Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Notices 17555 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Privacy Act of 1974; System of 

Records 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA). 

ACTION: Notice of amendment to system 

of records. 

SUMMARY: As required by the Privacy 

Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(e), notice is 

hereby given that the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) Voluntary Service 

Office (VAVS) is amending the system 

of records currently entitled ‘‘Voluntary 

Service Records—VA’’ (57VA135) as set 

forth in the Federal Register 66 FR 

6764. VA is amending the System 

Location; Categories of Individuals 

covered by the System; Categories of 

Records in the System; Routine Uses of 

Records Maintained in the System, 

Including Categories of Users and the 

Purposes of Such Uses; Policies and 

Practices for Storing, Retrieving, 

Retaining, and Disposing of Records in 

the System, including Storage, 

Retrievability and Safeguards. VA is 

republishing the system notice in its 

entirety. 

DATES: Comments on the amendment of 

this system of records must be received 

no later than May 15, 2009. If no public 

comment is received, the amended 

system will become effective May 15, 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted through http:// 

www.Regulations.gov; by mail or handdelivery to Director, Regulations 

Management (02REG), Department of 

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, 

NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 

20420; or by fax to (202) 273–9026. 

Comments received will be available for 

public inspection in the Office of 

Regulation Policy and Management, 

Room 1063B, between the hours of 8 

a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through 

Friday (except holidays). Please call 

(202) 461–4902 (this is not a toll-free 

number) for an appointment. In 

addition, during the comment period, 

comments may be viewed online 

through the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) at http:// 

www.Regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Balun, Director, Voluntary 

Service Office (10C2), Department of 

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20420. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Report of Intent to Amend a System on 

Records Notice and an advance copy of 

the system notice have been sent to the 

appropriate Congressional committees 

and to the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) as 

required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) (Privacy 

Act) and guidelines issued by OMB (65 

FR 77677), December 12, 2000. 

The number of the system was 

changed from 57VA10C2 to 57VA135 to 

maintain consistency of numbering with 

the Office code for VA Voluntary 

Service (VAVS). Routine use 9 was 

added to disclosure information to other 

Federal agencies that may be made to 

assist such agencies in preventing and 

detecting possible fraud or abuse by 

individuals in their operations and 

programs. 

Routine use 10 was added to so that 

VA may, on its own initiative, disclose 

any information or records to 

appropriate agencies, entities, and 

persons when (1) VA suspects or has 

confirmed that the integrity or 

confidentiality of information in the 

system of records has been 

compromised; (2) the Department has 

determined that as a result of the 

suspected or confirmed compromise, 

there is a risk of embarrassment or harm 

to the reputations of the record subjects, 

harm to economic or property interests, 

identity theft or fraud, or harm to the 

security, confidentiality, or integrity of 

this system or other systems or 

programs (whether maintained by the 

Department or another agency or entity) 

that rely upon the potentially 

compromised information; and (3) the 

disclosure is to agencies, entities, or 

persons whom VA determines are 

reasonably necessary to assist or carry 

out the Department’s efforts to respond 

to the suspected or confirmed 

compromise and prevent, minimize, or 

remedy such harm. This routine use 

permits disclosures by the Department 

to respond to a suspected or confirmed 

data breach, including the conduct of 

any risk analysis or provision of credit 

protection services as provided in 38 

U.S.C. 5724, as the terms are defined in 

38 U.S.C. 5727. 

Approved: March 30, 2009. 

John R. Gingrich, 

Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs. 

57VA135 

SYSTEM NAME: 

Voluntary Service Records—VA. 

SYSTEM LOCATION: 

Records are maintained at each of the 

VA health care facilities and in the 

Voluntary Service System (VSS). Active 

records are retained at the facility where 

the individual has volunteered to assist 

the administrative and professional 

personnel and in the VSS. Basic 

information for all inactive records is 

retained at the facility where the 

volunteer worked and in the VSS. VSS 

is a Web-based volunteer timekeeping 

package currently housed on Webservers at Silver Spring, MD. 

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE

SYSTEM: 

All volunteers, regularly-scheduled 

and occasional, including non-affiliated 

and members of voluntary service 

organizations; welfare, service, veterans, 

fraternal, religious, civic, industrial, 

labor, and social groups or clubs which 

voluntarily offer the services of their 

organizations and/or individuals to 

assist with the provision of care to 

patients, either directly or indirectly, 

through VA Voluntary Service under 

Title 38, United States Code, Section 

513. 

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: 

Administrative records containing 

personal information about the 

individual making application to 

become a volunteer in a VA health care 

facility, VA regional office, or VA 

cemetery. Information relating to the 

individual membership in service 

organizations, qualifications, 

restrictions and preferences of duty and 

availability to schedule time of service. 

Training records pertaining to the 

volunteer’s service will also be 

maintained for all active volunteers at 

the facility where the volunteer works. 

Medical records of active volunteers 

will be maintained in the facility’s 

Employee Health office. Fingerprint and 

background investigation records will 

be maintained by the local facility’s 

office that handles those investigations. 

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM: 

Title 38, United States Code, Section 

513. 

