Privacy Impact Assessment 2014

Department of the Interior
Privacy Impact Assessment
Name of Project: Study of Social Indicators in Coastal Alaska: Arctic Communities
Bureau: Environmental Studies Program, Alaska Region, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management
Project's Unique ID: 1010-New
Once the PIA is completed and the signature approval page is signed, please
provide copies of the PIA to the following:
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Bureau/office IT Security Manager
Bureau/office Privacy Act Officer
DOl OCIO IT Portfolio Division
DOl Privacy Act Officer

Do not email the approved PIA directly to the Office of Management and Budget
One transmission will be sent by the
email address
identified on the Exhibit 300 form.
.
OCIO Portfolio Management Division.
Also refer to the signature approval page at the end of this document.
A. CONTACT INFORMATION:
1)

Who is the person completing this document? (Name, title, organization and
contact information).

Chris Campbell
Sociocultural Specialist, Environmental Sciences
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500
Anchorage, AK 99503-5823
Phone: (907) 334-5264
Fax: (907) 334-5242
Email: Chris.Campbell @boem.gov
2)

Who is the system owner? (Name, organization and contact information).

Chris Campbell
Sociocultural Specialist, Environmental Sciences
Alaska OCS Region
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500
Anchorage, AK 99503-5823
Phone: (907) 334-5264
Fax: (907) 334-5242
Email: Chris. Campbell @bocm.gov

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3)

Who is the system manager for this system or application? (Name, organization,
and contact information).

Dee Williams
Chief, Environmental Sciences
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500
Anchorage, AK 99503-5823
Phone: (907) 334-5283
Fax: (907) 334-5242
Email: Dee.Williams@boem.gov

4) Who is the IT Security Manager who reviewed this document? (N arne,
organization, and contact information).
Thomas Hoyler
Bureau IT Security Manager/Chief, Operational Security Officer
Quality and Information Assurance Section
Technology Services Division
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
381 Elden Street
Herndon, VA 20170
Phone: (703) 787-1668
Email: Thomas.Hoyler@bsee.gov

5) Who is the Bureau/Office Privacy Act Officer who reviewed this document?
(Name, organization, and contact information).
Rosemary Melendy
Bureau FOIA/Privacy Act Officer
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Atrium Building, MS: HM-3127
381 Elden Street
Herndon, VA 20170
Phone: (703) 787-1315
Fax: (703) 787-1209
Email: Rosemary.Melendy@boem.gov

6) Who is the Reviewing Official? (According to OMB, this is the agency CIO or
other agency head designee, who is other than the official procuring the system or the
official who conducts the PIA).
Scott Mabry
Associate Director for Information Resources/Administration
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
1849 C Street, NW
Mail Stop: 5438
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Washington, DC 20420
Phone: (202) 208-3220
Email: Scott.Mabry@bsee. gov

B.

SYSTEM APPLICATION/GENERAL INFORMATION:

NOTE: The purpose of this PIA is to try to assess the risks associated with
BOEM carrying out the proposed Social Indicators Survey in Coastal Alaska: Arctic
Communities of residents of the North Slope Borough of Alaska, and developing a
'Statistical Package for the Social Sciences' (SPSS)-compatible project database using
data collected in the survey to analyze aggregate data by community. This Privacy
Impact Assessment must be approved before BOEM submits an Information Collection
Request to OMB for review for compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Upon
OMB approval, the survey can be implemented and the database created. The survey will
be conducted by a contractor who will also establish the database on BOEM' s behalf.

1) Does this system contain any information about individuals?
a. Is this information identifiable to the individual11 ?
(If there is NO information collected, maintained, or used that is identifiable to the
individual in the system, the remainder of the Privacy Impact Assessment does not have
to be completed).

The survey will collect no information that will directly identify individuals, such
as names, addresses, birth dates, social security numbers, or telephone numbers. The
contractor will not collect names, addresses, etc., of respondents or any other people
identified in the survey or their households. The surveys will not be coded with
identifying information. BOEM also does not believe that it will be possible to identify
individuals indirectly by using any or all of the information that will be collected from
individuals and/or that is entered into the database.
Surveys will be filled out by the contractor based on the answers received from
respondents during interviews. In addition to the answers to the survey questions, the
surveys will contain:

Consent forms: The consent form includes agreement ("yes" or "no") to
participate in research, description of research, procedures, potential risks and
discomforts, and anticipated benefits to subjects. The consent form does not
contain a signature, name or address bloc~ for respondents. It does contain the
name and contact information of the Principal Investigator (PI) and the BOEM
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"Identifiable Form" - According to the OMB Memo M-03-22, this means information in an IT system or
online collection: (i) that directly identifies an individual (e.g., name, address, social security number or
other identifying number or code, telephone number, email address, etc.) or (ii) by which an agency intends
to identify specific individuals in conjunction with other data elements, i.e., indirect identification. (These
data elements may include a combination of gender, race, birth date, geographic indicator, and other
descriptors).

