Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEI-2014-0466-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Notification of a New System of Records Notice for the Labor and Employee Relations Information System (LERIS)
Posted Date: 2014-11-04T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 213 (Tuesday, November 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65393-65395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26175]

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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9917-88-OEI; EPA-HQ-OEI-2014-0466]

Notification of a New System of Records Notice for the Labor and 
Employee Relations Information System (LERIS)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of 
Administration and Resources Management is giving notice that it 
proposes to create a new system of records pursuant to the provisions 
of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a). The Labor and Employee 
Relations Information System (LERIS) is being created to meet the needs 
of the Labor and Employee Relations (LER) Specialists, Attorney 
Advisors and Agency Leadership. This system will enable LER employees 
to access case information across the EPA for use in determining 
appropriate disciplinary penalties as well as reporting trends in LER 
issues. The system is accessed from an Internet browser using the 
Agency's secured portal.

DATES: Persons wishing to comment on this system of records notice must 
do so by December 15, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OEI-2014-0466, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the online instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: oei.docket@epa.gov.
     Fax: 202-566-1752.
     Mail: OEI Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail 
code: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: OEI Docket, EPA/DC, WJC West Building, Room 
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries are 
only accepted during the docket's normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OEI-
2014-0466. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information for which 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov. 
The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means the EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email 
comment directly to the EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, 
your email address will be automatically captured and included as part 
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available 
on the

[[Page 65394]]

Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, the EPA recommends that 
you include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If the EPA cannot read 
your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, the EPA may not be able to consider your comment. 
Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form 
of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional 
information about the EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, (e. g., CBI or other information 
for which disclosure is restricted by statute). Certain other material, 
such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard 
copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI 
Docket, EPA/DC, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. 
NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding legal holidays. The telephone 
number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone 
number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-1752.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mitch Berkenkemper (202) 564-4702.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Information

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to create a 
Privacy Act system of records for the Labor and Employee Relations 
Information System (LERIS). LERIS will be used by LER Specialists, 
personnel or labor attorneys in the Office of Regional Counsel and EPA 
headquarters, LER attorneys in the EPA headquarters, and attorneys in 
the Office of General Counsel for the processing of grievances, demands 
to bargain, information requests and unfair labor practices filed by 
unions on behalf of their bargaining unit members, and processing 
disciplinary actions or performance-based actions against employees for 
misconduct or deficient job performance. LERIS will enable LER 
employees to access case information across the Agency for use in 
determining appropriate disciplinary penalties when those grievances, 
complaints, unfair labor practices or disciplinary actions lead to 
formal judicial or administrative hearings before a judge. The system 
will also report trends in LER issues.
    The implementation of LERIS will have no effect on the privacy of 
individuals. The system is password-protected and access is restricted 
to Agency Human Resources (HR) specialists and legal staff who have a 
work-related need to utilize the information in the system. Permission-
level assignments allow users access only to those functions for which 
they are authorized. All records are maintained in secure, access-
controlled areas or buildings. The system is accessed from an internet 
browser using the Agency's secured portal and requires a user to have 
an established log-in name and password.
    The system is maintained at a contractor's Xiolink facility in St. 
Louis, Missouri. LERIS is maintained by the Office of Human Resources, 
Labor and Employee Relations Division.

    Dated: September 23, 2014.
Renee P. Wynn,
Acting Assistant Administrator and Chief Information Officer.
EPA-68

System Name:
    Labor and Employee Relations Information System (LERIS)

System Location:
    Xiolink Facility, 1111 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63101.

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    Current and former EPA employees, including Health and Human 
Services (HHS) Public Health Service Commissioned Officers assigned to 
the EPA.

Categories of Records in the System:
    This system will contain general human resources elements, 
including First/Middle/Last Name, Appointment Type, Appointment Not-to-
Exceed Date (if applicable), Service Computation Date for Leave Accrual 
Purposes, Service Computation Date for Retirement Eligibility Purposes, 
Position Title, Pay Plan, Occupational Series, Grade, Step, Supervisory 
Code, Bargaining Unit Status Code, Organizational Breakdown of 
Position's Location (``Organization Level 1'' through ``Organizational 
Level 8,'' as applicable) and Duty Station. The system will contain 
Labor Relations case file information regarding administrative 
grievances, Grievances of the Parties, negotiated grievances, formal 
discussions/meetings, union information requests, negotiations, unfair 
labor practice (ULP) charges, and unit clarification petitions. The 
system will contain Employee Relations case file information regarding 
employee counseling for misconduct or poor performance, disciplinary 
actions, adverse actions, performance-based actions, performance 
assistance plans, performance improvement plans, reasonable 
accommodation requests and Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) 
appeals.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    5 U.S.C. Chapter 71; 5 CFR 771; 5 CFR 752; 5 CFR 432.

Purpose (s):
    These records are maintained in LERIS to administer EPA's Labor and 
Employee Relations program. They also provide the basic source of 
factual data about a person's federal employment while in the service 
and after his or her separation. Records in LERIS have various uses by 
Agency personnel offices, including employee's rights and benefits 
under pertinent laws and regulations governing Federal employment; and 
other information needed to provide personnel services. These records 
and their automated equivalents may also be used to locate individuals 
for personnel research.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purposes of Such Uses:
    General routine uses A, B, C, D, E, and L apply to this system.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
     Storage: These records are maintained in digital formats 
on servers and storage hard disks. The computer storage devices are 
located at the contractor's Xiolink facility in St. Louis, MO. Backup 
copies of this information are maintained at an alternate processing 
site in Bellevue, NE. Data is on hard disk media and retained per 
client requirements. Additional backup copies of each application are 
taken annually and retained for 7 years.
     Retrievability: These records are retrieved by the 
employee identification number or name.
     Safeguards: Computer records are maintained in a secure 
password-protected environment. Access to computer records is limited 
to those who have a need to know the information contained in the 
records. Permission-level assignments allow users access only to those 
functions for which they are authorized. All records are maintained in 
secure, access-controlled areas or buildings.

[[Page 65395]]

     Retention and Disposal: Records stored in the system are 
subject to records schedule 756.

System Manager(s) and Address:
    Director, Office of Human Resources, Office of Administration and 
Resources Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, WJC North, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., MC 3601, Washington, DC 20460.

Notification Procedure:
    Any individual who wants to know whether this system of records 
contains a record about him or her, who wants access to his or her 
record, or who wants to contest the contents of a record, should make a 
written request to the EPA FOIA Office, Attn: Privacy Act Officer, WJC 
West, MC 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.

Record Access Procedure:
    Individuals seeking access to information in this system of records 
about themselves are required to provide adequate identification (e.g. 
driver's license, military identification card, employee badge or 
identification card and, if necessary, proof of authority). Additional 
identity verification procedures may be required, as warranted. 
Requests must meet the requirements of EPA regulations that implement 
the Privacy Act of 1974, at 40 CFR part 16.

Contesting Records Procedure:
    Requests for correction or amendment must identify the record to be 
changed and the corrective action sought. Complete EPA Privacy Act 
procedures are described in EPA's Privacy Act regulations at 40 CFR 
part 16.

Record Source Categories:
    The individual on whom the record is maintained, Agency officials 
such as managers and supervisors, HR specialists and assistants who 
process personnel actions, and HR Shared Service Centers.

System Exempted from Certain Provisions of the Act:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2014-26175 Filed 11-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P