[Federal Register: January 2, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 1)]
[Notices]
[Page 177-179]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02ja08-50]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records--Financial Management
System (FMS)
AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of a New System of Records.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended
(Privacy Act), (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Department of Education
(Department) publishes this notice of a new system of records entitled
the ``Financial Management System (FMS)'' (18-11-17).
FMS interfaces with other Federal Student Aid systems and
consolidates and centralizes all Federal Student Aid accounting and
financial data into one system. FMS is a conduit (pass-through system)
containing personally identifiable information that is obtained from
other Federal Student Aid systems. FMS has been in operation since
October 2001. However, because FMS maintains Privacy Act records and
discloses these records to the United States Department of the Treasury
and to loan holders, a management decision was made to treat FMS as an
official system of records under the Privacy Act.
DATES: The Department seeks comment on the new system of records
described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the
Privacy Act. We must receive your comments on or before February 1, 2008.
The Department filed a report describing the new system of records
covered by this notice with the Chair of the Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Chair of the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Administrator of
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) on December 27, 2007. This new system of records will
become effective at the later date of--(1) The expiration of the 40-day
period for OMB review on February 5, 2008, or (2) February 1, 2008
unless the system of records needs to be changed as a result of public
comment or OMB review.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this new system of records to
John Hurt, Director, Financial Management Group, Office of the Chief
Financial Officer (OCFO), Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of
Education, 830 First Street, NE., Union Center Plaza (UCP), room 54C3,
Washington, DC, 20202-5345. If you prefer to send your comments through
the Internet, use the following address: comments@ed.gov.
You must include the term ``Financial Management System of
Records'' in the subject line of your electronic comment.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this notice at the U.S. Department of Education in room
54C3, UCP, 5th Floor, 830 First Street, NE., Washington, DC, between
the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., eastern time, Monday through Friday
of each week, except Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking Record
On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public
rulemaking record for this notice.
If you want to schedule an appointment for this type of aid, please
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Hurt. Telephone number: 202-377-
3453. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you
may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in this section.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)) requires the Department to
publish in the Federal Register this notice of a new system of records.
The Department's regulations implementing the Privacy Act are contained
in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in 34 CFR part 5b.
The Privacy Act applies to a record about an individual that is
maintained in a system of records from which information is retrieved
by a unique identifier associated with each individual, such as a name
or social security number. The information about each individual is
called a ``record,'' and the system, whether manual or computer-based,
is called a ``system of records.'' The Privacy Act requires each agency
to publish a system of records notice in the Federal Register and to
submit, whenever the agency publishes a new system of records or makes
a significant change to an established system of records, a report to
the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
OMB. Each agency is also required to send copies of the report to the
Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House
of Representatives, and to the Chair of the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
Electronic Access to This Document
You can view this document, as well as all other documents of this
Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable
Document Format (PDF) on the Internet, at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at 202-512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.
Dated: December 27, 2007.
Lawrence A. Warder, Acting Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Acting Chief
Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education
(Department) publishes a notice of a new system of records to read as
follows:
[[Page 178]]
18-11-17
SYSTEM NAME:
Financial Management System (FMS).
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION(S):
(1) Financial Management Group, Office of the Chief Financial
Officer (OCFO), Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 830
First Street, NE., Union Center Plaza (UCP), room 54C3, Washington, DC
20202-5345.
(2) Perot Systems Corporation, 2300 W. Plano Parkway, Plano, TX
75075-8427.
(3) ACS Education Services, Inc., 501 Bleecker Street, Utica, NY
13501-2401.
(4) ACS Education Solutions, LLC, 12410 Milestone Center,
Germantown, MD 20876-7101.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
This system contains records on those individual borrowers who are
eligible for refunds of loan overpayments received by the Department's
Office of Federal Student Aid under Title IV of the Higher Education
Act of 1965, as amended.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
The FMS system contains personally identifiable information about
individual borrowers who are entitled to a refund of an overpayment or
discharge, or both. The system includes a borrower's social security
number, name and address, amount of overpayment to be refunded, and
name of the loan holder.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), (20
U.S.C. 1070 et seq.).