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contact for this project. The consent form concludes with a routine Paperwork
Reduction Act Statement.
Coversheets: Contains name of study, OMB control number, respondent's
community, name of contractor, contract number, and interview date.
The contractor will also add a 'Statistical Package for the Social Sciences' (SPSS)
database to the system in which the contractor will enter the respondents' answers and
associate them with the respondenfs community. No names or addresses of either the
respondents or of employees or contractors will be entered in this database. Since the
responses by each individual respondent will not be linked together in the
database, it will not be possible to indirectly identify a respondent based on
his/her set of responses
The consent forms and coversheets will be maintained separately from the
database.
b. Is the information about individual members of the public? (If YES, a PIA
must be submitted with the OMB Exhibit 300, and with the IT Security C &A
documentation.)
Yes. The information collection will engage Ifiupiaq Eskimo households
· comprising coastal villages in the North Slope Borough, Alaska living in communities.
near proposed oil and gas exploration and development in the Outer Continental Shelf.
The communities are contiguous to either the Beaufort or Chukchi Sea. Specifically, the
information being collected concerns residents' sense of well-being and satisfaction with
their lives, which are unique as most residents are engaged in a "mixed economy,"
involving cash income and subsistence harvest, and have a foot in both worlds - the
modem Western world and the traditional Ifiupiaq world. The survey will address
measures of economic well-being, cultural continuity, education (traditional and
Western), health and public safety, including a self-administered questionnaire, physical
environment, local control, global well-being, and two interviewer checkpoints to ensure
quality control. The respondents are also afforded an opportunity to provide additional
information or opinions if desired.
No personal codes will be associated with this information collection. The
Principal Investigator (PI) and business owner have been informed this study must not
invoke the Privacy Act. Therefore, none of the information will be retrievable by name,
address, personal code, or other personal identifier.
c. Is the information about employees? (If yes and there is no information
about members of the public, the PIA is required for the DO/ IT Security C&A process,
but is not required to be submitted with the OMB Exhibit 300 documentation).
Some of the information incidentally includes names of the Government Principal
Investigator and company owner and the BOEM Contracting Officer's Representative.
This information is necessary for administrative purposes only and will not be entered

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into the database. This information is public knowledge through issuance of the federally
funded contract.

2) What is the purpose of the system/application?
The purpose of the Social Indicator Study is to gather baseline aggregate data
(absent personal names, birthdates, social security numbers, household or other codes,
addresses and other Personally Identifiable Information) documenting and measuring the
sense of well-being of North Slope residents so that any impacts of offshore oil and gas
exploration and development can be identified and mitigated. The Study will document
and describe current sense of well-being and grounding the respondent has in traditional
Ifiupiaq culture and in Western culture in anticipation of Arctic Alaska offshore oil and
gas exploration and development. This information will be used in NEPA
documentation, such as Environmental bnpact Statements and Environmental
Assessments, and policymaking decisions, such as deferrals of specific OCS Arctic lease
blocks. It could be used if there were to be a very large oil spill to aid in the assessment
and mitigation of direct and indirect effects. It is based on an effort to develop consensus
on important social indicators for indigenous peoples in circumpolar nations as a followup activity to the Arctic Human Development Report which was launched at a meeting of
the Arctic Council (of which the United States is a member). This Study is the only
Arctic social indicator survey to date that has been funded by a nation to assess
indigenous peoples using internationally agreed upon Arctic Social Indicators. Thus, this
study is of keen interest to the Arctic Council and circumpolar nations. These are some
examples of the utility of the data.
The information being collected is for a study that will measure the sense of wellbeing of several coastal communities in Arctic Alaska, during various times, as to the
potential effects of offshore oil and gas development on the sense of well-being of
indigenous peoples as measured by social indicators. The Social Indicator Study involves
the selection of indicators designed for use in measuring and monitoring human
development in the Arctic. Without doubt, the most influential method currently in use in
this realm is the UN Human Development Index (HDI). Computed annually, the HDI is a
composite of three components: (i) GDP per capita, (ii) longevity, and (iii) a measure of
literacy/education. As an alternative to the use of GDP per capita alone, the HDI has
been highly successful. It has allowed analysts to demonstrate conclusively that beyond a
certain point the correlation between GDP per capita and the HDI becomes weak or even
non-existent. Thus, adding to material wealth does not result in enhanced human
development among those whose material needs are satisfied. The social indicators study
is the first step in obtaining this data. It will investigate the sense of well-being that
underlies contemporary subsistence-cash economies using research methods that involve
the residents of these communities most proximate to the future sale area(s).
For several reasons, HDI is not a good indicator of human development in the
Arctic. GDP per capita typically fails to take into account many goods and services
enjoyed by lfiupiat and other indigenous Arctic peoples who participate in the mixed
economies that are widespread in the Arctic today. Conventional measures of
literacy/education omit the production and transfer of knowledge and skills that constitute

