97-32830. Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 242 (Wednesday, December 17, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66097-66098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-32830]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.

ACTION: Amend payroll records system.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Executive Director of the Federal Retirement Thrift 
Investment Board (Board) is amending systems notice, FRTIB-5, Payroll 
Records, to include new routine uses allowing disclosure to the 
Department of Health and Human Services Federal Parent Locator System 
for the purpose of locating Board employees involved in child support 
cases and enforcing employees' child support obligations.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than January 16, 1998. The 
proposed notice will be effective January 16, 1998 unless the Board 
receives comments which would result in a different determination. If 
comments received result in a different determination, the document 
will be republished with the change.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to Thomas L. Gray, Assistant General 
Counsel for Administration, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, 
1250 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas L. Gray, Assistant General 
Counsel for Administration, [phone]. FAX [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion of Proposed Additions to Routine Use

    Pursuant to Pub. L. 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Board will disclose data 
from its payroll system of records to the Office of Child Support 
Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, Department of 
Health and Human Services (DHH) for use in its Federal Parent Locator 
System (FPLS) and Federal Tax Offset System.
    The FPLS is a computerized network through which States may request 
location information from Federal and State agencies to find non-
custodial parents and their employers for the purposes of establishing 
paternity and securing support. Effective October 1, 1997, the FPLS 
will be enlarged to include the National Directory of New Hires, a 
database containing information on employees commencing employment, 
quarterly wage data on private and public sector employees, and 
information on unemployment compensation benefits. Effective October 1, 
1998, the FPLS will be further expanded to include a Federal Case 
Registry. The Federal Case Registry will contain abstracts on all 
participants involved in child support and enforcement cases. When the 
Federal Case Registry is instituted, its files will be matched on an 
ongoing basis against the files in the National Directory of New Hires 
to determine if an employee is a participant in a child support case 
anywhere in the country. If the FPLS identifies a person as being a 
participant in a State child support case, that State will be notified 
of the participant's current employer. State requests to the FPLS for 
location information will also continue to be processed after October 
1, 1998.
    Data to be disclosed by the Board to the FPLS include: employee 
name, address, Social Security number, and quarterly wages. In 
addition, names and Social Security numbers (SSN) submitted by the 
Board to the FPLS will be disclosed by the DHH to the Social Security 
Administration for verification to ensure that the SSN provided is 
correct. The data disclosed to the FPLS will also be disclosed by the 
DHH to the Department of the Treasury for use in verifying claims for 
the advance payment of the earned income tax credit or to verify a 
claim of employment on a tax return.

[[Page 66098]]

II. Compatibility of Proposed Routine Uses

    We are proposing these routine uses in accordance with the Privacy 
Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)). The Privacy Act permits 
the disclosure of information about individuals without their consent 
for a routine use where the information will be used for a purpose 
which is compatible with the purpose for which the information was 
originally collected. The Office of Management and Budget has indicated 
that a compatible use is a use which is necessary and proper. See OMB 
Guidelines, 51 FR 18982, 18985 (1986). Since the proposed uses of the 
data are required by Pub. L. 104-193, they are clearly necessary and 
proper uses, and therefore compatible uses which meet Privacy Act 
requirements.

III. Effect of the Proposed Changes on Individuals

    We will disclose information under the proposed routine uses only 
as required by Pub. L. 104-193 and as permitted by the Privacy Act.
    Accordingly, FRTIB-5, Payroll Records, system notice originally 
published in the Federal Register at 52 FR 12065 (April 14, 1987) and 
finalized at 55 FR 18949 (May 7, 1990) is further amended by adding new 
text after the existing text for ``Routine Uses of Records'' to read as 
follows:
FRTIB-5
* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
* * * * *
    The information in this system will also be disclosed as follows:
    a. To the Department of Health and Human Services Federal Parent 
Locator System and Federal Tax Offset System for use in locating 
current and former employees involved in child support and paternity 
cases and identifying their income sources to be used in child support 
orders and enforcement actions.
    b. To the Department of Health and Human Services Federal Parent 
Locator System for release to the Social Security Administration for 
verifying Social Security numbers in connection with the operation of 
the FPLS.
    c. To the Department of Health and Human Services Federal Parent 
Locator System for release to the Department of the Treasury for 
purposes of administering the Earned Income Tax Credit Program and 
verifying a claim with respect to employment in a tax return.
* * * * *
Roger W. Mehle,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 97-32830 Filed 12-16-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6760-01-P