Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records Notice

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Published

November 19, 2021

Issuing agencies

Small Business Administration

Abstract

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) proposes a new system of records titled Reasonable Accommodations, Personal Assistance Services, and Medical/Religious Exceptions (SBA 42), to its inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. Publication of this notice complies with the Privacy Act and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-108 and Circular A-130. System of Records Notice (SORN) titled Reasonable Accommodations, Personal Assistance Services, and Medical/Religious Exceptions (SBA 42), includes current and former SBA employees, applicants for employment, and members of the public that request reasonable accommodations, personal assistance services or medical/religious exceptions. Reasonable accommodations and personal services for former and current federal employees may be requested to perform work-related duties. SBA is fully committed to providing reasonable accommodation and personal assistance services to employees and SBA applicants for employment as part of the larger effort to foster an inclusive organizational culture that empowers all employees to realize their full potential. Members of the public may request reasonable accommodations to attend SBA sponsored events or meetings and to seek information or services from SBA's programs or products. Medical/ religious exceptions may be requested by employees and SBA applicants based on a medical condition or circumstance or a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. All requests are processed through the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights (ODI&CR).

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 221 (Friday, November 19, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 221 (Friday, November 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64983-64986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25232]

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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records Notice

AGENCY: Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) proposes a new
system of records titled Reasonable Accommodations, Personal Assistance
Services, and Medical/Religious Exceptions (SBA 42), to its inventory
of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended.
Publication of this notice complies with the Privacy Act and the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-108 and Circular A-130.
System of Records Notice (SORN) titled Reasonable Accommodations,
Personal Assistance Services, and Medical/Religious Exceptions (SBA
42), includes current and former SBA employees, applicants for
employment, and members of the public that request reasonable
accommodations, personal assistance services or medical/religious
exceptions. Reasonable accommodations and personal services for former
and current federal employees may be requested to perform work-related
duties. SBA is fully committed to providing reasonable accommodation
and personal assistance services to employees and SBA applicants for
employment as part of the larger effort to foster an inclusive
organizational culture that empowers all employees to realize their
full potential. Members of the public may request reasonable
accommodations to attend SBA sponsored events or meetings and to seek
information or services from SBA's programs or products. Medical/
religious exceptions may be requested by employees and SBA applicants
based on a medical condition or circumstance or a sincerely held
religious belief, practice, or observance. All requests are processed
through the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights (ODI&CR).

DATES: Submit comments on or before December 20, 2021. This new system
will be effective upon publication.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this notice by any of the
following methods: Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>: Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Submit written comments to: Gaye Walker,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Diversity, Inclusion and
Civil Rights, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street SW,
Suite 6400, Washington, DC 20416.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: General questions, please contact Dr.
Zina Sutch, Assistant Administrator Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and
Civil Rights, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street SW,
Suite 6400, Washington, DC, 20416 or

[[Page 64984]]

via email, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2c7645424d027f59584f446c5f4e4d024b435a">[email&#160;protected]</a>, telephone 202-836-0036. For Privacy
related matters, please contact Keith A. Bluestein, Chief Information
Officer/Senior Agency Official for Privacy, Office of the Chief
Information Officer, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street
SW, Suite 4000, Washington, DC, 20416 or via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b3e3c1dac5d2d0cadcd5d5dad0d6c1f3c0d1d29dd4dcc5">[email&#160;protected]</a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as
amended, embodies fair information practice principles in a statutory
framework governing how Federal agencies collect, maintain, use, and
disseminate individuals' personal information. The Privacy Act applies
to records about individuals that are maintained in a ``system of
records.'' A system of records is any group of records under the
control of a federal agency from which information is retrieved by the
name of an individual or by a number, symbol or any other identifier
assigned to the individual. The Privacy Act requires each federal
agency to publish in the Federal Register a System of Records Notice
(SORN) identifying and describing each system of records the agency
maintains, the purpose for which the agency uses the Personally
Identifiable Information (PII) in the system, the routine uses for
which the agency discloses such information outside the agency, and how
individuals can exercise their rights related to their PII information.
The new Privacy Act system of records titled Reasonable
Accommodations, Personal Assistance Services, and Medical/Religious
Exceptions (SBA 42) will be used to provide notice to requesters for,
and recipients of, reasonable accommodations, personal assistance
services, and medical/religious exceptions through the ODI&CR. The
mission of the ODI&CR is to champion a diverse workforce and inclusive
culture by ensuring equal access and equitable treatment regarding
employment and entrepreneurial endeavors.
Requests for reasonable accommodations and personal assistance
services may be made orally; however, such request must eventually be
transferred to the applicable template.
This system of records is comprised of electronic and hardcopy
records managed by ODI&CR. SBA 42 will not have any undue impact on the
privacy of individuals and its use is compatible with collection.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
Reasonable Accommodations, Personal Assistance Services, and
Medical/Religious Exceptions (SBA 42).

