Privacy Act: Systems of records,

[Federal Register: October 9, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 196)]

[Notices]

[Page 63012-63016]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr09oc02-81]

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Departmental Offices; Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Departmental Offices, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed New Privacy Act System of Records.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Treasury Department, Departmental Offices, gives notice of a newly proposed system of records, ``Treasury/DO .214-DC Pensions Retirement Records.''

DATES: Comments must be received no later than November 8, 2002. The proposed new system of records will become effective November 18, 2002 unless comments are received which would result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Department of the Treasury, ATTN: Marc Rigrodsky, Office of the General Counsel, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Room 1410, Washington, DC 20220, or to marc.rigrodsky@do.treas.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marc Rigrodsky, (202) 622-0450.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of the Treasury (Department) is establishing the DC Pensions Retirement Records system to assist the Department in carrying out its responsibilities under Title XI of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Pub. L. 105-33, as amended (the Act), for

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administering and paying retirement benefits for certain teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges who were or are employed by the government of the District of Columbia (District). The Federal Government is responsible for paying police officers,'' firefighters', and teachers' retirement benefits based upon service accrued through June 30, 1997. The District is responsible for paying benefits based upon service accrued after June 30, 1997. The Federal Government is responsible for paying judges' retirement benefits regardless of when they accrued. All benefit payments that are the responsibility of the Federal Government under the three District retirement programs (police-firefighters, teachers, and judges) are referred to herein as ``Federal benefit payments.'' Benefit payments for service accrued after June 30, 1997, to which an individual is entitled under the District's Replacement Plan for police officers, firefighters and teachers, are the responsibility of the District.

This system of records will consist of information furnished by the subjects of the records, the District and other entities or persons that will enable the Department to calculate and verify eligibility for, and calculate amounts of, Federal benefit payments payable by the Department under the Act. The records in this system will be maintained indefinitely. Because records in the system are retrieved by individual identifier, including by name, social security number and an automatically assigned, system generated number, the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, requires a general notice of the existence of this system of records to the public.

The new system of records report, as required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) of the Privacy Act, has been submitted to the Committee on Government Operations of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Office of Management and Budget, pursuant to Appendix I to OMB Circular A-130, ``Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals,'' dated November 30, 2000.

The proposed system of records, ``Treasury/DO .214-D.C. Pensions Retirement Records,'' is published in its entirety below.

Dated: October 2, 2002. W. Earl Wright, Jr., Chief, Management and Administrative Programs Officer. TREASURY/DO .214.

System name:

D.C. Pensions Retirement Records.

System Location:

Director, Office of D.C. Pensions, Department of the Treasury, Metropolitan Square, Washington, DC 20220. Certain records pertaining to Federal benefit payments are located with contractors engaged by the Department of the Treasury (Department), bureaus of the Department, and the government of the District of Columbia (District).

Categories of individuals covered by the system:

1. Former District teachers, police officers and firefighters who performed service subject to the District's retirement plans for teachers, and police officers and firefighters, on or before June 30, 1997.

2. Former District judges, regardless of their dates of service.

3. Current District teachers, police officers, firefighters, who have performed service prior to July 1, 1997:

   (1) that may make them eligible to receive Federal benefit payments;

   (2) who have fileda designation of beneficiary for Federal benefit payments; or

   (3) who have fileda service credit application in connection with former Federal service; or

   (4) who have filedan application for disability retirement with the District or the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) and who are waiting for a final decision, whose disability retirement application has been approved by the District or the Secretary, or whose disability retirement application has been disapproved by the District or the Secretary, and who will receive or would have received Federal benefit payments if their applications are or had been approved.

4. Current District judges;

5. Former District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges who died entitled to or while receiving Federal benefit payments, or their surviving spouses, and/or children and/or dependent parents.

6. Former spouses of District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges, who have received or are receiving Federal benefit payments, or who have fileda court order awarding future benefits.

   Categories of records in the system:

   This system comprises retirement service history records of employee service in the District, the Federal Government, and other entities upon which Federal benefit payments may be based. Also included in the system are current personnel data pertaining to active District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges who, by virtue of the Act, may be eligible for Federal benefit payments. It also contains information concerning health benefit and group life insurance enrollment/change in enrollment. Also included are medical records and supporting evidence for disability retirement applications, and documentation regarding their acceptance or rejection. Consent forms and other records related to the withholding of State income tax from annuitant payments, whether physically maintained by the State or the Department, are included in this system.

