Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 189 / Thursday, September 29, 2011 / Proposed Rules 60387 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Office of the Secretary 

6 CFR Part 5 

[Docket No. DHS–2011–0091] 

Privacy Act of 1974: Implementation of 

Exemptions; Department of Homeland 

Security Federal Emergency 

Management Agency–012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting System of Records 

AGENCY: Privacy Office, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland 

Security is giving concurrent notice of a 

newly established system of records 

pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 for 

the ‘‘Department of Homeland Security/ 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency–012 Suspicious Activity 

Reporting System of Records’’ and this 

proposed rulemaking. In this proposed 

rulemaking, the Department proposes to 

exempt portions of the system of records 

from one or more provisions of the 

Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, 

and administrative enforcement 

requirements. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before October 31, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number DHS– 

2011–0091, by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 703–483–2999. 

• Mail: Mary Ellen Callahan, Chief 

Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, 

Department of Homeland Security, 

Washington, DC 20528. 

• Instructions: All submissions 

received must include the agency name 

and docket number for this rulemaking. 

All comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

• Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number for this notice. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general questions please contact: Dr. 

Lesia Banks, (202–646–3323), Acting 

Privacy Officer, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, Department of 

Homeland Security, Washington, DC 

20478. For privacy issues please 

contact: Mary Ellen Callahan (703–235– 

0780), Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy 

Office, Department of Homeland 

Security, Washington, DC 20528. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 

1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) Federal 

Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) proposes to establish a new 

DHS/FEMA system of records titled, 

‘‘DHS/FEMA–012 Suspicious Activity 

Reporting System of Records.’’ 

FEMA’s mission is to ‘‘support our 

citizens and first responders to ensure 

that as a nation we work together to 

build, sustain, and improve our 

capability to prepare for, protect against, 

respond to, recover from, and mitigate 

all hazards.’’ FEMA will collect, 

maintain, and retrieve records on 

individuals who report suspicious 

activities, individuals reported as being 

involved in suspicious activities, and 

individuals charged with the analysis 

and appropriate handling of suspicious 

activity reports. FEMA’s Office of the 

Chief Security Officer (OCSO), Fraud 

and Investigations Unit, manages this 

process. To reduce any risk of 

unauthorized access, FEMA SARs are 

secured in a room monitored by FEMA 

OCSO special agents and analysts. 

FEMA SARs may shared with federal, 

state, local, and tribal jurisdictions that 

hold the responsibility of investigating 

suspicious activities within their 

jurisdictions. FEMA SARs that do not 

have a nexus to terrorism or hazards to 

homeland security, as determined by 

FEMA OCSO special agents or analysts, 

are forwarded to the appropriate 

jurisdiction, such as sheriff offices, 

county/city police, and state police. 

FEMA SARs that have a nexus to 

terrorism or hazards to homeland 

security, as determined by FEMA OCSO 

special agents or analysts, are shared 

with the Federal Bureau of 

Investigations (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task 

Force (JTTF), Federal Protective Service, 

and/or other federal agencies required to 

investigate and respond to terrorist 

threats or hazards to homeland security. 

FEMA’s SAR process is authorized 

and governed by 44 CFR Chapter 2 

‘‘Delegation of Authority;’’ 42 U.S.C. 

5196(d); Executive Orders 12333 and 

13388; 40 U.S.C. 1315(b)(2)(F); 6 U.S.C. 

314; The Homeland Security Act of 

2002, as amended; the Intelligence 

Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 

2004, as amended; the National Security 

Act of 1947, as amended; and FEMA 

Manual 1010–1 ‘‘Federal Emergency 

Management Agency Missions and 

Functions.’’ 

Consistent with DHS’s information 

sharing mission, information stored in 

the DHS/FEMA–012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting System of Records 

may be shared with other DHS 

components, as well as appropriate 

federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, 

foreign, or international government 

agencies. This sharing will only take 

place after DHS determines that the 

receiving component or agency has a 

need to know the information to carry 

out national security, law enforcement, 

immigration, intelligence, or other 

functions consistent with the routine 

uses set forth in this system of records 

notice. 

