[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 122 (Wednesday, June 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38021-38024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12898]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service


Privacy Act of 1974, as amended

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed modification to Privacy Act system of 
records.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 
1974, as amended, the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue 
Service, gives notice of proposed modifications to system of records 
entitled: Treasury/IRS 60.000 Employee Protection System Records.

[[Page 38022]]


DATES: Submit comments on or before July 24, 2020. The new and modified 
routine uses will be applicable on July 24, 2020. This altered system 
of records will be effective October 1, 2020, unless the IRS receives 
comments that would result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Office of Privacy, 
Governmental Liaison and Disclosure, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224. Members of the public 
desiring specific information concerning this notice may request 
information at the address provided above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John J. Walker, Associate Director, 
Incident Management & Employee Protection, IRS Office of Privacy, 
Governmental Liaison and Disclosure, (267) 466-2416 (not a toll-free 
number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed revisions will enable better 
awareness of potential risks and will increase safety and security for 
current and former IRS employees. The Potentially Dangerous Taxpayer 
(PDT) designation improves the Service's ability to identify 
individuals who represent a potential danger to employees, including 
individuals who have physically assaulted, threatened, or intimidated 
employees or are of members of groups that advocate violence against 
IRS employees or other federal employees. The Caution Upon Contact 
(CAU) designation is used when the threat is less severe, the taxpayer 
threatens suicide, or when the taxpayer files or threatens to file a 
frivolous lien or a frivolous criminal or civil legal action. Continual 
program introspection and the current landscape for IRS staff having 
contact with the public, including self-radicalization, prompted the 
IRS to reevaluate the Office of Employee Protection (OEP) program and 
institute a higher level of protection for its employees. To accomplish 
this the IRS is planning to (1) add information about individuals who 
threaten former IRS employees related to their prior work performing 
official IRS duties, (2) add information about individuals who are 
advocating violence against U.S. Government employees in general or 
demonstrating violent tendencies against U.S. Government employees of 
other federal agencies, (3) remove the ``active'' qualifier, as it 
applies to membership in group(s) advocating violence, and (4) add a 
specific time-period during which the individual's activity will be 
considered (within the past 10 years) to ensure an accurate, 
comprehensive, and complete analysis is completed before a potentially 
dangerous taxpayer (PDT) or caution upon contact (CAU) designation is 
assigned. The purpose statement is amended to reflect these revisions. 
Pursuant to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-17-12, 
an additional routine use is added to ensure that IRS can assist 
another agency in responding to a confirmed or suspected breach, as 
appropriate. As required by the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), 
a report of altered system of records has been provided to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate, and the Office of Management and Budget. The 
proposed modifications to the system of records are published below.

Ryan Law,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Privacy, Transparency, and Records.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    Department of the Treasury, IRS 60.000--Employee Protection System 
Records

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Information contained in this system is unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Records are maintained at the Internal Revenue Service Headquarters 
in Washington, DC and field and campus offices at the following 
addresses, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224; 500 
Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48226; and 2970 Market Street, 
Philadelphia, PA 19104.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Chief, Office of Employee Protection, 500 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 
MI 48226, (313) 628-3742.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    5 U.S.C. 301 and 26 U.S.C. 7801.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    This system of records maintains records that reflect attempts or 
intention to obstruct or impede current or former IRS employees or 
contractors in the performance of their official duties, including 
records of investigations into the individual's actions and records of 
conclusions as to whether an individual should be considered 
potentially dangerous to any such employee, contractor, or their 
immediate family members, or should otherwise be approached with 
caution.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Individuals attempting to interfere with the administration of 
internal revenue laws through assaults, threats, suicide threats, 
filing or threats of filing frivolous criminal or civil legal actions 
against Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees, (current for former) 
or IRS contractors or the employees' or contractors' immediate family 
members, or through forcible interference against any officer, 
government contractor or employee while discharging the official duties 
at his/her position. An individual is designated as a PDT based on 
reliable information furnished to the IRS or Treasury Inspector General 
for Tax Administration (TIGTA), that fits any of the criteria (1) 
through (6) below: (1) Individuals who, within the past 10 years, have 
physically assaulted an IRS employee, a former employee, a contractor, 
or an immediate family member of an IRS employee, a former employee or 
a contractor; (2) Individuals who, within the past 10 years, have 
intimidated or threatened an IRS employee, a former employee, a 
contractor, or an immediate family member of an IRS employee, a former 
employee, or a contractor through specific threats of bodily harm, a 
show of weapons, the use of animals, or through other specific 
threatening behavior (e.g., stalking, etc.); (3) Individuals who, 
within the past 10 years, have advocated violence against IRS employees 
where advocating such violence could reasonably be understood to 
threaten the safety of Service employees and/or impede the performance 
of Service duties; (4) Individuals who, within the past 10 years, have 
been members of, or affiliated with groups that advocate violence 
against IRS employees, where advocating such violence could reasonably 
be understood to threaten the safety of Service employees or impede the 
performance of Service duties; (5) Individuals who, within the past 10 
years, have committed the acts set forth in any of the preceding 
criteria, but whose acts have been directed against employees or 
contractors of other governmental agencies; (6) Individuals who are not 
classified as PDTs through application of the above criteria, but whose 
acts within the past 10 years have demonstrated a propensity for 
violence. An individual is designated as an individual who should be 
approached with caution (CAU) based on reliable information furnished 
to the IRS or the TIGTA that fits any of the criteria (1) through (3) 
below: (1) Individuals who, within the