   These records contain the following information:

1. Documentation of District service subject to the retirement plans for District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges.

2. Documentation of service credit and refund claims made by District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges under their retirement plans who are potentially eligible for Federal benefit payments.

3. Documentation of retirement contributions made by eligible teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges.

4. Retirement and death claims files applicable to Federal benefit payments, including documents supporting the retirement application, health benefits, and life insurance eligibility, medical records supporting disability claims, and designations of beneficiary.

5. Enrollment and change in enrollment information under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the employee health benefits program for District employees, the Federal Employee Group Life Insurance Program and the employee group life insurance program for District employees.

6. Court orders submitted by former spouses of District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges in support of claims for Federal benefit payments.

7. Records relating to overpayments of Federal benefit payments and other debts arising from the Federal Government's responsibility to administer the retirement plans for District judges, police officers, firefighters, and teachers, and records relating to other Federal debts owed by recipients of Federal benefit payments.

   Authority for maintenance of the system:

   Title XI, Subtitle A, chapters 1 through 9, and Subtitle C, chapter 4, subchapter B of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Pub. L. 105-33.

   Purpose(s):

   These records provide information on which to base determinations of:

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   eligibility for, and computation of, Federal benefit payments; eligibility and premiums for health insurance and group life insurance; and withholding of State income taxes from annuities. These records also may be used to locate individuals for personnel research.

   Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:

   These records may be used:

   1. To disclose pertinent information to the appropriate Federal, State, or local agency responsible for investigating, prosecuting, enforcing, or implementing a statute, rule, regulation, or order, where the Department becomes aware of an indication of a violation or potential violation of civil or criminal law or regulation.

   2. To disclose information to a Federal agency, in response to its request in connection with the hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security clearance, the conducting of a suitability or security investigation of an individual, the classifying of jobs, the letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant, or other benefit by the requesting agency, to the extent that the information is relevant and necessary to the requesting agency's decision on the matter.

   3. To provide information to a congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an inquiry from that congressional office made at the request of that individual.

   4. To disclose information to another Federal agency, to a court, or a party in litigation before a court or in an administrative proceeding being conducted by a Federal agency, when the Federal Government is a party to the judicial or administrative proceeding. In those cases where the Federal Government is not a party to the proceeding, records may be disclosed if a subpoena has been signed by a judge.

   5. To disclose information to the National Archives and Records Administration for use in records management inspections.

   6. To disclose information to the Department of Justice, or in a proceeding before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative body before which the Department is authorized to appear, when:

      (A) The Department, or any component thereof;

      (B) Any employee of the Department in his or her official capacity;

      (C) Any employee of the Department in his or her individual capacity where the Department of Justice or the Department has agreed to represent the employee;

      (D) The United States, when the Department determines that litigation is likely to affect the Department or any of its components; or

      (E) The Federal funds established by the Act to pay Federal benefit payments; is a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and the use of such records by the Department of Justice or the Department is deemed by the Department of Justice or the Department to be relevant and necessary to the litigation provided, however, that the disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which records were collected.

   7. To disclose information to contractors, subcontractors, financial agents, grantees, or volunteers performing or working on a contract, service, grant, cooperative agreement, or job for the Department, including the District.

   8. To disclose, to the following recipients, information needed to adjudicate a claim for Federal benefit payments under the retirement plans for District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges, or information needed to conduct an analytical study of benefits being paid under such programs as: Social Security Administration's Old Age, Survivor and Disability Insurance and Medical Programs, military retired pay programs; and Federal civilian employee retirement programs (Civil Service Retirement System, Federal Employees Retirement System, and other Federal retirement systems).

   9. To disclose to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and to the District information necessary to verify the election, declination, or waiver of regular and/or optional life insurance coverage.