II. Privacy Act 

The Privacy Act embodies fair 

information practice principles in a 

statutory framework governing the 

means by which the U.S. Government 

collects, maintains, uses, and 

disseminates personally identifiable 

information. The Privacy Act applies to 

information that is maintained in a 

‘‘system of records.’’ A ‘‘system of 

records’’ is a group of any records under 

the control of an agency from which 

information is retrieved by the name of 

the individual or by some identifying 

number, symbol, or other identifying 

particular assigned to the individual. In 

the Privacy Act, an individual is defined 

to encompass U.S. citizens and lawful 

permanent residents. As a matter of 

policy, DHS extends administrative 

Privacy Act protections to all 

individuals where systems of records 

maintain information on U.S. citizens, 

lawful permanent residents, and 

visitors. 

The Privacy Act allows government 

agencies to exempt certain records from 

the access and amendment provisions. If 

an agency claims an exemption, 

however, it must issue a Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking to make clear to 

the public the reasons why a particular 

exemption is claimed. 

DHS is claiming exemptions from 

certain requirements of the Privacy Act 

for the DHS/FEMA–012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting System of Records. 

Some information in the DHS/FEMA– 

012 Suspicious Activity Reporting 

System of Records relates to official 

DHS national security, law enforcement, 

and intelligence activities. These 

exemptions are needed to protect 

information relating to DHS activities 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
60388 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 189 / Thursday, September 29, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

from disclosure to subjects or others 

related to these activities. Specifically, 

the exemptions are required to preclude 

subjects of these activities from 

frustrating these processes; to avoid 

disclosure of activity techniques; to 

protect the identities and physical safety 

of confidential informants and law 

enforcement personnel; to ensure DHS’ 

ability to obtain information from third 

parties and other sources; to protect the 

privacy of third parties; and to safeguard 

classified information. Disclosure of 

information to the subject of the inquiry 

could also permit the subject to avoid 

detection or apprehension. 

The exemptions proposed here are 

standard law enforcement and national 

security exemptions exercised by a large 

number of federal law enforcement and 

intelligence agencies. In appropriate 

circumstances, where compliance 

would not appear to interfere with or 

adversely affect the law enforcement 

purposes of this system and the overall 

law enforcement process, the applicable 

exemptions may be waived on a case by 

case basis. 

A notice of system of records for DHS/ 

FEMA–012 Suspicious Activity 

Reporting System of Records is also 

published in this issue of the Federal 

Register. 

List of Subjects in 6 CFR Part 5 

Freedom of information; Privacy. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, DHS proposes to amend 

Chapter I of Title 6, Code of Federal 

Regulations, as follows: 

PART 5—DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS 

AND INFORMATION 

1. The authority citation for Part 5 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Pub. L. 107–296, 116 Stat. 2135; 

(6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.); 5 U.S.C. 301. Subpart 

A also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552. Subpart B 

also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552a. 

2. Add at the end of Appendix C to 

Part 5, the following new paragraph 

‘‘60’’: 

Appendix C to Part 5—DHS Systems of 

Records Exempt From the Privacy Act 

* * * * * 

60. The DHS/FEMA–012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting System of Records 

consists of electronic and paper records and 

will be used by DHS and its components. The 

DHS/FEMA–012 Suspicious Activity 

Reporting System of Records is a repository 

of information held by DHS in connection 

with its several and varied missions and 

functions, including, but not limited to the 

enforcement of civil and criminal laws; 

investigations, inquiries, and proceedings 

there under; and national security and 

intelligence activities. The DHS/FEMA–012 

Suspicious Activity Reporting System of 

Records contains information that is 

collected by, on behalf of, in support of, or 

in cooperation with DHS and its components 

and may contain personally identifiable 

information collected by other Federal, state, 

local, tribal, foreign, or international 

government agencies. The Secretary of 

Homeland Security has exempted this system 

from the following provisions of the Privacy 

Act, subject to limitations set forth in 5 

U.S.C. 552a(c)(3); (d); (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), 

(e)(4)(H), (e)(4)(I); and (f) pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