[[Page 38023]]

past 10 years, have threatened physical harm that is less severe or 
immediate than necessary to satisfy PDT criteria. (2) Individuals who, 
within the past 10 years, have threatened suicide, (3) Individuals who, 
within the past 10 years, have filed or threatened to file a frivolous 
lien or a frivolous civil or criminal legal action against an IRS 
employee, a former employee, a contractor, or an immediate family 
member of an IRS employee, a former employee, or contractor.
    PDT and CAU designations will be reviewed at or near every five 
years from the date of the initial or the last renewal of the 
designation to determine whether the circumstances leading to the 
designation, and any new relevant information about the individual's 
conduct, continue to indicate potential danger to IRS employees, former 
employees, contractors, or their family members. If these facts and 
circumstances continue to indicate potential danger, the designation 
will be renewed for, and subject to review after, an additional five 
years.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
     Individual's name;
     Business name;
     Date of birth;
     Date of death;
     Gender;
     Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) (e.g., Social 
Security Number (SSN), Employer Identification Number (EIN), or similar 
number assigned by the IRS);
     Centralized Authorization Files (CAF) numbers;
     Addresses;
     Documentary evidence of the incident (e.g., threatening 
correspondence, copies of liens and legal actions, and contact 
recording transcripts);
     Documentation of investigation of incident (report of 
investigation, statements, affidavits, and related tax information);
     Records of any legal action resulting from the incident;
     FBI or Police records of individual named in the incident;
     Newspaper or periodical items or information from other 
sources provided to the IRS or TIGTA for investigation of individuals 
who have demonstrated a clear propensity toward violence;
     Correspondence regarding the reporting of the incident, 
referrals for investigation, investigation of the incident; and result 
of investigation (i.e. designation as PDT or CAU).

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Records are obtained from other IRS offices and the Treasury 
Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

ROUTINE USES: OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USE:
    Disclosure of returns and return information may be made only as 
provided by 26 U.S.C. 6103. Material covered by rule 6(e) of the 
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure may be disclosed only as permitted 
by that rule. All other records may be used as described below if the 
IRS deems that the purpose of the disclosure is compatible with the 
purpose for which IRS collected the records, and no privilege is 
asserted.
    (1) Disclose information to the Department of Justice (DOJ) when 
seeking legal advice, or for use in any proceeding, or in preparation 
for any proceeding, when: (a) The IRS or any component thereof; (b) any 
IRS employee in his or her official capacity; (c) any IRS employee in 
his or her individual capacity if the IRS or the DOJ has agreed to 
provide representation for the employee; or (d) the United States is a 
party to, has an interest in, or is likely to be affected by the 
proceeding, and the IRS determines that the records are relevant and 
useful.
    (2) Disclose information in a proceeding (including discovery) 
before a court, administrative tribunal, or other adjudicative body 
when: (a) The IRS or any component thereof; (b) any IRS employee in his 
or her official capacity; (c) any IRS employee in his or her personal 
capacity if the IRS or DOJ has agreed to provide representation for the 
employee; or (d) the United States is a party to, has an interest in, 
or is likely to be affected by, the proceeding and the IRS or DOJ 
determines that the information is relevant and necessary to the 
proceeding. Information may be disclosed to the adjudicative body to 
resolve issues of relevancy, necessity, or privilege pertaining to the 
information.
    (3) Disclose information to a Federal, state, local, or tribal 
agency, or other public authority, which has requested information 
relevant or necessary to hiring or retaining an employee, or issuing or 
continuing a contract, security clearance, license, grant, or other 
benefit.
    (4) Disclose information to an appropriate Federal, state, local, 
tribal, or foreign agency, or other public authority, responsible for 
implementing or enforcing, or for investigating or prosecuting the 
violation of, a statute, rule, regulation, order, or license, when a 
record on its face, or in conjunction with other records, indicates a 
potential violation of law or regulation and the information disclosed 
is relevant to any regulatory, enforcement, investigative, or 
prosecutorial responsibility of the receiving authority.
    (5) Disclose information to the news media as described in the IRS 
Policy Statement P-1-183, News Coverage to Advance Deterrent Value of 
Enforcement Activities Encouraged, IRM 1.2.1.2.41.
    (6) Disclose information to third parties during the course of an 
investigation to the extent necessary to obtain information pertinent 
to the investigation.
    (7) To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) the 
Department of the Treasury and/or Treasury bureau suspects or has 
confirmed that there has been a breach of the system of records; (2) 
the Department of the Treasury and/or Treasury bureau has determined 
that as a result of the suspected or confirmed breach there is a risk 
of harm to individuals, the Department of the Treasury and/or Treasury 
bureau (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 the Department of the Treasury's and/or 
Treasury bureau's efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed 
breach or to prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
    (8) To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when the 
Department of the Treasury and/or Treasury bureau 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.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Records in this system are stored electronically or on paper in 
secure facilities in a locked drawer behind a locked door.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    Records may be retrieved by name or Social Security Number (SSN) of 
individual with respect to whom the PDT or CAU designation is being 
considered and by administrative case control number.

[[Page 38024]]

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    Records are managed in accordance with National Archives and 
Records Administration (NARA) General Records Schedule 5.6 item 170 & 
171.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    Records in this system are safeguarded in accordance with 
applicable rules and policies, including all applicable Treasury 
automated systems security and access policies. Strict controls have 
been imposed to minimize the risk of compromising the information that 
is being stored. Access to the computer system containing the records 
in this system is limited to those individuals who have a need to know 
the information for the performance of their official duties and who 
have appropriate clearances.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    See ``Notification Procedures'' below.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    See ``Notification Procedures'' below.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    The Secretary of Treasury has exempted this system from the 
notification, access, and amendment procedures of the Privacy Act 
because it is a law enforcement system. However, Treasury, IRS will 
consider individual requests to determine whether information may be 
released. Thus, individuals seeking notification of and access to any 
record contained in this system of records, or seeking to contest its 
content, may inquire in writing in accordance with instructions 
appearing at 31 CFR part 1, subpart C, appendices A-M. Requests for 
information and requests for records should be marked ``Privacy Act 
Request'' on the outside and mailed to the following address: Internal 
Revenue Service, Disclosure Scanning Operation--Stop 93A, Post Office 
Box 621506, Atlanta, GA 30362-3006.
    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 31 CFR 1.36. 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 
of perjury as a substitute for notarization. No specific form is 
required. In addition you should provide the following:
     An explanation of why you believe the Department would 
have information on you;
     Identify which bureau(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 Bureau or 
Freedom Of Information Act staff determine which Treasury Bureau 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/her agreement for you to access his/her records.
    Without this bulleted information the Bureau(s) may 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:
    The Secretary of Department of the Treasury has exempted this 
system from the following provisions of the Privacy Act, subject to the 
limitations set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d)(1)-(4), (e)(1), 
(e)(4)(G)-(I) and (f) of the Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(k)(2). (See 31 CFR 1.36.).

HISTORY:
    Notice of this system of records was last published in full in the 
Federal Register on Sept. 8, 2015 (80 FR 54063) as the Department of 
the Treasury, IRS 60.000--Employee Protection System Records.

[FR Doc. 2020-12898 Filed 6-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P