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important features of traditional cultures and societi~s. Even longevity is an ambiguous
measure. As the incidence of suicide and accidental death in many Arctic communities
suggests, those who experience anomie resulting from the effects of rapid social change
often suffer severely in terms of well-being, even when they have access to abundant
material goods and services.
BOEM is required by the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act of 1953 (and
the amendments of 1978) and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to monitor

and assess the effects and potential impacts of OCS oil and gas activities near human and
physical environments. This study will acquire and analyze relevant socioeconomic and
sociocultural information from these communities on a community-wide basis to obtain
baseline data to identify and assess the sense of well-being currently in existence with
which future survey data will be compared and analyzed. This information is necessary
for use in Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements and to help
the Bureau determine when deferrals of specific OCS Arctic lease blocks may be
necessary. It also would be used in the event of a very large oil spill in the region to
assess and mitigate effects on those communities affected directly and indirectly.

3) What legal authority authorizes the purchase or development of this
sy~application?

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 (and amendments of 1978) ( OCSIA) (43 USC
§ 1345)
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347)
Executive Order (EO) 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in
Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations (February 1994)

C. DATA in the SYSTEM:
1) What categories of individuals are covered in the system?
Individuals taking the survey include Alaska Iiiupiat Natives living in Arctic
Alaska (specifically, residents of the North Slope Borough in coastal areas adjacent to the
Beaufort and Chukchi Seas) who are subsistence harvesters or users of local wild
resources and who may also be engaged in Western employment.
The names and work contact information of employees and contractors assigned
to this project will be recorded on the consent forms and coversheets in a separate records
system or file. This information will not be entered into the SPSS database.

2) What are the sources of the information in the system?
a. Is the source of the information from the individual or is it taken from
another source? If not directly from the individual, then what other source?

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Respondents provide information about themselves and about members of their
households. The information will not be coded or otherwise traceable to the individual
respondents.

b. What Federal agencies are providing data for use in the system?
No Federal agencies are providing data for use in the system.

c. What Tribal, State and local agencies are providing data for use in the
system?
No Tribal, State, or local agencies are providing data for use in the system.

d. From what other third party sources will data be collected?
The contractor will not be incorporating any of their own data as part of this
collection. No other third party sources will provide data.

e. What information will be collected from the employee and the public?
This study will collect relevant socioeconomic and sociocultural information from
residents of the communities nearest to the proposed oil and gas exploration and
development in the Outer Continental Shelf (Beaufort and Chukchi Seas) to obtain
baseline data to accomplish legal requirements under the OCSLA and NEPA. Also,
some of the information is necessary for use in Environmental Assessments and
Environmental Impact Statements. The data collected concerns certain characteristics,
activities, opinions, and levels of satisfaction of individuals who live in this community,
including some information about themselves. Information being collected includes:
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Observed gender of respondent
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Whether or not respondent considers him-/herself an Alaska Native
Respondent's age (within specific ranges)
Range of respondent's highest level of education attained
Range of income
Number of adults living in respondent's household
Number of adults in respondent's household who consider themselves Alaska
Natives
Number of people currently living in respondent's household
Number of these, if any, on a housing waiting list

The following questions generally pertain to sense of economic well-being experienced
by respondent in the past 12 months:
•

Economic well-being, including traditional subsist~nce activities respondent was
engaged in (captaining a whaling crew, being a member of a whaling crew,
sealing, harvesting of other marine mammals, fishing, birding and egging, hunting

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land mammals, providing support to others, sewing traditional clothing,
manufacturing boats or sleds)
The months in which the respondent engaged in subsistence activities
Numbers and species of specific keystone species harvested by respondents'
households
Quantity of bowhead whale shares the household received
Quantity of traditionall:fiupiat food consumed by the household ranging from
none to more than half
Quantity of meat and fish consumed by household that members of the household
harvested
Amount that household received from others of all meat and fish consumed
Level of satisfaction felt by respondent on amount of fish and game available
locally
Level of satisfaction respondent has with the opportunities to hunt and fish
Number of paid jobs respondent had
Number of weeks respondent worked
Number of weeks respondent worked on a job associated with oil and gas
industry, including any portion spent on a job related to offshore petroleum
exploration or development
Degree of satisfaction that respondent had with cash employment
Level of satisfaction that respondent had with job opportunities in the community
Number of months that respondent did not have a wage job and wanted one
Preferred lifestyle: wage job, subsistence, or both
Level of satisfaction respondent has with combination of activities to make a
living
Features the respondent's house does not have, including full kitchen; bath or
shower; indoor flushing toilet; hot running water; central heating or electric
storage heaters; natural gas hook-up; place to sit outside (e.g. porch, balcony,
terrace or garden); landline telephone or cell phone; stove for cooking; smoke
detector; electricity; generator; carbon monoxide detector; cold running water;
septic tank, sewer connection, or sewage processor; fire exit; view to check the
weather; store room; ice cellar; freezer; refrigerator; place to cut meat and fish;
double glass windows; connection to Internet; television; electronic gaming
unit/device
Identification of household problems, including too little space; dampness; mold
or mildew; water leaking from the ceiling from condensation or melting; frost on
windows; cold floors; drafts from doors or windows; general coldness; stale
air/inadequate ventilation; shifting of house from active permafrost; broken doors,
stairs, pipes or windows due to shifting from permafrost; water that was not safe
to drink at least some times of the year; frozen water line; air vent plugged with
ice .
Level of satisfaction with the quality of housing
Estimated range of household income earned from sale of traditional Alaska
Native crafts and goods
Total estimated range of household income earned from self-employment, a small
business, and payment as an expert