   10. To disclose to health insurance carriers contracting with OPM to provide a health benefits plan under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or health insurance carriers contracting with the District to provide a health benefits plan under the health benefits program for District employees, Social Security Numbers and other information necessary to identify enrollment in a plan, to verify eligibility for payment of a claim for health benefits, or to carry out the coordination for benefits provisions of such contracts.

   11. To disclose to any inquirer, if sufficient information is provided to assure positive identification of an individual on whom the Department maintains records, the fact that an individual is or is not on the retirement rolls, and if so, the type of annuity (employment or survivor, but not retirement on disability) being paid, or if not, whether a refund has been paid.

   12. When an individual to whom a record pertains dies, to disclose to any person possibly entitled in the applicable order of precedence for lump-sum benefits, information in the individual's record that might properly be disclosed to the individual, and the name and relationship of any other person whose claim for benefits takes precedence or who is entitled to share the benefits payable.

   13. To disclose information to any person who is legally responsible for the care of an individual to whom a record pertains, or who otherwise has an existing, facially-valid Power of Attorney, information necessary to assure payment of Federal benefit payments to which the individual is entitled.

   14. To disclose to the Parent Locator Service of the Department of Health and Human Services, upon its request, the present address of a Federal benefit payments annuitant or survivor, or a former employee entitled to deferred Federal benefit payments, for enforcing child support obligations of such individual.

   15. In connection with an examination ordered by the District or the Secretary of the Treasury under

       (A) Medical examination procedures; or

       (B) Involuntary disability retirement procedures to disclose to the representative of an employee, notices, decisions, other written communications, or any other pertinent medical evidence other than medical evidence about which a prudent physician would hesitate to inform the individual; such medical evidence will be disclosed only to a licensed physician, designated in writing for that purpose by the individual or his or her representative. The physician must be capable of explaining the contents of the medical record(s) to the individual and be willing to provide the entire record(s) to the individual.

   16. To disclose information to any source from which the Department seeks additional information that is relevant to a determination of an individual's eligibility for, or entitlement to, coverage under the applicable retirement, life insurance, and health benefits program, to the extent necessary to obtain the information requested.

   17. To disclose information to the Office of Management and Budget at any stage of the legislative coordination and clearance process in connection with private relief legislation as set forth in OMB Circular No. A-19.

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   18. To disclose to a Federal agency, in response to its request, the address of an annuitant or applicant for refund of retirement deductions, if the agency requires that information in connection with the collection of a debt due the United States.

   19. To disclose to a State agency responsible for the collection of State income taxes the information required by an agreement authorized by law to implement voluntary State income tax withholdings from Federal benefit payments.

   20. To disclose to the Social Security Administration the names and Social Security Numbers of Federal benefit payment annuitants when necessary to determine: (1) Their vital status as shown in the Social Security Master Records; and (2) whether retirees receiving Federal benefit payments under the District's retirement plan for police officers and firefighters with post-1956 military service credit are eligible for or are receiving old age or survivors benefits under section 202 of the Social Security Act based upon their wages and self- employment income.

   21. To disclose to Federal, State, and local government agencies information about retirees and survivors under the retirement plans administered by the Department pursuant to the Act, including name, Social Security Number, date of birth, sex, health benefit enrollment code, retirement date, retirement code (type of retirement), annuity rate, pay status of case, correspondence address, and ZIP code, to help eliminate fraud and abuse in a benefits program administered by a requesting Federal, State, or local government agency, to ensure compliance with Federal, State, and local government tax obligations by persons receiving Federal benefits payments under such retirement plans, and to collect debts and overpayments owed to the requesting Federal, State, or local government agency.

   22. To disclose to a Federal agency, or a person or an organization under contract with a Federal agency to render collection services for a Federal agency as permitted by law, in response to a written request from the head of the agency or his designee, or from the debt collection contractor, the following data concerning an individual owing a debt to the Federal Government: (A) The debtor's name, address, Social Security Number, and other information necessary to establish the identity of the individual; and (B) the amount, status, and history of the debtor's Federal benefit payments.

   23. To disclose, as permitted by law, information to a State court or administrative agency in connection with a garnishment, attachment, or similar proceeding to enforce an alimony or a child support obligation.

