[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 18, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 18CFR3b.202]

[Page 57-58]
 
           TITLE 18--CONSERVATION OF POWER AND WATER RESOURCES
 
  CHAPTER I--FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
 
PART 3b_COLLECTION, MAINTENANCE, USE, AND DISSEMINATION OF RECORDS OF 
IDENTIFIABLE PERSONAL INFORMATION--Table of Contents
 
      Subpart B_Standards for Maintenance and Collection of Records
 
Sec. 3b.202  Collection of information from individuals concerned.

    (a) Any information collected by the Commission for inclusion in a 
system of records which may result in adverse determinations about an 
individual's rights, benefits, and privileges under Federal programs, 
will, to the greatest extent practicable, be collected directly from the 
subject individual (see paragraph (d) of this section).
    (b) The Commission will inform each individual whom it asks to 
supply information about himself, on the form which it uses to collect 
the information, or on a separate sheet that can be easily retained by 
the individual, in language which is explicit, informative, and easily 
understood, and not

[[Page 58]]

so lengthy as to deter an individual from reading it, of:
    (1) The specific provision of the statute or executive order of the 
President, including the brief title or subject of that statute or order 
which authorizes the solicitation of the information; whether disclosure 
of such information is mandatory or voluntary; and whether the 
Commission is authorized or required to impose penalties for failing to 
respond;
    (2) The principal purpose or purposes for which the information is 
intended to be used;
    (3) The routine uses which may be made of the information, as 
described in the Federal Register in the notice of the system of records 
in which the information is maintained, and which are relatable and 
necessary to a purpose described pursuant to paragraph (b)(2) of this 
section; and
    (4) The effects (beneficial and adverse) on the individual if any, 
of not providing all or any part of the requested information.
    (c) Social security numbers will not be required from individuals 
whom the Commission asks to supply information unless the disclosure of 
the number is required by Federal statute or unless disclosure is to the 
Commission maintaining a system of records in existence and operating 
before January 1, 1975, if such disclosure was required pursuant to a 
statute or regulation adopted prior to such date to verify the identity 
of an individual. When an individual is requested to disclose his social 
security number to the Commission, he will be informed under what 
statutory or other authority such number is solicited, what uses will be 
made of it, whether disclosure is mandatory or voluntary, and if it is 
mandatory, under what provisions of law or regulation.
    (d) The use of third-party sources to collect information about an 
individual may be appropriate in certain circumstances. In determining 
when the use of third-party sources would be appropriate, the following 
considerations will govern:
    (1) When the information needed can only be obtained from a third 
party;
    (2) When the cost of collecting the information directly from the 
individual concerned far exceeds the cost of collecting it from a third 
party;
    (3) When there is little risk that the information proposed to be 
collected from the third party, if inaccurate, could result in an 
adverse determination about the individual concerned.
    (4) When there is a need to insure the accuracy of information 
supplied by an individual by verifying it with a third party, or there 
is a need to obtain a qualitative assessment of the individual's 
capabilities or character; or
    (5) When there are provisions for verifying any third-party 
information with the individual concerned before making a determination 
based on that information.

Third party sources, where feasible, will be informed of the purposes 
for which information which they are asked to provide will be used. In 
appropriate circumstances, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k) (2), (5), and 
(7), the Commission may assure a third party that his identity will not 
be revealed to the subject of the collected information.