PURPOSE(S): 

The records and information are used 

for tracking the number of Regularly 

Scheduled (RS) Volunteers, Occasional 

Volunteers, and student volunteers; to 

produce statistical and managerial 

reports on the number of hours and 

visits of all volunteers each month; and 

to present volunteers with certificates of 

appreciation for service. 

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES: 

To the extent that records contained 

in the system include information 

protected by 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164, 

i.e., individually identifiable health 

information, and 38 U.S.C. 7332, i.e., 

medical treatment information related to 

drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, 


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17556 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Notices 

sickle cell anemia or infection with the 

human immunodeficiency virus, that 

information cannot be disclosed under a 

routine use unless there is also specific 

statutory authority in 38 U.S.C. 7332 

and regulatory authority in 45 CFR Parts 

160 and 164 permitting disclosure. 

1. Any information in this system, 

except the name and address of a 

veteran, which is relevant to a suspected 

violation or reasonably imminent 

violation of law, whether civil, criminal 

or regulatory in nature and whether 

arising by general or program statute or 

by regulation, rule or order issued 

pursuant thereto, may be disclosed to a 

Federal, State, local or foreign agency 

charged with the responsibility of 

investigating or prosecuting such 

violation, or charged with enforcing or 

implementing the statute, regulation, 

rule or order issued pursuant thereto. 

2. The name and address of a veteran, 

which is relevant to a suspected 

violation or reasonably imminent 

violation of law, whether civil, criminal 

or regulatory in nature and whether 

arising by general or program statute or 

by regulation, rule or order issued 

pursuant thereto, may be disclosed to a 

Federal agency charged with the 

responsibility of investigating or 

prosecuting such violation, or charged 

with enforcing or implementing the 

statute, regulation, rule or order issued 

pursuant thereto, in response to its 

official request. 

3. The name and address of a veteran, 

which is relevant to a suspected 

violation or reasonably imminent 

violation of law concerning public 

health or safety, whether civil, criminal 

or regulatory in nature and whether 

arising by general or program statute or 

by regulation, rule or order issued 

pursuant thereto, may be disclosed to 

any foreign, State or local governmental 

agency or instrumentality charged under 

applicable law with the protection of 

the public health or safety if a qualified 

representative of such organization, 

agency or instrumentality has made a 

written request that such name and 

address be provided for a purpose 

authorized by law. 

4. Volunteer records may be used to 

confirm volunteer service, duty 

schedule, and assignments to service 

organizations, Bureau of 

Unemployment, insurance firms, office 

of personnel of the individual’s fulltime employment; to assist in the 

development of VA history of the 

volunteer and his/her assignments; and 

to confirm voluntary hours for on-thejob accidents, and for recognition 

awards. 

5. Disclosure may be made to a 

Congressional office from the record of 

an individual in response to an inquiry 

from the Congressional office made at 

the request of that individual. 

6. Disclosure may be made to the 

National Archives and Records Service, 

General Services Administration, in 

records management inspections 

conducted under authority of Title 44 

United States Code. 

7. VA may disclose information from 

this system of records to the Department 

of Justice (DOJ), either on VA’s initiative 

or in response to DOJ’s request for the 

information, after either VA or DOJ 

determines that such information is 

relevant to DOJ’s representation of the 

United States or any of its components 

in legal proceedings before a court or 

adjudicative body, provided that, in 

each case, the agency also determines 

prior to disclosure that release of the 

records to the DOJ is a use of the 

information contained in the records 

that is compatible with the purpose for 

which VA collected the records. VA, on 

its own initiative, may disclose records 

in this system of records in legal 

proceedings before a court or 

administrative body after determining 

that the disclosure of the records to the 

court or administrative body is a use of 

the information contained in the records 

that is compatible with the purpose for 

which VA collected the records. 

8. Relevant information may be 

disclosed to individuals, organizations, 

private or public agencies, etc., with 

whom VA has a contract or agreement 

to perform such services as VA may 

deem practicable for the purposes of 

laws administered by VA, in order for 

the contractor or subcontractor to 

perform the services of the contract or 

agreement. VA occasionally contracts 

out certain of its functions when this 

would contribute to effective and 

efficient operations. 

9. Disclosure to other Federal agencies 

may be made to assist such agencies in 

preventing and detecting possible fraud 

or abuse by individuals in their 

operations and programs. 

