[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 222 (Tuesday, November 18, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61490-61491]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-30221]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Docket No. 970411089-7089-01]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Amendment of Privacy Act System of Records; COMMERCE/
DEPT System 2.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce gives notice of an amendment to the 
system of records under Commerce Department System 2. The amendments 
adds a routine use for disclosure of information in this system to 
other agencies as needed for the purpose of effecting administrative 
offsets in cases where debts are owed by individuals or organizations 
to the U.S. Government. This action has been taken to comply with the 
Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice will be adopted without further publication 
in the Federal Register, on December 18, 1997, unless modified by a 
subsequent notice to incorporate comments received from the public. Any 
interested party may submit written comments about the revision to the 
system of records to the contact person listed below on or before 
December 18, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Department of Commerce, Office of Financial Management, 14th 
Street & Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 6827, Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Yaple at 202-482-1207.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Commerce is amending 
Commerce Department System 2: Accounts Receivable to add that records 
may be disclosed to any other federal agency.

--Added under ``Routine use:''

Disclosure of information in this system of records to any other 
Federal agency as necessary for the purpose of effecting 
administrative offset against the debtor to recoup a delinquent debt 
owed to the U.S. Government by the debtor.

    This change is being made to implement the Debt Collection 
Improvement Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-134, sec. 31001, et seq.). This 
statutes requires Federal agencies to minimize the costs of collection 
of debt owed to the agencies by consolidating debt collection functions 
and activities and utilizing interagency teams, and to reduce losses 
arising from debt management by requiring proper screening of potential 
borrowers, aggressive monitoring of all accounts, and sharing of 
information with and among agencies. The Department of Commerce intends 
to participate in an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of 
Treasury whereby the latter agency will serve as a central collection 
point for information from several Federal agencies concerning 
individuals who owe debts to the Government. This routine use permits 
disclosure of information from this system of records to the Department 
of Treasury, or any other agency that may conduct this activity.
    Other editorial changes have also been incorporated to change an 
outdated reference to the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) to the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to add a 
reference to records of the Technology Administration, and the Bureau 
of Export Administration (BXA), and to delete references to the United 
States Travel and Tourism Administration (USTTA), which has been 
abolished.
    The system of records is hereby republished as follows:
COMMERCE/DEPT-2

SYSTEM NAME:
    Accounts Receivable--COMMERCE/DEPT-2.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    a. For Departmental offices, BEA, ITA, and MBDA: Office of 
Financial Operations and Travel Management, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20230.
    b. For NIST (including the Technology Administration) and NTIA: 
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Office of the 
Comptroller, Administration Building, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899.
    c. For NOAA and BXA: Office of Budget and Finance, National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, 
NW, Washington, DC 20230.
    d. For PTO: Office of Finance, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 
2021 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202.
    e. For CENSUS: Finance Division, Bureau of the Census Federal 
Building 3, Washington, DC 20233.
    f. For NTIS: Accounting Division, National Technical Information 
Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
    g. For EDA: Accounting Division, Economic Development 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Debtors owing money to organizational components identified in a 
through g above, including employees, former employees, business firms, 
the general public, and institutions.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Name and address; amount owed; service to which the amount is owed; 
overpayment or other accounting therefor; and invoice number, if any.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    5 U.S.C. 5701-09; 31 U.S.C. 951-953, 4 CFR 102.4, FPMR 101-7; 
Treasury Fiscal Requirements Manual.

[[Page 61491]]

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
--Billing debtors, reporting delinquent debts to credit bureaus.
--Reporting to Office of Personnel Management for liquidating debts 
from retirement and other benefits.
--Disclosure of information from this system of records may also be 
made to commercial contractors (debt collection agencies) for the 
purpose of collecting delinquent debts as authorized by the Debt 
Collection Act (31 U.S.C. 3718).
--Disclosure of information in this system of records to any other 
Federal agency as necessary for the purpose of effecting administrative 
offset against the debtor to recoup a delinquent debt owed to the U.S. 
Government by the debtor.
--Disclosures to consumer reporting agencies pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b)(12) may be made from this system to ``consumer reporting 
agencies'' as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 
1681a(f)); and the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 (31 U.S.C. 
3701(a)(3)).
--Also, see routine uses 1-5 and 8-13 of the Prefatory Statement, found 
at 46 FR 63502, December 31, 1981.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Both manual and machine-readable records.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    By name, and invoice number as appropriate.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Physical security, handling by authorized personnel only.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Retained until payment is received and account is audited, then 
disposed of in accordance with Records Control Schedule.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    For records at location a: Director, Office of Financial Operations 
and Travel Management, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 
20230.
    For records at location b: Comptroller, Office of the Comptroller, 
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Administration 
Building, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899.
    For records at location c: Director, Office of Budget and Finance, 
NOAA, Room 6811, Herbert C. Building, 14th Street and Constitution 
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.
    For records at location d: Director, Office of Finance, U.S. Patent 
and Trademark Office, Washington, DC 20231.
    For records at location e: Associate Director for Administration, 
Bureau of the Census, Federal Building 3, Washington, DC 20233.
    For records at location f: Chief, Accounting Division, National 
Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
    For records at location g: Chief, Accounting Division, Economic 
Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street 
and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    For ITA records at location a, information may be obtained from 
Director, Office of Management and Systems, ITA, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, Washington, DC 20230.
    For all others at location a, information may be obtained from: 
Chief, Information Management Division, Office of Information Resources 
Management, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230.
    For records at location b, information may be obtained from: Deputy 
Director of Administration, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899.
    For records at location c, information may be obtained from: 
Director, Administrative and Technical Services, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street 
and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.
    For PTO records at location d, information may be obtained from: 
Assistant Commissioner for Administration, U.S. Patent and Trademark 
Office, Washington, DC 20231.
    For records at location e, information may be obtained from: 
Associate Director for Administration, Bureau of the Census, Federal 
Building 3, Washington, DC 20233.
    For NTIS records at location f, information may be obtained from: 
Associate Director for Financial and Administrative Management, 
National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
    For records at location g, information may be obtained from: 
Director, Office of Public Affairs, EDA, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
Washington, DC 20230.
    Requester should provide name and address, and invoice number as 
appropriate, pursuant to the inquiry provisions of the Department's 
rules which appear in 15 CFR part 4b.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Requests from individuals should be addressed to: Same address as 
stated in the Notification procedure section above.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    The Department's rules for access, for contesting contents, and 
appealing initial determinations by the individual concerned appear in 
15 CFR part 4b. Same address as stated in the Notification procedure 
section above.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Subject individual, those authorized by the individual to furnish 
information, contracting officer as appropriate, accounting records.

    Dated: November 12, 1997.
Brenda S. Dolan,
Department of Commerce, Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Officer.
[FR Doc. 97-30221 Filed 11-17-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-FA-P