80220 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

the result of the difficulty in IOCS 

sampling in rural areas. Id. at 9–10. 

Impact. The Postal Service asserts that 

its proposal will result in ‘‘an overall 

decrease of approximately $163 million 

in attributable costs due to the 

reformulation of the cost components,’’ 

mostly ‘‘due to the new Other 

Supervisors costs component, which if 

implemented would be classified as 

institutional.’’ Id. at 10. Overall, the 

proposal will result in a decrease in unit 

costs for most product classes, except 

for Market Dominant Services. Id. at 10– 

11. 

III. Notice and Comment 

The Commission establishes Docket 

No. RM2024–1 for consideration of 

matters raised by the Petition. More 

information on the Petition may be 

accessed via the Commission’s website 

at https://www.prc.gov. Interested 

persons may submit comments on the 

Petition and Proposal Seven no later 

than December 18, 2023. Pursuant to 39 

U.S.C. 505, Almaroof Agoro is 

designated as an officer of the 

Commission (Public Representative) to 

represent the interests of the general 

public in this proceeding. 

IV. Ordering Paragraphs 

It is ordered: 

1. The Commission establishes Docket 

No. RM2024–1 for consideration of the 

matters raised by the Petition of the 

United States Postal Service for the 

Initiation of a Proceeding to Consider 

Proposed Changes in Analytical 

Principles (Proposal Seven), filed 

November 8, 2023. 

2. Comments by interested persons in 

this proceeding are due no later than 

December 18, 2023. 

3. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, the 

Commission appoints Almaroof Agoro 

to serve as an officer of the Commission 

(Public Representative) to represent the 

interests of the general public in this 

docket. 

4. The Secretary shall arrange for 

publication of this Order in the Federal 

Register. 

By the Commission. 

Erica A. Barker, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25430 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 16 

[EPA–HQ–OMS–2019–0371; FRL–10082–03– 

OMS] 

Privacy Act Regulations for EPA–83 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA or Agency) is proposing to 

revise the Agency’s Privacy Act 

regulations to exempt a system of 

records, EPA–83, the Personnel Security 

System (PSS) 2.0, from certain 

requirements of the Privacy Act because 

the system will contain information 

relevant to insider threat inquiries and 

background investigations. If such 

information is not kept confidential, it 

could jeopardize EPA or a referring 

agency’s ability to conduct background 

investigations, insider threat inquiries, 

or any related inquiries. In the ‘‘Rules 

and Regulations’’ section of this Federal 

Register, EPA is simultaneously 

publishing the revision of the Agency’s 

Privacy Act Regulations to include 

EPA–83 as a direct final rule without a 

prior proposed rule. If the Agency 

receives no adverse comment, it will not 

take further action on this proposed 

rule. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before December 18, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OMS–2019–0371, at https://

www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 

The EPA may publish any comment 

received to its public docket. Do not 

submit electronically any information 

you consider to be Confidential 

Business Information (CBI) or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Multimedia 

submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 

accompanied by a written comment. 

The written comment is considered the 

official comment and should include 

discussion of all points you wish to 

make. The EPA will generally not 

consider comments or comment 

contents located outside of the primary 

submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or 

other file sharing system). For 

additional submission methods, the full 

EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

https://www.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Goldsby, Personnel Security Branch, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

William Jefferson Clinton North 

Building, Mail Code 3206A, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 

564–1569; email address: 

Goldsby.John@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Why is EPA issuing this proposed 

rule? 

The EPA proposes to revise the 

Agency’s Privacy Act regulations in 

order to exempt a system of records, 

EPA–83, the Personnel Security System 

(PSS) 2.0, from certain requirements of 

the Privacy Act. The EPA has published 

a direct final rule exempting this system 

of records in the ‘‘Rules and 

Regulations’’ section of this Federal 

Register because it views this as a 

noncontroversial action and anticipates 

no adverse comment. EPA explains its 

reasons for the direct final rule in the 

preamble to that rule. If EPA receives no 

adverse comment, it will not take 

further action on this proposed rule. If 

EPA receives adverse comment, it will 

withdraw the direct final rule and the 

rule will not take effect. EPA will 

address public comments in any 

subsequent final rule based on this 

proposed rule. EPA does not intend to 

institute a second comment period on 

this action. Any parties interested in 

commenting must do so at this time. For 

further information, please see the 

information provided in the ADDRESSES

section of this document. 

