Department of Homeland Security April 21, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary special local regulation controlling movement of vessels for certain waters of the Detroit River, Trenton Channel. This action is necessary and is intended to ensure safety of life on navigable waters to be used for a rowing event immediately prior to, during, and immediately after this event. This regulation requires vessels to maintain a minimum speed for safe navigation and maneuvering.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to establish a new system of records titled, ``DHS/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-013 Operational Use of Publicly Available Social Media Internet Sources for Situational Awareness System of Records.'' This system of records authorizes DHS/FEMA to monitor, collect, and maintain information from publicly available social media sources to provide critical situational awareness in support of FEMA's mission to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the nation from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters. FEMA's social media monitoring initiative was neither designed nor intended to collect personally identifiable information (PII); however, given the unpredictable nature of disasters and emergency management, the content that is posted, and the voluntary and unrestricted nature of social media, it is possible for FEMA to collect, maintain, and in extremis circumstances, disseminate a limited amount of PII to first responders. FEMA is publishing this System of Records Notice because FEMA may collect PII from social media for certain narrowly tailored categories. For example, in the event of an in extremis situation involving potential life and death, FEMA will collect and share certain PII with Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial first responders in order for them to take the necessary actions to save a life, such as the name and location of a person asking for help during a man-made or natural disaster. This new system of records will be included in the DHS inventory of record systems.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to update its procedures for accepting Critical Infrastructure Information (CII) as a step towards meeting the challenges of evolving technology and identifying ways to make the PCII Program's protective measures more effective for information-sharing partnerships between the government and the private sector. The Critical Infrastructure Information Act of 2002 authorizes DHS to establish a program to accept information relating to critical infrastructure voluntarily submitted from the public, owners and operators of critical infrastructure, and State, local, tribal, and territorial governmental entities, while limiting public disclosure of that sensitive information under the Freedom of Information Act and other laws, rules, and processes. To implement this authority, DHS issued the ``Procedures for Handling Critical Infrastructure Information'' Final Rule in 2006. This Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) provides an opportunity for DHS to hear and consider, during the development of new regulations to update DHS's PCII program, the views of the private and public sector, and other interested members of the public on their recommendations for program modifications, particularly subject matter areas that have developed significantly since the issuance of the initial rule, such as automated information sharing.