   24. To disclose to a former spouse information necessary to explain how that former spouse's benefit was computed.

   25. To disclose information necessary to locate individuals who are owed money or property by a Federal, State or local government agency, or by a financial institution or similar institution, to the government agency owing or otherwise responsible for the money or property (or its agent).

   26. To disclose information necessary in connection with the review of a disputed claim for health benefits to a health plan provider participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or the health benefits program for employees of the District, and to a program enrollee or covered family member or an enrollee or covered family member's authorized representative.

   27. To disclose to an agency of a State or local government, or a private individual or association engaged in volunteer work, identifying and address information and other pertinent facts, for the purpose of developing an application by such an entity or person to serve as a representative payee for a person who is mentally incompetent or under other legal disability and who is or may be eligible for Federal benefit payments.

   28. To disclose information to another Federal agency for the purpose of effecting administrative or salary offset against a person employed by that agency or receiving or eligible to receive benefit payments from the agency when the Department as a creditor has a claim against that person relating to Federal benefit payments.

   29. To disclose information concerning delinquent debts relating to Federal benefit payments to other Federal agencies for the purpose of barring delinquent debtors from obtaining Federal loans or loan insurance guarantees pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3720B.

   30. To disclose information concerning delinquent debts relating to Federal benefit payments to State and local governments, for the purpose of collecting such debts.

       Disclosures to consumer reporting agencies:

       Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(12), disclosures may be made from this system to consumer reporting agencies in accordance with 31 U.S.C. 3711(e).

       Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, safeguarding, retaining and disposing of records in the system: Storage:

       These records are maintained on magnetic tapes, disks, microfiche, and in paper folders.

       Retrievability:

       These records are retrieved by the name and/or Social Security Number and/or an automatically assigned, system generated number, of the individual to whom they pertain.

       Safeguards:

       Records are kept in lockable metal file cabinets or in a secured facility with access limited to those persons whose official duties require access. Data in electronic format may also be password protected. Personnel screening and training are employed to prevent unauthorized disclosure.

       Retention and disposal:

       All records on a claim for retirement, including salary and service history, survivor annuity elections and tax and other withholdings are maintained permanently. Records not relevant to the calculation, administration, and payment of Federal benefit payments are disposed of in accordance with Department guidelines. Disposal of paper records and microfiche is by shredding or burning; magnetic tapes and discs are erased.

       System manager(s) and address:

       Director, Office of DC Pensions, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20220.

       Notification procedure:

       Individuals seeking notification and access to any record contained in the system of records, or seeking to contest its contents, should contact the system manager. Individuals must furnish the following information for their records to be located and identified:

1. Name, including all former names.

2. Date of birth.

3. Social Security Number.

4. Name and address of office in which currently and/or formerly employed in the District.

5. Annuity, service credit, or voluntary contributions account number, if assigned.

6. Automatically assigned, system generated number, if known.

   Individuals requesting amendment of their records must also follow the Department's Privacy Act regulations regarding verification of identity and amendment of records (31 CFR part 1 subpart C, appendix A).

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   Record access procedure:

   See ``Notification procedure,'' above.

   Contesting record procedure:

   See ``Notification procedure,'' above.

   Record source categories:

   The information in this system is obtained from:

1. The individual to whom the information pertains.

2. District pay, leave, and allowance records.

3. Health benefits and life insurance plan systems records maintained by the Office of Personnel Management and the District.

4. Federal civilian retirement systems.

5. Military retired pay system records.

6. Social Security Old Age, Survivor, and Disability Insurance and Medicare Programs.

7. Health insurance carriers and plans participating in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program and the health benefits program for employees of the District.

8. Official personnel folders.

9. The individual's co-workers and supervisors.

10. Physicians who have examined or treated the individual.

11. Former spouses of the individual to whom the information pertains.

12. State courts or support enforcement agencies.

13. Credit bureaus.

14. The District Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief Board.

15. The District Board of Education.

16. The District Public Charter School Board.

17. District public charter schools.

18. The Executive Office of the District of Columbia Courts.

19. The General Services Administration National Payroll Center.

20. The District Retirement Board.

21. The District Office of Personnel.

22. The District Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

    Exemptions claimed for the system:

    None.

    [FR Doc. 02-25693Filed10-8-02; 8:45 am]

    BILLING CODE 4810-94-P