Privacy Act; Implementation

Resumo

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or Department), through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is implementing a new system of records, 09-25-0223, "NIH Records Related to Research Misconduct Proceedings, HHS/NIH." HHS is exempting this system of records from certain requirements of the Privacy Act to protect the integrity of NIH research misconduct proceedings and to protect the identity of confidential sources in such proceedings. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, HHS is issuing a direct final rule for this action because the agency expects that there will be no significant adverse comment on this rule. HHS is publishing this companion proposed rule under the agency's usual procedure for notice-and-comment rulemaking, to provide a procedural framework to finalize the rule in the event the agency publishing this companion proposed rule under the agency's usual procedure for notice- and-comment rulemaking, to provide a procedural framework to finalize the rule in the event the agency receives any significant comments and withdraws the direct final rule. The direct final rule and this companion proposed rule are substantively identical.