[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 5 (Thursday, January 8, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1110-1111]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-472]


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FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY


Privacy Act of 1974; Amendment of a System of Records

AGENCY: Federal Labor Relations Authority.

ACTION: Notice of amendment of system of records to include new routine 
uses; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(11)), the 
Federal Labor Relations Authority is issuing notice of its intent to 
amend the system of records entitled Pay, Leave and Travel Records 
(FLRA/INTERNAL-15) to include new routine uses necessitated by the 
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 
1996, Pub. L. 104-193.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than February 9, 1998. The 
proposed amendments concerning routine uses will become effective as 
proposed without further notice on February 9, 1998 unless comments 
dictate otherwise.

ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may comment on this publication by 
writing to Harold D. Kessler, Assistant to Executive Director, Office 
of the Executive Director, Federal Labor Relations Authority, 607 14th 
Street, N.W., Room 415, Washington, D.C. 20424-0001. All comments 
received will be available for public inspection at that address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold D. Kessler, at the address 
given above or by telephone: (202) 482-6560.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion of Proposed Additional Routine Use Necessitated by Pub. 
L. 104-193

    Pursuant to Pub. L. 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Federal Labor Relations 
Authority (FLRA) will disclose data from its Pay, Leave and Travel 
Records system of records to the Office of Child Support Enforcement, 
Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and 
Human Services, for use in the National Database of New Hires, part of 
the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) and Federal Tax Offset 
System, DHHS/OSCE No. 09-90-0074. A description of the Federal Parent 
Locator Service may be found at 62 FR 51663 (October 2, 1997).
    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 purposes of establishing 
paternity and securing support. On October 1, 1997, the FPLS was 
expanded to include the National Directory of New Hires, a database 
containing employment information on employees recently hired, 
quarterly wage data on private and public sector employees, and 
information on unemployment compensation benefits. On October 1, 1998, 
the FPLS will be expanded further to include a Federal Case Registry. 
The Federal Case Registry will contain abstracts on all participants 
involved in child support 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.

[[Page 1111]]

If the FPLS identifies a person as being a participant in a state child 
support case, that state will be notified. Requests made by states to 
the FPLS for location information will continue to be processed after 
October 1, 1998.
    When individuals are hired by the FLRA, either the FLRA or its 
personnel/payroll system provider may disclose to the FPLS such 
individuals' names, social security numbers, home addresses, dates of 
birth, dates and states of hire, and information identifying the FLRA 
as the employer. The FLRA or its personnel/payroll system provider may 
also disclose to the FPLS names, social security numbers, and quarterly 
earnings of each FLRA employee, within one month of the end of the 
quarterly reporting period.
    Information submitted by or on behalf of the FLRA to the FPLS will 
be disclosed by the Office of Child Support Enforcement to the Social 
Security Administration for verification to ensure that the social 
security number provided is correct. The data disclosed by or on behalf 
of the FLRA to the FPLS will also be disclosed by the Office of Child 
Support Enforcement to the Secretary 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.

II. Compatibility of Proposed Routine Use Necessitated by Pub. L. 104-
193

    The FLRA is amending its routine uses in accordance with the 
Privacy Act (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 that is 
compatible with the purpose for which the information was originally 
collected. The Office of Management and Budget had indicated that a 
compatible use is a use that is necessary and proper. See OMB 
Guidelines, 51 FR 18982, 18985 (May 23, 1986). Since the proposed uses 
of the data are required by Public Law 104-193, they are clearly 
necessary and proper uses, and, therefore, ``compatible'' uses under 
the Privacy Act's requirements.

III. Effect of Proposed Change Necessitated by Pub. L. 104-193 on 
Individuals

    The FLRA will disclose information under the proposed routine uses 
only as required by Pub. L. 104-193 and as permitted by the Privacy 
Act.
    Disclosure will be made by the FLRA or its personnel/payroll system 
provider.

IV. Other Changes

    The FLRA is making another change required to update the system of 
records. Specifically, the notice also amends the routine uses to add a 
new routine use for the disclosure of information to the FLRA's 
personnel/payroll system provider.
    As required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) of the Privacy Act, the FLRA has 
sent notice of this amended system of records to the Office of 
Management and Budget, as well as to the Senate Committee on 
Governmental Affairs, and to the House of Representatives Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight.
    Accordingly, the Pay, Leave and Travel Records (FLRA/INTERNAL-15) 
system notice originally published at 45 FR 85316, 85331, (December 24, 
1980) and amended most recently at 60 FR 50202, 50203 (September 28, 
1995) is further amended as follows:
FLRA/Internal-15
* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    These records and information in these records may be used:
* * * * *
    p. To disclose information to appropriate offices and agencies that 
are under an agreement with the Federal Labor Relations Authority to 
prepare pay, leave and travel records, to meet government payroll 
recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and to retrieve and supply 
payroll and leave information as required by the Federal Labor 
Relations Authority.
    q. To disclose the names, social security numbers, home addresses, 
dates of birth, dates of hire, quarterly earnings, employer identifying 
information, and state of hire of employees to the Office of Child 
Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, 
Department of Health and Human Services, for the purpose of locating 
individuals to establish paternity, establishing and modifying orders 
of child support, identifying sources of income, and for other child 
support enforcement actions as required by the Personal Responsibility 
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (Welfare Reform law, Pub. L. 
104-193).
* * * * *
    Dated: January 5, 1998.

    For the Authority.
Solly J. Thomas,
Executive Director, Federal Labor Relations Authority.
[FR Doc. 98-472 Filed 1-7-98; 8:45 am]
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