Federal Register: September 10, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 174)
DOCID: fr10se09-117 FR Doc E9-21802
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NOTICE: NOTICES
DOCID: fr10se09-117
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice to alter a Privacy Act system of records.
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records Notice
DATES: Effective September 10, 2009. The CARS Program is a temporary program covering eligible automobile purchases/leases occurring between July 1, 2009 and November 1, 2009. The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 (the CARS Act), which authorized the CARS Program, requires the Secretary of Transportation, acting through NHTSA, to take steps to identify, prevent and penalize fraud associated with the Program. Since the inception of the CARS Program, NHTSA has received a substantial number of complaints from consumers located nationwide, including timesensitive complaints of dealer misconduct associated with the conduct of the Program. In order for these consumer complaints to be investigated and resolved in a timely manner (i.e., while the CARS Program remains operational and before the complaints become moot), NHTSA has sought the assistance of State Attorneys General. For this reason, NHTSA must begin sharing consumer complaint information, including personally identifiable information (PII) of consumers, with State Attorneys General and NAAG prior to completion of a 30day public notice and comment period under this SORN. NHTSA nonetheless seeks and will accept public comment on this SORN for a 30 day period. Because our ability to consider comments received may be limited, we encourage the earliest possible submission of comments. If feasible, we may publish a further alteration to this SORN in light of any comments received.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
NHTSA is republishing the Privacy Act system of records notice (SORN) for the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save program (CARS program) database system replacing the previously published SORN of July 27, 2009 in order to: (1) Expand the routine uses of records maintained in the system to include sharing complaint records with State Attorneys General and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), for purposes of investigating and prosecuting criminal violations, including fraud associated with the CARS program, and (2) update the system location, storage and retrievability sections of the SORN to reflect the use of wordsearchable electronic files (i.e., Excel spreadsheets) to store complaint information, including that to be shared with the State Attorneys General and NAAG. These changes are more thoroughly detailed below and in the accompanying updated Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) that may be found on the DOT Privacy Web site at http://www.dot.gov/privacy.
SUMMARY:
Privacy Act; Systems of Records
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
I. CARS Program
On June 24, 2009, the President signed into law the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 (the CARS Act) (Pub. L. 111 32). The Act establishes, within DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a temporary program under which an owner of a motor vehicle meeting statutorily specified criteria may trade in the vehicle and receive a monetary credit from the dealer toward the purchase or lease of a new motor vehicle meeting statutorily specified criteria (the CARS Program or Program).
The Program covers qualifying transactions that occur between July
1, 2009 and November 1, 2009. If all of the conditions of eligibility
are met and the dealer provides NHTSA with sufficient documentation
relating to the transaction, NHTSA will make an electronic payment to the dealer equal
[[Page 46656]]
to the amount of the credit extended by the dealer to the consumer, not
exceeding the statutorily authorized amount. The dealer must agree to
transfer the tradein vehicle to a salvage auction or disposal facility
that will crush or shred it so that it will never be returned to the
road, although parts of the vehicle other than the engine block may be sold prior to disposal.
Under the Program, NHTSA must collect a variety of information from individuals and entities about qualifying transactions. Vehicle manufacturers must provide data about vehicles and authorized dealers. Dealers must provide information about their business operations and individual financial transactions. Salvage auctions and disposal facilities may be required to provide comparable data about their business operations and information confirming the sale or destruction of tradein vehicles. This information is required to ensure compliance with the terms of the CARS Actspecifically, to verify that purchasing consumers, new and tradein vehicles, dealers, salvage auctions and disposal facilities are eligible to participate in the Program; to identify, prevent and penalize fraud; and to confirm appropriate disposal of the tradein vehicles. Participating car buyers also will be asked to complete a survey about the Program for use in reporting to Congress on the efficacy of the Program, as mandated by the CARS Act. Surveys will be voluntary and anonymous. Additionally, under the Act, NHTSA is required to coordinate with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure that the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) (which is administrated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA)) is updated appropriately to reflect the disposal of vehicles traded in under the CARS Program. II. CARS Database System
In order to support the CARS Program, NHTSA will utilize one or more secure databases (i.e., the CARS Database System) to collect, process and store information about eligible transactions and about car purchasers/lessees, dealers, salvage auctions and disposal facilities participating in the CARS Program. This information will include Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including financial transaction information of individual car purchasers/lessees, and may include PII about a limited number of salvage auctions and disposal facilities participating in the program, which in some States may be operated by individuals (sole proprietors).
III. The Privacy Act
The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) governs the means by which the United States Government collects, maintains, and uses PII in a system of records. A ``system of records'' is a group of any records under the control of a Federal agency from which information about individuals is retrieved by name or other personal identifier.
The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register a notice (SORN) identifying and describing each system of records the agency maintains, including the purposes for which the agency uses PII in the system, the routine uses for which the agency discloses such information outside the agency, and how individual record subjects can exercise their rights under the Privacy Act (e.g., to determine if the system contains information about them). IV. Privacy Impact Assessment
NHTSA is publishing an updated Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to coincide with the expansion of the SORN.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), a report on the alteration of this existing system of records has been sent to Congress and to the Office of Management and Budget.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
For privacy issues please contact: Dee Smith, NHTSA Privacy Officer, NHTSA Office of the CIO, NPO420, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590 or dee.smith@dot.gov.