitted organisms. The Mail287 system maintains records of Mail
Interception Notices. This form documents noncompliant actions of
persons who mail United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
regulated articles through postal mail processing facilities. Articles
that are prohibited or restricted are often confiscated and the
intended recipient is notified via this form. The WADS system records
work activities related to agricultural quarantine inspections at U.S.
ports of entry. WADS codes are designed to report on activities such as
the number of foreign arriving passengers or cargo and number of
inspections conducted. The purpose of the WADS system is to enable
APHIS to set risk management priorities and to make staffing
recommendations. WADS data are analyzed in conjunction with other AQAS
data for risk analysis.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
This system contains records associated with agricultural
quarantine inspection activities conducted by CBP and PPQ at U.S. ports
of entry. The records include the following categories of individuals:
Foreign arrival passengers, senders and recipients listed on
intercepted mail, agricultural commodity importers, shippers, carriers,
owners, consignees, delivery contact persons, permit holders, and other
individuals involved in the relevant programs or activities.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
For foreign arrival passengers, agricultural commodity importers,
shippers, carriers, owners, consignees, delivery contact persons,
permit holders, and other individuals involved in the relevant programs
or activities, the records include, but are not limited to, some or all
of the following: Names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, permit
numbers, and/or emergency action notification form serial numbers. AQAS
contains the names and addresses of the senders and recipients recorded
on intercepted mail. This system may also contain targeting information
used to categorize inspection activities associated with vehicles
including name or type of carrier, voyage or flight data, and
destination State. AQAS also contains the contact information of the
CBP and APHIS inspection officials, including names, telephone numbers,
and fax numbers.
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
Information within this system is obtained from the general public,
import documents, CBP data systems, and from Federal and State
regulatory officials, including APHIS and CBP employees.
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C.
552a(b) of the Privacy Act, records maintained in the system may be
disclosed outside USDA, as follows, to the extent that such disclosures
are compatible with the purposes for which the information was
collected:
(1) To DHS CBP and other cooperating Federal or State government
employees, or contractors 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 USDA officials and employees. Specific applications
include, but are not limited to, issuing notifications for
noncompliance to importers, shippers, property owners, mail recipients
or addressees; informing State entities about upcoming plant shipments;
using AQIM data to track and analyze various pathways and the
commodities entering those pathways into the United States for purposes
of pest risk management; and generating reports to evaluate quality
control and effectiveness of the program;
(2) To appropriate law enforcement agencies, entities, and persons,
whether Federal, foreign, State, Tribal, local, or other public
authority responsible for enforcing, investigating, or prosecuting an
alleged violation or a violation of law or charged with enforcing,
implementing, or complying with a statute, rule, regulation, or order
issued pursuant thereto, when a record in this system 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 court order issued pursuant thereto, if the
information disclosed is relevant to any enforcement, regulatory,
investigative, or prosecutive responsibility of the receiving entity;
[[Page 40387]]
(3) To the Department of Justice when the agency, or any component
thereof, or any employee of the agency in his or her official capacity,
or any employee of the agency in his or her individual capacity where
the Department of Justice has agreed to represent the employee, or the
United States, in litigation, where the agency determines that
litigation is likely to affect the agency or any of its components, is
a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and the
use of such records by the Department of Justice is deemed by the
agency to be relevant and necessary to the litigation; provided,
however, that in each case, the agency determines that disclosure of
the records to the Department of Justice is a use of the information
contained in the records that is compatible with the purpose for which
the records were collected;
(4) To a court or adjudicative body in administrative, civil, or
criminal proceedings 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 is therefore deemed by the agency to be for a purpose that is
compatible with the purpose for which the agency collected the records;
(5) To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when: (a) USDA
suspects or has confirmed that there has been a breach of the system of
records; (b) USDA has determined that as a result of the suspected or
confirmed breach there is a risk of harm to individuals, USDA
(including its information systems, programs, and operations), the
Federal Government, or national security; and (c) the disclosure made
to such agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to
assist in connection with USDA's efforts to respond to the suspected or
confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm;
(6) To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when the USDA
determines that information from this system of records is reasonably
necessary to assist the recipient agency or entity in (a) responding to
