[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