House passes Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act

On October 7, 2002, new legislation requiring federal agencies to prepare privacy impact statements as part of their rulemaking process passed the full House of Representatives by voice vote. If enacted, H.R. 4561, The Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act, would require federal agencies: 1. when publishing a general notice of any proposed rulemaking for any proposed rule or for an interpretative rule involving the internal revenue laws, to prepare, make available for public comment, and publish an initial analysis describing the rule's impact on the privacy of individuals, and 2. when promulgating the final rule, to prepare, make publicly available, and publish a final privacy impact analysis that includes a summary of the significant issues raised by and changes made pursuant to public comments on the initial analysis.