[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 97 (Friday, May 20, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-12321]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 20, 1994]
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FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
AGENCY: Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.
ACTION: Amend record system.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Retirement thrift investment Board (Board) is
deleting the routine use provision in systems notice, FRTIB-1, Thrift
Savings Plan Records, allowing disclosure of records on a Thrift
Savings Plan (TS) participant to the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and private financial
institutions at the written request of the participant, and the
provision allowing disclosure to beneficiaries of deceased
participants.
The provision allowing disclosure to the VA, the FHA, and financial
institutions is not necessary because the Board has revised its Privacy
Act regulations to allow for disclosure to any person or entity at the
written request of the participant. The provision allowing disclosure
to beneficiaries of deceased participants is not necessary because
death extinguishes a participant's right to privacy.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The amendments will be effective on June 20, 1994
unless comments are received that would result in a contrary
determination. If comments received result in a different
determination, the document would be republished with the change.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed or delivered to John J. O'Meara,
Assistant General Counsel for Administration, Federal Retirement Thrift
Investment Board 1250 H Street , NW. Washington, DC 20005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John J. O'Meara, Assistant General
Counsel for administration, (202) 942-1662, FAX (202) 942-1676.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board, which was established by the
Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986, maintains records
similar to records of other Federal agencies and a Government-wide
system of records on current and former participants in the TSP. The
Department of Agriculture, National Finance Center, Thrift Savings Plan
Service Office is the recordkeeper for TSP records subject to the
Privacy Act.
Because of the large volume of verifications of account balance
requests submitted by financial institutions at the request of TSP
participants seeking a mortgage loan, the Board revised its Privacy Act
rules to relieve the TSP Service Office of the burden of contacting
private financial institutions to request the submission of an
originally signed authorization. As the result of that change to the
Board's Privacy Act rules, the routine use provision in subsection (d)
of FRTIB-1, Thrift Savings Plan Records, in the Board's Notice of
Systems of Records published at 55 FR 18949-18959 is no longer
necessary. The TSP Service Office may now disclose TSP account
information at the written request of the participant to any person or
entity.
The Board has also determined that since the right to privacy under
the Privacy Act of 1974 is extinguished upon the death of the
participant, there is no need for the provision in subsection (f)(i) of
FRTIB-1 allowing disclosure to beneficiaries so that they may exercise
their entitlement rights. The TSP Service Office may dislose TSP
account information to beneficiaries to enable them to exercise their
rights respecting the deceased participant's account.
In addition, a minor change has been made to update this system
notice. Powers of attorney and tax notices have been added to the list
of categories of records in the system.
Accordingly, the system notice for FRTIB-1, Thrift Savings Plan
Records, is set forth below, as amended. The amendments are not within
the purview of subsection (r) of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C.
552a), as amended, which applies to the submission of a new or
significantly altered systems of records.
Dated: May 13, 1994.
Roger W. Mehle,
Executive Director, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.
FRTIB-1
Thrift Savings Plan Records.
These records are located at the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Service
Office, National Finance Center, Department of Agriculture, 13800 Old
Gentilly Road, New Orleans, Louisiana. The mailing address is: Head,
Thrift Savings Plan Service Office, National Finance Center, P.O. Box
61500, New Orleans, LA 70161-1500. Subsets of these records are located
at the System Manager's address. The subsets are: Waiver, power of
attorney, and court order files (including matters involving
bankruptcies, child support, alimony and TSP benefit divisions),
participant correspondence, loan appeals, interfund transfer appeals,
error corrections, and tax notices.
All participants in the Thrift Savings Plan. Participants in the
TSP consist of present and former Members of Congress and Federal
employees covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of
1986, as amended (FERSA) 5 U.S.C. chapter 84; all present and former
Members of Congress and Federal employees covered by the Civil Service
Retirement System who elect to contribute to the TSP; Supreme Court
Justices, Federal judges and magistrates who elect to contribute;
certain union officials and other persons described in 5 CFR part 1620.
These records contain the following kinds of information: Thrift
Savings Plan Account records of employee and employer contributions;
records of participant's Social Security number, date of birth and home
address, retirement code, account earnings and balances; records
showing whether a participant is vested; records of participant-
designated beneficiaries, withdrawal information, type of annuity
requested, locator information on former spouses, spousal waivers, and
powers of attorney; records of court orders concerning bankruptcies,
division of retirement accounts between spouses and garnishment actions
for child support of alimony payments against accounts; records of data
on employing agency, servicing payroll office, and servicing personnel
office of the participant; and records showing the participant's
investment status by Fund, information on interfund transfers and
participant loans, information on notification of taxes, and general
correspondence with the TSP Service Office.
5 U.S.C. 8474.
The purpose of this system of records is to record activity
concerning the TSP account of each Plan participant, to communicate
with the participant concerning his or her account, and to make certain
that he or she receives a correct payment at the time of withdrawal
from the Plan.