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Estimated range of household income earned from employer(s) before taxes
Estimate range of income household obtained from multiple sources, including
government and other organizations
Estimated range of income household obtained from other sources
Respondent's estimated total amount of income before taxes expressed in ranges
Degree of satisfaction respondent has with household income
Degree of satisfaction that respondent has with availability of goods in local
stores
Degree of satisfaction that respondent has with transportation to and from
community
Degree of satisfaction has with cost of living in local community
Degree of satisfaction that respondent has with standard of living (food, housing,
clothing, cars, vacation, travel)
Ability of household to make ends meet

The following questions generally relate to cultural continuity. It should be noted that
prominent, highly-respected lfiupiat from each community (the North Slope
Management Board) selected the social indicators under each domain. The questions
rate the level of importance to the respondent of certain cultural values, then ask for
the level of respondent's satisfaction with the job the community is doing to promote
·these values:
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Use oflfiupiaq?
Sharing and helping?
Respect for others?
Cooperation?
Respect for Elders?
Love for Children?
Hard work?
Knowledge of your family tree?
A voidance of conflict?
Respect for nature?
Spirituality?
Humor?
Family Roles?
Eating traditional or wild foods?
H~nting and Fishing?
Preserving of traditional or wild foods?
Ability to understand, speak, read, and write lfiupiaq?

The following questions relate to traditional education and educational levels
achieved in public or private schools:
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Whether respondent has served on a whaling crew; hunted and fished; hunted
seal; driven a snowmachine; learned when berries are ripe and where to find

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them; fixed a snowmachine; read the weather; overnighted on the land; named the
different types of snow in liiupiaq; skinned and butchered a caribou; skinned and
butchered a seal; skinned and butchered another animal; preserved meat and fish;
taken care of and sewn skins; made sleds or boats; cooked and prepared
traditional or wild foods; learned names of past generations of relatives; made
traditional clothing; repaired traditional clothing; learned stories passed on by
parents and grandparents; made Native or traditional arts and crafts; learned
traditional dances and drumming; learned traditional songs; navigated at sea;
taken care of and handled a dog team; made and maintained an ice cellar;
protected land and resources
Highest level of schooling or training completed (e.g., elementary/primary school,
secondary/high school, college, etc.)
Respondent's level of satisfaction with schooling received
Respondent's level of satisfaction with quality of education in community
Whether respondent has children enrolled in a K-12 school
General location where respondent's children attend school
Whether respondent volunteers in school-related events and activities
Respondent's level of satisfaction with the teaching of traditional values, skills
and language in local schools

The following questions relate to the health and safety of the respondent and
members of respondent's household:
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General health of respondent
Level of satisfaction of respondent with his/her health
Level of satisfaction of respondent with quality of health services in community
Which illnesses have affected respondent's family, including cancer, heart
disease, lung disease, eye disease, mental illness, joint and bone diseases, arthritis,
accidental injury, alcoholism or drug addition, diabetes, obesity
Level of satisfaction of respondent with public safety services provided by
community

The following questions are given on a self-administered questionnaire that the
respondent places in an envelope when completed. It contains no names or
personally identifiable information and someone other than the interviewer will open
later to protect anonymity:
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Within the past 12 months, has the respondent been a victim of a theft, sexual
assault, domestic violence, elder abuse, or other offense
Are there alcohol or drug-related problems in respondent's home and frequency
of occurrence
How often within the past month has respondent felt: like a nervous person; calm
and peaceful; downhearted and blue; like a happy person; so down that nothing
could cheer him/her up; good about him-/herself; good about his/her life; known
there are people who are about him/her
Type of personal support respondent can count on, including someone who will
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listen; someone to give advice; someone to give love and affection; someone to
confide in; someone to relax with; someone to do something enjoyable with
The following questions general relate to the respondent's opinion of his/her physical
environment during the past 12 months:
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Took part in a Native or traditional festival
Visited neighbors, friends or family
Listened to or told a Native or traditional story
Sledded or snowboarded
Biked
Went to sports events
Participated in sports
Took part in a Native or traditional dance or game
~ent snowmachining or dog sledding
Hiked, ran, jogged, or walked
Played basketball
Swam
Boated or kayaked
Went out in the countryside

