Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 23 / Friday, February 4, 2005 / Notices 6079

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Office of Research and Development; 

Government Owned Invention 

Available for Licensing

AGENCY: Office of Research and 

Development, VA.

ACTION: Notice of government owned 

invention available for licensing. 

SUMMARY: The invention listed below is 

owned by the U.S. Government as 

represented by the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, and is available for 

licensing in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 

207 and 37 CFR part 404 and/or CRADA 

Collaboration under 15 U.S.C. 3710a to 

achieve expeditious commercialization 

of results of federally funded research 

and development. Foreign patents are 

filed on selected inventions to extend 

market coverage for U.S. companies and 

may also be available for licensing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Technical and licensing information on 

the invention may be obtained by 

writing to: Sal Sheredos, Department of 

Veterans Affairs, Acting Director 

Technology Transfer Program, Office of 

Research and Development, 810 

Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 

20420; fax: (202) 254–0473; e-mail at: 

saleem@vard.org. Any request for 

information should include the Number 

and Title for the relevant invention as 

indicated below. Issued patents may be 

obtained from the Commissioner of 

Patents, U.S. Patent and Trademark 

Office, Washington, DC 20231.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

invention available for licensing is: U.S. 

Provisional Patent Application No. 60/

600,797 ‘‘Human and Mouse Alkaline 

Ceramidase 1 and Skin Disease’’.

Dated: January 26, 2005. 

Anthony J. Principi, 

Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.

[FR Doc. 05–2108 Filed 2–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Privacy Act of 1974; Systems of 

Records

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, 

5 U.S.C. 552a(e), the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) is publishing 

notice of amendment and alteration to 

its system of records known as 

‘‘Veterans Appellate Records SystemVA (44VA01),’’ and ‘‘Representatives’’

Fee Agreement Records System 

(81VA01).’’ VA is merging the 

information currently maintained in 

Representatives’ Fee Agreement Records 

with the ‘‘Veterans Appellate Records 

System.’’ The amendments will affect 

the sections entitled System Location; 

Categories of Individuals Covered by the 

System; Categories of Records in the 

System; Purpose(s); Routine Uses of 

Records Maintained in the System; and 

Policies and Practices for Storing, 

Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, and 

Disposing of Records in the System. VA 

is publishing the combined system 

notice in its entirety at this time.

DATES: Comments must be received by 

VA on or before March 7, 2005, which 

is the date the amended system will 

become effective.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver 

written comments to: Director, 

Regulations Management (00REG1), 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Avenue, NW., Room 1068, 

Washington, DC 20420; or fax comments 

to (202) 273–9026; or e-mail comments 

to VAregulations@mail.va.gov. 

Comments should indicate that they are 

submitted in response to the Notice of 

Amendments to a System of Records. 

All 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 

273–9515 for an appointment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven L. Keller, Senior Deputy Vice 

Chairman, Board of Veterans’ Appeals 

(012), Department of Veterans Affairs, 

810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420, (202) 565–5978.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Veterans Appellate Records System 

(44VA01) was first established in 1975 

to track claims for veterans benefits that 

had been appealed to the Board of 

Veterans’ Appeals (BVA or Board). With 

the expansion of advanced technology 

and increased electronic data collection 

capacity, traditional methods of 

recordkeeping have changed 

significantly. BVA now maintains most 

of the records covered by 44VA01 in a 

computer database entitled Veterans 

Appeals Control and Locator System 

(VACOLS). 

One of the traditional paper-based 

methods of keeping track of appeals at 

the Board was use of the Briefface 

folder. These Briefface folders 

traditionally reflected the status of the 

appeal as it traveled through the Board 

until an appeal was decided. Thereafter, 

the Briefface was removed from the 

claims folder before the folder was 

returned to the VA Regional Office 

(VARO). The Briefface remained at BVA 

as a document in system 44VA01 until 

disposed of in accordance with 

procedures approved by the Archivist of 

the United States. However, since all the 

information contained in the Briefface is 

now tracked electronically, the Briefface 

is obsolete. Therefore, the Board is 

discontinuing this method of collecting 

data. Brieffaces in use as of March 31, 

2002, will be maintained in an offsite 

storage facility once the Board has 

decided an appeal. They will be 

disposed of by shredding or burning 

after 18 months according to the 

timeline and procedural requirements of 

General Records Schedule 16, Item 7. 

