This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

39184 

Vol. 75, No. 130 

Thursday, July 8, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Office of the Secretary 

6 CFR Part 5 

[Docket No. DHS–2010–0034] 

Privacy Act of 1974: Implementation of 

Exemptions; Department of Homeland 

Security/ALL—029 Civil Rights and 

Civil Liberties Records System of 

Records 

AGENCY: Privacy Office, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland 

Security is giving concurrent notice of 

an updated and reissued system of 

records pursuant to the Privacy Act of 

1974 for the Department of Homeland 

Security/ALL—029 Civil Rights and 

Civil Liberties Records 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 August 9, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number DHS– 

2010–0034, 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 and Chief Freedom of 

Information Act Officer, Privacy Office, 

Department of Homeland Security, 

Washington, DC 20528. 

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 and 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 

The Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) civil rights and civil 

liberties staff, including components, as 

well as staff of components who do not 

have a designated civil rights and civil 

liberties office, but who do perform 

related functions (civil rights and civil 

liberties staff), rely on the DHS/Civil 

Rights and Civil Liberties—001 Matters 

System of Records (69 FR 70464, 

December 6, 2004) and other component 

specific systems of records, for the 

collection and maintenance of records 

that concern the Department’s civil 

rights and civil liberties records. The 

system name is being changed to ‘‘DHS/ 

ALL—029 Civil Rights and Civil 

Liberties Records System of Records’’ to 

reflect that the system is a Departmentwide system of records and that all DHS 

civil rights and civil liberties records 

will now be covered by the DHS/ALL— 

029 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 

Records System of Records. This name 

change, along with other changes to the 

system, are made to capture the 

expansion of the overall system of 

records including the Department Office 

for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 

(CRCL) as well as component civil rights 

and civil liberties staff, staff of 

component offices that perform civil 

rights and civil liberties functions, and 

staff of components who do not have a 

designated civil rights and civil liberties 

office but who do perform investigative 

and reporting responsibilities related 

civil rights and civil liberties functions 

(collectively referred to as ‘‘civil rights 

and civil liberties staff’’). The DHS/ 

ALL—029 Civil Rights and Civil 

Liberties Records System of Records is 

the baseline system for Departmental 

civil rights and civil liberties activities, 

as led by the DHS Officer for Civil 

Rights and Civil Liberties. The 

Department’s civil rights and civil 

liberties staff advise Departmental and/ 

or component leadership, personnel, 

and partners about civil rights and civil 

liberties issues, ensuring respect for 

civil rights and civil liberties in policy 

decisions and implementation of those 

decisions. Civil rights and civil liberties 

staff also review and assess information 

concerning abuses of civil rights, civil 

liberties, such as profiling on the basis 

of race, ethnicity, or religion, by 

employees and officials of the 

Department of Homeland Security. The 

Department’s civil rights and civil 

liberties staff also ensure that all 

federally-assisted and federallyconducted programs or activities of the 

Department comply with the provisions 

of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

1964. The Department’s civil rights and 

civil liberties staff investigate 

complaints, including: allegations that 

individuals acted under color of law or 

otherwise abused their authority; 

discrimination; profiling; violations of 

the confidentiality provisions of the 

Violence Against Women Act; 

conditions of detention; treatment; due 

process; and watch list issues. 

II. Privacy Act 

The Privacy Act embodies fair 

information principles in a statutory 

framework governing the means by 

which the United States 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. 

Individuals may request their own 

records that are maintained in a system 

of records in the possession or under the 

control of DHS by complying with DHS 

Privacy Act regulations, 6 CFR part 5. 

The Privacy Act requires each agency 

to publish in the Federal Register a 

description of the type and character of 

each system of records that the agency 

maintains, and the routine uses that are 

contained in each system in order to 

make agency recordkeeping practices 

transparent, to notify individuals 

regarding the uses to which personally 

identifiable information is put, and to 

assist individuals in finding such files 

within the agency. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 130 / Thursday, July 8, 2010 / Proposed Rules 39185 

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 DHS/ALL—029 Civil Rights and 

Civil Liberties Records System of 

Records. Some information in DHS/ 

ALL—029 Civil Rights and Civil 

Liberties Records System of Records 

relates to official DHS national security, 

law enforcement, immigration, 

intelligence activities, and protective 

services to the President of the United 

States or other individuals pursuant to 

Section 3056 and 3056A of Title 18. 

These exemptions are needed to protect 

information relating to DHS activities 

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; to safeguard 

classified information; and to safeguard 

records in connection with providing 

protective services to the President of 

the United States or other individuals 

pursuant to Section 3056 and 3056A of 

Title 18. 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/ 

ALL—029 Civil Rights and Civil 

Liberties Records 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: 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 to Appendix C to Part 5 the 

following new paragraph ‘‘49’’: 

Appendix C to Part 5—DHS Systems of 

Records Exempt From the Privacy Act 

* * * * * 

49. The DHS/ALL—029 Civil Rights and 

Civil Liberties Records System of Records 

consists of electronic and paper records and 

will be used by DHS and its components. The 

DHS/ALL—029 Civil Rights and Civil 

Liberties Records 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 thereunder; national security 

and intelligence activities; and protection of 

the President of the United States or other 

individuals pursuant to Section 3056 and 

3056A of Title 18. The DHS/ALL—029 Civil 

Rights and Civil Liberties Records 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)(1), (k)(2), (k)(3), and (k)(5). 

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 

individual who is 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 

individual who is 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. 

(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 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: June 30, 2010. 

Mary Ellen Callahan, 

Chief Privacy Officer, Department of 

Homeland Security. 

[FR Doc. 2010–16580 Filed 7–7–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–9B–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2010–0679; Directorate 

Identifier 2009–NM–179–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Model 747–100, 747–100B, 

747–100B SUD, 747–200B, 747–200C, 

747–200F, 747–300, 747SR, and 747SP 

Series Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with PROPOSALS