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AHRQ Privacy Act System of Records Notice

Agency Management Information System/Grants and Contracts

SYSTEM NUMBER: 09-35-0001

SYSTEM NAME:

Agency Management Information System/Grants and Contracts (AMIS/GRANTS and CONTRACTS), HS/AHRQ/OPART. The "Agency Management Information System/Grants and Contracts (AMIS/GRANTS and CONTRACTS), HHS/AHRQ/OM" was previously named the "Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Grants Information and Tracking System with Contracts Component (GIAnT), HHS/AHRQ/OM."

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:

None.

SYSTEM LOCATION:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Office of Performance, Accountability, Resources and Technology, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, Maryland, 20850.

Program Support Center, Office of Management, Division of Acquisition Management, Parklawn Building, Room 5C-10, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

For a list of contractors, please write to the system manager at the address listed below.

Inactive records will be stored at: Washington National Records Center, 4205 Suitland Road, Suitland, Maryland 20746-8001.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:

This system contains the names of research training and career development grant applicants and principal investigators, research training grant program directors, and research fellowship recipients; peer and other special reviewers; grant and contract project directors and other key personnel.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

Research grant, research training grant, research career development, research fellowship, and contract files, including applications, proposals, award notices, and summary comments of peer reviewers.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:

AHRQ grants and contract administration authorities in Title IX of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 299-299c-6); Sec. 1142 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-12) and sec. 487 PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 288) (National Research Service Awards).

PURPOSE(S):

The information in this system is used to facilitate day-to-day grants and contracts management operations and for purposes of review, analysis, planning, and policy formulation by AHRQ staff members and by other components of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) which conduct research. AHRQ also may refer these records to the appropriate office in the Department for the purpose of monitoring payback; if necessary, debt collection; and investigation of alleged scientific misconduct.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND THE PURPOSE OF SUCH USES:

Disclosure may be made to a congressional office from the records of an individual in response to an inquiry from the congressional office made at the request of the individual.
The Department may disclose information from this system of records to the Department of Justice, to a court or other tribunal, when (a) HHS, or any component thereof; or (b) any HHS employee in his or her official capacity; or (c) any HHS employee in his or her individual capacity where the Department of Justice (or HHS, 5 where it is authorized to do so) has agreed to represent the employee; or (d) the United States or any agency thereof where HHS determines that the litigation is likely to affect HHS or any of its components, is a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and HHS determines that the use of such records by the Department of Justice, the court or other tribunal, is relevant and necessary to the litigation and would help in the effective representation of the governmental party, provided, however, that in each case, HHS determines that such disclosure is compatible with the purpose of which the records were collected.
AHRQ may disclose information about an individual grant or contract applicant or fellowship applicant to credit reporting agencies to obtain a credit report in order to determine his/her credit worthiness.
Limited disclosures, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (b) (12), may be made from this system to "consumer reporting agencies" as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681ff.) or the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 (31 U.S.C. 3701(a) (3)) after the procedural prerequisites of 31 U.S.C. 3711 have been followed. The purpose of such disclosures is to aid in the collection of outstanding debts owed to the Federal Government, i.e., providing an incentive for delinquent debtors to pay the Government.
Disclosure may be made to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), U.S. Department of Commerce, to contribute to the Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, for dissemination of scientific and fiscal information on funded awards (abstracts and relevant administrative and financial data.)
Disclosure may be made to qualified experts, not within the definition of Department employees, for opinions, as a part of the grant application or contract proposal review process.
Disclosure may be made to an AHRQ grantee or contractor for the purposes of (a) carrying out research, or (b) providing services relating to grant review, or for carrying out quality assessment, program evaluation, and/or management reviews. They will be required by written agreement to maintain Privacy Act safeguards with respect to such records.
Disclosure may be made to a Federal Agency, in response to its request, in connection with the hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of security clearance, the reporting of an investigation of an employee, the letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant, or other benefit of the requesting agency, to the extent that the record is relevant and necessary to the requesting agency's decision on the matter.
Where Federal agencies having power to subpoena other Federal agencies' records, such as the Internal Revenue Service or the Civil Rights Commission, issue a subpoena to the Department for records in this system of records, the Department will make such records available.
Disclosure may be made to the cognizant Audit Agency for auditing.
In the event that a system of records maintained by the Department indicates a violation of potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature, and whether arising by statute or by regulation, rule or order issued pursuant thereto, the relevant records in the system of records may be referred for purposes of litigation, as a routine use, to the appropriate agency, whether Federal (e.g., the Department of Justice), or State (e.g., the State's Attorney General's Office) charged with the responsibility of investigating or processing such violation or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute or rule, regulation or order issued pursuant thereto.
Disclosure may be made to the grant/contractor institution in connection with performance or administration under the terms and condition of the award, or in connection with problems that might arise in performance or administration if an award is made on a grant/contract proposal.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: STORAGE:

Records are stored on hard disks with magnetic tape backup as well as in manual files (file folders).

RETRIEVABILITY:

Electronic records are retrievable by key data fields such as investigator name, application, grant or contract number. Paper records are retrievable by name of principal investigator and/or grant/contract number.

SAFEGUARDS:

Authorized users: All AHRQ staff working with grants or contracts have access to the system. Level of access is determined by individual need-to-know and electronic records are controlled by password access. Levels of access will be determined and granted by the System Manager. Only staff members of the Grants Management and Contracts Management have regular access to their Division's paper grant and contract files. Limited access to official grant and contract files is granted to other AHRQ and HHS staff with need-to-know about AHRQ research projects, only with authorization of the responsible System Manager.
Physical safeguards: File servers and database servers are maintained in areas secured by combination lock. Data is backed up from hard drive to magnetic tape daily. Paper records are secured in locked file cabinets. All file cabinets and computer equipment are maintained under general Agency and building security.
Procedural safeguards: Access to electronic records by non-AHRQ personnel is through the Systems Manager only. HHS staff may inspect AHRQ grant and contract records on a need-to-know basis only, with the approval of the responsible System Manager. Visitors are not left unattended in the office containing the files. Grant and contract records are either transmitted in sealed envelopes or are hand-carried.
Technical safeguards: Initial electronic access is through the AHRQ local area network which is controlled by password. Subsequent levels of security exist for access to the Agency Management Information System /Grants and contracts (AMIS/GRANTS and CONTRACTS) system itself and, within the system, individual users are granted appropriate levels of access (read only, read/write) depending upon individual need. Levels of access are granted by the System Manager.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

The complete paper applications and proposals of unfunded grants and contracts will be retired to the Federal Records Retention Center approximately one year after grant or contract closeout date and subsequently disposed of in accordance with the records retention schedule. Paper records of funded grant applications and contracts and their respective files are retained at AHRQ for one year beyond the termination date of the grant or until after the final report is received, whichever is sooner. They are then retired to the Federal Records Center and disposed of twelve years after final payment in accordance with the National Archives and Records Administration General Records Schedule. The pertinent records retention control schedule may be obtained by writing a System Manager at the following address.

SYSTEM MANAGER(s) AND ADDRESS:

For administrative information:

AMIS/GRANTS and CONTRACTS Policy-Coordinating Official/Administrator, 301-427-1439 - (Information Technology Help Desk)

For grants information:

Grants Management Officer, 301-427-1447

For contracts information:

Contracts Management Officer, 301-427-1780

All System Managers are located at the following address:

Office of Performance, Accountability, Resources and Technology
540 Gaither Road, Rockville, Maryland 20850.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:

To determine if a record exists, write to the System Manager at the above address. The requester must also verify his or her identity by providing either a notarization of the request or a written certification that the requester is who he or she claims to be. The requestor should specify name or number of grant/contract. The requester must also sign a statement indicating an understanding that the knowing and willful request for acquisition of information from a protected record pertaining to an individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense under the Act, punishable by a five thousand dollar fine.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:

Same as notification procedures. Requester should also reasonably specify the record contents being sought. Positive identification of the requester as above is required. Subject individuals may also request an accounting of disclosures that have been made of their record, if any.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:

Contact the official at the address specified under the System Manager subheading above and reasonably identify the record, specify the information being contested, and state the corrective action sought and reason(s) for requesting the correction, along with supporting information to show how the record is inaccurate, incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

Grant applications, contractor project directors, reports and correspondence from the research community, and statements from grant review committees; consumer reporting agencies; HHS System of Records 09-25-0036, Extramural Awards: IMPAC (Grant/Contract/Cooperative Agreement Information), HHS/NIH/DRG.

Current as of November 2006

Internet Citation:

AHRQ Privacy Act System of Records Notice: Agency Management Information System/Grants and Contracts. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/privacyact/sorn/giant.htm

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