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

16105 

Vol. 87, No. 55 

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

9 CFR Part 390 

[Docket Number FSIS–2019–0012] 

RIN 0583–AD82 

Privacy Act Exemption for 

AssuranceNet 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing 

to exempt certain records maintained by 

its AssuranceNet (ANet) system of 

records from the notification and access 

provisions of Privacy Act of 1974 

(Privacy Act). FSIS is proposing these 

exemptions because the information in 

the SORN is directly associated with 

investigations conducted by FSIS for 

law enforcement purposes. A notice of 

system of records for USDA/FSIS–0005, 

AssuranceNet (ANet) is also published 

in this issue of the Federal Register. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 23, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested 

persons to submit comments on the 

proposed rule. Comments may be 

submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: This 

website provides the ability to type 

short comments directly into the 

comment field on this web page or 

attach a file for lengthier comments. Go 

to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the on-line instructions at that site for 

submitting comments. 

• Mail: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Food Safety 

and Inspection Service, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 

3758, Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

• Hand- or Courier-Delivered 

Submittals: Deliver to 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Jamie L. 

Whitten Building, Room 350–E, 

Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

Instructions: All items submitted by 

mail or electronic mail must include the 

Agency name and docket number FSIS– 

2019–0012. Comments received in 

response to this docket will be made 

available for public inspection and 

posted without change, including any 

personal information, to https://

www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to background 

documents or comments received, call 

(202) 720–5627 to schedule a time to 

visit the FSIS Docket Room at 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–3700. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Safian, AssuranceNet System 

Owner/Manager, Enforcement and 

Litigation Division, Office of 

Investigation, Enforcement and Audit, 

Food Safety and Inspection Service, 355 

E Street SW, Room 8–205, Washington, 

DC 20024, (202) 418–8872. 

For Privacy Questions: Privacy Office, 

Office of the Chief Information Officer, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, 

Room 0055, Washington, DC 20250; 

Telephone 202–619–8503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

FSIS is the public health regulatory 

agency in the USDA that is responsible 

for ensuring that the nation’s 

commercial supply of meat, poultry, 

and egg products is safe, wholesome, 

and accurately labeled and packaged. 

ANet is a management control and 

performance monitoring system that 

gathers information from electronic and 

paper-based sources to enable FSIS to 

track, measure, and monitor the 

performance of its and its state partners’ 

critical public health functions and to 

alert FSIS management to areas of 

vulnerability or concern. ANet tracks, 

measures, and monitors the 

performance of the key public health 

functions of inspection, verification, 

surveillance, enforcement, and sampling 

by FSIS and state meat and poultry 

inspection program employees. The data 

and tools of ANet are used to analyze 

the effectiveness of policies and 

procedures in meeting public health 

goals and objectives and to help ensure 

that methods, evaluations, and 

enforcement are standardized and 

traceable nationwide. The Agency also 

uses data analysis in and through ANet 

to discern trends; to develop objectives 

for regulatory food safety functions; to 

identify and focus on areas of high-risk; 

and to help determine strategies to 

combat threats to food safety and 

defense. 

FSIS is proposing to exempt 

investigatory material, compiled and 

maintained by ANet for law 

enforcement purposes, from certain 

provisions of the Privacy Act. 

Privacy Act 

The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 

552a, governs the collection, 

maintenance, use, and dissemination of 

information about individuals that is 

maintained in a system of records. A 

system of records is a group of records 

under the control of an agency from 

which information is retrieved by the 

individual’s name or some other 

personal identifier assigned to that 

individual. The Privacy Act requires 

agencies to publish a system of records 

notice (SORN) for every system of 

records that it maintains. A SORN 

informs the public of the existence of a 

system of records and describes the type 

of information collected, why it is being 

collected, what it may be used for, when 

it may be disclosed to third parties, how 

it will be safeguarded, and how and 

when it will be destroyed. A notice of 

system of records for USDA/FSIS–0005, 

AssuranceNet (ANet) is also published 

in this issue of the Federal Register. A 

Privacy Impact Assessment is posted on 

https://www.usda.gov/home/privacypolicy/privacy-impact-assessments. 