PURPOSE(S):
Information in this system is maintained for the purpose of
processing refunds to borrowers or loan holders (lenders and guaranty
agencies) for overpayments and discharges of Title IV Federal student
aid. When a loan overpayment or loan discharge occurs and FMS receives
loan refund information, FMS sends refund transaction data (the
borrower's name and other identifiers) to the Department of Education's
Central Automated Processing System (EDCAPS) for posting to the general
ledger and subsequent payment by the Department of the Treasury to the
borrower or loan holder (lenders and guaranty agencies).
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSE OF SUCH USES:
The Department may disclose information contained in a record in
this system of records without the consent of the individual if the
disclosure is compatible with the purposes for which the record was
collected.
These disclosures may be made on a case-by-case basis, or, if the
Department has complied with the computer matching requirements of the
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, as amended, under
a computer matching agreement.
(1) Program Disclosure. In order to refund loan overpayments back
to the borrower or loan holder and to answer questions that may arise
about the refund payments, the Department may disclose information from
this system to the Department of the Treasury via Treasury's Electronic
Certification System (eCS) or to the loan holder.
(2) Contract Disclosure. If the Department contracts with an entity
for the purposes of performing any function that requires disclosure of
records in this system to employees of the contractor, the Department
may disclose the records to those employees. Before entering into such
a contract, the Department shall require the contractor to maintain
Privacy Act safeguards as required under 5 U.S.C. 552a(m) with respect
to the records in the system.
(3) Research Disclosure. The Department may disclose records to a
researcher if the Director, Financial Management Group, Office of Chief
Financial Officer, Federal Student Aid, determines that the individual
or organization to which the disclosure would be made is qualified to
carry out specific research related to functions or purposes of this
system of records. The Director may disclose records from this system
of records to that researcher solely for the purpose of carrying out
research related to the functions or purposes of this system of
records. The researcher shall be required to maintain Privacy Act
safeguards with respect to the disclosed records.
(4) Disclosure for Use by Other Law Enforcement Agencies. The
Department may disclose information to any Federal, State, local, or
foreign agency or other public authority responsible for enforcing,
investigating, or prosecuting violations of administrative, civil, or
criminal law or regulation if that information is relevant to any
enforcement, regulatory, investigative, or prosecutorial responsibility
within the receiving entity's jurisdiction.
(5) Enforcement Disclosure. In the event that information in this
system of records indicates, either on its face or in connection with
other information, a violation or potential violation of any applicable
statute, Executive order, regulation, or rule of a competent authority,
the Department may disclose the relevant records to the appropriate
agency, whether foreign, Federal, State, Tribal, or local, charged with
the responsibility of investigating or prosecuting that violation or
charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, order, regulation,
or rule, issued pursuant thereto.
(6) Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Disclosure.
(a) Introduction. In the event that one of the following parties
listed below is involved in litigation or ADR, or has an interest in
litigation or ADR, the Department may disclose certain records to the
parties described in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this routine use
under the conditions specified in those paragraphs:
(i) The Department or any of its components.
(ii) Any Department employee in his or her official capacity.
(iii) Any Department employee in his or her individual capacity if
the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been requested to or has
agreed to provide or arrange for representation for the employee.
(iv) Any Department employee in his or her individual capacity
where the Department has agreed to represent the employee.
(v) The United States where the Department determines that the
litigation is likely to affect the Department or any of its components.
(b) Disclosure to the DOJ. If the Department determines that
disclosure of certain records to the DOJ is relevant and necessary to
litigation or ADR, the Department may disclose those records as a
routine use to the DOJ.
(c) Adjudicative Disclosure. If the Department determines that it
is relevant and necessary to the litigation or ADR to disclose certain
records to an adjudicative body before which the Department is
authorized to appear, to an individual, or to an entity designated by
the Department or otherwise empowered to resolve or mediate disputes,
the Department may disclose those records as a routine use to the
adjudicative body, individual, or entity.
(d) Disclosure to Parties, Counsel, Representatives, or Witnesses.
