72184 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 238 / Monday, December 13, 2004 / Notices 

9. Ms. Kristine Allaman, Director, 

Strategy and Integration Directorate.

Brenda S. Bowen, 

Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 04–27269 Filed 12–10–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3710–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Defense Logistics Agency 

Privacy Act of 1974; Computer 

Matching Program

AGENCY: Defense Manpower Data 

Center, Defense Logistics Agency, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of a computer matching 

program. 

SUMMARY: Subsection (e)(12) of the 

Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 

U.S.C. 552a), requires agencies to 

publish advanced notices of any 

proposed or revised computer matching 

program by the matching agency for 

public comment. The Department of 

Defense (DoD), Defense Manpower Data 

Center (DMDC), as the matching agency 

under the Privacy Act, is hereby given 

notice to the record subjects to a 

computer matching program between 

Department of Veterans Affairs, Office 

of Inspector General (VA OIG) and the 

Department of Defense (DoD) that their 

records are being matched by computer. 

The purpose of the computer matching 

program is to attempt to verify eligibility 

for VA Compensation and Pension 

(C&P) benefits by matching veteran’s 

record of those benefits with the 

military service record of veterans 

eligible for those benefits for themselves 

or their beneficiaries.

DATES: This proposed action will 

become effective January 12, 2005, and 

matching may commence unless 

changes to the matching program are 

required due to public comments or by 

Congressional or by Office of 

Management and Budget concerns. Any 

public comment must be received before 

the effective date.

ADDRESSES: Any interested party may 

submit written comments to the 

Director, Defense Privacy Office, 1901 

South Bell Street, Suite 920, Arlington, 

VA 22202–4512.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Vahan Moushegian, Jr. at (703) 607–

2943.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to subsection (o) of the Privacy Act of 

1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a), the 

VA OIG and DMDC have concluded an 

agreement to conduct a computer 

matching program between agencies. 

The purpose of the computer matching 

program is to attempt to verify eligibility 

for VA C&P benefits by matching 

veteran’s record of those benefits with 

the military service record of veterans 

eligible for those benefits for themselves 

or their beneficiaries. 

The parties to this agreement have 

determined that a computer matching 

program is the most efficient, 

expeditious, and effective means of 

obtaining and processing the 

information needed by VA OIG to verify 

the military service record of veterans 

eligible for VA (C&P) benefits, to 

identify potential fraudulent payments 

to fictitious veterans, and to identify 

payments that should be adjusted where 

the beneficiary is not entitled to all or 

part of the VA C&P benefits received. 

The principal alternative to using a 

computer matching program for 

identifying such individuals would be 

to conduct a manual comparison of all 

veterans or their beneficiaries receiving 

VA (C&P) benefits with the other files. 

Conducting a manual match, however, 

would clearly impose a considerable 

administrative burden, constitute a 

greater intrusion on the individual’s 

privacy, and would result in additional 

delay in the eventual response to 

possible fraud and abuse. By comparing 

the information received through the 

computer matching program between 

VA OIG and DMDC on a recurring basis, 

information on successful matches (hits) 

can be provided to VA to initiate 

research on these discrepancies, thus 

assuring that benefit payments are 

proper. 

A copy of the computer matching 

agreement between VA OIG and DoD is 

available upon request. Requests should 

be submitted to the address caption 

above or to the Department of Veterans 

Affairs, Office of Inspector General 

(52CO), 810 Vermont Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20420.

Set forth below is the notice of the 

establishment of a computer matching 

program required by paragraph 6.c. of 

the Office of Management and Budget 

Guidelines on computer matching 

published on June 19, 1989, at 54 FR 

25818. 

The matching agreement, as required 

by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) of the Privacy Act, 

and an advance copy of this notice was 

submitted on December 1, 2004, to the 

House Committee on Government 

Reform, the Senate Committee on 

Governmental Affairs, and the 

Administrator of the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget 

pursuant to paragraph 4d of Appendix 

I to OMB Circular No. A–130, ‘‘Federal 

Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining 

Records about Individuals’’, dated 

February 8, 1996 (February 20, 1996, 61 

FR 6427).

Dated: December 7, 2004. 

Jeannette Owings-Ballard, 

OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, 

Department of Defense.

