[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 84 (Monday, May 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25706-25708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09377]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits 
Administration, Education Services.

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: An executive order, Establishing Principles of Excellence for 
Educational Institutions Serving our Service Members, Veterans, 
Spouses, and Other Family Members, requires the establishment of a 
centralized complaint system for students receiving Veteran educational 
benefits to submit complaints against institutions they feel have acted 
deceptively or fraudulently. VA proposes this modified system of 
records (SORs), entitled ``Principles of Excellence Centralized 
Complaint System--VA'' (170VA22). This system will provide a 
standardized method for students and others to submit a complaint or 
allegation that an entity or individual has not or may not have adhered 
to the Principles of Excellence established in the E.O.

DATES: Comments on this modified system of records must be received no 
later than 30 days after date of publication in the Federal Register. 
If no public comment is received during the period allowed for comment 
or unless otherwise published in the Federal Register by VA, the 
modified system of records will become effective a minimum of 30 days 
after date of publication in the Federal Register. If VA receives 
public comments, VA shall review the comments to determine whether any 
changes to the notice are necessary.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted through www.Regulations.gov or 
mailed to VA Privacy Service, 810 Vermont Ave. NW, (005R1A), 
Washington, DC 20420. Comments should indicate that they are submitted 
in response to ``Principles of Excellence Centralized Complaint 
System--VA'' (170VA22). Comments received will be available at 
regulations.gov for public viewing, inspection, or copies.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Erickson, Department of 
Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420, at (202) 
461-9829 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The existing SORN 170VA22 has expired. The 
purpose of the modified SOR, established by Executive Order (E.O.) 
13607, is to update the application in which the data is gathered and 
stored and bring the SOR current. Former application for the SORN has 
been sunset and required a new application for gathering and storing 
beginning February 2019. Routine uses are updated to reflect the 
selections from the Office of General Counsel (OGC) updated Fiscal Year 
2021 Routine Uses OGC list.

Signing Authority

    The Senior Agency Official for Privacy, or designee, approved this 
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document 
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as 
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Kurt D. 
DelBene, Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology and Chief 
Information Officer, approved this document on March 17, 2022 for 
publication.

    Dated: April 27, 2022.
Amy L. Rose,
Program Analyst, VA Privacy Service, Office of Information Security, 
Office of Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs.

SYSTEM NAME:
    ``Principles of Excellence Centralized Complaint System--VA'' 
(170VA22).

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Complaints or allegations concerning entities or individuals that 
have not or may not have adhered to the Principles of Excellence 
established in E.O. 13607 will be submitted by users of VA education 
benefits or Veterans, Servicemembers and their families. Registered 
complaints will be transmitted in a secure electronic format

[[Page 25707]]

to VA Central Office for review. We utilize the FedRAMP authorization 
of Salesforce Government Cloud Plus which is hosted in the Amazon Web 
Services (AWS) GovCloud. Complaints are stored and managed in 
Salesforce, 44521 Hastings Drive, Ashburn, Virginia, United States, 
20147. Policy issues concerning this system should be submitted to 
Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20420.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Charmain Bogue, Executive Director, Education Service, Department 
of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420, 202-
461-9768, [email protected].

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    E.O. 13607, ``Establishing Principles of Excellence for Educational 
Institutions Serving Service Members, Veterans, Spouses, and Other 
Family Members''.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The information in the system is being collected to enable VA to 
receive, respond to, and refer complaints regarding VA educational 
assistance benefits. The system serves as a record of the complaint and 
is used for collecting complaint data; responding to or referring the 
complaint; aggregating data that will be used to inform other functions 
of VA and, as appropriate, other agencies and/or the public; and 
preparing reports as required by law. This system consists of 
complaints received by VA or other entities and information concerning 
responses to or referrals of these complaints, as appropriate.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Individuals covered by this system are individuals who submit 
complaints to VA (on their own); individuals on whose behalf complaints 
are submitted by others (such as attorneys, members of Congress, third 
party advocates, and/or other governmental organizations); and 
employees, the Federal Trade Commission, other Federal agencies, state 
agencies, or VA. Information collected is subject to the Privacy Act 
only to the extent that it concerns individuals; information pertaining 
to entities and organizations and is not subject to the Privacy Act.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Records in the system may contain: (1) Correspondence or other 
information received; (2) information from the entity or individual 
referring the complaint; (3) records created of verbal communications 
by or with complainants or other individuals; (4) information regarding 
third party advocates or others who submit complaints on another's 
behalf; (5) information identifying the entity that is subject to the 
complaint or its employees; (6) communication with or by the entity 
that is subject to the complaint or its employees; (7) unique 
identifiers, codes, and descriptors categorizing each complaint file; 
(8) information about how complaints were responded to or referred, 
including any resolution; (9) records used to respond to or refer 
complaints, including information in VA's other systems of records; and 
(10) identifiable information regarding both the individual who is 
making the complaint, and the individual on whose behalf such complaint 
is made, and employees of the entity about which the complaint was 
made, including name, social security number, account numbers, address, 
phone number, email address, and date of birth.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Information in this system is obtained from individuals and 
entities filing complaints and about entities or individuals that have 
not or may not have adhered to the Principles of Excellence established 
in the E.O. 13607. Furnishing the information is voluntary.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    1. Congress--To a Member of Congress or staff acting upon the 
Member's behalf when the Member or staff requests the information on 
behalf of, and at the request of, the individual who is the subject of 
the record.
    2. Data Breach Response and Remediation, for VA--To appropriate 
agencies, entities, and persons when (1) VA suspects or has confirmed 
that there has been a breach of the system of records,[middot] (2) VA 
has determined that as a result of the suspected or confirmed breach 
there is a risk of harm to individuals, VA (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 VA's 
efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed breach or to prevent, 
minimize, or remedy such harm.
    3. Data Breach Response and Remediation, for Another Federal 
Agency--To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when VA 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.
    4. Law Enforcement--To a Federal, state, local, territorial, 
tribal, or foreign law enforcement authority or other appropriate 
entity charged with the responsibility of investigating or prosecuting 
such violation or charged with enforcing or implementing such law, 
provided that the disclosure is limited to information that, either 
alone or in conjunction with other information, indicates a violation 
or potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal, or regulatory 
in nature. The disclosure of the names and addresses of veterans and 
their dependents from VA records under this routine use must also 
comply with the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 5701.
    5. Department of Justice (DOJ) for Litigation or Administrative 
Proceeding--To the Department of Justice (DoJ), or in a proceeding 
before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative body before 
which VA is authorized to appear, when:
    (a) VA or any component thereof;
    (b) Any VA employee in his or her official capacity;
    (c) Any VA employee in his or her individual capacity where DoJ has 
agreed to represent the employee; or
    (d) The United States, where VA determines that litigation is 
likely to affect the agency or any of its components