The following questions ask the respondent's opinion about whether certain
environmental problems exist in the region or community:
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Pollution of local lakes and streams, or offshore waters
Pollution from industrial development
Pollution from other countries
Fish or animals that may be unsafe to eat
Erosion of coastal areas or riverbanks
Local contaminated sites
Pollution from landfills
Disposal of hazardous waste
Disruption of views and landscapes
Climate change

The following questions cover varying topics:
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In the past 12 months, has the respondent avoided eating subsistence foods
because he/she believed they were contaminated
How satisfied is the respondent with the health of the environment in the area
How satisfied is the respondent with the quality of recreational facilities in the
community
Which of the last several elections did the respondent vote in
How knowledgeable is the respondent about politics in general
Level of respondent's agreement with the statement, "So many people vote at a

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national election that it does not make any difference if I vote or not vote."
Which of the following groups does respondent believe is helping to meet his/her
needs: City Council, Tribal Council, Native Village, Village Corporation, Native
Regional Corporation, North Slope Borough, ICAS, State or Federal Government
How interested is the respondent in politics in general
Level of satisfaction respondent has with level of influence Ifiupiaq people have
on management of natural resources like fish and caribou, and marine mammals
Level of satisfaction respondent has with level of influence Ifiupiaq people have
on management of natural resources like oil, gas and minerals
Level of satisfaction respondent has with level of influence Ifiupiaq people have
on reducing environmental problems in the area
Level of satisfaction respondent has with the courts on the North Slope
Level of satisfaction respondent has with the quality of life in the community
Level of satisfaction respondent has with his/her life as a whole
Whether respondent has considered moving away from the community in the last
5 years
If so, why has the respondent considered moving away
Why respondent has chosen to remain in the community
If respondent indicated he/she engaged in subsistence activities in the last 12
months earlier, in which of the following subsistence activities, if any, did he/she
personally experience impacts of oil industry activities, including while:
captaining or serving on a whaling crew; skinning and butchering a seal, caribou
or other animal; helping whaling crews by cooking, giving money or supplies or
cutting meat; sewing skins, making parkas and kamiks [boots]; making sleds or
boats; hunting caribou, moose, sheep, seal, ugruk [bearded seal], walrus, wolf,
wolverine, polar bear, ptarmigan or waterfowl; gather-ing eggs; fishing; gathering
greens, roots, or other plants; preserving meat or fish; trapping; picking berries;
making Native or traditional handicrafts
Respondent's description of what happened
Timing of oil industry activity affecting a subsistence activity
Location of respondent when oil industry activity affected the subsistence activity
_Respondent's description of the oil industry activity that affected the subsistence
activity
Respondent's opinion on whether anyone could have done something differently
to avoid the experience or make it better
If so, who could have done something differently and what could have been done
differently

3) Accuracy, Timeliness, and Reliability
a. How will data collected from sources other than DOl records be verified for
accuracy?
Data will be collected by the contractor directly from survey respondents and
recorded on survey sheets and entered into a database. The data in the database will be
verified against the individual survey responses for accuracy.
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b. How will data be checked for completeness?
The data in the database will be crosschecked against the completed surveys for
accuracy and any duplication. The aggregated data will be independently verified by
statisticians and the subsequent social science findings will undergo a peer review
process.

c. Is the data current? What steps or procedures are taken to ensure the data is
current and not out-of-date? Name the docwnent (e.g., data models).
This will be a distinct, baseline collection to obtain information directly from the
citizens about their current sense of well-being about the economy, education, health, the
physical environment, local control, and global indicators. The data are taken from the
recorded survey responses and entered into the database immediately after all of the
interviews are finished.

d. Are the data elements described in detan and documented? If yes, what is the
name of the document?
The data elements are described in the survey instrument .itself, and will also be
described in an Information Collection Request that will be submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget.