An Agency that wants to exempt 

portions of some systems of records 

from certain provisions of the Privacy 

Act must promulgate regulations to 

notify the public and explain the 

reasons why a particular exemption is 

claimed. FSIS is proposing to exempt 

certain investigatory records maintained 

by the ANet system of records from the 

notification and access provisions of the 

Privacy Act under 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), 

(d)(1)–(4), (e)(1) (e)(4)(G)–(I), and (f). 

Specifically, ANet includes 

investigatory material compiled for law 

enforcement, which fall under the 

Privacy Act exemptions 5 U.S.C. 

552a(k). FSIS is proposing these 

exemptions because the information 

contained in the SORN is directly 

associated with investigations 

conducted by FSIS for law enforcement 

purposes. The proposed exemptions 

would protect the information on the 

methods used in law enforcement 


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16106 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 55 / Tuesday, March 22, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

activities from those individuals who 

are subjects to the investigation and the 

identities and physical safety of 

witnesses and others who aid in 

investigations. In addition, the 

exemptions ensure FSIS’s ability to 

obtain information from third parties 

and safeguards those investigatory 

records that are needed for litigation. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563, and 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

E.O.s 12866 and 13563 direct agencies 

to assess all costs and benefits of 

available regulatory alternatives and, if 

regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety benefits, distributive impacts, 

and equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the 

importance of quantifying both costs 

and benefits, of reducing costs, of 

harmonizing rules, and of promoting 

flexibility. This proposed rule has been 

designated as a ‘‘non-significant’’ 

regulatory action under section 3(f) of 

E.O. 12866. Accordingly, the rule has 

not been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

E.O. 12866. FSIS anticipates no costs or 

benefits accruing from this proposal. 

Executive Order 13175 

This proposed rule will have no 

implications for Indian Tribal 

governments. More Specifically, it does 

not have substantial direct effects on 

one or more Indian tribes, on the 

relationship between the Federal 

government and Indian tribes, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

government and Indian tribes. 

Therefore, the consultation 

requirements of Executive Order 13175 

do not apply. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

There are no new paperwork or 

recordkeeping requirements associated 

with this final rule under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501– 

3520). 

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement 

In accordance with Federal civil 

rights law and U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights 

regulations and policies, the USDA, its 

Agencies, offices, and employees, and 

institutions participating in or 

administering USDA programs are 

prohibited from discriminating based on 

race, color, national origin, religion, sex, 

gender identity (including gender 

expression), sexual orientation, 

disability, age, marital status, family/ 

parental status, income derived from a 

public assistance program, political 

beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior 

civil rights activity, in any program or 

activity conducted or funded by USDA 

(not all bases apply to all programs). 

Remedies and complaint filing 

deadlines vary by program or incident. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means of communication for 

program information (e.g., Braille, large 

print, audiotape, American Sign 

Language, etc.) should contact the 

responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET 

Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and 

TTY) or contact USDA through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other 

than English. 

To file a program discrimination 

complaint, complete the USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form, AD– 

3027, found online at https://

www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-aprogram-discrimination-complaint and 

at any USDA office or write a letter 

addressed to USDA and provide in the 

letter all of the information requested in 

the form. To request a copy of the 

complaint form, call (866) 632–9992. 

Submit your completed form or letter to 

USDA by: (1) Mail: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–9410; (2) fax: (202) 690–7442; 

or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. 

Additional Public Notification 

Public awareness of all segments of 

rulemaking and policy development is 

important. Consequently, FSIS will 

announce this Federal Register 

publication on-line through the FSIS 

web page located at: https://

www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register. 

FSIS also will make copies of this 

publication available through the FSIS 

Constituent Update, which is used to 

provide information regarding FSIS 

policies, procedures, regulations, 

Federal Register notices, FSIS public 

meetings, and other types of information 

that could affect or would be of interest 

to our constituents and stakeholders. 

