This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

1387 

Vol. 77, No. 6 

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Office of the Secretary 

6 CFR Part 5 

[Docket No. DHS–2011–0119] 

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: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland 

Security is issuing a final rule to amend 

its regulations to exempt a newly 

established system of records titled, 

‘‘Department of Homeland Security/ 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency—012 Suspicious Activity 

Reporting System of Records’’ from 

certain provisions of the Privacy Act. 

Specifically, the Department exempts 

portions of the ‘‘Department of 

Homeland Security/Federal Emergency 

Management Agency—012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting System of Records’’ 

from one or more provisions of the 

Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, 

and administrative enforcement 

requirements. 

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is 

effective January 10, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general questions please contact: Eric M. 

Leckey, (202) 646–3323), Privacy 

Officer, Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, 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: 

Background 

The Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) published 

a notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM) in the Federal Register, 76 FR 

60387, September 29, 2011, proposing 

to exempt a system of records from one 

or more provisions of the Privacy Act 

because of criminal, civil, and 

administrative enforcement 

requirements. The system of records is 

the DHS/FEMA—012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting System of Records. 

The DHS/FEMA—012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting system of records 

notice (SORN) was published 

concurrently in the Federal Register, 

76 FR 60067, September 28, 2011, and 

comments were invited on both the 

NPRM and SORN. 

Public Comments 

DHS/FEMA received a total of two 

public comments. One comment was 

received on the NPRM and one on the 

SORN. 

NPRM 

DHS/FEMA received one public 

comment from an anonymous 

individual in support of the NPRM. The 

private individual notes that ‘‘the DHS/ 

FEMA’s new system of records should 

be exempt from the public disclosure 

component of the Privacy Act to further 

ensure national security and to add a 

necessary exemption to an act that seeks 

to protect individuals through 

information control.’’ The private 

individual further stated ‘‘this proposed 

rule shouldn’t be seen as undermining 

an individual’s right to disclosure of 

information that involves them, but 

rather a necessary exemption to ensure 

national safety * * *. The proposed 

rule justifiably exempts the DHS/FEMA 

from disclosure in order to achieve 

national security goals that will protect 

citizens from growing homeland 

threats.’’ 

SORN 

DHS/FEMA received one public 

comment on the SORN from an 

anonymous individual who noted ‘‘the 

Notice for the Department of Homeland 

Security/Federal Emergency 

Management Agency—012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting System of Records 

should reflect that the effort is part of 

the larger, federal-wide Nationwide 

Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative 

and that SARs are reported in 

accordance with ISE SAR Functional 

Standard 1.5.’’ The drafting of the SORN 

was intended to be broad enough to 

allow for changes and fluctuation in the 

Nationwide SAR Initiative as well as 

implementation at DHS and FEMA. 

Plans are underway to centralize 

reporting within DHS of all suspicious 

activity that meets the Information 

Sharing Environment (ISE) Functional 

Standard. Once those plans are put into 

place, FEMA Office of the Chief 

Security Officer (OSCO) special agents 

and/or analysts will enter all vetted 

SARs into the DHS ISE SAR Vetting 

Tool (SVT) instead of the FBI 

e-Guardian system, as stated in the 

DHS/FEMA/PIA–018 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting (SAR) Privacy Impact 

Assessment (PIA) published on 

September 9, 2011. 

After consideration of public 

comments, the Department decided to 

remove reference to protection of the 

president and will implement the 

rulemaking as described below. 

List of Subjects in 6 CFR Part 5 

Freedom of information; Privacy. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, DHS/FEMA amends 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: 6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.; Pub. L. 