D. ATTRIBUTES OF THE DATA:
1) Is the use of the data both relevant and necessary to the purpose for which the
system is being designed?
Yes. Statutory authority for the Bureau's Environmental Studies Program (which
this proposed study comes under) comes primarily from OCSLA (Section 20) and NEPA
(see B3 above). OCSLA authorizes the Environmental Studies Program and establishes
three general goals:
a) Establish the information needed for assessment and management of
environmental impacts on the human, marine, and coastal environments of the
OCS and the potentially affected coastal areas.
b) Predict impacts on the marine biota which may result from chronic, low-level
pollution or large spills associated with OCS production, from drilling fluids and
cuttings discharges, pipeline emplacement, or onshore facilities.
c) Monitor human, marine, and coastal environments to provide time series and
data trend information for identification of significant changes in the quality and
productivity of these environments, and to identify the causes of these changes.
OCSLA requires the Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOl) to monitor
and assess the impacts of resource development activities in Federal waters on human,

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marine, and coastal environments. OCSLA amendments authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct studies in areas or regions of lease sales to ascertain the
"environmental impacts on the marine and coastal environments of the outer Continental
shelf and the coastal areas which may be affected by oil and gas development'' (43 U.S.C.
1346).
NEPA requires that all Federal Agencies use a systematic, interdisciplinary
approach to ensure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences in any planning
and decision making that may' affect the human environment. The Council on
Environmental Quality's Regulations for hnplementing Procedural Provisions of NEPA
(40 CFR 1500-1508) state that the "human environment" is to be "interpreted
comprehensively'' to include ''the natural and physical environment and the relationship
of people with that environment" (40 CFR 1508.14). An action's "aesthetic, historic,
cultural, economic, social or health" effects must be assessed, "Whether direct, indirect,
or cumulative" (40 CFR 1508.8).

BOEM is the Federal agency that both conducts OCS lease sales and monitors
and mitigates adverse impacts that might be associated with offshore resource
development. Within BOEM, the Environmental Studies Program implements and
manages the responsibilities of research. This study of Social Indicators in Coastal
Alaska: Arctic Communities will facilitate the meeting of DOIIBOEM information needs
by measuring the sense of well-being that liiupiat people experience in their lives to
provide a baseline prior to offshore exploration and development.
Planning areas in Alaska can include approximately 50,000 square miles-large
geographic areas with diverse, abundant, and environmentally sensitive resources.
Within these areas, DOl's Proposed OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program contemplates an
oil and gas lease sale in the future. These proposed sale areas or adjacent areas support
major productive subsistence fisheries, provide habitat to numerous marine mammals,
and are a significant migration and staging area for internationally important waterfowl.
EO 12898 requires agencies to make achieving environmental justice part of their
missions by identifying and addressing disproportionately high and adverse human health
or environmental effect'> of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations
and low-income populations in the U.S., its territories and possessions, District of
Columbia, and the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Mariana Islands. Goal 3 of
the Department of the Interior's Environmental Justice Strategic Plan from 1995 and
echoed in its 2012-2017 Plan states that, "The Department will use and expand its
science, research, and data collection capabilities on innovative solutions to
environmental justice related issues (for example, assisting in the identification of
different consumption patterns of populations who rely principally on fish and/or wildlife
for subsistence)."
OCSLA requires the Department to monitor and assess the impacts of resource
development activities In Federal waters on human, marine, and coastal environments,
and authorizes DOl to conduct studies in areas or regions of lease sales to ascertain the

14

"environmental impacts on the marine and coastal environments of the OCS and ·the
coastal areas which may be affected by oil and gas development" (43 U.S.C. 1346).
This study of Arctic Coastal Alaskan communities will facilitate the meeting of
DOl's information needs on the sense of well-being in various North Slope coastal
Alaska areas.
BOEM will use the information collected to gain knowledge about the sense of
well-being aggregated on a community-wide basis that could potentially be affected by a
very large oil spill associated with OCS oil and gas development, as well as the social
systems that will help shape the development of leasing strategies, reduce conflict, and
serve as an interim baseline for impact monitoring to compare against future research in
these areas.
This study addresses the domains of the economy, education, health, physical
environment, local control, and global issues.

2) Will the system derive new data or create previously unavailable data about an
individual through aggregation from the information collected, and how will this
be maintained and filed?
Although this collection will contain new data regarding social indicators for
measuring the sense of well-being of Arctic Alaska communities, the purpose of the
collection is not to create a database about individuals. Rather, the purpose is to generate
aggregated data, absent personal names or other personal identifiers, to help the Bureau
determine current and potential impacts on the community, generally, resulting from oil
and gas development offshore in the region. Offshore development has long been
opposed by this community because of the importance of marine mammals and the
prescient comprehension ascribed to them by the Ifiupiat. There are deep fears of disaster
in the event of an oil spill or other environmental change. The data in the proposed
database will not include names or addresses of individuals or personal codes. The paper
documentation will not include individual names or personal codes on the consent forms,
other than the names of the BOEM and contractor personnel managing the project which
will not be entered into the database, and there will be no codes attached to individual
responses. Therefore, no new data will be derived about an individual as the result of this
collection.

3) Will the new data be placed in the individual's record?
No.