II. General Information 

The EPA published a Privacy Act 

system of records notice for information 

collected and maintained in the 

Personnel Security System (PSS) 2.0 (85 

FR 32380, May 29, 2020), and a Notice 

of a Modified System of Records 

concurrently with this proposed rule. 

PSS 2.0 supports the Personnel Security 

Branch (PSB) with tracking the 

documentation associated with 

background investigations for Federal 

and non-Federal personnel working for 

EPA. PSS 2.0 contains investigatory 

material compiled for the purpose of 

determining suitability, eligibility, or 

qualifications for Federal civilian 

employment, Federal contracts, or 

access to classified information. 

Additionally, the PSB plans to update 

PSS 2.0 with a new module focused on 

providing the agency with insider threat 

inquiry management and coordination 

capabilities. The Insider Threat Program 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Proposed Rules 80221 

module will contain information 

relevant to insider threat inquiries on 

cleared individuals with access to EPA 

resources, including facilities, 

information, equipment, networks, and 

systems. At a later date, and once 

relevant authorities are updated, the 

insider threat module will also contain 

information on uncleared individuals 

with access to EPA resources. 

Information maintained in the Insider 

Threat Program module may be directly 

collected by EPA’s Office of Homeland 

Security (OHS) or may be obtained by 

OHS from law enforcement agencies or 

systems. Specifically, OHS will use the 

module to detect, deter, and mitigate 

potential insider threats before they 

harm national security. OHS will collect 

and maintain information in the module 

to identify potential insider threats, 

which may form the predicate of law 

enforcement investigations conducted 

by other law enforcement entities. 

Further, if an inquiry uncovers insider 

threat indicators, OHS may share 

relevant data from the module with 

authorized law enforcement 

organizations, like EPA’s Office of 

Inspector General or the Federal Bureau 

of Investigation, for those organizations 

to conduct any necessary investigations. 

Pursuant to the Privacy Act, when 

information is maintained for the 

purpose of civil actions, the relevant 

provision of the Privacy Act is 5 U.S.C. 

552a(d)(5) which states ‘‘nothing in this 

[Act] shall allow an individual access to 

any information compiled in reasonable 

anticipation of a civil action or 

proceeding.’’ 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5). 

In addition, section (k)(2) of the 

Privacy Act provides that the head of an 

agency may promulgate regulations to 

exempt the system from certain 

provisions of the Act if the system ‘‘is 

investigatory material compiled for law 

enforcement purposes, other than 

material within the scope of subsection 

(j)(2)’’ of 5 U.S.C. 552a. Accordingly, 

EPA proposes to exempt all such 

records in the PSS 2.0 system (including 

certain background investigation 

records and records maintained in the 

Insider Threat module) from 5 U.S.C. 

552a(c)(3); (d); and (e)(1);) for the 

following reasons: 

(1) From subsection 552a(c)(3), 

because making available to a named 

individual an accounting of disclosures 

of records concerning him/her/them 

would alert the subjects of an 

investigation or inquiry to the existence 

of the investigation or inquiry. This 

could allow record subjects to impede 

the inquiry, e.g., destroy evidence, 

intimidate potential witnesses, or flee 

the area to avoid inquiries or 

apprehension by law enforcement 

personnel. Further, such a disclosure 

could reveal the identity of a 

confidential source and hamper the 

Agency’s inquiry. 

(2) From subsection 552(d), which 

requires an agency to permit an 

individual to gain access to records 

pertaining to him/her/them, to request 

amendment to such records, to request 

a review of an agency decision not to 

amend such records, and to contest the 

information contained in such records. 