The Representatives’ Fee Agreement 

Records System—VA , identified as 

81VA01, was established in 1991 to 

allow the Board to monitor fee 

agreements between attorneys-at-law or 

accredited agents and claimants being 

represented before VA according to the 

provisions of 38 U.S.C. 5904. The 

information contained in this system 

includes paper copies of fee agreements 

and correspondence related to fee 

agreements and electronic information 

with regard to names and addresses of 

both parties to the agreements and VA 

identification numbers or social security 

numbers. Since most of this information 

is already contained in VACOLS 

(44VA01), we believe that merging the 

two systems will obviate the need to 

retain 81VA01 and will eliminate 

redundant data entry.

In addition, providing the information 

through VACOLS allows a VARO to 

locate any existing fee agreement that 

requires withholding of a portion of the 

payment of past due benefits to a 

beneficiary. As of April 1, 2003, fee 

agreements and powers of attorney 

received by the Board have been 

scanned and electronically available in 

VACOLS. Thus, VARO personnel no 

longer need to contact the Board in 

every instance where the question of fee 

agreements arises and the Board need 

not create paper file folders to hold 

duplicate copies of fee agreements. The 

original fee agreement remains in the 

claimant’s file folder and the 

electronically attached copy along with 

other pertinent data, becomes part of 

VACOLS. 

The System Location notice has been 

updated to reflect the locations of the 

computer servers that house the system 

as well as VA sites where non-electronic 

records (e.g., tapes of hearings) are 

housed, as well as the address of the 

Board’s contractor. 

6080 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 23 / Friday, February 4, 2005 / Notices 

The section, Categories of Individuals 

Covered by the System, refers to the 

persons by whose names records may be 

retrieved from the system. The notice 

has been amended to remove categories 

of individuals on whom information 

may be stored in VACOLS, but which 

cannot be retrieved by the individual’s 

name or other personal identifier. 

The Categories of Records section in 

the system notice has been expanded to 

reflect the addition of information 

pertaining to contesting parties, agents, 

and private attorneys; to include digital 

recordings of hearings, copies of written 

fee agreements and documents relating 

to the filing and review of fee 

agreements; procedural information on 

the disposition of claims where a Board 

decision has been remanded from or 

overturned by the United States Court of 

Appeals for Veterans Claims; and to 

describe more fully the older, nonelectronic records in the system. 

The Purpose statement has been 

amended to include the monitoring of 

attorney fee agreements, statistical 

evaluation of the appellate process and 

evaluation of employee performance. 

VA proposes to add five new routine 

uses and rewrite and consolidate 

existing ones. Because this system 

contains material relating to employee 

evaluations, four of these will permit 

release of information to the Merit 

Systems Protection Board, the Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission, 

the Federal Labor Relations Authority 

and the employee’s union. Permission 

to release information from this system 

to law enforcement personnel and 

security guards has been clarified, 

indicating that release is permitted in 

order to alert them to the presence of 

dangerous persons in VA facilities or at 

VA activities conducted in non-VA 

facilities. The routine use permitting 

release of information regarding the 

legality or ethical propriety of 

representatives has been expanded to 

permit release to other Federal and State 

agencies and to Federal courts. The 

remaining new routine use is carried 

over from system 81VA01 and permits 

release of attorney fee information to the 

United States Court of Appeals for 

Veterans Claims when an order of the 

Board has been applied to that Court in 

accordance with the provisions of 38 

U.S.C. 5904(c)(2). 

The Storage portion of the notice has 

been amended to reflect changes in the 

nature of records kept. Verbatim 

recordings of hearings, previously 

recorded on magnetic tape will be 

recorded and stored digitally until a 

transcript has been made and 

electronically attached in VACOLS. 

