This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

74200 

Vol. 89, No. 177 

Thursday, September 12, 2024 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Privacy Act of 1974; System of 

Records 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of 

records. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Privacy Act of 1974, and Office of 

Management and Budget Circular No. 

A–108 Federal Agency Responsibilities 

for Review, Reporting, and Publication, 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA or Department) is issuing a 

public notice of its intent to modify the 

current system of records titled 

‘‘Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, FS–33 Law Enforcement and 

Investigative Records.’’ This system 

allows Law Enforcement and 

Investigations to record all criminal and 

civil investigations that take place or are 

related to crimes committed on National 

Forest System lands, which includes 

verified violations of criminal statutes 

and Forest Service (Agency) policy, as 

well as situations that may result in 

civil claims for or against the 

government. This information helps the 

Agency meet its objective of 

contributing to the safety of law 

enforcement officers, Forest Service 

employees, and national forest visitors. 

DATES: This notice is applicable upon 

publication, subject to a 30-day period 

in which to comment on the routine 

uses described below. Comments must 

be submitted by October 15, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by 

docket number FS–2021–0002, may be 

submitted via one of the following 

methods: 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the instructions for submitting 

comments. 

2. Email: Curtis Davis, sm.fs.usfslei@

usda.gov. 

3. Mail: Director, Law Enforcement 

and Investigations (Mail Stop 1140), 

USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 96090, 

Washington, DC 20250. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and docket 

number [FS–2021–0002]. All comments 

received, including any personal 

information provided, will be posted 

without change to https://

www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background information or 

comments received go to https://

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general questions please contact U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, Law Enforcement and 

Investigations Staff, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW (Mail Stop 1140), 

Washington, DC 20250; phone 703–605– 

4730, email sm.fs.usfslei@usda.gov. For 

privacy questions, please contact Chief 

Privacy Officer, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer, Department of 

Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250. 

Cynthia Ebersohn by email at 

cynthia.ebersohn@usda.gov or by phone 

at 703–282–5413. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purposes for changes to this system of 

records are: 

1. To provide the procedures that 

allow individuals to gain access to their 

information maintained in this system 

of records notice as outlined in section 

6 (Notice) and section 7 (Access, 

Redress, and Correction) of the Law 

Enforcement Investigations Reporting 

System (LEIRS), formerly known as Law 

Enforcement Investigations Management 

Attainment Record System (LEIMARS), 

and Law Enforcement Investigation 

(LEI) Vault Privacy Impact Assessments. 

LEIRS is the system of record for the LEI 

information technologies (IT) portfolio, 

which is comprised of LEIRS, the LEI 

Vault, and any later acquisitions that 

fall within the LEI IT portfolio for these 

purposes. 

2. To reflect changes in practice and 

policy that affect the personally 

identifiable information (PII) 

maintained in this system of records. 

The LEIRS database is not accessible by 

the public. The information is shared on 

a need-to-know basis with law 

enforcement partners and the Federal, 

State, and local court systems. 

Information such as statistical crime 

analysis, including the number of 

incidents and cases, but excluding PII, 

is shared with Congress and other 

agencies on a need-to-know basis. This 

change to the routine uses section is 

intended to also meet the requirements 

of Executive Order 14074 to ‘‘include 

within the policies developed pursuant 

to subsection (a)(i) of this section 

protocols for expedited public release of 

BWC [body-worn camera] video footage 

following incidents involving serious 

bodily injury or deaths in custody, 

which shall be consistent with 

applicable law, including 7 CFR, 5 

U.S.C., and the Privacy Act of 1974, and 

shall take into account the need to 

promote transparency and 

accountability, the duty to protect the 

privacy rights of persons depicted in the 

footage, and any need to protect ongoing 

law enforcement operations.’’ 

The intended effect of these changes 

is to show individuals their PII 

information is secure within the LEI IT 

portfolio. 

The Forest Service proposes to modify 

a system of records, entitled ‘‘USDA/ 

FS–33 Law Enforcement and 

Investigative Records’’ that will be used 

to maintain records of activities 

conducted by the Agency pursuant to its 

mission and responsibilities. 