Granting requesters access to 

information compiled for insider threat 

inquiries, PSS 2.0 background 

investigation information compiled to 

investigate personnel/an applicant that 

is/would be responsible for law 

enforcement and/or national security 

matters, or other PSS 2.0 information 

related to such insider threat inquiries 

or background investigations could 

inform the subject of an investigation/ 

inquiry of an actual or potential 

criminal violation, of the existence of 

that investigation/inquiry, of the nature 

and scope of the information or 

evidence obtained as to their activities, 

and of the identity of confidential 

sources, witnesses, and law enforcement 

personnel. Such a disclosure could 

enable the subject to avoid detection or 

apprehension. Specifically, granting 

access to such information could 

seriously impede or compromise an 

investigation or inquiry; endanger the 

physical safety of confidential sources, 

witnesses, law enforcement personnel 

and their families; lead to the improper 

influencing of witnesses, the destruction 

of evidence, or the fabrication of 

testimony; and could disclose sensitive 

or confidential investigative techniques 

and procedures. 

(3) From subsections 552a(e)(1), 

which requires an agency to collect/ 

maintain only information about an 

individual that is relevant and necessary 

to accomplish a purpose of the Agency, 

because the relevance of information 

obtained in the course of a background 

investigation or insider threat inquiry is 

not always known when collected. 

Material that may seem unrelated, or 

irrelevant when collected may take on 

added meaning or significance as the 

inquiry progresses. Also, it is 

appropriate to retain all information that 

may aid in establishing patterns of 

illegal or insider threat activity. 

Therefore, it would impede the inquiry 

process if it were necessary to assure the 

relevance of all information obtained at 

the time of collection. 

Additionally, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

552a(k)(5), an individual’s request for 

access to his or her or their record(s) 

may be exempt from specific access 

provisions of the Privacy Act where the 

information is investigatory material 

compiled solely for the purpose of 

determining suitability, eligibility, or 

qualifications for Federal civilian 

employment, military service, Federal 

contracts, or access to classified 

information if disclosure of such 

material would reveal the identity of a 

confidential source who furnished 

information to the Government under an 

express promise that the source’s 

identity would be kept confidential. 

Under 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(5), EPA is 

proposing to exempt such materials 

stored in PSS 2.0 from 5 U.S.C. 

552(a)(c)(3) and (d) for the following 

reason(s): 

(1) From subsection 552a(c)(3), 

because an accounting of disclosures of 

records concerning the record subject 

may contain information about the 

identity of a confidential source, and if 

the Agency was required to disclose this 

information to the record subject, such 

a disclosure would reveal the identity of 

the confidential source, endangering the 

physical safety of the confidential 

source. Further, such a disclosure could 

allow record subjects to impede a 

background investigation or insider 

threat inquiry by contacting and 

intimidating confidential sources and 

those that are potential witnesses. 

(2) From subsection 552a(d), which 

requires an agency to permit an 

individual to gain access to records 

pertaining to him/her/them, to request 

amendment to such records, to request 

a review of an agency decision not to 

amend such records, and to contest the 

information contained in such records. 

Granting such access could cause the 

identity of a confidential source to be 

revealed, endangering the physical 

safety of the confidential source, and 

could impair the ability of the EPA to 

compile, in the future, investigatory 

material for the purpose of determining 

suitability, eligibility, or qualifications 

for Federal civilian employment, 

Federal contracts, or access to classified 

information. 

III. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Additional information about these 

statutes and Executive orders can be 

found at https://www.epa.gov/lawsregulations/laws-and-executive-orders. 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review, and Executive 

Order 13563: Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review 

This action is being submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review. 


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80222 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

This action does not impose an 

information collection burden under the 

PRA. This action contains no provisions 

constituting a collection of information 

under the PRA. 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

I certify that this action will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the RFA. This action will not 

impose any requirements on small 

entities. 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) 

This action does not contain any 

unfunded mandate as described in 

UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531–1538, and does 

not significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments. 

E. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism) 

This action does not have federalism 

implications. It will not have substantial 

direct effects on the states, on the 

relationship between the National 

Government and the states, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. 

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

This action does not have tribal 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13175. Thus, Executive Order 

13175 does not apply to this action. 