The Constituent Update is available on 

the FSIS web page. Through the web 

page, FSIS is able to provide 

information to a much broader, more 

diverse audience. In addition, FSIS 

offers an email subscription service 

which provides automatic and 

customized access to selected food 

safety news and information. This 

service is available at: https://

www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. Options 

range from recalls to export information, 

regulations, directives, and notices. 

Customers can add or delete 

subscriptions themselves and have the 

option to password protect their 

accounts. 

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 390 

Freedom of Information, Privacy. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, FSIS is proposing to amend 9 

CFR part 390 as follows: 

■ 1. Revise the authority citation for part 

390 to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 552, 552a; 21 

U.S.C. 451–472, 601–695; 7 CFR 1.3, 2.7. 

■ 2. Add § 390.11 to read as follows: 

§ 390.11 FSIS systems of records exempt 

from the Privacy Act. 

(a) The USDA/FSIS–0005, 

AssuranceNet system of records is 

exempt from subsections (c)(3), (d)(1)– 

(4), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G)–(I), and (f) of the 

Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, to the extent 

it contains investigatory material 

compiled for law enforcement purposes 

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

Exemptions from the particular 

subsections are justified for the 

following reasons: 

(1) From subsection (c)(3) because the 

release of the disclosure accounting 

would permit the subject of an 

investigation to obtain valuable 

information concerning the nature of 

that investigation. This would permit 

record subjects to impede the 

investigation, e.g., destroy evidence, 

intimidate potential witnesses, or flee 

the area to avoid inquiries or 

apprehension by law enforcement 

personnel. 

(2) From subsection (d)(1) because the 

records contained in this system relate 

to official federal investigations and 

matters of law enforcement. Individual 

access to these records might 

compromise ongoing or impending 

investigations, reveal confidential 

informants or constitute unwarranted 

invasions of the personal privacy of 

third parties who are involved in a 

certain investigation. 

(3) From section (d) (2) because 

amendment of the records would 

interfere with ongoing law enforcement 

proceedings and impose an impossible 

administrative burden by requiring 

investigations to be continuously 

reinvestigated. 

(4) From subsections (d)(3) and (4) 

because these subsections are 

inapplicable to the extent exemption is 

claimed from (d)(1) and (2). 

(5) From subsection (e) (1) it is often 

impossible to determine in advance if 

investigatory information contained in 

this system is accurate, relevant, timely 

and complete, but, in the interests of 

effective law enforcement, it is 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 55 / Tuesday, March 22, 2022 / Proposed Rules 16107 

necessary to retain this information to 

aid in establishing patterns of activity 

and provide investigative leads. 

Moreover, it would impede the specific 

investigative process if it were necessary 

to assure the relevance, accuracy, 

timeliness and completeness of all 

information obtained. 

(6) From subsections (e)(4) (G) and (H) 

since an exemption being claimed for 

subsection (d) makes these subsections 

inapplicable. 

(7) From subsection (e)(4)(I) because 

the categories of sources of the records 

in this system have been published in 

the Federal Register in broad generic 

terms in the belief that this is all that 

subsection (e)(4)(I) of the Act requires. 

In the event, however, that this 

subsection should be interpreted to 

require more detail as to the identity of 

sources of the records in the system, 

exemption from this provision is 

necessary in order to protect the 

confidentiality of the sources of 

enforcement information and of 

witnesses and informants. 

(8) From subsection (f) to the extent 

that the system is exempt from other 

specific subsections of the Privacy Act. 

Done in Washington, DC. 

Paul Kiecker, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2022–05745 Filed 3–21–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK 

12 CFR Part 404 

[Docket No. EIB–2022–0001] 

Freedom of Information Act 

Requirements 

AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the 

United States. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of 

the United States (EXIM) is publishing 

for comment proposed revisions to its 

regulations under the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA). The revisions 

are intended to incorporate amendments 

to the FOIA under the FOIA 

Improvement Act of 2016, 

developments in the case law, and 

changes in Federal and EXIM policies. 

The proposed revisions are also 

intended to clarify procedural 

requirements. The proposed revisions 

occur throughout the FOIA regulations 

and are predominantly procedural in 

nature. 

