[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2152-2155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00628]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9236-01-OMS]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Office of Research and Development (ORD), Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA).

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ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of 
Research and Development (ORD) is giving notice that it proposes to 
modify a system of records pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy 
Act of 1974. This system will use SORN EPA-38. EPA-38 will be modified 
to change the name from Invention Reports to Federal Technology 
Transfer Act (FTTA) and Inventory for Patent Inventions (IfPI). 
Additionally, EPA is modifying the location, ownership, and categories 
of records in the FTTA and IfPI system. The purpose of the system is to 
provide the opportunity for the knowledge and expertise within the 
Agency to be shared with outside entities through collaborative 
agreements and licensing. Records are maintained for the purpose of 
documenting inventions made under EPA sponsorship, including filing 
patent applications, determining rights to inventions, licensing 
inventions, and ascertaining inventorship and priority of invention. 
Unless noted in this modification, all exemptions and provisions 
included in the previously published system of record notice for 
Invention Reports will transfer to the modified system of record notice 
for Federal Technology Transfer Act (FTTA) and Inventory for Patent 
Inventions (IfPI).

DATES: Persons wishing to comment on this system of records notice must 
do so by February 14, 2022. New or modified routine uses for this 
system of records will be effective February 14, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
ORD-2021-0811, by one of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
online instructions for submitting comments.
    Email: [email protected]. Include the Docket ID number in the 
subject line of the message.
    Fax: 202-566-1752.
    Mail: OMS Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 
2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460.
    Hand Delivery: OMS Docket, EPA/DC, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 
1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460. Such deliveries are 
only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2021-0811. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed 
to be Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or other information 
for which disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit 
information that you consider to be CUI or otherwise protected through 
https://www.regulations.gov. The https://www.regulations.gov website is 
an ``anonymous access'' system for the EPA, which means the EPA will 
not know your identity or contact information. If you submit an 
electronic comment, the EPA recommends that you include your name and 
other contact information in the body of your comment. If the EPA 
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot 
contact you for clarification, the EPA may not be able to consider your 
comment. If you send an email comment directly to the EPA without going 
through https://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the internet. 
Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form 
of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional 
information about the EPA public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CUI or other information 
for which disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, 
such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard 
copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically in https://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the 
OMS Docket, EPA/DC, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460. The Public Reading Room is normally open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for the OMS Docket is (202) 566-
1752.

Temporary Hours During COVID-19

    Out of an abundance of caution for members of the public and our 
staff, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room are closed to the public, 
with limited exceptions, to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. 
Our Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote customer 
service via email, phone, and webform. We encourage the public to 
submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov/ or email, as there may 
be a delay in processing mail and faxes. Hand deliveries and couriers 
may be received by scheduled appointment only. For further information 
on EPA Docket Center services and the current status, please visit us 
online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carmen Krieger, Acquisition 
Specialist, Office of Resource Management, Office of Research and 
Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Ronald Reagan Building, 
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, (202) 564-0396, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the system is to provide the 
opportunity for the knowledge and expertise within the Agency to be 
shared with outside entities through collaborative agreements and 
licensing. The FTTA and IfPI system houses FTTA mechanisms: Cooperative 
Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), Materials CRADAs 
(MCRADAs), Materials Transfer Agreements (MTAs), and Non-Disclosure 
Agreements (NDAs). For each agreement, the system tracks general 
information for the partner and EPA. We have a description of the 
project, potential products, associations, budgets. The system also 
tracks the status and workflows of each agreement. IfPI contains the 
Employee Reports of Invention (EROIs) database, which tracks License 
and Patent information. The License information is identical to how EPA 
tracks FTTA agreements. The Patent information includes our inventors 
and relative information regarding new inventions, which is contained 
in EROIs.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
     Federal Technology Transfer Act (FTTA) and Inventory for Patent 
Inventions (IfPI) database, EPA-38.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
     Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
     This is a cloud system. Data is stored on the Salesforce servers. 
The FTTA and IfPI database is stored and run in the Salesforce GovCloud 
(San Francisco, CA). EROIs are saved electronically to servers located 
at EPA National Computer Center (NCC), 109 TW Alexander Drive, Research 
Triangle Park, Durham, NC 27711. Information may also be stored within 
a government-

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certified cloud, implemented and overseen by the Agency's Chief 
Information Officer (CIO). Hard copy file records of the FTTA and IfPI 
system are housed in a locked storage room at the Ronald Reagan 
Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20460.

SYSTEM MANAGER:
     Kathleen Graham, Program Analyst, Office of Resource Management, 
Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency, 
1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202, (303) 312-6137, 
[email protected].

