Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 110 / Thursday, June 6, 1996 / Notices 28927

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Respondent/Recordkeeper:

Recordkeeping—2 hr., 23 min.

Learning about the law or the

form—2 hr., 21 min.

Preparing the form—3 hr., 26 min.

Copying, assembling, and sending

the form to the IRS—16 min.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Reporting/

Recordkeeping Burden: 8,440 hours.

Clearance Officer: Garrick Shear (202)

622–3869, Internal Revenue Service,

Room 5571, 1111 Constitution Avenue,

N.W., Washington, DC 20224.

OMB Reviewer: Milo Sunderhauf

(202) 395–7340, Office of Management

and Budget, Room 10226, New

Executive Office Building, Washington,

DC 20503.

Lois K. Holland,

Departmental Reports Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 96–14275 Filed 6–5–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P

Treasury Advisory Committee on

Commercial Operations of the U.S.

Customs Service

AGENCY: Departmental Offices, Treasury.

ACTION: Renewal of Treasury Advisory

Committee on Commercial Operations

of the U.S. Customs Service and

solicitation of applications for

committee membership.

SUMMARY: It is the public interest to

renew the Advisory Committee for

another two-year term. This notice also

establishes criteria and procedures for

the selection of members.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dennis M. O’Connell, Director, Office of

Tariff and Trade Affairs, Office of the

Under Secretary (Enforcement), (202)

622–0220.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory

Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. I (1962),

and section 95603(c) of the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (Pub.

L. 100–203), the Under Secretary

(Enforcement) announces the renewal of

the following advisory committee:

Title: The Treasury Advisory

Committee on Commercial Operations

of the U.S. Customs Service.

Purpose: The purpose of the

Committee is to present advice and

recommendations to the Secretary of the

Treasury regarding commercial

operations of the U.S. Customs Service

and to submit a report to Congress

containing a summary of its operations

and its views and recommendations.

Statement of Public Interest: It is in

the public interest to continue the

existence of the Committee upon

expiration, under the provisions of the

Advisory Committee Act, of its current

two-year term. The Committee provides

a critical forum for distinguished

representatives of diverse industry

sectors to present their views on major

issues involving commercial operations

of the Customs Service. These views are

offered directly to senior Treasury and

Customs officials on a regular basis in

a candid atmosphere. There exists no

other single body that serves a

comparable function.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation

Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100–203), Congress

repealed the statutory mandate for a

Customs User Fee Advisory Committee

and directed the Secretary of the

Treasury to create a new Advisory

Committee on Commercial Operations

of the U.S. Customs Service. The

original Committee consisted of 20

members drawn from industry sectors

affected by Customs commercial

operations. The Committee’s charter

was filed on October 17, 1988 and

expired two years later. Charters were

subsequently filed for second, third, and

fourth two-year terms. The current

charter will expire on October 15, 1996.

The Treasury Department plans to file a

new charter by that date renewing the

Committee for a fifth two-year term.

Objective, Scope and Description of the

Committee

The Committee’s objectives are to

advise the Secretary of the Treasury on

issues relating to the commercial

operations of the Customs Service. It is

expected that, during its third two-year

term, the Committee will consider such

issues as implementation of the

Customs Modernization Act, the North

American Free Trade Agreement,

administration of staff and resources for

commercial operations, broker

qualification and licensing, informed

compliance and compliance assessment,

the account system, automated systems,

the impact of the Customs

reorganization, and enforcement

priorities.

The Committee will be chaired by the

Under Secretary of the Treasury for

Enforcement. The Committee will

function for a two-year period before

renewal or abolishment and will meet

approximately eight times (quarterly)

during the period. An additional special

meeting of the full Committee or a

subcommittee thereof may be convened

if necessary.

The meetings will generally be held in

the Treasury Department, Washington,

DC. However, typically one meeting per

year, but generally not more than two,

may be held outside of Washington at a

Customs port. In recent years, meetings

have been held in Louisville, Baltimore,

New Orleans, Oakland, Chicago, El

Paso, Buffalo, and Miami, among other

locations. The meetings are open to

public observers, including the press,

unless special procedures have been

followed to close a meeting. During the

first four terms of the Committee, only

a portion of one meeting was closed.

The members shall be selected by the

Secretary of the Treasury from

representatives of the trade or

transportation community serviced by

Customs, the general public, or others

who are directly affected by Customs

commercial operations. In addition,

members shall represent major regions

of the country, and not more than ten

members may be affiliated with the

same political party. No person who is

required to register under the Foreign

Agents Registration Act as an agent or

representative of a foreign principal may

serve on an advisory committee.

Members shall not be paid

compensation nor shall they be

considered Federal Government

employees for any purpose. No per

diem, transportation, or other expenses

are reimbursed for the cost of attending

Committee meetings at any location.

Members who are serving on the

Committee during its expiring two-year

term are eligible to reapply for

membership. A new application letter

and updated resume are required. It is

expected that approximately half of the

current membership of the Committee

will be replaced with new appointees.

Membership on the Committee is

personal to the appointee. Under the

Committee By-Laws, a member may not

send an alternate to represent him at a

Committee meeting. However, since

Committee meetings are open to the

public, another person from a member’s

organization may attend and observe the

proceedings in a nonparticipating

capacity. Regular attendance is

essential; a member who is absent from

two consecutive meetings or two

meetings in a calendar year shall lose

his seat on the Committee.