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
Controlled Unclassified Information.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights, 409 Third Street
SW, Suite 6400 Washington, DC 20416.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
Gaye Walker, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Diversity,
Inclusion and Civil Rights, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd
Street SW, Suite 6400, Washington, DC 20416 or via email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5314322a367d04323f383621132031327d343c25">[email&#160;protected]</a>, telephone: 202-205-6753.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 791 et seq.); the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (42 U.S.C. 12102,
12114); the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act of
2008); Federal regulations (29 U.S.C. 791 et seq.); and 29 CFR 1614 and
1630. 29 CFR part 1630 implements the Americans with Disabilities Act;
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as amended--
codified at 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq., Religious Freedom Restoration Act
of 1993, Executive Order (E.O.)14043, ``Requiring Coronavirus Disease
2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees''.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
The purpose of the System is to allow SBA to collect and maintain
records on applicants for employment, employees (including former
employees) and members of the public who request a reasonable
accommodation under sections 501, 504, and 701 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 and under the ADA Amendments of 2008; employees who request
or receive personal assistance services under Section 501, as amended,
under the Rehabilitation Act; and employees requesting medical/
religious exceptions in compliance with E.O. 14043, ``Requiring
Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees'', and any
other applicable laws or regulations. In addition, the purpose of the
system is to track and report to appropriate entities the processing of
requests for reasonable accommodations, personal assistance services
and medical/religious exception requests to ensure compliance with
applicable laws and regulations, and to preserve and maintain the
confidentiality of medical and religious affiliation information.
Information in this system will be used to evaluate, approve, deny,
and/or implement a request for reasonable accommodations personal
assistance services, or medical/religious exceptions.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
Applicants for employment, employees (current and former), and any
other individuals who request(ed) or receive(d) a reasonable
accommodation under Sections 501, 504, and 701 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 and under the ADA Amendments of 2008; employees who
request(ed) or receive(d) personal assistance services under Section
501, as amended, of the Rehabilitation Act; and employees requesting
medical/religious exceptions per E.O. 14043. This also includes
authorized individuals or representatives who file requests for
reasonable accommodation on behalf of an application for employment, or
who file requests for reasonable accommodations, personal assistance
services or medical/religious exceptions on behalf of an employee, or
other individual, as well as former employees who requested or received
reasonable accommodations, personal assistance services or medical/
religious exceptions during their employment with SBA.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
Records may include, but are not limited to:
<bullet> Requester's name, contact information (i.e., address,
telephone number, email address and any other information provided), or
other unique identifier.
<bullet> Requester's authorized representative's name and contact
information (i.e., address, telephone number, email address and any
other information provided).
<bullet> Requester's status (i.e., applicant, employee, or other).
<bullet> Request date.
<bullet> Meeting or other event for which the request was made
(date and time of meeting/event, location).
<bullet> Job(s) (occupational series, grade level, and agency
component) for which a reasonable accommodation or personal assistance
service was requested.
<bullet> Information concerning the nature of any disability and
the need for accommodation or assistance.
<bullet> Appropriate medical or other documentation provided in
support of the request.
<bullet> Appropriate religious affiliation documents provided in
support of the request.