If the Department determines that disclosure of certain records to a
party, counsel, representative, or witness is relevant and necessary to
litigation or ADR, the Department may disclose those records as a routine use to a party,
counsel, representative, or witness.
(7) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or Privacy Act Advice
Disclosure. The Department may disclose records to the DOJ or the OMB
if the Department concludes that disclosure is desirable or necessary
in determining whether particular records are required to be disclosed
under the FOIA or Privacy Act.
(8) Disclosure to the DOJ. The Department may disclose records to
the DOJ to the extent necessary to obtain DOJ advice on any matter
relevant to an audit, inspection, or other inquiry related to the
programs covered by this system.
(9) Congressional Member Disclosure. The Department may disclose
the records of an individual to a member of Congress or the member's
staff in response to an inquiry from the member made at the written
request of that individual. The member's right to the information is no
greater than the right of the individual who requested the inquiry.
(10) Disclosure in the Course of Responding to Breach of Data. The
Department may disclose records from this system of records to
appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when: (a) The Department
suspects or has confirmed that the security or confidentiality of
information in the FMS has been compromised; (b) the Department has
determined that as a result of the suspected or confirmed compromise,
there is a risk of harm to economic or property interests, identity
theft or fraud, or harm to the security or integrity of the FMS or
other systems or programs (whether maintained by the Department or
another agency or entity) that rely upon the compromised information;
and, (c) the disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with the Department's
efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and
prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING,
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
Records are maintained in hardcopy, microfilm, magnetic storage and
optical storage media, such as tape, disk, etc.
RETRIEVABILITY:
Records in this system are retrievable by social security number or
name of borrower.
SAFEGUARDS:
This system of records limits data access to Department and
contract staff on a need-to-know basis and controls individual users'
ability to access and alter records within the system. All users of
this system of records are given a unique user identification and are
required to establish a password that adheres to the Federal Student
Aid Information Security and Privacy Policy requiring a complex
password that must be changed every 60-90 days in accordance with
Department information technology standards. Annually, all users of FMS
must acknowledge the completion of FMS-specific security awareness
training before they can obtain or renew their access to this system of
records. An automated audit trail documents the identity of each person
and device having access to FMS.
RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
FMS' records retention and disposal schedule is in compliance with
the Department's Records Retention and Disposition Schedule (RRDS)
policy and the guidance specified in the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) General Records Schedule (GRS) 7 entitled
``Expenditure Accounting Records.''
SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
(1) Financial Management System (FMS)--Director, Financial
Management Group, OCFO, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of
Education, 830 1st Street, NE., UCP, Washington, DC 20202-5345.
(2) Direct Loan Servicing System (DLSS)--Director, Servicing Group,
Borrower Services, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education,
830 1st Street, NE., UCP, Washington, DC 20202-5345.
(3) Direct Loan Consolidation System (DLCS)--Director,
Consolidation Group, Borrower Services, Federal Student Aid, U.S.
Department of Education, 830 1st Street, NE., UCP, Washington, DC
20202-5345.
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
If you wish to determine whether a record exists regarding you in
the system of records, provide the system manager with your name, date
of birth, and social security number. Your requests must meet the
requirements of the regulations in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of
identity.
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:
If you wish to gain access to a record in this system of records,
provide the system manager with your name, date of birth, and social
security number. Your requests for access to a record must meet the
requirements of the regulations in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of
identity.
CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURE:
If you wish to contest the content of a record regarding you in the
system of records, contact the system manager. Your request to correct
or amend a record must meet the requirements of the regulations in 34
CFR 5b.7, including proof of identity, specification of the particular
record that you are seeking to have changed, and the written
justification for making such a change.
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
Information in this system is obtained from other Department and
contractor-managed systems, such as the Direct Loan Servicing, Direct
Loan Consolidation System, Conditional Disability Discharge Tracking
System, Campus Based Student Loan System, as well as manual and
electronic processes internal to Federal Student Aid.
EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.
[FR Doc. E7-25520 Filed 12-31-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P