a suspected or confirmed breach or (b) 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;
(7) To a Congressional office from the record of an individual in
response to any inquiry from that Congressional office made at the
written request of the individual to whom the record pertains;
(8) To USDA contractors and other parties engaged to assist in
administering the program, analyzing data, and conducting audits. Such
contractors and other parties will be bound by the nondisclosure
provisions of the Privacy Act;
(9) To USDA contractors, partner agency employees or contractors,
or private industry employed to identify patterns, trends, or anomalies
indicative of fraud, waste, or abuse; and
(10) To the National Archives and Records Administration or to the
General Services Administration for records management activities
conducted under 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
The system includes a database and paper records. Records are
maintained on magnetic hard-disk. Paper records, such as Emergency
Action Notifications, are maintained in offices that are locked during
non-business hours and require the presentation of employee
identification for admittance at all times. Onsite storage includes the
system and a daily backup of media. Backup media is transferred to an
offsite storage facility after 30 days.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
Records are retrieved by an individual's name, business name,
address, telephone number, fax number, email address, permit number,
and/or emergency action notification form serial number associated with
an importer, shipper, carrier, owner, consignee, delivery contact
person, permit holder, and/or a sender and recipient on intercepted
mail.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
Records will be retained indefinitely until appropriate disposition
authority is obtained, and records will then be disposed of in
accordance with the authority granted.
ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
Records, both paper and electronic, are only accessible to
authorized personnel. The following physical security measures are in
place to prevent outsiders from entering the system:
Electronic records are stored on secure file servers. For
electronic records, all AQAS users are required to complete a
registration process. AQAS enables users to obtain user-identification
accounts that allow password-protected access through the internet. The
secure web-based service identifies and validates users before they can
access this system.
Paper files are kept in a safeguarded environment with controlled
access only by authorized personnel. All APHIS and CBP personnel are
required to go through background and security checks. APHIS and CBP
employees are also required to complete appropriate training to learn
requirements for safeguarding records maintained under the Privacy Act.
Access to the system is role-based. Therefore, CBP employees are
limited to accessing records created by CBP or associated with a CBP
work unit location.
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
An individual who is the subject of a record in this system may
seek access to those records that are not exempt from the access
provisions. Exemptions apply only to the extent that the information in
the system is subject to exemption pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), if
applicable. A determination whether a record may be accessed will be
made at the time a request is received. All inquiries should be
addressed under ``Notification procedures.''
CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
Individuals seeking to contest or amend information maintained in
the system should direct their requests to the address indicated in the
``Notification procedures'' section, below. Some information may be
exempt from the amendment provisions, as described in the section
entitled ``Exemptions promulgated for the system.'' An individual who
is the subject of a record in this system may seek amendment of those
records that are not exempt. A determination whether a record may be
amended will be made at the time a request is received.
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
Individuals seeking notification of and access to any non-exempt
general information contained in this system of records, or seeking to
contest its content, may submit a request in writing to the APHIS
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer, whose contact information
can be found at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/foia. If an
individual believes more than one component maintains Privacy Act
[[Page 40388]]
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 6 CFR part 5. You must
first verify your identity, meaning that you must provide your full
name, current address, and date and place of birth. You must sign your
request, and your signature must either be notarized or submitted under
28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that permits statements to be made under penalty
or perjury as a substitute for notarization. In addition you should
provide the following:
An explanation of why you believe the Department would
have information on you;
Identify which component(s) of the Department you believe
may have the information about you;
Specify when you believe the records would have been
created;
Provide any other information that will help the FOIA
staff determine which USDA component agency may have responsive
records; and
If your request is seeking records pertaining to another
living individual, you must include a statement from that individual
certifying his or her agreement for you to access his or her records.
Without this bulleted information and the component(s), we will not
be able to conduct an effective search, and your request may be denied
due to lack of specificity or lack of compliance with applicable
regulations.
EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.
HISTORY:
N/A.
[FR Doc. 2019-17461 Filed 8-13-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P