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<bullet> Details of a reasonable accommodation or personal
assistance service request to include: Type(s) of accommodation or
assistance requested; whether the accommodation requested was pre-
employment or during employment, or for some other reason; whether the
assistance requested was during employment; how the requested
accommodation would assist the individual in applying for a job, how
the requested accommodation or assistance would assist the individual
in performing current job functions, or meeting some other need/
requirement; the amount of time taken to process the request; whether
the request was granted or denied and, if denied, the reason for the
denial; and the sources of any assistance consulted in trying to
identify possible reasonable accommodations or providing personal
assistance services.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
Current and former SBA employees, applicants for employment, and
members of the public.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C.
552a(b) of the Privacy Act, all or a portion of the information
contained in this system may be disclosed to authorized entities, as is
determined to be relevant and necessary, outside SBA as a routine use
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as follows:
A. To disclose information to medical personnel to meet a bona fide
medical emergency.
B. To the federal, state, local or foreign agency or professional
organization which has responsibility for investigating, prosecuting,
or enforcing violations, statutes, rules, regulations or orders issued
when the Agency identifies a record, either alone or in conjunction
with other information, which indicates a violation or potential
violation of law.
C. To disclose to an authorized appeal grievance examiner formal
complaints examiner, administrative judge, equal employment opportunity
investigator, arbitrator, or other duly authorized official engaged in
investigation or settlement, or a grievance, complaint, or appeal filed
by an employee or applicant.
D. To a court, magistrate, grand jury, or administrative tribunal,
opposing counsel during such proceedings or in settlement negotiations
when presenting evidence.
E. To a Congressional office from an individual's record when that
office is inquiring on the individual's behalf; the Member's access
rights are no greater than the individuals.
F. In a proceeding before a court, or adjudicative body, or a
dispute resolution body before which SBA is authorized to appear or
before which any of the following is a party to litigation or has an
interest in litigation, provided, however, that SBA determines that the
use of such records is relevant and necessary to the litigation, and
that, in each case, SBA determines that disclosure of the records to a
court or other adjudicative body is a use of the information contained
in the records that is a compatible purpose for which the records were
collected: SBA, or any SBA component; any SBA employee in their
official capacity; any SBA employee in their individual capacity where
DOJ has agreed to represent the employee; or The United States
Government, where SBA determines that litigation is likely to affect
SBA or any of its components.
G. To another federal agency or commission with responsibility for
labor or employment relations or other issues, including equal
employment opportunity and reasonable accommodation or personal
assistance service issues, when that agency or commission has
jurisdiction over reasonable accommodation or personal assistance
service.
H. To the Office of Management and Budget, Department of Justice
(DOJ), Department of Labor, Office of Personnel Management, Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, or Office of Special Counsel to
obtain advice regarding statutory, regulatory, policy, and other
requirements related to reasonable accommodation or personal assistance
service.
I. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), including offices of the U.S
Attorneys, or other federal agency conducting litigation or in
proceedings before any court, adjudicative, or administrative body,
when it is deemed by the SBA to be relevant or necessary to the
litigation or the SBA has an interest in such litigation when any of
the following are a party to the litigation or have an interest in the
litigation: (1) Any employee or former employee of SBA in their
official capacity; (2) Any employee or former employee of SBA in their
individual capacity when DOJ or SBA has agreed to represent the
employee or a party to the litigation or have an interest in the
litigation; or (3) The United States or any agency thereof.
J. To the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) or
General Services Administration (GSA) pursuant to records management
inspections conducted under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
K. To an agency or organization, including the SBA's Office of
Inspector General, for the purpose of performing audit or oversight
operations as authorized by law, but only such information as is
necessary and relevant to such audit or oversight function.
L. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) SBA
suspects or has confirmed that there has been a breach of the system of
records, (2) SBA has determined that as a result of the suspected or
confirmed breach there is a risk of harm to individuals, SBA (including
its information systems, programs, and operations), the Federal
Government, or national security; and (3) the disclosure made to such
agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to assist in
connection with SBA's efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed
breach or to prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
M. To another federal agency or federal entity, when SBA determines
that information from this system of records is reasonably necessary to
assist the recipient agency or entity in (1) responding to a suspected
or confirmed breach or (2) preventing, minimizing, or remedying the
risk of harm to individuals, the recipient agency or entity (including
its information systems, programs, and operations), the Federal
Government, or national security, resulting from a suspected or
confirmed breach.
N. To SBA contractors, grantees, volunteers, interns, regulators,
and experts who have been engaged by SBA to assist in the performance
and performance improvement of a service related to this system of
records and who need access to the records to perform this activity
which may also include for regulatory purpose. Recipients of these
records shall be required to comply with the requirements of the
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a.
O. To consultants, contractor personnel, entities, vendors or
suppliers, employees of other government agencies, whether federal,
state or local, as necessary to consider a request for accommodation or
to implement the decision.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
Paper and electronic files. Maintained in locked file cabinets and
cloud platform.

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POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
Records are retrieved by name of individual, program/staff office,
or request date.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
Records are maintained in accordance with latest edition SBA
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) series 00 41, schedules Records
Management Records and Agency Accountability Records. Records
maintained as part of the General Records Schedules (GRS) are disposed
of in accordance with applicable SBA policies.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
Access and use are limited to persons with official need to know.
Users are evaluated on a recurring basis to ensure need-to-know still
exists. Safeguards are implemented in accordance with the Federal
Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) and are
evaluated on a recurring basis to ensure desired operation.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
Individuals wishing to request access to records about them should
submit a Privacy Act request to the SBA Chief, Freedom of Information
and Privacy Act Office, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 Third
St. SW, Eighth Floor, Washington, DC 20416 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e1a7aea8a0a1928380cf868e97">[email&#160;protected]</a>. Individuals
must provide their full name, mailing address, personal email address,
telephone number, and a detailed description of the records requested.
Individuals requesting access must also follow SBA's Privacy Act
regulations regarding verification of identity and access to records
(13 CFR part 102 subpart B).

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
Individuals wishing to contest information contained in records
about them should submit a Privacy Act request to the SBA Chief,
Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Office, U.S. Small Business
Administration, 409 Third St. SW, Eighth Floor, Washington, DC 20416 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5610191f171625343778313920">[email&#160;protected]</a>. Individuals must provide their full name, mailing
address, personal email address, telephone number, and a detailed
description of the records contested. Requesting individuals must
follow SBA's Privacy Act regulations regarding verification of identity
and access to records (13 CFR part 102 subpart B).

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
Individuals may make record inquiries in person at the address
listed below or in writing to the Systems Manager through the SBA
Chief, Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Office, U.S. Small
Business Administration, 409 Third St. SW, Eighth Floor, Washington, DC
20416 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#43050c0a02033021226d242c35">[email&#160;protected]</a>.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.

HISTORY:
None.

Zina Sutch,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil
Rights.
[FR Doc. 2021-25232 Filed 11-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8026-03-P

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