According to Rule 714 of the Board’s 

Rules of Practice, 38 CFR 20.714, when 

a transcript of a hearing is made, the 

transcript becomes the official record of 

the hearing and the recording is retained 

as a duplicate record of the hearing for 

12 months, after which time it is 

destroyed according to NARA approved 

standards. With the change from audio 

to digital recordings and the practice of 

creating a transcript of all hearings, 

destruction of hearing recordings will 

follow procedures to be established in 

revisions to Rule 714 of the Board of 

Veterans’ Appeals Rules of Practice, 38 

CFR 20.714, that will permit challenge 

to the accuracy of the transcription prior 

to destruction of the recording.

The Retrievability section has been 

amended to note that information from 

this system that is stored in VACOLS 

can now be retrieved by any searchable 

field in the VACOLS program. However, 

this system notice covers only 

information retrieved by an individual’s 

name or other personal identifier. 

Retrievability of archived materials not 

stored in VACOLS is unchanged except 

that attorney fee agreements and related 

correspondence received prior to the 

practice of incorporating them in 

VACOLS and kept in file folders may be 

retrieved by the name of the appellant. 

The Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(1) 

provides that agencies may disclose 

records contained in a system of records 

‘‘to those officers and employees of the 

agency which maintains the record who 

have a need for the record in the 

performance of their duties.’’ The 

Safeguards statement currently provides 

that records in this system ‘‘are under 

custody of designated employees with 

access only to employees of the Board 

of Veterans’ Appeals and its contractor 

who needs to know.’’ It has become 

advisable for Department of Veterans 

Affairs Regional Office (VARO) 

employees to be able to follow the 

progress of appeals and answer veteran 

and other appellant questions on the 

process. More appellants file multiple 

and concurrent appeals for a variety of 

issues than ever before. Because BVA 

may or may not already have made a 

decision on any one of these appeals, 

and because of the increasing numbers 

of these multiple and concurrent 

actions, it is in the best interest of the 

VAROs to have an electronic indicator 

of what actions have taken place. 

Therefore it has become necessary to 

expand the population of employees 

with access to VACOLS to include 

employees of the VA Compensation and 

Pension Service (C&P) and VAROs. 

VACOLS can be set to automatically 

limit the access of individuals to 

specified records. Designated VARO and 

C&P employees are able to view any 

records in VACOLS so that they can 

respond to inquiries from appellants, 

representatives and Members of 

Congress. Designated employees of the 

VARO where an appeal originates have 

the ability to modify electronic records 

based on the status of the appeal. For 

example, if an appeal is in advance 

status (ADV), the appeal is in the 

process of being developed and the 

VARO can modify any part of the 

electronic record. When a claim has 

been certified to the Board on appeal 

and the file has been received at the 

Board, its status is converted to active 

(ACT). When a case is in ACT status, 

VARO employees cannot modify any 

part of the VACOLS record. This is also 

true when a case is in remand (REM) 

status or after the Board enters a final 

decision and the file goes into history 

(HIS) status. 

VACOLS is available to authorized 

persons through the VA wide area 

network (WAN), which means that 

access is limited to those who are 

actually in VA buildings, ROs, Medical 

Centers, etc. Because 38 U.S.C. 5902 and 

38 CFR 14.635 permit VA to provide 

office space to Veterans Service 

Organizations (VSOs), it is possible to 

provide representatives of those 

organizations who work in VA buildings 

with limited access to VACOLS if they 

have a valid, current power of attorney 

or prior written consent. VSOs with 

access to the VA computer network may 

only view VACOLS records of 

individuals for whom they are the 

representatives of record. VSO access is 

read only, meaning that they are not 

able to alter, delete or add to those 

records. Other properly designated 

representatives who are not located in 

buildings that permit access to VACOLS 

may request a paper copy of the records 

in this system that pertain to their 

clients. 

Provision for the disposal of digitally 

recorded material through erasure has 

been added to the Retention and 

Disposal section, and will be governed 

by procedures to be established in Rule 

714, 38 CFR 20.714.

