[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65620-65622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16354]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-11784-01-OMS]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Office of the Administrator, Office of the Executive 
Secretariat, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of the 
Administrator, Office of the Executive Secretariat is giving notice 
that it proposes to modify a system of records pursuant to the 
provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974. EPA-22, the agency's 
correspondence tracking system formerly known as the Correspondence 
Management System is being replaced by a new application called Quill, 
and the SORN is being further modified to include additional workflow 
processes and reflect corresponding updates.

DATES: Persons wishing to comment on this system of records notice must 
do so by September 11, 2024. New or Modified routine uses for this 
modified system of records will be effective September 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OEI-2004-0003, 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 Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460.
    Hand Delivery: OMS Docket, EPA/DC, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 
1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460. Such deliveries are 
accepted only 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-OEI-
2004-0003. 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 
Avenue 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 
federal 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. Further information about EPA Docket Center services and 
current operating status is available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director Eric Wachter, Office of the 
Executive Secretariat, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; Telephone: (202) 564-
4985; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA is updating EPA-22, its 
correspondence tracking and workflow management application and is 
replacing the legacy application with a new system called Quill. Quill 
is designed to track, route and store incoming and outgoing agency 
correspondence from and to members of the public, private, and 
governmental sectors. While correspondence processing is Quill's main 
function, other workflow processes will be tracked in this system as 
well, including Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) packages and 
inquiries submitted through the EPA's public-facing websites. EPA-22 is 
also being modified to reflect corresponding updates to the system, 
including system owner and location. (Note: Two categories of 
correspondence that will not, in most cases, be logged into the system 
are (1) comments to a docket, and (2) Freedom of Information and 
Privacy Act requests. The Agency maintains separate applications to log 
and track such correspondence.)

[[Page 65621]]

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    Quill, EPA-22.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Office of the Administrator, Office of the Executive Secretariat, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; the system is housed 
in the Microsoft Azure Cloud residing in the EPA's Office-365 
Government Community Cloud (GCC), which is managed by Microsoft. These 
cloud locations are in the U.S. states of Virginia, Texas, Arizona, and 
Iowa. Paper records are maintained in the relevant EPA offices to which 
the correspondence was sent.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Quill System Administrator, Office of the Executive Secretariat, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20460 Telephone: (202) 564-4985; Email: 
[email protected].

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    5 U.S.C. 301 Departmental Regulations; 40 CFR, et. seq.; 44 U.S.C. 
3101.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    Quill is the EPA's correspondence tracking and workflow management 
application. The purpose of the system is to manage incoming and 
outgoing correspondence in all EPA program and regional offices. Quill 
makes the EPA more efficient in managing and responding to 
correspondence internally, with the White House, Congress, state and 
local governments and responding to the needs of the public in a timely 
manner.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Individuals who correspond with the EPA or any of its employees in 
their official capacity; all individuals to whom correspondence is 
addressed by the EPA or any of its employees in their official 
capacity; and individuals whose correspondence is referred or addressed 
to the EPA by the President, the Vice President, Congress, another 
federal agency, or state, tribal and local governments.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Name, title, organization, address, email and telephone number, as 
applicable and present in any correspondence addressed to or from the 
agency or any of its employees in their official capacity. Complete 
records may include metadata about the correspondence that facilitates 
tracking and record retrieval, a scanned image or electronic copy of 
the incoming communication, draft(s) of the response document, 
supporting documents or other attachments, and a scanned image or 
electronic copy of the outgoing signed response.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Sources include individuals who address correspondence to the 
agency or any of its employees in their official capacities; agency 
employees preparing responses to incoming correspondence or who 
generate original correspondence in their official capacities; and the 
White House and other federal, state, Tribal and local governments 
agencies that referred or addressed correspondence to the agency.

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, B, C, D, E, 
F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M.
    Additional routine uses that apply to this system are:
    1. disclosure to another federal governmental agency when it is 
determined that a response by that agency is more appropriate than a 
response by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Electronic records are maintained on cloud storage devices and are 
stored in Microsoft Power Apps. Paper records are maintained in the 
relevant EPA offices to which the correspondence was sent.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    All Quill records are full-text indexed and are retrieved by name, 
organization, physical address, email address, phone number or case 
number. The case number is the unique alphanumeric identifier for the 
individual set of documents and associated metadata for each 
communication or unit of work tracked in the system.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    EPA-22 will retain and dispose of these records in accordance with 
EPA Records Schedule 0077. The National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) Disposal Authority DAA-GRS-2016-0002-0001 
requires that access and disclosure request files should be closed 6 
years after final agency action or 3 years after final adjudication by 
the courts, whichever is later. Further, these records are to be 
destroyed after file closure. Additionally, NARA Disposal Authority 
DAA-GRS-2019-0001-0002 requires that ``records tracking and controlling 
access to protected information'' should be closed 2 years after last 
form entry, reply, or submission; when associated documents are 
declassified, decontrolled, or destroyed; or when an individual's 
authorization expires, whichever is appropriate. These records are to 
be destroyed after file closure.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    Security controls used to protect personal sensitive data in Quill 
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: The Quill Rules of Behavior state the 
use of the system and users are instructed to only enter 
correspondence-related information. Privacy training is conducted 
annually during the Information Security and Privacy Training (ISPAT) 
that is provided by the agency. During end-user training provided by 
the Quill support staff, end users receive a summary refresher of the 
ISPAT training. Only EPA employees and contractors may request access 
to the system, which means they (1) have passed a background check 
(e.g., Public Trust SF-85) appropriate to their responsibilities; and 
(2) receive annual Information Security and Privacy Training and 
Records Management Training.
    2. Technical Safeguards: The access controls are documented in the 
system Accounts Management Standard Operation Procedure and are 
maintained by the Quill System Owner in the Office of the Executive 
Secretariat. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
    3. Physical Safeguards: Electronic records are maintained in a 
cloud-based system that resides in the EPA's Office-365 Government 
Community Cloud (GCC), which is managed by Microsoft. The Microsoft 
Office-365 Cloud is FedRamp certified. Maintenance of physical records 
is the responsibility of

[[Page 65622]]

each office that received the correspondence.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    All requests for access to personal records should cite the Privacy 
Act of 1974 and reference the type of request being made (i.e., 
access). Requests must include: (1) the name and signature of the 
individual making the request; (2) the name of the Privacy Act system 
of records to which the request relates; (3) a statement whether a 
personal inspection of the records or a copy of them by mail is 
desired; and (4) proof of identity. A full description of the EPA's 
Privacy Act procedures for requesting access to records is included in 
the EPA's Privacy Act regulations at 40 CFR part 16.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Requests for correction or amendment must include: (1) the name and 
signature of the individual making the request; (2) the name of the 
Privacy Act system of records to which the request relates; (3) a 
description of the information sought to be corrected or amended and 
the specific reasons for the correction or amendment; and (4) proof of 
identity. A full description of the EPA's Privacy Act procedures for 
the correction or amendment of a record is included in the EPA's 
Privacy Act regulations at 40 CFR part 16.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Individuals who wish to be informed whether a Privacy Act system of 
records maintained by the EPA contains any record pertaining to them 
should make a written request to the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Attn: Agency Privacy Officer, MC 2831T, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460, or by email at [email protected]. A full 
description of the EPA's Privacy Act procedures is included in the 
EPA's Privacy Act regulations at 40 CFR part 16.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    69 FR 60997 FR 30045 (October 14, 2004)

Vaughn Noga,
Senior Agency Official for Privacy.
[FR Doc. 2024-16354 Filed 8-9-24; 8:45 am]
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