552a (k)(2). Exemptions from these particular 

subsections are justified, on a case-by-case 

basis to be determined at the time a request 

is made, for the following reasons: 

(a) From subsection (c)(3) (Accounting for 

Disclosures) because release of the 

accounting of disclosures could alert the 

subject of an investigation of an actual or 

potential criminal, civil, or regulatory 

violation to the existence of that investigation 

and reveal investigative interest on the part 

of DHS as well as the recipient agency. 

Disclosure of the accounting would therefore 

present a serious impediment to law 

enforcement efforts and/or efforts to preserve 

national security. Disclosure of the 

accounting would also permit the individual 

who is the subject of a record to impede the 

investigation, to tamper with witnesses or 

evidence, and to avoid detection or 

apprehension, which would undermine the 

entire investigative process. 

(b) From subsection (d) (Access to Records) 

because access to the records contained in 

this system of records could inform the 

subject of an investigation of an actual or 

potential criminal, civil, or regulatory 

violation to the existence of that investigation 

and reveal investigative interest on the part 

of DHS or another agency. Access to the 

records could permit the individual who is 

the subject of a record to impede the 

investigation, to tamper with witnesses or 

evidence, and to avoid detection or 

apprehension. Amendment of the records 

could interfere with ongoing investigations 

and law enforcement activities and would 

impose an unreasonable administrative 

burden by requiring investigations to be 

continually reinvestigated. In addition, 

permitting access and amendment to such 

information could disclose security-sensitive 

information that could be detrimental to 

homeland security. 

(c) From subsection (e)(1) (Relevancy and 

Necessity of Information) because in the 

course of investigations into potential 

violations of federal law, the accuracy of 

information obtained or introduced 

occasionally may be unclear, or the 

information may not be strictly relevant or 

necessary to a specific investigation. In the 

interests of effective law enforcement, it is 

appropriate to retain all information that may 

aid in establishing patterns of unlawful 

activity. 

(f) From subsections (e)(4)(G), (e)(4)(H), 

and (e)(4)(I) (Agency Requirements) and (f) 

(Agency Rules), because portions of this 

system are exempt from the individual access 

provisions of subsection (d) for the reasons 

noted above, and therefore DHS is not 

required to establish requirements, rules, or 

procedures with respect to such access. 

Providing notice to individuals with respect 

to existence of records pertaining to them in 

the system of records or otherwise setting up 

procedures pursuant to which individuals 

may access and view records pertaining to 

themselves in the system would undermine 

investigative efforts and reveal the identities 

of witnesses, and potential witnesses, and 

confidential informants. 

Dated: September 9, 2011. 

Mary Ellen Callahan, 

Chief Privacy Officer, Department of 

Homeland Security. 

[FR Doc. 2011–24935 Filed 9–28–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–17–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 27 

[Doc. #AMS–CN–10–0073; CN–10–005] 

RIN 0581–AD16 

Revision of Cotton Futures 

Classification Procedures 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) is proposing to update 

the procedures for cotton futures quality 

classification services by using SmithDoxey classification data in the cotton 

futures classification process. In 

addition, references to a separate and 

optional review of cotton futures 

certification would be eliminated to 

reflect current industry practices. These 

proposed changes in procedures for 

cotton futures quality classification 

services, as well as proposed 

conforming changes, reflect advances in 

cotton fiber quality measurement and 

data processing made since the 

regulations were last updated in 1992. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before October 31, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

comment on the proposed rule using the 

following procedures: 

• Internet: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: Darryl Earnest, Deputy 

Administrator, Cotton & Tobacco 

Programs, AMS, USDA, STOP 0224, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0224. 

Comments should be submitted in 

triplicate. All comments should 

reference the docket number, date, and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. 

All comments will be available for 

public inspection at Cotton & Tobacco 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS