Office of the Secretary 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and as part of the Department of Homeland Security's ongoing effort to review and update legacy system of record notices, the Department of Homeland Security proposes to update and reissue the following legacy record system, Treasury/CS.278 Automated Commercial System (October 18, 2001) as a Department of Homeland Security system of records notice titled, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Automated Commercial System. The Customs and Border Protection Automated Commercial System is a comprehensive system used by Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection to track, control, and process all commercial goods imported into the United States. This legacy system will now also collect additional data via its Automated Broker Interface and Vessel Automated Manifest System. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses of this legacy system of records notice have been reviewed and updated to better reflect the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 015 Automated Commercial System record system. This reissued system will be included in the Department of Homeland Security's inventory of record systems.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security is giving notice that it proposes to consolidate eight legacy record systems into a U.S. Customs and Border Protection system of records notice titled, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Persons Engaged in International Trade in Customs and Border Protection Licensed/Regulated Activities: Treasury/CS.040 Carrier File, October 18, 2001; Treasury/CS.041 Cartmen or Lightermen, October 18, 2001; Treasury/CS.057 Container Station Operator Files, October 18, 2001; Treasury/CS.069 Customs Brokers File, October 18, 2001; Treasury/CS.137 List of Vessel Agents Employees, October 18, 2001; Treasury/CS.260 Warehouse Proprietor Files, October 18, 2001; Treasury/CS.271 Cargo Security Record System, October 18, 2001; and Treasury/CS.274 Importers, Brokers, Carriers, Individuals and Sureties Master Files, October 18, 2001. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses have been consolidated and updated to better reflect the U.S. Customs and Border Protection record systems that collect and maintain information on persons engaged in international trade in Customs and Border Protection licensed/regulated activities. The Department of Homeland Security is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concurrent with this SORN in the Federal Register. The exemptions for the legacy system of records notices will continue to be applicable until the final rule for this system of records notice is completed. This system will be included in the Department's inventory of record systems.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security is giving notice that it proposes to consolidate five legacy record systems and a new program into a Department of Homeland Security system of records notice titled, Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency003 National Flood Insurance Program Files: FEMA/FIMA-2 National Flood Insurance Direct Servicing Agent Application and Related Documents Files (January 23, 2002); FEMA/FIMA-3 National Flood Insurance Bureau and Statistical Agent (BSA) Data Elements and Related Files (January 23, 2002); FEMA/ FIMA-6 National Flood Insurance Special Direct Facility Repetitive Loss Target Group Records and Related Files (January 23, 2002); FEMA/FIMA-7 National Flood Insurance Community Rating System and Related Documents Files (January 23, 2002); and FEMA/FIA-2 National Flood Insurance Application and Related Documents Files (January 23, 2002), and the newly created National Flood Insurance Program Modernization, Business Process Improvement, and Systems Engineering Management Systems. This system will enable the Department of Homeland Security to administer the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Flood Insurance Program. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses of these legacy system of records notices have been consolidated and updated to better reflect the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency National Flood Insurance Program record systems. This system will be included in the Department's inventory of record systems.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and as part of the Department of Homeland Security's ongoing effort to review and update legacy system of record notices, the Department of Homeland Security proposes to update and reissue the following legacy record system, Justice/INS-036 Nonimmigrant Information System, January 31, 2003, as a Department of Homeland Security system of records notice titled, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nonimmigrant Information System. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses of this legacy system of records notice have been reviewed updated to better reflect the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nonimmigrant Information System. Concurrent with this System of Records Notice, DHS is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to exempt this system for certain aspects of the Privacy Act. This reissued system will be included in the Department of Homeland Security's inventory of record systems.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security is giving notice that it will remove one system of records notice from its inventory of record systems because the United States Secret Service no longer requires the system. The obsolete system is Treasury/IRS 46.016 Secret Service Details, Criminal Investigation Division (66 FR 63783 December 10, 2001).

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and as part of the Department of Homeland Security's ongoing effort to review and update legacy system of record notices, the Department of Homeland Security proposes to update and reissue USSS.007 Protection Information System. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses of this legacy system of records notice have been reviewed updated to better reflect the Department of Homeland Security United States Secret Service Criminal Investigation Information Record system. Additionally, DHS is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concurrent with this SORN elsewhere in the Federal Register. The exemptions for the legacy system of records notices will continue to be applicable until the final rule for this SORN has been completed.

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is amending the Promoting Student Achievement at Schools Impacted by Military Force Structure Changes grant competition announcement, which appeared in the Federal Register on November 18, 2008 (73 FR 68423- 68425). The amendments include a change in the expected dates, the elimination of the letter of intent, and the addition of Web site information where questions and answers will be posted.

The Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary is announcing a public meeting of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory Committee.

This provides notice of the DoD adoption of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's (ACHP's) Program Comment for DoD Rehabilitation Treatment Measures. The Program Comment provides DoD with an alternative way to comply with its responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 470f, and its implementing regulations, 36 CFR part 800 (Section 106), with regard to the effects of rehabilitation treatment measures.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency is proposing to add a system of records to its inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service proposes to amend a system of records notice in its inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C. Appendix, as amended), the Sunshine in the Government Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR 102-3.65, the Department of Defense gives notice that it intends to revise the charter for the Department of Defense Audit Advisory Committee. Specifically, the Department is increasing the number of committee members from five to seven members. This committee will provide the Secretary of Defense, through the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, independent advice on DoD's financial management, including the financial reporting process, systems of internal controls, audit process and processes for monitoring compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In accordance with DoD policy and procedures, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer is authorized to act upon the advice emanating from this advisory committee. Members of the Department of Defense Audit Advisory Committee shall be eminent authorities in the fields of financial management and audit. Committee members appointed by the Secretary of Defense, who are not full-time Federal officers or employees, shall be appointed as experts and consultants under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 3109, and serve as Special Government Employees. The Department of Defense Audit Advisory Committee, in keeping with DoD policy to make every effort to achieve a balanced membership, includes a cross section of experts directly affected, interested, and qualified to advise on financial and audit matters. Committee members shall be appointed on an annual basis by the Secretary of Defense, and with the exception of travel and per diem for official travel, shall serve without compensation. The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer shall select the committee's chairperson from the committee's membership at large. The Department of Defense Audit Advisory Committee shall meet at the call of the committee's Designated Federal Officer, in consultation with the Chairperson, and the estimated number of committee meetings is four per year. The Designated Federal Officer shall be a full-time or permanent part-time DoD employee, and shall be appointed in accordance with established DoD policies and procedures. The Designated Federal Officer or duly appointed Alternate Designated Federal Officer shall attend all committee meetings and subcommittee meetings. The Department of Defense Audit Advisory Committee shall be authorized to establish subcommittees, as necessary and consistent with its mission, and these subcommittees or working groups shall operate under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the Sunshine in the Government Act of 1976, and other appropriate Federal regulations. Such subcommittees or workgroups shall not work independently of the chartered committee, and shall report all their recommendations and advice to the Department of Defense Audit Advisory Committee for full deliberation and discussion. Subcommittees or workgroups have no authority to make decisions on behalf of the chartered committee nor can they report directly to the Department of Defense or any Federal officers or employees who are not members of the Department of Defense Audit Advisory Committee.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) is proposing to add a system of records notice to its inventory of record systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, and as part of the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office's ongoing effort to review and update legacy system of record notices the Department of Homeland Security is giving notice that it proposes to update and reissue the following legacy record system, DOT/CG 641 Coast Guard Special Needs Program as a Department of Homeland Security system of records notice titled, United States Coast Guard Exceptional Family Member Program. This system will allow the Department of Homeland Security/United States Coast Guard to collect and maintain records on civilian, active duty, reserve, retired active duty and retired reserve military personnel, and their eligible dependents identified as exceptional family members. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses of this legacy system of records notice have been reviewed and updated to better reflect the Department of Homeland Security/United States Coast Guard's exceptional family member record system. This new system will be included in the Department of Homeland Security's inventory of record systems.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security is giving notice that it proposes to consolidate two legacy record systems originally published by the legacy Customs Service: Treasury/CS.129 Investigations Record System, October 18, 2001, and Treasury/CS.285 Automated Index to Central Investigative Files, October 18, 2001, into a Immigration and Customs Enforcement system of records notice titled External Investigations. In addition, DHS will now cover those Immigration and Customs Enforcement records previously covered by the Treasury/CS.244 Treasury Enforcement Communications System with this new system of records. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses of these legacy system of records notices have been consolidated and updated to better reflect the law enforcement investigatory records maintained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Additionally, DHS is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concurrent with this SORN elsewhere in the Federal Register. The exemptions for the legacy system of records notices will continue to be applicable until the final rule for this SORN has been completed This system will be included in the Department's inventory of record systems.

The Department of Homeland Security is proposing to amend its regulations to exempt portions of a system of records from certain provisions of the Privacy Act. Specifically, the Department proposes to exempt portions of the United States Coast Guard Notice of Arrival and Departure System from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements.

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Coast Guard (USCG) gives notice that it is establishing a system of records for retaining certain biographical information on all passenger and crew members on board U.S. and foreign vessels bound for or departing from ports or places in the United States. The system of records is for the collection and processing of Notice of Arrival and Departure (NOAD) information pursuant to 33 CFR part 160, subpart C. This information is maintained within the Ship Arrival Notification System (SANS) as well as other USCG systems used for screening and vetting of vessels, vessel crews and passengers. USCG is publishing a system of records notice (SORN) in order to permit the traveling public greater access to individual information and a more comprehensive understanding of how and where information pertaining to them is collected and maintained. Elsewhere in today's Federal Register, DHS has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to exempt this SORN from certain provisions of the Privacy Act.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security is giving notice that it will remove one system of records notice from its inventory of record systems because the United States Coast Guard no longer requires the system. The obsolete system is DOT/CG 632 Uniformed Services Identification and Privilege Card Record System (April 11, 2000).

This final rule implements a prospective payment system for hospital outpatient services similar to that furnished to Medicare beneficiaries, as set forth in Section 1833(t) of the Social Security Act. The rule also recognizes applicable statutory requirements and changes arising from Medicare's continuing experience with this system including certain related provisions of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. The Department is publishing this rule to implement an existing statutory requirement for adoption of Medicare payment methods for institutional care which will ultimately provide incentives for hospitals to furnish outpatient services in an efficient and effective manner.

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and the Assistant Secretary for Health have taken final action in the following case: Homer D. Venters, Jr., M.D., University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign: Based on the report of an investigation conducted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and extensive additional image analysis conducted by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI), the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Dr. Homer D. Venters, former graduate student, Neuroscience Program, UIUC, engaged in scientific misconduct in research supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health (NIH), awards R01 MH051569 and F30 MH12558 and National Institute on Aging (NIA), NIH, award R01 AG06246. Specifically, PHS found that the Respondent committed misconduct in science: By intentionally and knowingly preparing and including duplicate image data in Figures 5 and 10 of PHS fellowship application F31 MH12558, ``Neurodegeneration via TNF-alpha inhibition of IGF-1,'' submitted in 1999, which was funded as F30 MH12558 from June 1, 2000, to May 31, 2003. Because the duplicate data were labeled as having been obtained from different experiments, the results for at least one of the two figures were intentionally falsified and constitute an act of scientific misconduct. By intentionally and knowingly preparing and including duplicate image data in Figure 3 and/or 4 of a manuscript submitted and published as: Venters, H.D., et al. ``A New Mechanism of Neurodegeneration: A Proinflammatory Cytokine Inhibits Receptor Signaling by a Survival Peptide.'' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 96:9879-9884, 1999. By preparing and providing to his dissertation committee in March 2000 a thesis proposal entitled ``An Alternate Mechanism of Neurodegeneration: Silencing of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I survival signals by Tumor Necrosis Factor-[alpha],'' which contained five falsified figures: Figures 1.3, 1.4a, 2.1b, 2.3e, and 2.5b. In each figure, he reused data within the same figure or in another thesis proposal figure as representing differently treated samples or as data obtained with different immunoblotting antisera. In March and April 2001, Respondent included several of the same falsified figures as in the thesis proposal and multiple additional falsified figures in his dissertation ``Silencing of Insulin-like Growth Factor I Neuronal Survival Signals by Tumor Necrosis Factor-[alpha].'' In all, Figures 3.3, 3.4a, 3.4b, 4.1b, 4.3a, 4.5b, 5.1a, 5.2, 5.4a, 5.5a, 5.6a, 5.7a, and 5.8a were falsified. In each instance, he assembled figures by reusing significant data, on some occasions after manipulating the orientation of the data, either within the same figure or in other figures related to his thesis and represented the data falsely as coming from different samples or different experiments. Dr. Venters has entered into a Voluntary Settlement Agreement (Agreement) in which he has voluntarily agreed, for a period of three (3) years, beginning on November 19, 2008: (1) That any institution that submits an application for PHS support for a research project on which the Respondent's participation is proposed or that uses the Respondent in any capacity on PHS- supported research, or that submits a report of PHS-funded research in which the Respondent is involved, must concurrently submit a plan for monitoring of the Respondent's research to the funding agency and ORI for approval; the monitoring plan must be designed to ensure the scientific integrity of the Respondent's research contribution; Respondent agreed that he will not participate in any PHS-supported research until such a monitoring plan is submitted to ORI and the funding agency; (2) That Respondent will ensure that any institution employing him will submit to ORI, in conjunction with each application for PHS funds or report, manuscript, or abstract of PHS-funded research in which the Respondent is involved, a certification that the data provided by the Respondent are based on actual experiments or are otherwise legitimately derived, and that the data analyses, procedures, and methodology are accurately reported in the application or report; Respondent must ensure that the institution sends a copy of each certification to ORI; and (3) To exclude himself from serving in any advisory capacity to PHS, including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant or contractor to PHS. Respondent also voluntarily agreed that within 30 days of the effective date of this Agreement: (4) He will submit a letter to the journal editor, with copies to his coauthors, identifying his falsification of Figures 3 and/or 4 in the following article: Venters et al. ``A New Mechanism of Neurodegeneration: A Proinflammatory Cytokine Inhibits Receptor Signaling by a Survival Peptide.'' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96:9879-9884, 1999.

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security proposes to add a new system of records titled Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Records. This system maintains records collected in support of, or during the conduct of, Science & Technology-funded research, development, test, and evaluation activities. This new system will be added to the Department's inventory of record systems.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and as part of the Department of Homeland Security's ongoing effort to review and update legacy system of records notices, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is giving notice that it proposes to update and reissue the following legacy record system Justice/INS. 023 Law Enforcement Support Center Database as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) system of records titled Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) Alien Criminal Response Information Management System (ACRIMe). The information in this system of records includes data collected and maintained by the ICE LESC to carry out its mission to respond to inquiries from law enforcement agencies concerning immigration status of an individual, and whether the individual is under investigation and/or wanted by ICE or other law enforcement agencies. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses of this legacy system of records notice have been updated. Additionally, DHS is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concurrent with this SORN elsewhere in the Federal Register. The exemptions for the legacy system of records notices will continue to be applicable until the final rule for this SORN has been completed. This system will be included in the DHS inventory of record systems.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security is giving notice that it proposes to consolidate two legacy record systems: Treasury/CS.212 Search/Arrest/Seizure Report and Treasury/CS.214 Seizure File into a Immigration and Customs Enforcement system of records notice titled Search, Arrest, and Seizure Records. Categories of individuals, categories of records, and the routine uses of these legacy system of records notices have been consolidated and updated to better reflect Immigration and Custom Enforcement's search, arrest, and seizure records. Additionally, DHS is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concurrent with this SORN elsewhere in the Federal Register. The exemptions for the legacy system of records notices will continue to be applicable until the final rule for this SORN has been completed. This system will be included in the Department's inventory of record systems.

The Department of Homeland Security is giving concurrent notice of a revised and updated system of records pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Confidential and Other Sources of Information (COSI) system of records and this proposed rulemaking. In this proposed rulemaking, the Department proposes to exempt portions of the system of records from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement requirements. The exemptions for the legacy system of records notices will continue to be applicable until the final rule for this SORN has been completed.