4) Can the system make determinations about employees/public that would not be
possible without the new data?
No. The database will produce reports based on aggregated data, but will not be
capable of making determinations about specific individuals. Determinations about
individuals will not be possible on either the paper or the database documentation.
15

5) How will the new data be verified for relevance and accuracy?
The data entered in the database will be verified against the recorded survey
responses. The aggregate data only will be verified through statistical analysis and the
resulting scientific findings will undergo peer review and review by the communities
where the collection occurred.

6) If the data is being consolidated, what controls are in place to protect the data
from unauthorized access or use?
The contractor will carefully organize, manage and record the data in an
appropriate SPSS-compatible project database, to ensure that all data records are treated
as strictly confidential, proprietary information, and to manage them in a manner that
ensures their protection. The contractor will protect the information from unauthorized
release into the public domain, or to unauthorized persons, organizations, or
subcontractors. The contrac~or will sign and have its personnel sign non-disclosure
agreements, and keep confidential all project data and to not disclose any data,
interpretations of, and/or derivativ~s of, such data to any unauthorized party without the
express written approval of the BOEM Contracting Officer.
7) If processes are being consolidated, are the proper controls remaining in place to
protect the data and prevent unauthorized access? Explain.

No processes are being consolidated.

8) How will the data be retrieved? Does a personal identifier retrieve the data? If
yes, explain and list the identifiers that will be used to retrieve information on the
individual.
No. There will be no personal identifiers associated with the proposed database.
The purpose of this collection is to analyze aggregate data and not an individual's data.
There will be no personal identifiers for survey respondents associated with the
paper documentation. It will not be possible to identify an individual by looking at his
response as response categories will be grouped, or aggregated, in SPSS. Only the names
and contact information for the Principal Investigator and BOEM contact will be
recorded, for administrative purposes only, on the consent forms and coversheets, as
noted in response to question Bla above. Again, these names will not be entered into the
proposed database and would have to be released in response to a FOIA request about
this project.
Data will be retrieved from the database based only on the communities of the
respondents, and as aggregated results. The file containing the consent forms and
coversheets will be organized by community.

16

9) What kinds of reports can be produced on individuals? What will be the use of
these reports? Who will have access to them?
It will not be feasible to produce reports on individuals. There will be no way to
retrieve the names of individual respondents from the database. There will be no way to
retrieve the names of individual respondents from the paper records.

10) What opportunities do individuals have to decline to provide information (i.e.,
where providing information is voluntary) or to consent to particular uses of the
information (other than required or authorized uses), and how individuals can
grant consent.)
The survey is optional. Each individual will authorize the survey through oral
agreement, "yes" or "no." Each individual surveyed will be able to opt out of answering
one or more questions of the survey for any reason.

E. MAINTENANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS:
1) If the system is operated in more than one site, how will consistent use of the
system and data be maintained in all sites?
The system is not operated in more than one site. All production components,
including the server, are located in the Leveret, Massachusetts office of the Principle
Investigator. The contractor is required to protect the data consistently at all times and at
all sites. Any hard copies of documentation, such as field notes and project related
working documents, will be retained in a securely locked file at the contractor's offices.

2) What are the retention periods of data in this system?
Data will be maintained in accordance with applicable Records disposition
schedules, NARA and Departmental guidance. Until such a time as an approved records
schedule is created or verified to exist, the data is considered unscheduled, and thus
permanent. Any hard copies of documentation, such as field notes and project related
working documents, will be retained in a securely locked file at the contractor's offices
until they are turned over to the Bureau for disposition in accordance with a NARAapproved records schedule.

3) What are the procedures for disposition of the data at the end of the retention
period? How long will the reports produced be kept? Where are the procedures
documented?
Reports and survey working files will ~e turned over to the Bureau for appropriate
disposition in accordance with NARA-approved disposition schedules (see E2 above).
The custodian of the records will be the Environmental Sciences Management Section
(ESMS), Alaska Regional Office. There are currently no documented procedures for
disposition of the data, as a retention period has not been established.

17

4) Is the system using technologies in ways that the DOl bas not previously
employed (e.g., monitoring software, Smart Cards, Caller-ID)?
No new technology is being implemented.
5) How does the use of this technology affect public/employee privacy?

The proposed technology, SPSS, does not affect public or employee privacy. No
names will be entered into the SPSS-compatible database, so no information can be
retrieved using personal identifiers The names of the Principal Investigator and company
owner and the Contracting Officer's Representative USDOI BOEM Alaska OCS Region,
will be on the hard copy consent forms and coversheets which will be maintained
·
separately from the database.

6) Will this system provide the capability to identify, locate, and monitor
individuals? If yes, explain.
No. Although the community of each respondent can be identified, it will not be
possible to locate or monitor individuals from eith~r the paper or electronic records in this
system. This is a one-time data collection. No monitoring will occur. As noted above,
only the names and contact information for the Principal Investigator and BOEM contact
are recorded, for administrative purposes only, on the consent forms and coversheets.
These names will not be entered into the proposed database and will be part of the public
record about this project.
7) What kinds of information are collected as a function of the monitoring of

individuals?
None.