Application for Advisory Committee

Appointment

Any interested person wishing to

serve on the Treasury Advisory

Committee on Commercial Operations

of the U.S. Customs Service must

provide the following:

—Statement of interest and reasons for

application;

—Complete professional biography or

resume;
28928 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 110 / Thursday, June 6, 1996 / Notices

—Political affiliation, in order to ensure

balanced representation. (Mandatory.

If no party registration or allegiance,

indicate ‘‘independent’’ or

‘‘unaffiliated’’).

In addition, applicants must state in

their applications that they agree to

submit to reappointment security and

tax checks. There is no prescribed

format for the application. Applicants

may send a cover letter describing their

interest and qualifications and enclosing

a resume.

The application period for interested

candidates will extend to July 19, 1996.

Applications should be submitted in

sufficient time to be received by the

close of business on the closing date by

Dennis M. O’Connell, Director, Office of

Tariff and Trade Affairs, Office of the

Under Secretary (Enforcement), Room

4004, Department of the Treasury, 1500

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20220, ATTN.: COAC

1996.

Dated: June 3, 1996.

John P. Simpson,

Deputy Assistant Secretary (Regulatory, Tariff

and Trade Enforcement).

[FR Doc. 96–14242 Filed 6–5 –96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–25–M

Internal Revenue Service

Privacy Act of 1974; Computer

Matching Program

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service,

Treasury Department.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of

1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and

the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) Guidelines on the Conduct of

Matching Programs, notice is hereby

given of the conduct of an Internal

Revenue Service (IRS) program of

computer matches.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice will be

effective July 8, 1996, unless comments

dictate otherwise.

ADDRESS: Comments or inquiries may be

mailed to: Chief Inspector, Internal

Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution

Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary Jacqueline Greening, Internal

Auditor, Quality Assurance and

Oversight Section, Office of Planning

and Management, Office of Assistant

Chief Inspector (Internal Audit), Internal

Revenue Service, (202) 622–5911.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: IRS

management is responsible for

discouraging the perpetration of

irregular or illegal acts and limiting any

exposure if an integrity breach occurs.

To accomplish its mission, the

Inspection Service assists management

in achieving this objective by enhancing

its conventional audit and investigative

activities with a program designed to

deter and detect such acts and to search

for indicators of fraud sufficient to

warrant investigation.

The Inspection Service’s Integrity

Program includes Integrity Projects,

Integrity Tests, and national or other

projects, including joint Internal Audit/

Internal Security activities, designed to

detect indicators of fraud and which

focus specifically on the deterrence and

detection of integrity breaches.

Integrity Projects are reviews or

probes of specific high risk areas or

transactions by the Inspection Service to

detect material fraud and to assess the

extent of integrity breaches that may

have occurred.

One IRS organizational strategy is to

ensure public confidence in the

integrity of the IRS by a dedication to

the highest ethical standards. One of the

ways that the Inspection Service

supports this objective is to provide IRS

management an assessment of the

organization’s ethical environment

through the Inspection Service Integrity

Program.

Computer matching is the most

feasible method of performing

comprehensive analysis of employee,

taxpayer, and tax administration data

because of the large number of

employees (seasonally varying to over

110,000), the geographic dispersion

(nationwide) of IRS offices and

employees, and the tremendous volume

of computerized data that is available

for analysis.

This program of computer matches

may be conducted in part or in its

entirety by any or all of the Inspection

Service’s offices.

Name of Source Agency:

Internal Revenue Service.

Name of Recipient Agency:

Internal Revenue Service

Beginning and Completion Dates:

This program of computer matches is

targeted to commence in June, 1996

unless comments dictate otherwise. The

program of computer matches will

conclude at the end of the eighteenth

month after the beginning date

(December, 1997).

Purpose:

The purpose of this program of

computer matches is to detect and deter

fraud, waste, and abuse in IRS programs

and operations by identifying

employees who are violating laws, rules,

or regulations related to the

performance of their duties.

Authority:

The Office of Chief Inspector was

established and provided the authority

to perform character and conduct

investigations of IRS employees

pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 321(b); sections

7801(a),7802, and 7803 of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986; 26 U.S.C. 7804

and Reorganization Plan Number 1 of

1952.

Commissioner’s reorganization Order

#Hdq–1 (July 29, 1952), IR-Mimeograph

Number 236 (December 7, 1953), and

the current provisions of the Internal

Revenue Manual (IRM) give authority to

conduct personnel investigations to the

Chief Inspector.

Internal Revenue Manual 1161

charges the Chief Inspector with

carrying out a program for assisting

management to maintain the highest

standards of honesty and integrity

among its employees.

The United States General Accounting

Office field work standards for both

performance and financial audits

require auditors to design an audit to

provide reasonable assurance of

detecting abuse of illegal acts that could

significantly affect the financial

statements, audit objectives, or audit

results.

Categories of Individuals Covered:

Current and former employees of the

IRS.

Categories of Records Covered:

1. Personnel and payroll actions and

determinations on current and former

employees of the IRS. (General

Personnel and Payroll records

(Treasury/IRS 36.003).)

2. Information on travel and moving

expenses incurred by IRS employees in

conjunction with official business.

(Travel Expense Records (Treasury/IRS

32.001)).

Information other than that

specifically on IRS employees will be

used to determine the actions or the

effect of actions of employees or to

corroborate declarations or statements

by employees.

3. Specific computer inquiries and

entries to IRS information systems made

by employees. (Integrated Data Retrieval

System (IDRS) Security Files (Treasury/

IRS 34.018).)

4. Information on the individuals who

owe and the amounts owed to Federal

or state agencies. (Debtor Master File

(Treasury/IRS 24.070).)

5. Information regarding taxpayers,

tax returns, and tax return information.