[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]
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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.
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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
[[Page 63013]]
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:
a. 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.
b. Former District judges, regardless of their dates of service.
c. 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 filed a designation of beneficiary for Federal benefit
payments; or
(3) who have filed a service credit application in connection with
former Federal service; or
(4) who have filed an 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.
d. Current District judges;
e. 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.
f. Former spouses of District teachers, police officers,
firefighters, and judges, who have received or are receiving Federal
benefit payments, or who have filed a 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:
a. Documentation of District service subject to the retirement
plans for District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges.
b. 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.
c. Documentation of retirement contributions made by eligible
teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges.
d. 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.
e. 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.
f. Court orders submitted by former spouses of District teachers,
police officers, firefighters, and judges in support of claims for
Federal benefit payments.
g. 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:
[[Page 63014]]
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.
[[Page 63015]]
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:
a. Name, including all former names.
b. Date of birth.
c. Social Security Number.
d. Name and address of office in which currently and/or formerly
employed in the District.
e. Annuity, service credit, or voluntary contributions account
number, if assigned.
f. 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).
[[Page 63016]]
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:
a. The individual to whom the information pertains.
b. District pay, leave, and allowance records.
c. Health benefits and life insurance plan systems records
maintained by the Office of Personnel Management and the District.
d. Federal civilian retirement systems.
e. Military retired pay system records.
f. Social Security Old Age, Survivor, and Disability Insurance and
Medicare Programs.
g. Health insurance carriers and plans participating in the Federal
Employee Health Benefits Program and the health benefits program for
employees of the District.
h. Official personnel folders.
i. The individual's co-workers and supervisors.
j. Physicians who have examined or treated the individual.
k. Former spouses of the individual to whom the information
pertains.
l. State courts or support enforcement agencies.
m. Credit bureaus.
n. The District Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief
Board.
o. The District Board of Education.
p. The District Public Charter School Board.
q. District public charter schools.
r. The Executive Office of the District of Columbia Courts.
s. The General Services Administration National Payroll Center.
t. The District Retirement Board.
u. The District Office of Personnel.
v. The District Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
Exemptions claimed for the system:
None.
[FR Doc. 02-25693 Filed 10-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-94-P