DATES: Comments should be received by 

April 21, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• The Federal eRulemaking Portal 

located at https://www.regulations.gov, 

following the instructions for providing 

comment; 

• Email to foia@exim.gov, including 

‘‘Proposed Rule Comments’’ in the 

subject line. 

• Mail to the Chief Freedom of 

Information Act Officer, Export-Import 

Bank of the United States, 811 Vermont 

Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20571; and 

Instructions: All submissions should 

refer to File Number EIB–2022–0001. To 

help us process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method of providing 

comments. Comments submitted by 

mail will be accepted as timely if they 

are postmarked on or before April 21, 

2022. Electronic comments may be 

submitted via www.regulations.gov prior 

to midnight Eastern Standard Time on 

April 21, 2022. Comments submitted via 

email will be accepted as timely if they 

are date stamped on or before the 

comment date. 

Do not include any sensitive 

information in your submission. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to regulations.gov, 

including any personal information 

provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chief Freedom Information Act Officer 

Lisa Terry at lisa.terry@exim.gov; (202) 

565–3290. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

EXIM is proposing revisions to its 

regulations under the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 

552. The revisions incorporate changes 

in law under the FOIA Improvement 

Act of 2016, developments in case law, 

and changes in Federal and EXIM 

policies. While incorporating these 

changes, EXIM has also sought to 

simplify and clarify its regulations. Due 

to the scope of the proposed revisions, 

the proposed rule would replace EXIM’s 

current FOIA regulations in their 

entirety (12 CFR 404.1 through 404.11). 

II. Discussion of Changes in Proposed 

Rule 

The numbered paragraphs 

immediately below provide an overview 

of the proposed changes to the 

regulations. At the conclusion of this 

preamble, the new proposed regulations 

are set forth in their entirety. 

1. Amended: Authority 

The authority citation for part 404 

would be amended to include 

additional cites to EXIM’s statutory 

charter (12 U.S.C. 635(a)(1)) and the 

rulemaking provisions of the 

Administrative Procedures Act (5 U.S.C. 

553). Citations to Executive orders 

imposing administrative requirements 

on EXIM would be removed. The 

amended general authority would be 12 

U.S.C. 635(a)(1); 5 U.S.C. 552, 5 U.S.C. 

552(a), 5 U.S.C. 553. 

2. Redesignate §§ 404.24 Through 

404.36 

Old section New section 

404.24 ................................... 404.26 

404.25 ................................... 404.27 

404.26 ................................... 404.28 

404.27 ................................... 404.29 

404.28 ................................... 404.30 

404.29 ................................... 404.31 

404.30 ................................... 404.32 

404.31 ................................... 404.33 

404.32 ................................... 404.34 

404.33 ................................... 404.35 

404.34 ................................... 404.36 

404.35 ................................... 404.37 

404.36 ................................... 404.38 

3. Redesignate §§ 404.12 Through 

404.23 

Old section New section 

404.12 ................................... 404.14 

404.13 ................................... 404.15 

404.14 ................................... 404.16 

404.15 ................................... 404.17 

404.16 ................................... 404.18 

404.17 ................................... 404.19 

404.18 ................................... 404.20 

404.19 ................................... 404.21 

404.20 ................................... 404.22 

404.21 ................................... 404.23 

404.22 ................................... 404.24 

404.23 ................................... 404.25 

4. Amended: § 404.1, General Provisions 

This section would be amended to 

clarify the purpose and scope of the 

FOIA regulations and to remove the 

current paragraph (b) setting forth EXIM 

policy. EXIM policies comply with the 

FOIA and related guidance, as set forth 

in the remainder of the regulations, and 

the current (un-amended) paragraph (b) 

is either duplicative or could cause 

confusion. 

Current paragraphs (d) and (e) 

describe EXIM’s proactive disclosures 

and provide EXIM’s internet address 

and mailing address. This information 

would be amended and moved to 

proposed §§ 404.2, Proactive 

disclosures, and 404.3, Request 

requirements. 

5. Removed: Current § 404.2, Definitions 

This section would be eliminated, 

with most of the definitions relocated to 

the sections in which the defined terms 

are used. The majority of the relocated 


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