107–296, 116 Stat. 2135; 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 

‘‘67’’: 

Appendix C to Part 5—DHS Systems of 

Records Exempt From the Privacy Act 

* * * * * 

67. The DHS/FEMA–012 Suspicious 

Activity Reporting System of Records 

consists of electronic and paper records and 

will be used by DHS/FEMA and its 

components. The DHS/FEMA—012 

Suspicious Activity Reporting System of 

Records is a repository of information held 

by DHS/FEMA to serve its mission 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, 


wreier-aviles on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with RULES
1388 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

recover from, and mitigate all hazards. This 

system also supports certain other DHS/ 

FEMA programs whose functions include, 

but are 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/ 

FEMA 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 pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 552a(k)(2); (c)(3); (d); (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), 

(e)(4)(H), (e)(4)(I); and (f). Exemptions from 

these particular subsections are justified, on 

a case-by-case basis 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/FEMA 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/FEMA 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. 

(d) 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/FEMA 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: December 20, 2011. 

Mary Ellen Callahan, 

Chief Privacy Officer, Department of 

Homeland Security. 

[FR Doc. 2012–255 Filed 1–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–17–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Parts 92, 93, 94, 96, and 98 

[Docket No. APHIS–2009–0035] 

RIN 0579–AD05 

Lists of Regions Classified With 

Respect to Certain Animal Diseases 

and States Approved To Receive 

Certain Imported Horses 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are removing lists of 

regions classified with respect to certain 

animal diseases and pests, and lists of 

States approved to receive horses 

imported from foreign regions where 

contagious equine metritis (CEM) exists, 

from our animal and animal product 

import regulations. Instead, the lists will 

be posted on the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS’) 

Web site. The regulations will provide 

the Web address and explain APHIS’ 

criteria and processes for adding a 

region or a State to, or removing a region 

or State from, each of the lists. Because 

the lists will no longer be in the Code 

of Federal Regulations, changing the 

lists will no longer require rulemaking. 

We will keep the public informed of 

changes to the lists and provide 

opportunity for public comment 

through publications in the Federal 

Register. This rule will enable APHIS to 

more quickly recognize changes in the 

disease or pest status of foreign regions 

and approve States to receive horses 

from foreign regions where CEM exists. 

This rulemaking does not change the 

technical criteria APHIS uses to 

evaluate whether a foreign region 

should be added to or removed from a 

list or the criteria for approving a State 

to receive horses imported from foreign 

regions where CEM exists. 

DATES: Effective Date: February 9, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Laurel Voelker, Regional Evaluation 

Services—Import, National Center for 

Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 920 

Main Campus Drive, Suite 150, Raleigh, 

NC 27606; (919) 855–7736. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in 9 CFR part 94 

govern the importation into the United 

States of certain animals and animal 

products in order to prevent the 

introduction of specified livestock 

diseases into the United States. The 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) has, in the past, listed 

in part 94 regions affected with or free 

of various diseases of livestock. APHIS 

has also listed in part 94 countries in 

Europe that are part of the APHISdefined region of Europe that we 

recognize as low risk for classical swine 

fever (CSF). The regulations in 9 CFR 

part 93 govern the importation of 

animals into the United States. Part 93 

has listed regions affected with certain 

diseases of livestock and regions where 

screwworm is considered to exist. Part 

93 has also listed States that are 

approved by APHIS to receive stallions 

or mares over 731 days of age that are 

imported under specified conditions 

from regions affected with contagious 

equine metritis (CEM). The regulations 

in 9 CFR part 98 govern the importation 

into the United States of animal 

embryos and semen. Part 98 has listed 

the countries in Europe that are part of 

the APHIS-defined region of Europe that 

we recognize as low risk for CSF. Each 

time we have added or removed a 

country or other region to or from a list 

in any of these regulations, we have had 

to engage in rulemaking in order to 

change the Code of Federal Regulations. 

On June 1, 2011, we published a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register 

(Docket No. APHIS–2009–0035, 76 FR 

31499–31507) to remove the lists of 

States approved to receive stallions or 

mares from regions affected with CEM, 

the lists of countries in the APHISdefined European CSF region, and most 

of the other lists of regions from parts 

93, 94, and 98 and instead post them to 

APHIS’ Web site. We proposed to 

include in the regulations the Web 

address for the lists; a contact for 

requesting copies of the lists by mail, 

fax, or email; and APHIS’ process for 


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