Approved: January 11, 2005. 

Anthony J. Principi, 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

44VA01, ‘‘Veterans Appellate Records 

System-VA,’’ as described in the 

Federal Register publication, ‘‘Privacy 

Act Issuances, 1989 Compilation, 

Volume II,’’ page 904, and amended at 

56 FR 15663 (April 17, 1991), 63 FR 

37941 (July 14, 1998), and 66 FR 47725 

(Sept. 13, 2001) is republished in its 

entirety below to incorporate the 

system’s merger with 81VA01, 

‘‘Representatives’’ Fee Agreement 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 23 / Friday, February 4, 2005 / Notices 6081

Records System,’’ first published at 56 

FR 18874 (April 24, 1991) and amended 

at 57 FR 8792 (March 12, 1992), 63 FR 

37941 (July 14, 1998), and 66 FR 47725 

(Sept. 13, 2001), and the proposed 

changes. The system 81VA01, 

‘‘Representatives’’ Fee Agreement 

Records System’’ is discontinued.

44VA01 

SYSTEM NAME: 

Veterans Appellate Records SystemVA. 

SYSTEM LOCATION: 

Board of Veterans’ Appeals, 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 

Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 

20420, at the Wilkes-Barre VA facility, 

100 North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard, 

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702, and with the 

Board’s contractor, Promisel & Korn, 

Inc., 3228 Amberley Lane, Fairfax, VA 

22031. 

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE

SYSTEM: 

Veterans, other appellants, Veterans 

Law Judges, Board staff attorneys and 

Members of Congress. 

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: 

The computer database entitled 

Veterans Appeals Control and Locator 

System (VACOLS) is a part of this 

system and includes electronically 

attached copies of Board of Veterans’

Appeals decisions, remands and 

development memoranda; personal 

information on appellants and 

contesting parties including names, 

addresses, identifying numbers, phone 

numbers, service dates and issues on 

appeal; names, addresses and phone 

numbers of representatives, powers of 

attorney and attorney fee agreements; 

information on and dates of procedural 

steps taken in claims; records of and 

copies of correspondence concerning 

appeals, diary entries, notations of mail 

received, information requests; verbatim 

recordings and transcripts of hearings; 

tracking information as to file location 

and custodian; and employee 

productivity information. Material in 

this system that is not maintained in 

VACOLS includes copies of written fee 

agreements and documents relating to 

the filing and review of fee agreements 

received prior to the Board’s practice of 

electronically attaching fee agreements 

and powers-of-attorney in VACOLS; 

microfiche decision locator tables and 

indices to decisions from 1983 to 1994; 

and microfiche reels with texts of 

decisions from 1977 to 1989. 

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM: 

38 U.S.C. 7101(a), 7104, 5904.

PURPOSE(S): 

Initial decisions on claims for Federal 

veterans’ benefits are made at VA field 

offices throughout the nation. Claimants 

may appeal those decisions to the Board 

of Veterans’ Appeals. See 38 U.S.C. 

Chapter 71. The Board gathers or creates 

the records in this system in order to 

carry out its appellate function, to 

statistically evaluate the appellate 

process, to monitor attorney fee 

agreements, and to evaluate employee 

performance. 

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES: 

1. Disclosure to law enforcement 

personnel and security guards in order 

to alert them to the presence of 

dangerous persons in VA facilities or at 

VA activities conducted in non-VA 

facilities. 

2. VA may disclose on its own 

initiative any information in this 

system, except the names and home 

addresses of veterans and their 

dependents, which is relevant to a 

suspected 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, to a Federal, State, 

local, tribal, 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. On 

its own initiative, VA may also disclose 

the names and addresses of veterans and 

their dependents to a Federal agency 

charged with the responsibility of 

investigating or prosecuting civil, 

criminal or regulatory violations of law, 

or charged with enforcing or 

implementing the statute, regulation, 

rule or order issued pursuant thereto. 