NOTICE OF A COMPUTER MATCHING 

PROGRAM AGREEMENT BETWEEN 

OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL 

THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS AND THE DEFENSE 

MANPOWER DATA CENTER, THE 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR 

VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY 

A. PARTICIPATING AGENCIES: 

Participants in this computer 

matching program are the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector 

General (VA OIG) and the Department of 

Defense (DoD), Defense Manpower Data 

Center (DMDC). The VA OIG is the 

source agency, i.e., the activity 

disclosing the records for the purpose of 

the match. The DoD is the specific 

recipient activity or matching agency, 

i.e., the agency that actually performs 

the computer matching. 

B. PURPOSE OF THE MATCH: 

Upon the execution of this agreement, 

VA will provide and disclose VA 

Compensation and Pension (C&P) and 

Veterans Assistance Discharge Systems 

(VADS) records to DMDC to identify 

individuals that have not separated from 

military service and/or confirm 

elements of military service relevant to 

the adjudication of VA benefits. VA OIG 

will use this information to initiate an 

independent verification process to 

determine eligibility and entitlement to 

VA benefits.

C. AUTHORITY FOR CONDUCTING THE MATCH: 

The authority to conduct this match is 

5 U.S.C. App. 3, the Inspector General 

Act of 1978 (IG Act). The IG Act 

authorizes the VA OIG to conduct audits 

and investigations relating to the 

programs and operations of VA. IG Act, 

section 2. In addition, section 4 of the 

IG Act provides that the IG will conduct 

activities designed to promote economy 

and efficiency and to prevent and detect 

fraud and abuse in VA’s programs and 

operations. 

D. RECORDS TO BE MATCHED: 

The systems of records maintained by 

the respective agencies under the 

Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 

U.S.C. 552a, from which records will be 

disclosed for the purpose of this 

computer match are as follows: 

1. VA will use personal data from the 

following Privacy Act record system for 

the match: Compensation, Pension, 

Education and Rehabilitation Records—

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 238 / Monday, December 13, 2004 / Notices 72185

VA, 58VA21/22, first published at 41 FR 

9294, March 3, 1976, and last amended 

at 66 FR 47725, September 13, 2001, 

with other amendments as cited therein. 

2. DoD will use personal data from the 

following Privacy Act record system for 

the match: Defense Manpower Data 

Center Data Base—S322.10 DMDC, 

published in the Federal Register at 69 

FR 31974 on June 8, 2004. 

3. Agencies must publish ‘‘routine 

uses’’ pursuant to subsection (b)(3) of 

the Privacy Act for those systems of 

records from which they intend to 

disclose information. The systems of 

records described above contain 

appropriate routine use provisions that 

pertain to disclosure of information 

between the agencies. 

E. DESCRIPTION OF COMPUTER MATCHING

PROGRAM: 

VA, as the source agency, will provide 

DMDC with two electronic files, the 

C&P and VADS files. The C&P file 

contains names of veterans, SSNs, and 

compensation and pension records. The 

VADS file contains names of veterans, 

SSNs, and DD214 data. Upon receipt of 

the electronic files, DMDC will perform 

a match using the SSNs in the VA C&P 

file, and the VADS file against the 

DMDC Active Duty Transaction, Reserve 

Transaction, and Reserve Master files. 

DMDC will provide VA OIG an 

electronic listing of VA C&P and VADS 

records for which there is no matching 

record from any of the three DMDC files, 

and an electronic listing of records that 

contain data that are inconsistent with 

data contained in the VA C&P or VADS 

files. VA OIG is responsible for verifying 

and determining that the data on the 

DMDC electronic reply file are 

consistent with the VA source file and 

for resolving any discrepancies or 

inconsistencies on an individual basis. 

F. INCLUSIVE DATES OF THE MATCHING PROGRAM: 

The effective date of the matching 

agreement and date when matching may 

actually begin shall be at the expiration 

of the 40-day review period for OMB 

and Congress, or 30 days after 

publication of the matching notice in 

the Federal Register, whichever date is 

later. The parties to this agreement may 

assume OMB and Congressional 

concurrence if no comments are 

received within 40 days of the date of 

the transmittal letter. The 40-day OMB 

and Congressional review period and 

the mandatory 30-day public comment 

period for the Federal Register 

publication of the notice will run 

concurrently. Matching will be 

conducted when the review/publication 

requirements have been satisfied and 

thereafter on an annual basis. By 

agreement between VA OIG and DMDC, 

the matching program will be in effect 

for 18 months with an option to renew 

for 12 additional months unless one of 

the parties to the agreement advises the 

other by written request to terminate or 

modify the agreement. 