The Forest Service LEIRS application 

is primarily a criminal database and is 

used to collect information concerning 

criminal incidents; it is also used to 

document incidents that may be noncriminal in nature, primarily pertaining 

to civil cases that may result in a claim 

for or against the government. LEI Vault 

contains visual imagery and audio 

recordings of law enforcement and 

investigation events and interviews 

conducted. 

Consistent with the USDA’s 

information sharing mission, 

information stored within the 

components of LEIRS may be shared 

with other USDA components, as well 

as appropriate Federal, State, local, 

tribal, foreign, or international 

government agencies. This sharing will 

only take place after the USDA 

determines 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. 

The Privacy Act embodies fair 

information principles in a statutory 


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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 for which 

information is retrieved by using the 

name of an individual or using some 

identifying number, symbol, or other 

identifying particular assigned to the 

individual. In the Privacy Act, an 

individual is defined to encompass 

United States citizens and legal 

permanent residents. 

The Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 

(5 U.S.C. 552a), requires agencies to 

publish in the Federal Register notice of 

new or revised systems of records 

maintained by the agency. In 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), the 

Department has provided a report of this 

system change to the Office of 

Management and Budget and to 

Congress. 

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER: 

USDA/FS–33 Law Enforcement and 

Investigative Records is the title given to 

the Law Enforcement Investigations IT 

(LEI IT) portfolio, consisting of the Law 

Enforcement Investigations Reporting 

System (LEIRS) and Law Enforcement 

Investigation (LEI) Vault. 

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: 

Unclassified. 

SYSTEM LOCATION: 

LEIRS is a FedRAMP recognized 

centralized cloud-based database and is 

hosted within the Tyler Federal cloudbased hosting environment, which is 

housed within an Equinix provided data 

center physically located at 44470 

Chilum Place, DC3—Bldg. 1, in 

Ashburn, VA. 

LEI Vault is hosted in a FedRAMP 

recognized cloud-based environment 

hosted in Microsoft Azure. The address 

of the third-party service provider is 

Microsoft, 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, 

WA 98052–6399. 

SYSTEM MANAGER(S): 

The Director, Law Enforcement and 

Investigations, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW (Mail Stop 

1140), Washington, DC 20250. 

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM: 

LEIRS is a national database used by 

USDA Forest Service Law Enforcement 

and Investigations, consisting of 

approximately 600 to 700 users 

dispersed throughout the nine Forest 

Service regions. The information is 

collected to document all criminal and 

civil investigations that take place or are 

related to crimes committed on National 

Forest System lands. 

LEI Vault is the USDA-Forest Service 

implementation of technology to meet 

the data storage requirements that 

support the Law Enforcement and 

Investigations Directorate fielding of 

body-worn cameras. Body-worn cameras 

are widely used by law enforcement 

agencies in the United States. They are 

worn principally by sworn officers in 

the performance of duties that require 

open and direct contact with the public. 

Body-worn cameras are cameras with a 

microphone and internal data storage. 

They allow audio-video footage, known 

as digital media evidence, to be stored 

and analyzed with compatible software. 

Cameras are typically designed to be 

located on an officer’s chest or head but 

may also be configured to deploy with 

a weapon or to be triggered when a 

weapon is deployed. 

The LEI Vault and the underlying, 

supporting Axon Evidence(dot)com 

systems are not used by, nor are they 

available for access by the public. LEI 

Vault leverages the FedRAMPaccredited cloud resources provided by 

Axon Evidence(dot)com to store and 

manage law enforcement officers’ digital 

evidence (such as camera footage and 

audio recordings of interviews) and to 

provide a central management console 

for associated products and devices. All 

data originate with and is consumed by 

authorized USDA Forest Service LEI 

personnel and staff. All data is subject 

to the USDA Forest Service LEI 

organization policies in place to govern 

this data, to include privacy and 

organization-level security. 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

LEIRS is primarily a criminal and 

civil investigation database and is used 

to collect information concerning 

criminal incidents that includes the PII 

related to suspects, witnesses, and 

victims in addition to information 

pertaining to the investigation of 

criminal activity. LEIRS collects the 

following information: first name, last 

name, middle initial, date of birth, home 

or mailing address, work address, 

driver’s license, fishing license, hunting 

license, military issued ID, school 

issued ID, social security ID, state issued 

ID, height, weight, race, sex, hair color, 

eye color, adult/juvenile, and 

occupation, handwriting or an image of 

the signature. LEIRS is also used to 

document incidents that may be noncriminal in the nature, primarily 

pertaining to civil cases which may 

result in a claim for or against the 

government. 