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
     15 U.S.C. 3710, Utilization of Federal Technology. 15 U.S.C. 
3710a, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements. 35 U.S.C. 
chapter 18, Patent Rights in Inventions Made with Federal Assistance. 
37 CFR parts 401, 404, and 501.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
     The purpose of the system is to provide the opportunity for the 
knowledge and expertise within the Agency to be shared with outside 
entities through collaborative agreements and licensing. Records are 
maintained for the purpose of documenting inventions made under EPA 
sponsorship, including filing patent applications, determining rights 
to inventions, licensing inventions, and ascertaining inventorship and 
priority of invention. The Federal Technology Transfer Act (FTTA) 
Program (15 U.S.C. 3710) provides the opportunity for the knowledge and 
expertise within the Agency to be shared with outside entities through 
collaborative agreements and licensing. The system houses FTTA 
mechanisms: Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), 
Materials CRADAs (MCRADAs), Materials Transfer Agreements (MTAs), Non-
Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), and License Agreements. For each 
agreement, the system tracks general information for the partner and 
EPA. We have a description of the project, potential products, 
associations, and budgets. The system also tracks the status and 
workflows of each agreement.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY SYSTEM:
     FTTA Contacts, which are EPA employees within ORD; Invention 
report submitters and their supervisors; other persons with knowledge 
of the invention or expertise in the particular area of the invention; 
EPA Patent Counsel; EPA contractors who have confirmed the uniqueness 
of the invention, prepared a patent application on the invention, and/
or otherwise performed work relating to a patent application; and the 
United States and foreign patent offices.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
     Agreements/Licenses: Name, business email address, business 
telephone number, work address. Patents: Invention reports (name and 
address), patent applications (name and address) until application is 
published, patents (name, city, and state), patent assignments (name), 
procurement requests (name and address), and other documents relevant 
to inventions.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
     EPA employees and contractors and external partners. Records are 
entered into the system by EPA employees.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
     The routine uses below are both related to and compatible with the 
original purpose for which the information was collected. The following 
general routine uses apply to this system (86 FR 62527): A, D, E, F, G, 
H, I, K, L, and M.
    Additional routine uses that apply to this system are:
    1. To scientific personnel who possess the expertise to understand 
the invention and evaluate its importance to the Government and/or the 
public.
    2. To contract patent counsel and their employees retained by the 
Agency for patent searching and the preparation and prosecution of 
United States and foreign patent applications.
    3. To technology assistance personnel, technology evaluators, 
technology finders, and prospective licensees who may further make the 
invention available to the public through evaluation, promotion, sale, 
use, or publication.
    4. To parties, such as supervisors of inventors, whom we contact to 
determine ownership rights, and to people contacting us to determine 
the Government's ownership.
    5. To the United States and foreign Patent and Trademark Offices 
when we file U.S. and foreign patent applications.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
     These records are maintained electronically on the EPA Salesforce 
GovCloud. Backups are stored in the NCC for 90 days and also backed up 
to tape per NCC backup policies.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
     The FTTA and IfPI database retrieves information by inventor's 
name, case identification number, patent application number, and patent 
number. The FTTA data has list views that can be filtered, depending on 
user preference, to present data. The system also includes a search box 
where a user can search by file number, case number, or business name.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
     The records are maintained for ten (10) years after completion or 
termination of action on the disclosed invention, such as issuance of a 
patent. They are destroyed ten (10) years after file closure. The 
Records Schedule is 1003b.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
     Security controls used to protect personal sensitive data in the 
FTTA and IfPI system are commensurate with those required for an 
information system rated MODERATE for confidentiality, integrity, and 
availability, as prescribed in National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) Special Publication, 800-53, ``Security and Privacy 
Controls for Information Systems and Organizations,'' Revision 5.
    1. Administrative Safeguards: FTTA and IfPI follow procedures set 
out by NIST 800-53 and EPA's Chief Information Officer (CIO) Security 
Procedures including that EPA personnel are required to complete annual 
agency Information Security and Privacy training. EPA personnel are 
instructed to lock their computers when they leave their desks.
    2. Technical Safeguards: Only Office of Research and Development 
FTTA Core team members have access to the combination code to enter the 
records room. Office of Research and Development FTTA Core team members 
have elevated privileges to access system, approve workflow, use 
communication features (e.g., upload files, email, and task features), 
and ad-hoc reporting. Authorized users in the Office of General Counsel 
have the same access, but cannot delete records. Lab Contacts have 
view-only privileges, but are able to use communication features.
    3. Physical Safeguards: All servers are maintained in secure, 
access-controlled areas or buildings. Paper records are maintained in 
locked file cabinets in a locked room in an access-controlled building.

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RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
     Individuals seeking access to information in this system of 
records about themselves are required to provide adequate 
identification (e.g., driver's license, military identification card, 
employee badge, or identification card). Additional identity 
verification procedures may be required, as warranted. Requests must 
meet the requirements of EPA regulations that implement the Privacy Act 
of 1974, at 40 CFR part 16.

CONTESTING RECORDS PROCEDURES:
     Requests for correction or amendment must identify the record to 
be changed and the corrective action sought. Complete EPA Privacy Act 
procedures are described in EPA's Privacy Act regulations at 40 CFR 
part 16.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
     Individuals who want to know whether this system of records 
contains information about them should make a written request to the 
EPA, Attn: Agency Privacy Officer, MC 2831T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20460, [email protected].

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
     None.

HISTORY:
     Federal Register Volume 67, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2002).

Vaughn Noga,
Senior Agency Official for Privacy.
[FR Doc. 2022-00628 Filed 1-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P