G. ADDRESS FOR RECEIPT OF PUBLIC COMMENTS

OR INQUIRIES: 

Director, Defense Privacy Office, 1901 

South Bell Street, Suite 920, Arlington, 

VA 22202–4512. Telephone (703) 607–

2943.

[FR Doc. 04–27250 Filed 12–10–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket Nos. EA–164–B] 

Application to Export Electric Energy; 

Constellation Energy Commodities 

Group, Inc.

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of application.

SUMMARY: Constellation Energy 

Commodities Group, Inc. (Constellation) 

(formerly Constellation Power Services 

Inc. (CPS)) has applied to renew its 

authority to transmit electric energy 

from the United States to Canada 

pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal 

Power Act.

DATES: Comments, protests or requests 

to intervene must be submitted on or 

before January 12, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests or 

requests to intervene should be 

addressed as follows: Office of Coal & 

Power Import/Export (FE–27), Office of 

Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585–0350 (FAX 

202–287–5736).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven Mintz (Program Office) 202–586–

9506 or Michael Skinker (Program 

Attorney) 202–586–2793.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Exports of 

electricity from the United States to a 

foreign country are regulated and 

require authorization under section 

202(e) of the Federal Power Act (FPA) 

(16 U.S.C. 824a(e)). 

On January 23, 1998, the Office of 

Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of 

Energy (DOE) issued Order No. EA–164 

authorizing Constellation Power Source, 

Inc. (CPS) to transmit electric energy 

from the United States to Canada as a 

power marketer. That two-year 

authorization expired on January 23, 

2000. On February 22, 2000, FE issued 

Order No. EA–164–A authorizing CPS to 

transmit electric energy from the United 

States to Canada as a power marketer for 

an additional five-year term that will 

expire on February 22, 2005. 

CPS, which has changed its name to 

Constellation, filed an application with 

FE on November 29, 2004, to renew the 

export authority contained in Order No. 

EA–164–A for a five-year term. 

Constellation proposes to export 

electric energy to Canada and to arrange 

for the delivery of those exports over the 

international transmission facilities 

owned by Basin Electric Power 

Cooperative, Bonneville Power 

Administration, Eastern Maine Electric 

Cooperative, International Transmission 

Company, Joint Owners of the Highgate 

Project, Long Sault, Inc., Maine Electric 

Power Company, Maine Public Service 

Company, Minnesota Power, Inc., 

Minnkota Power Cooperative, New York 

Power Authority, Niagara Mohawk 

Power Corporation, Northern States 

Power, and Vermont Electric 

Transmission Company.

The construction of each of the 

international transmission facilities to 

be utilized by Constellation, as more 

fully described in the application, has 

previously been authorized by a 

Presidential permit issued pursuant to 

Executive Order 10485, as amended. 

Procedural Matters: Any person 

desiring to become a party to these 

proceedings or to be heard by filing 

comments or protests to these 

applications should file a petition to 

intervene, comment or protest at the 

address provided above in accordance 

with §§ 385.211 or 385.214 of the 

FERC’s Rules of Practice and Procedures 

(18 CFR 385.211, 385.214). Fifteen 

copies of each petition and protest 

should be filed with the DOE on or 

before the dates listed above. 

Comments on Constellation’s 

application to export electric energy to 

Canada should be clearly marked with 

Docket EA–164–B. Additional copies 

are to be filed directly with Lisa M. 

Decker, Esq., Vice President and 

Counsel, Constellation Energy 

Commodities Group, Inc., 111 Market 

Place, Suite 500, Baltimore, Maryland 

21202. 

Copies of these applications will be 

made available, upon request, for public 

inspection and copying at the address 

provided above or by accessing the 

Fossil Energy home page at http://

www.fe.doe.gov. Upon reaching the 

Fossil Energy home page, select 

‘‘Electricity Regulation,’’ and then 

‘‘Pending Proceedings’’ from the options 

menus.