LEI Vault consists of video and audio 

evidence gathered by federal officers 

while in direct contact with subjects. 

The footage is not searchable by 

keyword. 

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

PURPOSES OF SUCH USES: 

In addition to those disclosures 

generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 

552a(b) of the Privacy Act, routine uses 

are defined as disclosures where 

information is routinely shared whether 

internally or externally. Below are 

routine uses applicable to Law 

Enforcement and Investigative Records: 

A. Sharing information with the 

Department of Justice when (a) USDA or 

any component thereof, (b) any 

employee of USDA in his or her official 

capacity where the Department of 

Justice has agreed to represent the 

employee, or (c) the United States 

Government is a party to litigation or 

has an interest in such litigation, and, 

by careful review, USDA determines 

that the records are both relevant and 

necessary to the litigation and the use of 

such records by the Department of 

Justice is therefore deemed by USDA to 

be for a purpose that is compatible with 

the purpose for which USDA collected 

the records. 

B. Sharing information with a 

congressional office in response to an 

inquiry from that congressional office 

made at the written request of the 

individual to whom the record pertains. 

C. Sharing information with the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration or other Federal 

Government agencies pursuant to 

records management inspections being 

conducted under the authority of 44 

U.S.C. 2904 and 2906. 

D. Sharing information with an 

agency, organization, or individual for 

the purpose of performing audit or 

oversight operations as authorized by 

law but only such information as is 

necessary and relevant to such audit or 

oversight function. 

E. Sharing information with 

appropriate agencies, entities, and 

persons when (1) the USDA suspects or 

has confirmed that the security or 

confidentiality of information in the 

system of records has been 

compromised; (2) the USDA has 

determined that as a result of the 

suspected or confirmed breach, there is 

a risk of harm to individuals, the USDA 

(including its information systems, 

programs, and operations), the Federal 

Government, or national security; and 

(3) the disclosure made to such 

agencies, entities, and persons is 

reasonably necessary to assist in 


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connection with USDA’s efforts to 

respond to the suspected or confirmed 

compromise and prevent, minimize, or 

remedy such harm. 

F. Sharing information when a record 

on its face, or in conjunction with other 

records, indicates a violation or 

potential violation of law, whether civil, 

criminal, or regulatory in nature, and 

whether arising by general statute or 

particular program statute, or by 

regulation, rule, or order issued 

pursuant thereto, disclosure may be 

made to the appropriate agency, 

whether Federal, foreign, State, local, or 

tribal, or other public authority 

responsible for enforcing, investigating, 

or prosecuting such violation or charged 

with enforcing or implementing the 

statute, or rule, regulation, or order 

issued pursuant thereto, if the 

information disclosed is relevant to any 

enforcement, regulatory, investigative, 

or prosecutorial responsibility of the 

receiving entity. Referral to the 

appropriate agency, whether Federal, 

State, local, or foreign, charged with the 

responsibility of investigating or 

prosecuting violation of law, or of 

enforcing or implementing a statute, 

rule, regulation, or order issued 

pursuant thereto, of any record within 

the system when information available 

indicates a violation or potential 

violation of law, whether civil, criminal, 

or regulatory in nature. 

G. Sharing information with another 

Federal agency or Federal entity when 

information from this system of records 

is reasonably necessary to assist the 

recipient agency or entity in (a) 

responding to a suspected or confirmed 

breach, or (b) preventing, minimizing, or 

remedying the risk of harm to 

individuals, the recipient agency or 

entity (including its information 

systems, programs, and operations), the 

Federal Government, or national 

security, resulting from a suspected or 

confirmed breach. 