10. VA may, on its own initiative, 

disclose any information or records to 

appropriate agencies, entities, and 

persons when (1) VA suspects or has 

confirmed that the integrity or 

confidentiality of information in the 

system of records has been 

compromised; (2) the Department has 

determined that as a result of the 

suspected or confirmed compromise, 

there is a risk of embarrassment or harm 

to the reputations of the record subjects, 

harm to economic or property interests, 

identity theft or fraud, or harm to the 

security, confidentiality, or integrity of 

this system or other systems or 

programs (whether maintained by the 

Department or another agency or entity) 

that rely upon the potentially 

compromised information; and (3) the 

disclosure is to agencies, entities, or 

persons whom VA determines are 

reasonably necessary to assist or carry 

out the Department’s efforts to respond 

to the suspected or confirmed 

compromise and prevent, minimize, or 

remedy such harm. This routine use 

permits disclosures by the Department 

to respond to a suspected or confirmed 

data breach, including the conduct of 

any risk analysis or provision of credit 

protection services as provided in 38 

U.S.C. 5724, as the terms are defined in 

38 U.S.C. 5727. 

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, 

RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, AND

DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: 

STORAGE: 

Digital information of all active 

volunteers is maintained in Silver 

Spring, Maryland, on secured Webservers. Paper documents for all active 

volunteers are maintained at the 

individual VA facilities where the 

volunteer has donated time. Computer 

files containing such basic information 

as name, address, date of birth, 

volunteer assignments, hours/years 

volunteered, and award information are 

retained for all volunteers, either active 

or inactive, at the VA facility where the 

volunteer worked. 

RETRIEVABILITY: 

(a) All volunteer records are filed by 

unique identification numbers within 

the VA’s Voluntary Service System, 

(VSS), and are cross-referenced under 

the organization(s) they represent. 

(b) Medical records are stored by 

name and SSN in the VISTA patient 

files. 

SAFEGUARDS: 

Physical Security: 

1. Access to VA working space and 

medical record storage areas and the 

Web-servers in Silver Spring, Maryland, 

is restricted to VA employees on a 

‘‘need to know’’ basis. Generally, VA 

file areas are locked after normal duty 

hours and are protected from outside 

access by the Federal Protective Service. 

Volunteer file records of sensitive 

medical record files are stored in 

separate locked files. 

2. Strict control measures are enforced 

to ensure that access to and disclosure 

from all records including electronic 

files and volunteer specific data 

elements stored in the VSS are limited 

to VAVS employees whose official 

duties warrant access to those files. The 

automated record system recognizes 

authorized users by keyboard entry of a 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Notices 17557 

series of unique passwords. Once the 

employee is logged onto the system, 

access to files is controlled by discreet 

menus which are assigned by the VSS 

package local system administrator 

based upon the employee’s 

demonstrated need to access the data to 

perform the employee’s assigned duties. 

A number of other security measures are 

implemented to enhance security of 

electronic records (automatic timeout 

after short period of inactivity, device 

locking after pre-set number of invalid 

logon attempts, etc.). Employees are 

required to sign a user access agreement 

acknowledging their knowledge of 

confidentiality requirements, and all 

employees receive annual training on 

information security. Access is 

deactivated when no longer required for 

official duties. Recurring monitors are in 

place to ensure compliance with 

nationally and locally established 

security measures. 

3. On-line data resides on VSS Webservers in Silver Spring, Maryland, that 

is highly secured. 

4. Any sensitive information that may 

be downloaded or printed to hard copy 

format is provided the same level of 

security as the electronic records. All 

paper documents and informal 

notations containing sensitive data are 

shredded prior to disposal. 

5. All new VAVS employees receive 

initial information security training, and 

refresher training is provided to all 

employees on an annual basis. 

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL: 

1. The individual volunteer’s record 

of service is maintained by the 

Department of Veterans Affairs health 

care facility, as long as he or she is 

living and actively participating in the 

VAVS program. VSS maintains 

minimum information on all volunteers 

indefinitely. These minimum records 

include the volunteer’s name, address, 

date of birth, telephone number, next of 

kin information, assignments worked, 

hours and years of service and last 

award received. 

2. Depending on the record medium, 

records are destroyed by either 

shredding or degaussing. Summary 

reports and other output reports are 

destroyed when no longer needed for 

current operation. Regardless of record 

medium, no records will be retired to a 

Federal records center. 

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS: 

Official responsible for policies and 

procedures: Director, Voluntary Service 

Office (10C2), Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420. Official 

maintaining the system: dNovus 

Contractor, Jay Singh, VHA Oakland 

OIFO, 1301 Clay Street, Suite 1350N, 

Oakland, CA 94612. 

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE: 

Individuals seeking information 

concerning the existence and content of 

their service records must submit a 

written request or apply in person to the 

VA health care facility where their 

voluntary service was accomplished. All 

inquiries must reasonably identify, to 

the VA facility, the portion of the 

volunteer’s service record they want 

information about and the approximate 

dates of service, in order to receive that 

information. Inquiries should include 

the volunteer’s name, organization 

represented, date of birth, and last 

address while serving as a volunteer to 

the VA. 

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE: 

Volunteers, dependents, survivors or 

duly authorized representatives seeking 

information regarding access to and 

contesting of VA Voluntary Service 

records may contact the Voluntary 

Service office at the Department of 

Veterans Affairs health care facility 

where the individual was a volunteer 

worker. 

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES: 

(See Record Access Procedures 

above.) 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

Information in this system of records 

may be provided by the volunteer, his/ 

her family, civic and service 

organization, ‘‘Patient Medical 

Records—VA’’ (24VA136) system of 

records, and Voluntary Service at the 

health care facility where volunteer 

worked. 

[FR Doc. E9–8605 Filed 4–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 


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