(ii) 5 U.S.C. 552a (d)(1), (e)(4)(H) and (f)(2), (3) and (5) enable individuals to gain access to records pertaining to them. The Federal Emergency Management Agency believes that application of these provisions to the above-listed systems of records would impair its ability to complete or continue civil or criminal investigations and inquiries and to detect violators of civil or criminal laws. Permitting access to records contained in the above-listed systems of records would provide violators with significant information concerning the nature of the civil or criminal investigation or inquiry. Knowledge of the facts developed during an investigation or inquiry would enable violators of criminal and civil laws and regulations to learn the extent to which the investigation or inquiry has progressed, and this could provide them with an opportunity to destroy evidence that would form the basis for prosecution or the imposition of civil sanctions. In addition, knowledge gained through access to investigatory material could alert a violator to the need to temporarily postpone commission of the violation or to change the intended point where the violation is to be committed so as to avoid detection or apprehension. Further, access to investigatory material would disclose investigative techniques and procedures which, if known, could enable violators to structure their future operations in such a way as to avoid detection or apprehension, thereby neutralizing investigators' established and effective investigative tools and procedures. In addition, investigatory material may contain the identity of a confidential source of information or other informer who would not want his/her identity to be disclosed for reasons of personal privacy or for fear of reprisal at the hands of the individual about whom he/she supplied information. In some cases mere disclosure of the information provided by an informer would reveal the identity of the informer either through the process of elimination or by virtue of the nature of the information supplied. If informers cannot be assured that their identities (as sources for information) will remain confidential, they would be very reluctant in the future to provide information pertaining to violations of criminal and civil laws and regulations, and this would seriously compromise the ability of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to carry out its mission. Further, application of 5 U.S.C. 552a (d)(1), (e)(4)(H) and (f)(2), (3) and (5) to the above-listed systems of records would make available attorney's work product and other documents which contain evaluations, recommendations, and discussions of on-going civil and criminal legal proceedings; the availability of such documents could have a chilling effect on the free flow of information and ideas within the Federal Emergency Management Agency which is vital to the agency's predecisional deliberative process, could seriously prejudice the agency's or the Government's position in a civil or criminal litigation, and could result in the disclosure of investigatory material which should not be disclosed for the reasons stated above. It is the belief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency that, in both civil actions and criminal prosecutions, due process will assure that individuals have a reasonable opportunity to learn of the existence of, and to challenge, investigatory records and related materials which are to be used in legal proceedings.

(iii) 5 U.S.C. 552a (d)(2), (3) and (4), (e)(4)(H) and (f)(4) which are dependent upon access having been granted to records pursuant to the provisions cited in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section, enable individuals to contest (seek amendment to) the content of records contained in a system of records and require an agency to note an amended record and to provide a copy of an individual's statement (of disagreement with the agency's refusal to amend a record) to persons or other agencies to whom the record has been disclosed. The Federal Emergency Management Agency believes that the reasons set forth in paragraphs (b)(2)(i) of this section are equally applicable to this paragraph, and, accordingly, those reasons are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

(iv) 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3) requires that an agency make accountings of disclosures of records available to individuals named in the records at their request; such accountings must state the date, nature, and purpose of each disclosure of a record and the name and address of the recipient. The Federal Emergency Management Agency believes that application of this provision to the above-listed systems of records would impair the ability of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other law enforcement agencies to conduct investigations and inquiries into civil and criminal violations under their respective jurisdictions. Making accountings available to violators would alert those individuals to the fact that the Federal Emergency Management Agency or another law enforcement authority is conducting an investigation or inquiry into their activities, and such accountings could reveal the geographic location of the investigation or inquiry, the nature and purpose of the investigation or inquiry and the nature of the information disclosed, and the date on which that investigation or inquiry was active. Violators possessing such knowledge would thereby be able to take appropriate measures to avoid detection or apprehension by altering their operations, transferring their activities to other locations or destroying or concealing evidence which would form the basis for prosecution or the imposition of civil sanctions.

(v) 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(1) requires that an agency maintain in its records only such information about an individual as is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the agency required to be accomplished by statute or executive order. The term maintain as defined in 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(3) includes “collect” and “disseminate.” At the time that information is collected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency there is often insufficient time to determine whether the information is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; in many cases information collected may not be immediately susceptible to a determination of whether the information is relevant and necessary, particularly in the early stages of investigation or inquiry, and in many cases information which initially appears to be irrelevant or unnecessary may, upon further evaluation or upon continuation of the investigation or inquiry, prove to have particular relevance to an enforcement program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Further, not all violations of law uncovered during a Federal Emergency Management Agency inquiry fall within the civil or criminal jurisdiction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; in order to promote effective law enforcement, it often becomes necessary and desirable to disseminate information pertaining to such violations to other law enforcement agencies which have jurisdiction over the offense to which the information relates. The Federal Emergency Management Agency should not be placed in a position of having to ignore information relating to violations of law not within its jurisdiction when that information comes to the attention of the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the conduct of a lawful FEMAs civil or criminal investigation or inquiry. The Federal Emergency Management Agency therefore believes that it is appropriate to exempt the above-listed systems of records from the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(1).