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks 

The EPA interprets Executive Order 

13045 as applying only to those 

regulatory actions that concern 

environmental health or safety risks that 

the EPA has reason to believe may 

disproportionately affect children, per 

the definition of ‘‘covered regulatory 

action’’ in section 2–202 of the 

Executive order. This action is not 

subject to Executive Order 13045 

because it does not concern an 

environmental health risk or safety risk. 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This action is not subject to Executive 

Order 13211, because it is not a 

significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866. 

I. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act 

This rulemaking does not involve 

technical standards. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

The EPA believes that this action does 

not have disproportionately high and 

adverse human health or environmental 

effects on minority populations, lowincome populations and/or indigenous 

peoples, as specified in Executive Order 

12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 16 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Confidential business information, 

Government employees, Privacy. 

Kimberly Y. Patrick, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, 

Office of Mission Support. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, title 40, chapter I, part 16 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations is 

proposed to be amended as follows: 

PART 16—IMPLEMENTATION OF 

PRIVACY ACT OF 1974 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 16 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 552a (as revised). 

■ 2. Amend § 16.12 by: 

■ a. Revising paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(4)(i), 

(a)(5) introductory text, and (b)(1); 

■ b. Adding paragraph (b)(4)(iii); and 

■ c. Revising paragraph (b)(5) 

introductory text. 

The revisions and addition read as 

follows: 

§ 16.12 Specific exemptions. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Systems of records affected. (i) 

EPA–17 Online Criminal Enforcement 

Activities Network (OCEAN). 

(ii) EPA–21 External Compliance Case 

Tracking System (EXCATS). 

(iii) EPA–30 Inspector General 

Enterprise Management System (IGEMS) 

Hotline Module. 

(iv) EPA–40 Inspector General 

Enterprise Management System (IGEMS) 

Investigative Module. 

(v) EPA–63 eDiscovery Enterprise 

Tool Suite. 

(vi) EPA–79 NEIC Master Tracking 

System. 

(vii) EPA–100 OIG Data Analytics 

Enterprise. 

(viii) EPA–83 Personnel Security 

System (PSS) 2.0. 

* * * * * 

(4) * * * 

(i) EPA systems of records 17, 30, 40, 

63, 79, and 100 are exempted from the 

following provisions of the PA, subject 

to the limitations set forth in 5 U.S.C. 

552a(k)(2): 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3); (d); and 

(e)(1). EPA system of records 21 is 

exempt from the following provisions of 

the PA, subject to limitations set forth 

in 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2): 5 U.S.C 

552a(c)(3), (d), and (e)(1). EPA system of 

records 83 is exempt from the following 

provisions of the PA, subject to the 

limitations set forth in 5 U.S.C. 

552a(k)(2): 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3); (d); and 

(e)(1). 

* * * * * 

(5) Reasons for exemption. EPA 

systems of records 17, 21, 30, 40, 63, 79, 

83, and 100 are exempted from the 

provisions of the PA in paragraph (a)(4) 

of this section for the following reasons: 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) Systems of records affected. (i) 

EPA 36 Research Grant, Cooperative 

Agreement, and Fellowship Application 

Files. 

(ii) EPA 40 Inspector General 

Enterprise Management System (IGEMS) 

Investigative Module. 

(iii) EPA 83 Personnel Security 

System (PSS) 2.0. 

(iv) EPA 100 OIG Data Analytics 

Enterprise. 

* * * * * 

(4) * * * 

(iii) EPA 83 is exempted from the 

following provisions of the PA, subject 

to the limitations of 5 U.S.C. 

552(a)(k)(5): 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), and (d). 

* * * * * 

(5) Reasons for exemption. EPA 36, 

40, 83, and 100 are exempted from the 

above provisions of the PA for the 

following reasons: 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2023–24668 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 355 

[EPA–HQ–OLEM–2023–0142; FRL–10285– 

01–OLEM] 

RIN 2050–AH31 

Potential Future Regulation for 

Emergency Release Notification 

Requirements for Animal Waste Air 

Emissions Under the Emergency 

Planning and Community Right-toKnow Act (EPCRA) 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS