The establishment of an IRS Data Center has been planned for some time. Initially, it was thought that it would be better to defer setting up this center until all of the new regional ADP service centers were operational. Experience in installing the ADP master file program, however, has made it increasingly apparent that the regional service centers should be relieved of all non-master-file operations to permit concentration of effort in the complex ADP system. For this reason, it was decided the IRS Data Center should be established as soon as possible. MANAGEMENT SAVINGS Mr. GARY. All right. In your prepared statement you mentioned several times that certain savings had been effected by increased efficiency, increased employee productivity, and other savings resulting from more efficient management. In order that these can be brought into proper focus, can you prepare either a table or brief outline indicating the type of savings and amounts and whether or not such savings are contemplated to be one-time or recurring savings in future years? Mr. CAPLIN. Yes, sir. Fiscal year 1963 improvement program Project Realinement of field offices_ Shortening of training courses Improvements in internal reporting systems. Variable (as opposed to "fixed field”) key punching of data from individual tax returns. Use of technical aids (tape recorder, portable microfilmers, etc.) in investigative work... Use of high-speed film (cathode ray) viewers in place of mechanically printed registers in district offices... Increased productivity through better work planning and control systems in the delinquent returns and accounts and the returns processing and accounting functions. Reduction in requirements for alcohol and tobacco tax inspector per- Improved machine processing of statistics of income data.. Miscellaneous aggregated improvements in organization, systems pro- Total... 1 Estimated annual recurring savings starting in 1967. Estimated annual recurring savings starting in 1968. Annual recurring 1, 900, 000 THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Subcommittee Analysis The Environmental Protection Agency submitted answers on four systems, all computerized. I. Index Title Description: (1) Purpose; (2) Contents Subjects A. Personnel and payroll (computerized)..... (1) Administrative.. 8,000. C. Foreign travel information system (com- (1) "Inventory of trips taken by EPA personnel". D. Public information address label system (1) To generate mailing labels. (2) Name, address, area of interest within EPA II. Nature of Material Submitted The EPA's response is reasonably responsive to the subcommittee's inquiry. The only innovation planned at the time the response was prepared (November 1971) was expansion along existing lines. III. Comments A. Statutory Authority The personnel and payroll system (data bank A) is said to be implicitly authorized by Civil Service guidelines, without citing specific chapter and verse. No justification other than administrative decision is offered for the other three systems. B. Subject Notification and Review Only the personnel system affords procedures, albeit not governed by formal regulations, for review of the record by a subject. With regard to the same system the EPA asserts that "all employees are aware" that their records are in a computer, but there is no mention of specific notification. Except to note that the address label system polls its addressees "on a periodic basis" to check interests or new addressees, no response was given regarding other systems. C. Access by Other Agencies No other agencies are permitted access to EPA files, except for the Office of Management and Budget and the Civil Service Commission. D. Public Access No mention is made of availability to the public. E. Security Precautions For the security of EPA files, "no devices per se exist." Apparently not even physical security precautions are taken; the only protection is that a limited number of personnel "have the knowledge required to operate the systems." F. Sources of Information Although the agency carefully enumerates the contents of each data system, it fails to indicate the sources of the information. IV. Evaluation It is somewhat difficult to judge the EPA systems. They are small, and all but one can be characterized as exclusively "in-house." However, the agency's cavalier attitude toward possible privacy questions, such as statutory authority, subject access, and system security, does not inspire confidence. Particularly if the EPA chooses to expand its data banks, its operations will need careful watching. Agency Response The Environmental Protection Agency responded on December 28, 1971, to the subcommittee's November 3, 1971 request for EPA replies to subcommittee's standard questionnaire. (See inside back cover). The EPA response appears below. Honorable SAM J. ERVIN, Jr., ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Chairman, Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. DEAR SENATOR ERVIN: The information requested in your letter of November 3, 1971, is attached. In the near future, we will be undertaking a more comprehensive study of the information and systems requirements which will be necessary to support the work of the Environmental Protection Agency. I seriously doubt that our programs will require the establishment of data banks that would contain information on individuals beyond those of the type described in the attached material. We will, however, closely monitor all systems development activities in the agency, and provide updates to the attached material, if and when newer systems of these types are developed. I appreciate the opportunity to assist you and the Committee, and will be happy to provide additional information as you require it. Sincerely yours, [S] William D. Ruckelshaus, Administrator. Attachments The following attachment was submitted with the Environmental Protection Agency's response. The Environmental Protection Agency does not currently maintain, nor does it seem germane to our programs to develop in the future, law enforcementoriented or intelligence-type files: 1. For surveillance of demonstrators and others involved in political activities either for or against various government policies; or 2. On persons who are no longer dealing with the agency; or 3. On persons who have not yet dealt with it. As to other files which are currently being used or being planned for use within the agency, we do have several small systems that contain the names of employees and individuals outside the agency. Other systems of this general type may be developed in the future as the agency requires them. The current systems are: 1. Personnel and Payroll System. 2. Grants Information System. 3. Foreign Travel Information System. 4. Address Label System for mailing Public Information materials. The details on these systems have been included in the following response to the questions contained in your letter. 1. MAJOR CATEGORIES OF DATA (a) Personnel and Payroll System.-EPA currently maintains employment, payroll, and manpower distribution data on approximately 8,000 agency employees. These files reside in payroll systems operated by HEW and the Department of the Interior. EPA is in the process of combining and consolidating these records, and will shortly have the entire payroll (with the exception of several hundred PHS commissioned officer records) on the Interior system. No automated records on applicants for civil service employment or prospective consultants are being maintained by EPA. (b) Grants Information System.-As in the case with Payroll and Personnel, the agency inherited several grants information systems. These systems typically hold grantee name, degree, and affiliated institutions on approximately 2,000 grants per year. Total holdings in the history files may approach 10,000 grants in the next five years. (c) Foreign Travel Information System.-This system is a miniature inventory of trips taken by EPA employees. Name of traveller, itinerary, dates, account (s) charged, and purpose of travel is recorded for approximately 200 EPA employees. (d) Public Information Address Label System.-Name, address, and area of interest (within a range of environmental subjects) is maintained on approximately 25,000 individuals. Address labels are the only product from this system at the current time. 2. STATUTORY AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE Except for the personnel and payroll system, which generally falls within guidelines published by the U.S. Civil Service Commission in their Federal Personnel Manual, these systems are not covered by specific statutory authority. The purpose for these systems is generally to facilitate procedural or administrative processes, and to reduce the cost of providing statistical and management reports for our headquarters, regional, and field activities. In the case of the address label system, the objective is simply to reduce a large and expensive clerical job to a manageable and far more responsive level. 3. RULES AND GUIDELINES These systems are in-house systems and will not be used for other purposes. Rules and Guidelines relating to outside users do not exist therefore, and will not be required in the future. 4. STATE OF AUTOMATION Personnel and Payroll.-Personnel actions are generated at ten Regional Servicing Personnel offices (SPO's) and several other field sites. The SPO action request is typed on a special form, mailed to Headquarters, and optically scanned on equipment at the Department of the Interior Computer Center. The scanner produces data that enters the transaction processing segment of the system, which updates master files, and produces the final action documents. A series of computer programs is available to produce reports as needed, in addition to pay tapes that go to Treasury. Grants Information System.-Date for this activity is extracted from documents in the administrative routine, and entered directly to the file using keyboard terminals. A small repertoire of report generating programs is available for producing reports and analyses as required. Foreign Travel.-Data for this small system is also extracted from documents (Travel Requests and Orders) and Keyboard entered directly to the file. Several reports are run to analyze travel activity in connection with supporting EPA programs. Address Label System. Some addresses have been provided via duplicate tapes from GPO. Other addresses are terminal-entered when individual requests are received. Several address label programs have been provided as necessary to vary the number or form of the labels. No analysis is done in this system. 5. FUTURE PLANS Personnel and Payroll.-Future plans for this system have not been made and will be deferred until after the system consolidation (See Item No. 1 above) has been completed and we have some experience with this revised type of service. We do wish to have data from all administrative systems available on a single computer configuration so that we have the ability to interface the different data banks to support a more comprehensive management information activity in the future. Further development of our personnel system will of course depend on future courses of action pursuant to OMB Bulletin No. 72-7 of October 28, 1971, which allows future development of, or major modifications to agency personnel systems only after permission has been granted by OMB. Grants Information System.—Future plans for this system involve a study of information requirements, procedures and systems support necessary to improve our grants operation and the reporting and analysis functions, and to interconnect the grants data banks with other systems in the management information activity. Foreign Travel.-No significant growth is anticipated. Address Label System.-No significant growth is anticipated. 6. UTILIZATION These systems will be used internally, for EPA management activities. No external utilization is anticipated. 7. ADVANTAGES OF NEW PROGRAMS Any new programs developed in connection with the Personnel and Payroll, and Grants systems will be directed toward building interrelationships between their data and the management processes within EPA. Examples of these programs would be manpower and cost distributions against EPA programs and projects, and distributions of grants to programs and congressional districts. These new programs will replace at less cost, clerical and manual processes that are currently used. 8. SUBJECT AREAS Past and Present employment data only is used in the Personnel and Payroll system. No data concerning personal life, personality or habits are in the system, and none will be entered. This also applies to the other systems identified herein. 9. GUIDELINES No guidelines have been developed as of this date. As the EPA organization and systems activity matures, guidelines will be developed as they are required. We will be happy to supply copies to the Subcommittee when this time comes. 10. NOTIFICATION Personnel and Payroll System.-(a) All employees are aware that employment data is being processed for payroll and personnel uses. (b) Employees are encouraged to review periodic printouts from their record on the payroll and personnel file. Since data is limited to that relating to official employment, questions of accuracy are researched using the official documents. Address Label System.-Addresses are polled on a periodic basis to ascertain whether their addresses or interests for various types of material have changed. 11. AVAILABILITY Data is collected and processed for official EPA use only and is available to the personnel, payroll, administrative and management staffs and program officials only as necessary for the conduct of EPA business. In all cases, the specific staff responsible for a system, e.g., personnel, payroll, retains the authority to release their data to other EPA users. |