H. Sharing information with a court or 

adjudicative body in a proceeding when 

(a) the USDA or any component thereof, 

(b) any employee of the USDA in his or 

her official capacity, or (c) any 

employee of the USDA in his or her 

individual capacity where the USDA 

has agreed to represent the employee or 

the United States Government, is a party 

to litigation or has an interest in such 

litigation, and by careful review, the 

USDA determines that the records are 

both relevant and necessary to the 

litigation and the use of such records is 

therefore deemed by the USDA to be for 

a purpose that is compatible with the 

purpose for which the USDA collected 

the records. 

I. Sharing information with the news 

media and the public, with the approval 

of the Director of Law Enforcement and 

Investigations in consultation with the 

Chief Privacy Officer and the Office of 

the General Counsel, in support of law 

enforcement activities, including 

obtaining public assistance with 

identifying and locating criminal 

suspects and lost or missing 

individuals, and providing the public 

with alerts about dangerous individuals, 

unless the Chief Privacy Officer 

determines that release of the specific 

information in the context of a 

particular case would constitute a 

clearly unwarranted invasion of 

personal privacy. 

J. Sharing information with the news 

media and the public, with the approval 

of the Director of Law Enforcement and 

Investigations in consultation with the 

Chief Privacy Officer and the Office of 

the General Counsel, of body-worn 

camera video footage following 

incidents involving serious bodily 

injury or death occurring while an 

individual is in the custody of a law 

enforcement officer, when a legitimate 

public interest exists in the disclosure of 

the information; when disclosure is 

necessary to preserve confidence in the 

integrity of the USDA; and when 

disclosure is necessary to demonstrate 

the accountability of the USDA’s law 

enforcement officers, employees, or 

individuals covered by the system, 

unless the Chief Privacy Officer 

determines that release of the bodyworn camera video footage in the 

context of a particular case would 

constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of personal privacy. The public 

release of such video footage will be 

consistent with applicable law, 

including the Privacy Act of 1974, and 

shall take into account the duty to 

protect the privacy rights of the persons 

depicted in the footage and any need to 

protect ongoing law enforcement 

operations. The release will also comply 

with all applicable Department and 

Agency regulations and policies. 

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES: 

LEIRS contains information about 

individuals that is recorded on a 

violation notice. Individuals who 

receive a violation notice are provided 

with a copy at the time of the incident. 

The notification provides a copy of all 

recorded information to individuals. 

Information to individuals is provided 

via: 

• LEIRS Privacy Impact Analysis on 

the Department Privacy Impact Analysis 

website at https://www.usda.gov/home/ 

privacy-policy/privacyimpactassessments. 

• The Federal Register for system of 

records notices and legal authorities. 

• Forest Service-specific system of 

records notices are also published on 

the Forest Service website at https://

www.fs.fed.us/im/foia/pasystems.htm. 

• Forms associated with Privacy Act 

systems are approved through the Office 

of Management and Budget under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (also cited in 

the Federal Register); the forms cite the 

Privacy Act. 

Any individual may request general 

information regarding this system of 

records or information as to whether the 

system contains records pertaining to 

him or her. All inquiries pertaining to 

this system should be in writing, must 

name the system of records as set forth 

in the system notice, and must contain 

the individual’s name, telephone 

number, address, and email address (see 

specific instructions above). 

Dated: September 5, 2024. 

Randy Moore, 

Chief, USDA Forest Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–20694 Filed 9–11–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Proposed Recreation Fee Site 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice 

SUMMARY: The Bridger-Teton National 

Forest is proposing to establish a special 

recreation permit and special recreation 

permit fees along the Congressionally 

designated Wild and Scenic Snake 

River. Proposed special recreation 

permit fees would be used for operation, 

maintenance, and improvements to 

prevent degradation, enhance recreation 

opportunities, and preserve the 

outstandingly remarkable values 

described in the comprehensive river 

management plan for the Snake River. 

An analysis of nearby specialized 

recreation uses with similar amenities 

and services shows the proposed special 

recreation permit fees that would be 

charged are reasonable and typical of 

similar specialized recreation uses in 

the area. 

DATES: If approved, the proposed special 

recreation permit and proposed special 

recreation permit fees would be 

established no earlier than six months 

following the publication of this notice 

in the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Bridger-Teton National 

Forest, Attention: Recreation Fees, 340 

North Cache, P.O. Box 1888, Jackson, 

WY 83001. 


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