These records and information in these records may be used:
a. To disclose financial data to Federal, State, and local
governmental tax enforcement agencies so that they may enforce
applicable tax laws.
b. To disclose to the designated annuity vendor in order to provide
TSP participants who have left Federal service with an annuity.
c. To disclose to sponsors of eligible retirement plans for
purposes of transferring the funds in the participant's account to an
Individual Retirement Account or into another eligible retirement plan.
d. To disclose to current and former spouses who have entitlement
rights under the Act.
e. When a participant to whom a record pertains dies, to disclose
to any potential beneficiary and anyone handling the decedent's estate,
information in the participant's record which could have been properly
disclosed to the individual when living, and the name and relationship
of any other person who claims the benefits or who is entitled to share
the benefits payable.
f. To disclose information to any person who is responsible for the
care of the participant to whom a record pertains and who is found by a
court to be incompetent or under other legal disability, information
necessary to manage the participant's account and to assure payment of
benefits to which the participant is entitled.
g. To disclose information to a Congressional office from the
record of a participant in order for that office to respond to a
communication from that participant.
h. To disclose to agency payroll or personnel offices in order to
calculate benefit projections for individual participants, to calculate
error corrections, to reconcile payroll records and otherwise to assure
the effective operation of the Thrift Savings Plan.
i. To disclose to the Department of the Treasury information
necessary to issue checks from accounts of participants in accordance
with withdrawal or loan procedures.
j. To disclose to the Department of Labor and to private sector
audit firms so that they may perform audits as provided for in FERSA.
k. To disclose to the Parent Locator Service of the Department of
Health and Human Services, upon its request, the present address of a
participant, whether a current or former employee for the purpose of
enforcing child support obligations against such individual.
l. 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.
m. 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.
n. To disclose to a Federal agency, in response to its request, the
present address of a former employee and any other information the
agency needs in order to contact the former employee concerning a
possible threat to his or her health or safety.
o. To disclose information to the Department of Justice when:
(1) The Board or any component thereof, or
(2) Any employee of the Board in his or her official capacity, or
(3) Any employee of the Board in his or her individual capacity,
where the Department of Justice has agreed to represent the employee;
or
(4) The United States (where the Board determines that litigation
is likely to affect the agency or any of its components), is a party to
litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and the Board
determines that use of such records is relevant and necessary to the
litigation, provided, however, that in each such case, the Board
determines that disclosure of the records to the Department of Justice
is a use of the information contained in the records that is compatible
with the purpose for which the records were collected.
p. In response to a court subpoena or to appropriate parties
engaged in litigation or in preparation of possible litigation such as
potential witnesses for the purpose of securing their testimony to
courts, magistrates or administrative tribunals, to parties and their
attorneys in connection with litigation or settlement of disputes, to
individuals seeking information through established discovery
procedures in connection with civil, criminal or regulatory
proceedings.
These records are maintained on magnetic media, microfiche and in
folders.
These records are retrieved by name, Social Security number, and
other personal identifiers of the individual to whom they pertain.
Hardcopy records are kept in metal file cabinets in a secure
facility with access limited to those whose official duties require
access. Personnel screening is employed to prevent unauthorized
disclosure. Automatic data processing software security mechanisms are
used to prevent unauthorized access to the magnetic media.
All TSP forms are retained for 95 years. All other records are
retained indefinitely. Disposal of manual records is by compacting and
buying; data on magnetic media are obliterated by destruction or reuse
or are returned to the employing agency.
Executive Director, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board,
1250 H Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005.
Any individual wishing to inquire if this system contains
information about him or her must make inquiry in accordance with Chart
A below:
Chart A
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If you want: If you are a former employee: If you are a current employee:
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To make inquiry as to whether Call or write TSP Service Call or write your employing agency in accordance
you are a subject of this Office. with agency system of records on personnel or
system of records. payroll records.
Access........................ Call or write TSP Service Call or write your employing agency
Office. regarding personnel and payroll records
(agency's and participant's contributions,
earnings, loan repayments and adjustments to
contributions).
Call or write to TSP Servcie Office
regarding loan status and interfund transfers.
Disclosure history of your TSP Write TSP Service Office..... Write TSP Service Office.
account (disclosures to
entities other than your
employing agency or the Board
or auditors).
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The individual must furnish the following information for records
to be located and identified:
a. Name, including all former names;
b. Social Security number; and
c. Date of birth (only if writing).
A request to the employing Federal agency may be made in accordance
with that agency's Privacy Act regulations or any other existing agency
procedures.
Any participant wishing access to his or her records in this system
may do so in accordance with Chart A above. A participant must furnish
the following information for his or her records to be located and
identified:
a. Name, including all former names;
b. Social Security number;
c. Personal Identification Number (PIN) (only if telephoning);
d. Date of birth (only if writing); and
e. If when telephoning, a PIN is unavailable or has been lost, name
and address of office in which currently or formerly employed in the
Federal service and date of birth.
Any participant in the Thrift Savings Plan who wishes to request
amendment of his or her records in this system must make such request
in accordance with Chart B below. The employing agency or the Board
(through the TSP Service Office, its recordkeeper), as the case may be,
will follow the procedures set forth in 5 CFR part 1605, Error
Correction Regulations, in deciding requests for amendment because of
monetary errors.
Chart B
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If you want to request amendment of a TSP record and
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You are a former employee You are a current employee
The type of record is: write to: write to:
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Personnel or personal records (e.g., age, address TSP Service Office........... Your employing agency.
or Social Security number).
Agency's and participant's contributions, loan Your former employing agency. Your employing agency.
repayments and adjustments to contributions.
Earnings, interfund transfers and loan prepayments TSP Service Office........... TSP Service Office.
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The participant must furnish the following information for his or
her records to be located and identified:
a. Name, including all former names;
b. Social Security number; and
c. Date of birth.
The information in this system is obtained from the following
sources:
a. The individual to whom the information pertains;
b. Agency pay and personnel records;
c. Court orders; or
d. Spouses, former spouses, other family members, beneficiaries,
legal guardians, personal representatives (executors, administrators).
[FR Doc. 94-12321 Filed 5-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6760-01-M