8) What controls will be used to prevent unauthorized monitoring?
The system does not monitor individuals.

9) Under which Privacy Act systems of records notice does the system operate?
Provide number and name.
The survey collection will not invoke the Privacy Act, and, therefore, will not be
covered by a system of records notice.

10) If the system is being modified, will the Privacy Act system of records notice
require amendment or revision? Explain.
The system is new and is not being modified. It will not constitute a Privacy Act
system of records.

18

F. ACCESS TO DATA:
1) Who will have access to the data in the system? (E.g., contractors, users, managers,
system administrators, developers, tribes, other)
Members of the contractor research team (when hired) will have access to the data
initially and will be required to sign non-disclosure agreements as per the contract. Once
the project has been completed, the project documentation (including all working files
and the database) will be turned over to the Bureau. These are agency records collected
in order to carry out an agency function. Therefore, they are the property and
responsibility of the agency.
Documentation containing the names of the Principle fuvestigators who wotked
on the project will be turned over to the Bureau for retention in program files. The
Principle fuvestigator's and company owner's names would have to be disclosed in
response to a FOIA request because they won the competitive award.
However, access to the system is restricted to authorized users with password
authentication controls, the server is located·in a secured room behind restrictive
firewalls, user access is logged, and the system administrator is alerted to failed
logon attempts.
Any paper records will be maintained in locked file cabinets and will be
maintained until such time that a retention schedule for BOEM is established.
Offices are secure when after hours, on weekends and holidays and at those times
that staff are otherwise absent. The controls on the paper records include maintaining
them in a secure building, and locked in a file C!ibinet where they will be retained
until such time that an approved retention schedule is approved for BOEM. They
will be disposed of according to the approved records disposition schedule.

2) How is access to the data by a user determined? Are criteria, procedures,
controls, and responsibilities regarding access documented?
The contract requires the contractor to protect the information collected from
unauthorized access by the public or by any employee not assigned to the project. Once
the contract is over, BOEM ESMS will maintain the records in a secure, centralized
BOEM archive and only authorized personnel would be granted access to the data.

3) Will users have access to all data on the system or will the user's access be
restricted? Explain.
Users' access to the SPSS files will be restricted as noted above.

19

4) What controls are in place to prevent the misuse (e.g., unauthorized browsing) of
data by those having access? (Please list processes and training materials)
See above with regard to requirements in the contract for safeguarding
information. Deliverables will be maintained in a securely locked centralized BOEM
archive.
·
5) Are contractors involved with the design and development of the system and will
they be involved with the maintenance of the system? If yes, were Privacy Act
contract clauses inserted in their contracts and other regulatory measures
addressed?

The contractors will create and be engaged with the SPSS-compatible data
system until the contract is fulfilled. Then the database, aggregate data and project
working files will then be turned over to BOEM. There is no Privacy Act information
being collected; therefore, Privacy Act contract clauses are not applicable.
The contractor is required to treat all data records and information collected as
strictly confidential, and will not appropriate such information to its own use or disclose it
unless specifically authorized by the Contracting Officer or the third party in writing.

6) Do other systems share data or have access to the data in the system? If yes,
explain.
No.

7) Who will be responsible for protecting the privacy rights of the public and
employees affected by the interface?
The System Manager will be responsible for protecting the privacy rights of the
public of all records associated with the collection.

8) Will other agencies share data or have access to the data in this system (Federal,
State, Local, Other (e.g., Tribal))?
BOEM will not share data beyond what will be documented in the final report
based on the aggregated survey results.

9) How will the data be used by the other agency?
Not applicable.

10) Who is responsible for assuring proper use of the data?
The System Owner; System Manager; the contractor; and the Regional Director,
Alaska OCS Region are responsible for proper use of the data maintained in this system.

See Attached Approval Page
20

The Following Officials Have Approved this Document
1) System Manager

-----'-~-~--~-=-----·_ _ _ (Signature)

:l..

/::J. ' ,/t f

(Date)

Name: Dee Williams
Title: Environmental Protection Specialist

2) IT Security Manager

-- /%-C. C--.___

(Signature)

o{ZI{Jif-

(Date)

Name: Thomas Hoyler
Title: Bureau IT Security Manager/Chief Information Security Officer

3) Privacy Act Officer

(Signature)

_25=--f-,&--!.~-4-/;~1'------(D,ate)

Name: Rosemary Melendy
Title: Bureau FOINPrivacy Act Officer

4) Reviewing Official

(Signature)

~~

Title: Associate Director for Information Resources/Administration

21

(Date)