3. A record from this system of 

records may be disclosed to a veteran, 

claimant or a third party claimant (e.g., 

a veteran’s survivors or dependents) to 

the extent necessary for the 

development of that claimant’s claim for 

VA benefits. 

4. 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. 

5. Disclosure may be made to the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA) in records 

management inspections conducted 

under authority of Title 44 U.S.C. 

6. A record from this system (other 

than the address of the beneficiary) may 

be disclosed to a former representative 

of a beneficiary to the extent necessary 

to develop and adjudicate a claim for 

payment of attorney fees to such 

representative from past due benefits 

under 38 U.S.C. 5904 (d) or to review a 

fee agreement between such 

representative and the beneficiary for 

reasonableness under 38 U.S.C. 5904 

(c)(2). 

7. Where VA determines that there is 

good cause to question the legality or 

ethical propriety of the conduct of a 

person or organization prospectively, 

presently or formerly representing a 

person in a matter before VA, a record 

from this system may be disclosed, on 

VA’s initiative, to any or all of the 

following: (1) Applicable civil or 

criminal law enforcement authorities; 

(2) a person or entity responsible for the 

licensing, supervision, or professional 

discipline of the person or organization 

prospectively, presently or formerly 

representing a person in a matter before 

VA; (3) to other Federal and State 

agencies and to Federal courts when 

such information may be relevant to the 

individual’s or organization’s provision 

of representational services before such 

agency or court. Names and home 

addresses of veterans and their 

dependents will be released on VA’s 

initiative under this routine use only to 

Federal entities. 

8. Disclosure may be made to the VAappointed representative of an 

employee, including all notices, 

determinations, decisions, or other 

written communications issued to the 

employee in connection with an 

examination ordered by VA under 

medical evaluation (formerly fitness-forduty) examination procedures or 

Department-filed disability retirement 

procedures. 

9. Disclosure may be made to officials 

of the Merit Systems Protection Board, 

or the Office of the Special Counsel, or 

both, when requested in connection 

with appeals, special studies of the civil 

service and other merit systems, review 

of rules and regulations, investigation of 

alleged or possible prohibited personnel 

practices, and such other functions, 

promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, 

or as may be authorized by law. 

10. Disclosure may be made to the 

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission when requested in 

connection with investigations of 

alleged or possible discrimination 

practices, examination of Federal 

affirmative employment programs, 

compliance with the Uniform 

Guidelines of Employee Selection 

Procedures, or other functions vested in 

the Commission by the President’s 

Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978. 

11. Disclosure may be made to the 

Federal Labor Relations Authority, 

6082 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 23 / Friday, February 4, 2005 / Notices 

including its General Counsel, when 

requested in connection with 

investigation and resolution of 

allegations of unfair labor practices, in 

connection with the resolution of 

exceptions to arbitrator awards when a 

question of material fact is raised and 

matters before the Federal Service 

Impasses Panel. 

12. Disclosure of attorney fee 

information may be made to the United 

States Court of Appeals for Veterans 

Claims when an order of the Board has 

been applied to that Court in accordance 

with the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 

5904(c)(2).

Note: Any record maintained in this 

system of records which may include 

information relating to drug abuse, 

alcoholism or alcohol abuse, infection with 

the human immunodeficiency virus or sickle 

cell anemia will be disclosed pursuant to an 

applicable routine use for the system only 

when permitted by 38 U.S.C. 7332. 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, that 

information cannot be disclosed under a 

routine use unless there is also specific 

regulatory authority in 45 CFR parts 160 and 

164 permitting disclosure.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, 

RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, AND

DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: 

STORAGE: 

Information is kept in a computer 

database entitled Veterans Appeals 

Control and Locator System (VACOLS) 

and backed up on computer tape. 