is a party to such proceedings or has an interest in such proceedings, 
and VA determines that use of such records is relevant and necessary to 
the proceedings.
    6. Contractors--To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants, 
students, and others performing or working on a contract, service, 
grant, cooperative agreement, or other assignment for VA, when 
reasonably necessary to accomplish an agency function related to the 
records.
    7. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)--To the Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM) in connection with the application or effect of civil 
service laws, rules, regulations, or OPM guidelines in particular 
situations.
    8. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)--To the Equal

[[Page 25708]]

Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in connection with 
investigations of alleged or possible discriminatory practices, 
examination of Federal affirmative employment programs, or other 
functions of the Commission as authorized by law.
    9. FLRA--To the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) in 
connection with the investigation and resolution of allegations of 
unfair labor practices, the resolution of exceptions to arbitration 
awards when a question of material fact is raised, matters before the 
Federal Service Impasses Panel, and the investigation of representation 
petitions and the conduct or supervision of representation elections.
    10. MSPB--To the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) in 
connection with appeals, special studies of the civil service and other 
merit systems, review of rules and regulations, investigation of 
alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, and such other 
functions promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as authorized by 
law.
    11. NARA--To the National Archives and Records Administration 
(NARA) in records management inspections conducted under 44 U.S.C. 2904 
and 2906, or other functions authorized by laws and policies governing 
NARA operations and VA records management responsibilities.
    12. Federal Agencies, for Computer Matches--To other federal 
agencies for the purpose of conducting computer matches to obtain 
information to determine or verify eligibility of veterans receiving VA 
benefits or medical care under title 38.
    13. Federal Agencies, Courts, Litigants, for Litigation or 
Administrative Proceedings--To another federal agency, court, or party 
in litigation before a court or in an administrative proceeding 
conducted by a Federal agency, when the government is a party to the 
judicial or administrative proceeding.
    14. Consumer Reporting Agencies--To a consumer reporting agency for 
the purpose of locating the individual, obtaining a consumer report to 
determine the ability of the individual to repay an indebtedness to the 
United States, or assisting in the collection of such indebtedness, 
provided that the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 5701(g)(2) and (4) have been 
met, provided that the disclosure is limited to information that is 
reasonably necessary to identify such individual or concerning that 
individual's indebtedness to the United States by virtue of the 
person's participation in a benefits program administered by the 
Department.
    15. OMB--To the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the 
performance of its statutory responsibilities for evaluating Federal 
programs.
    16. Treasury, for Withholding--To the Department of the Treasury 
for the collection of title 38 benefit overpayments, overdue 
indebtedness, or costs of services provided to an individual not 
entitled to such services, by the withholding of all or a portion of 
the person's Federal income tax refund, provided that the disclosure is 
limited to information concerning an individual's indebtedness by 
virtue of a person's participation in a benefits program administered 
by VA.
    17. Treasury, for Payment or Reimbursement--To the Department of 
the Treasury to facilitate payments to physicians, clinics, and 
pharmacies for reimbursement of services rendered or to veterans for 
reimbursement of authorized expenses, as well as to collect, by set off 
or otherwise, debts owed the United States.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Information will be collected by VA Form 22-0959, Principles of 
Excellence Complaint Intake Questionnaire, and telephone and stored in 
an electronic format.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    Records are retrievable by a variety of fields including without 
limitation to the individual's name, complaint case number, address, 
phone number, date of birth, or by some combination thereof.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    Disposition of records is according to NARA guidelines.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    Access to electronic records is restricted to authorized personnel 
who have been issued non-transferrable access codes and passwords. 
Other records are maintained in locked file cabinets or rooms with 
access limited to those personnel whose official duties require access.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals wishing to request access to records about them should 
contact the system manager indicated. Individuals must furnish the 
following for their records to be located and identified:

a. Full name
b. Address
c. Institution identified in complaint

    Individuals requesting access must also follow the OPM's Privacy 
Act Regulations regarding verification of identity and amendment of 
records (5 CFR part 297).

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Individuals wishing to request access amendment of records about 
them should contact the system manager indicated. Individuals must 
furnish the following for their records to be located and identified:

a. Full name
b. Address
c. Institution identified in complaint

    Individuals requesting access amendment of records must also follow 
OPM's Privacy Act Regulations regarding verification of identify and 
amendment of records (5 CFR part 297).

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Individuals may submit a request on whether a system contains 
records about them to the system manager indicated. Individuals must 
furnish the following for their records to be located and identified:

a. Full name
b. Address
c. Institution identified in complaint

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    Last Federal Register notice citation 78 FR 12423 was published 
February 22, 2013.

[FR Doc. 2022-09377 Filed 4-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P