Fair Market Value Records Security and Reporting
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
August 27, 2015
In Reply Refer To:
3420, 3432 (320) P
EMS TRANSMISSION 09/03/2015
Instruction Memorandum No. 2015-141
Expires: 09/30/2018
To: All Washington Office and Field Office Officials
From: Assistant Director, Energy, Minerals, and Realty Management
Subject: Fair Market Value Records Security and Reporting
Program Area: Coal Management
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides new policy and reiterates existing policy direction to the Bureau of Land Management employees responsible for the security, use, and storage of coal lease Fair Market Value (FMV) records. Under this policy, State Directors (SD) are required to report to the Assistant Director, Energy, Minerals, and Realty Management (AD) on the status of FMV records in their custody at the end of Fiscal Year 2016 and every two years after that.
Policy/Action: All sensitive, proprietary, or confidential records relating to the FMV determinations for coal lease by application (LBA) and lease modification application (LMA) tracts, including information gathered from the applicants as well as BLM’s geologic, engineering, economic and valuation analyses, reports and associated data, must be safeguarded against improper disclosure. Records that are exempt from disclosure are those that meet one or more of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) nine statutory exemptions, found at 5 U.S.C. 552(b) (1)–(9). These records must be managed in accordance with existing Department of the Interior (DOI) regulations at 43 CFR Part 2 (Freedom of Information Act), BLM manuals (MS-1220 (Records and Information Management), MS-1270 (Records Administration), MS-1278 (External Access to BLM Information)), and BLM handbooks (H-3073 (Coal Evaluation).
The BLM employees must maintain proper security measures to prevent unauthorized disclosure of FMV files that contain sensitive, proprietary, or confidential information. These files must be stored separately from those materials and files traditionally located in “Central Files” (also known as “Lease Case File”). Sensitive, proprietary, or confidential FMV records must be secured in a locked location, accessible to only those employees who need these records in order to perform work duties. Electronic files and data must also be safeguarded by ensuring they are stored in a manner that restricts access only to those employees that need the files to perform their duties relating to FMV analyses.
When responding to FOIA requests that seek FMV files containing sensitive, proprietary, or confidential information, BLM staff must coordinate with the appropriate local FOIA official and Office of the Solicitor staff before releasing any information. BLM staff must also work to ensure compliance with FOIA regulations at 43 CFR Part 2, Subpart F and Appendix B.
In addition to the above security protocols, the following best management practices must also be employed for FMV records and data:
- The presale estimate of value must not be discussed outside of the BLM or the Office of Valuation Services (OVS);
- Meetings or conversations during which sensitive evaluation data and the presale estimates of value are discussed must be held or carried out in a secure area, away from personnel without a direct responsibility to evaluate sensitive FMV data;
- Personnel without a direct responsibility to evaluate sensitive FMV data are prohibited from having access to such data;
- All sensitive and proprietary data must be locked in an approved secure filing cabinet or vault when the data are not actually required for analysis and discussion purposes; and
- Each office must maintain a record of the status of the use and methods of storage used to ensure the security of each sensitive, proprietary, or confidential FMV record or supporting analyses (Attachment 1).
The BLM may require the services of a third-party contractor to provide a coal valuation. The OVS will review all coal valuations to ensure that they comply with policy. Transmittal of FMV records from the originating BLM office of control to other BLM offices, the third-party contractor, or the OVS must be accompanied by a signed BLM Form 1273-2a, Information Security Agreement. Records may not be transmitted without signatures from both the recipient (e.g. OVS, contractor, BLM official, etc.) and a BLM Authorized Official of the originating BLM office of control.
Electronic data may be transmitted only to authorized BLM staff, officials, contractors, or OVS for official purposes and only if it is encrypted and the password key is provided under separate cover. As provided on BLM Form 1273-2a, FMV records must be returned to the originating BLM office of control at the end of the review period. Any individuals found to have unlawfully disclosed any sensitive, proprietary or confidential FMV records, data, or analysis may be subject to penalties as provided in Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1905. Further, the BLM will require the receiving BLM office, contractor, or OVS (the “Secondary office of control”) to agree to the following Form 1273-2a special stipulations prior to signature:
- No copies of the transferred Proprietary/Confidential Information may be made, and
- A chain of custody identifying the BLM, third-party contractor, or OVS staff in the receiving office and their title and organization and the date(s) of access to the Proprietary/Confidential Information, including the date the information will be returned to the originating BLM office of control at the end of the review period.
Reports to the AD: Within 60 days after the end of fiscal year 2016 and every two years after that, the SD will report to the AD the status of FMV records that are under the SD’s supervision. The bi-annual report will include copies of Table A: FMV Records Security Chain of Custody for each FMV record that is maintained in the SD’s office (Attachment 1). Also, the AD’s representatives may, after review of the bi-annual report or upon any other concern, inspect the FMV records and the methods of securing, using, and storing them in BLM State, District, and Field Offices to ensure the accuracy of the SD reports and security of the sensitive, proprietary, or confidential FMV records.
Timeframe: Immediately.
Budget Impact: None
Background: The U.S. Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General (OIG) completed an audit of the Federal Coal Management program entitled, “Coal Management Program Evaluation, Report No. CR-EV-BLM-0001-2012, which was published June 11, 2013. This IM has been developed in response to OIG recommendation 6, which addresses internal controls and safeguards of FMV records.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: H-3073, Coal Evaluation handbook. This material will be included in the handbook upon the next update.
Coordination: State, district, field offices and the Washington Office Solid Minerals Division specialists evaluated the OIG’s recommendation 6 and coordinated the development of this policy. It was also coordinated with the Office of the Solicitor.
Contact: If you have any questions concerning the content of this IM, please contact me, at 202-208-4201; Mitchell Leverette, Division Chief (WO-320) at 202-912-7113 or mleveret@blm.gov; or John A. Lewis, 202-912-7117, or j35lewis@blm.gov.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Michael Nedd Robert M. Williams
Assistant Director Division of IRM Governance,WO-860
Energy, Minerals and Realty Management
1 Attachment
1 - Fair Market Value Records Security Chain of Custody ( 1 p)