Archived records that were created prior 

to expansion of the BVA’s electronic 

storage capability may be stored in filing 

folders or cabinets, microfiche, 

computer disks, computer tape and 

magnetic tape (hearings). Records in this 

system are essential to protecting legal 

and financial rights of individual 

citizens and the government and are 

maintained indefinitely as Category B 

Vital Records. Under the Vital Records 

Schedule, electronic back-up tapes are 

updated quarterly. A back-up tape is 

transferred weekly to the Board’s 

contractor for quick access back-up tape 

storage. Hearings before the Board are 

recorded and stored digitally until a 

transcript has been made. Transcripts 

are then electronically attached to the 

record in VACOLS. Attorney fee 

agreements and related correspondence 

received prior to the Board’s practice of 

attaching this information in VACOLS 

are kept in file folders. These files will 

be scanned into VACOLS, at which time 

original documents will be forwarded 

for association with the appropriate 

claims file. The now discontinued 

Briefface folders are maintained at the 

Board according to provisions of 

General Records Schedule 16, Item 7, 

for a minimum of 18 months. 

RETRIEVABILITY: 

VACOLS records in this system may 

be retrieved by any searchable field in 

the VACOLS database. This system 

notice covers only information retrieved 

by an individual’s name or other 

identifier. Archived material from this 

system that is not in VACOLS may be 

retrieved by veteran’s name, VA file 

number, or BVA archive citation 

number. 

SAFEGUARDS: 

Files are under custody of designated 

employees of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, including employees 

of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and 

its contractor, all of who have a need to 

know the contents of the system of 

records in order to perform their duties. 

Access to VACOLS is strictly limited to 

reflect the need individual employees 

have for the different records in the 

system. Where a VSO office is located 

in a VA facility and has access to 

VACOLS through the Wide Area 

Network (WAN), that access is strictly 

limited to viewing records of current 

clients of the organization. No personal 

identifiers are used in statistical and 

management reports, and personal 

identifiers are removed from all 

archived BVA decisions and other 

records in this system before VA makes 

them available to the public. Files kept 

by the contractor are in a locked safe in 

locked rooms in a secured building.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL: 

Records in this system, in VACOLS 

and those collected prior to VACOLS 

use as a repository, are retained 

indefinitely as Category B Vital Records 

unless otherwise specifically noted. 

Under the Vital Records Schedule, 

electronic back-up tapes are destroyed 

by erasure upon receipt of the next 

quarterly tape set. Transcriptions of 

recordings of hearings will be attached 

electronically in VACOLS. Following 

procedures established in Rule 714, 38 

CFR 20.714, transcripts will become the 

official records of hearings and the 

recordings will be destroyed through 

erasure after the hearing subject has had 

the opportunity to challenge the 

accuracy of the transcript. Briefface 

folders are shredded after 18 months as 

described in General Records Schedule 

16, Item 7. 

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS: 

Chairman (01), Board of Veterans’

Appeals, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420. 

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES: 

An individual desiring to know 

whether this system of records contains 

a record pertaining to him or her, how 

he or she may gain access to such a 

record, and how he or she may contest 

the content of such a record may write 

to the following address: Privacy Act 

Officer (01C1), Board of Veterans’

Appeals, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420. The following 

information, or as much as is available 

should be furnished in order to identify 

the record: Name of veteran, name of 

appellant other than the veteran (if any), 

and Department of Veterans Affairs file 

number. For information about hearing 

transcripts or tape recordings, also 

furnish the date, or the approximate 

date, of the hearing. 

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES: 

Individuals seeking information 

regarding access to information 

contained in this system of records may 

write, call or visit the Board of Veterans’

Appeals Freedom of Information Act 

Officer, whose address and telephone 

number are as follows: Freedom of 

Information Act Officer (01C1), Board of 

Veterans’ Appeals, 810 Vermont 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420, 

(202) 565–9252. 

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES: 

(See notification procedures above.) 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

VA Claims, insurance, loan guaranty, 

vocational rehabilitation, education, 

hospital records, and outpatient clinic 

records folders and associated folders; 

Board of Veterans’ Appeals records; data 

presented by appellants and their 

representatives at hearings and in briefs 

and correspondence; and data furnished 

by Board of Veterans’ Appeals 

employees. 

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS

OF THE ACT: 

None.

[FR Doc. 05–1991 Filed 2–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P