Implementing System of Records Notice for Grazing Administration Records
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
http://www.blm.gov
January 12, 2011
In Reply Refer To:
4100 (220) P
EMS TRANSMISSION 01/25/2011
Instruction Memorandum No. 2011-051
Expires: 9/30/2012
To: All Field Officials
From: Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and Planning
Subject: Implementing System of Records Notice for Grazing Administration Records
Program Area: Range, Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act.
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides a copy of the System of Records Notice (SORN) for grazing administration records recently published in the Federal Register (Attachment 1). This SORN modifies the current version (published in 2007) and is consistent with the recent decision of the United States District Court in Idaho (Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management, (BLM) 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95379 (D. Idaho 2010), which found the public’s interest in information requested in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request outweighed the grazing permittees’ privacy interests.
Policy/Action: All individuals and corporations authorized to graze livestock on the National System of Public Lands have been notified by mail that, under the SORN, their names and addresses will be available to the public (Attachment 2). This advance notification provides the current permittees an opportunity to provide an alternative to their current address for the grazing administration records. As stated in the SORN, 65 days after the SORN is published, names and addresses of all grazing permittees and lessees will be published and maintained on the BLM public website.
When a current permittee provides an alternate address, the field office must change the address in the Rangeland Administration System (RAS) within 5 working days. When the permittee provides an alternate address, you must insert Attachment 3 with an appropriate date into the Operator Case File and in the correspondence section of the Allotment File. Field offices will notify all applicants for grazing authorizations that the names and addresses provided on the application forms will be used as the official address of record by the BLM, and available to the public. The BLM will revise grazing administration forms to include this notification.
Until the forms are revised, you must attach the following notice to grazing application forms provided to applicants:
“In accordance with the Bureau of Land Management’s System of Records Notice published in the Federal Register on December 29, 2010, names and addresses provided on this application will be included in reports available on the BLM public website.”
Until the SORN is final and the 60-day opportunity for permittees to provide an alternative address has passed, consult with your local or State FOIA office before responding to requests for names and addresses of permittees.
Timeframe: This IM is effective immediately.
Budget Impact: The labor needed to change addresses at the request of current grazing permittees and lessees is expected to be minimal and is part of the duties for maintaining grazing administration records. The cost to modify reports on the BLM public website provided through the RAS will not impact the budget. The time to modify application forms is estimated to be about 2 work months.
Background: The routine uses listed in the SORN are being revised to address inconsistencies with regulations at Title 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 4.21; 4.413 and 4.414 and to improve administration of grazing and other uses of the National System of Public Lands. In addition, the amended SORN will be consistent with a September 30, 2010, decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho that directed the BLM to release names and addresses of record for all grazing permittees (Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians v. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Department of the Interior, Case No. CV 09-482-CWD). Five days after the 60-day period following publication of the SORN, RAS will be updated to include names and addresses of permittees on the reports available on the public website.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None.
Coordination: Development of this IM was coordinated amongst the Privacy Act Office (WO-590), Freedom of Information Act Office (WO-560), Range Program (WO-220), and the Solicitors Office.
Contact: Dick Mayberry, Rangeland Management Specialist, WO-220 at 202-912-7229; Ashanti Murphy-Jones, Program Analyst, Privacy Team, WO-590 at 202-912-7582; and, Laura Bell, FOIA Program Manager, WO-560 at 202-912-7562. For questions related to data entry in RAS, contact Leon Pack, National Operations Center, at 303-236-0156.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Edwin L. Roberson Robert M. Williams
Assistant Director Division of IRM Governance,WO-560
Renewable Resources and Planning
3 Attachments
1 – System of Records Notice for Grazing Administration Records (4 pp)