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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 6 (Friday, January 10, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1940-1941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00335]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2014-0062]

Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is 
modifying a system of records in its inventory of records systems 
subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. The system of records 
being modified is the Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance 
(SITC) National Information Communication Activity System (SNICAS), 
USDA/APHIS-21. SNICAS maintains a record of activities conducted by the 
agency pursuant to its mission and authorized responsibilities. The 
purpose of the system is to record data and information about APHIS' 
SITC activities nationwide. We are modifying the system to exempt the 
system from certain provisions of the Privacy Act.

DATES: The exemption will become effective on February 10, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions, please contact 
Mr. Ricardo Valdez, Pest Exclusion and Import Programs, National Policy 
Manager, SITC, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737; (443) 
745-7931; [email protected]. For Privacy Act questions concerning this 
system of records notice, please contact Director, Freedom of 
Information and Privacy Act Staff, 4700 River Road Unit 50, Riverdale, 
MD 20737; (301) 851-4076; email: [email protected]. For USDA 
Privacy Act questions, please contact the USDA Chief Privacy Officer, 
Information Security Center, Office of Chief Information Officer, USDA, 
Jamie L. Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 
20250; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy 
Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), notice is given that the Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA) is proposing to modify a system of records, USDA/APHIS-21, 
Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance (SITC) National Information 
Communication Activity System (SNICAS).
    On July 11, 2022, APHIS published SNICAS as a new system of records 
in the Federal Register (87 FR 41098-41101, Docket No. APHIS-2014-
0062). (To view the notice, go to www.regulations.gov, and enter APHIS-
2014-0062 in the Search field.) SNICAS maintains a record of activities 
conducted by the agency pursuant to its mission and responsibilities 
authorized by the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.); the 
Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.); and the Honey Bee 
Act (7 U.S.C. 281 et seq.). The purpose of the system is to record data 
and information about APHIS' SITC activities nationwide. SITC is within 
APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine program.
    SITC officials use the information in SNICAS to identify and close 
pathways used for the introduction of prohibited commodities and those 
regulated commodities that lack the necessary certificates and permits 
to enter U.S. commerce. SITC officials also use SNICAS to perform 
activities such as legal and regulatory actions; scientific research; 
risk, trend, pathway and targeting analyses; trade support; 
administrative and budgetary support; supervision and program 
management; and overall decision support services. Additionally, SITC 
officials use SNICAS to generate reports to evaluate the risk status of 
the commercial sites where regulated commodities are seized, the 
effectiveness of the program, and quality control of the data.
    Among other things, in addition to listing the routine uses and how 
information in the system is used, APHIS will share information from 
the system pursuant to the requirements of the Privacy Act and, in the 
case of its routine uses, when the disclosure is compatible with the 
purpose for which the information was compiled. APHIS proposed to 
exempt specific records in the system from certain Privacy Act 
requirements in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2) (Investigative Law 
Enforcement Materials). APHIS proposed to exempt the system from 
Privacy Act access requirements including 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3); (d); 
(e)(1); (e)(4)(G), (H), and (I); and (f), and indicated that an 
individual who is the subject of a record in this system may not seek 
access to those records that are exempt from the access provisions. A 
determination of whether a record may be accessed would be made at the 
time a request is received.
    We solicited comments on the SNICAS system of records notice for 30 
days ending on August 10, 2022. We received no comments.
    Concurrently with the publication of the SNICAS system of records 
notice, we published a proposed rule in accordance with the 
requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b), (c), and (d) in the same issue of the 
Federal Register (87 FR 41077-41078, Docket No. APHIS-2015-0008) to 
exempt the SNICAS system of records from certain provisions of the 
Privacy Act to prevent interference with law enforcement functions.
    We solicited comments on the proposed rule for 30 days ending 
August 10, 2022. We received no comments by that date. A final rule has 
been issued in accordance with the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b), 
(c), and (d) and has been published in today's Federal Register (Docket 
No. APHIS-2015-0008).
    Therefore, we are modifying the SNICAS system of records to add the 
exemption for law enforcement purposes pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2) 
of the Privacy Act.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    USDA/APHIS-21, Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance (SITC) 
National Information

[[Page 1941]]

Communication Activity System (SNICAS).

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Sensitive but unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), within the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), maintains records in a 
Government-approved cloud server accessed through secure data centers 
in the continental United States. Paper files are held at various Plant 
Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Smuggling Interdiction and Trade 
Compliance national, district, and field offices.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Deputy Administrator of Plant Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, 
USDA, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737.
* * * * *

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    The Agency has exempted this system from subsections (c)(3); (d); 
(e)(1); (e)(4)(G), (H), and (I); and (f) of the Privacy Act pursuant to 
5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2). The exemptions will be applied only to the extent 
that the information in the system is subject to exemption pursuant to 
5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2).

HISTORY:
    Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance (SITC) National 
Information Communication Activity System (SNICAS), USDA/APHIS-21, was 
published as a new system in its entirety on July 11, 2022, (87 FR 
41098-41101, Docket No. APHIS-2014-0062).
    A report on the modified system of records, required by 5 U.S.C. 
552a(r), as implemented by Office of Management and Budget Circular A-
108, was sent to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee 
on Oversight and Reform, Chairman and Ranking
    Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, and the Administrator of the Office of Management 
and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 12th day of December 2024.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-00335 Filed 1-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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