[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 166 (Thursday, August 27, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 45881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23011]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT


Privacy Act of 1974; Publication of a Proposed New Routine Use

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

ACTION: Notice of a proposed new routine use.

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SUMMARY: This notice proposes to add a new routine use to an existing 
Central System of Records.

DATES: This proposed routine use will be effective without further 
notice October 6, 1998, unless comments received dictate otherwise.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Office of Personnel Management, 
Attn: Mary Beth Smith-Toomey, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
1900 E Street NW, Room 5415, Washington, DC 20415-7900.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Beth Smith-Toomey, (202) 606-
8358.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OPM finds that it is in the Government's 
interest to add a new routine use to OPM's Central System of Records, 
OPM/Central-1, Civil Service Retirement and Insurance Records. This 
system of records is applicable to a number of OPM managed benefit 
programs, including the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) 
Program, the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program, 
and two of the Federal Government's retirement programs, the Civil 
Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement 
System (FERS). This new routine use will allow OPM to release 
information from OPM/Central-1, Civil Service Retirement and Insurance 
Records, where OPM has determined that the use of that information is 
compatible with proper disclosure and will directly benefit Federal 
employees, annuitants or their dependents, survivors, and 
beneficiaries. For example, OPM utilizes the services of contractors to 
send out annual income tax information to annuitants, to distribute to 
annuitants annual rate and benefit information regarding the FEHB 
Program, and to distribute open season and customer feedback 
information involving the FEGLI Program. Moreover, in certain 
circumstances, a private organization may undertake a project that 
results in Federal employees, annuitants or their dependents, survivors 
and beneficiaries obtaining important and timely information that is 
beneficial to that audience. Such a situation was anticipated by 
Congress in October 1991 as part of the debate on the legislation that 
would include OPM's Fiscal Year 1992 appropriation. In the Conference 
Report accompanying H.R. 2622, the conferees directed OPM to seriously 
consider requests from certain private organizations for ``blind 
mailings'' in which OPM would facilitate these organizations getting 
information to Federal annuitants and employees without the 
organizations ever actually seeing the addresses of the proposed 
recipients. A contractor to the private organization would then require 
access to certain OPM information in order to make the blind mailing 
possible. Any release of such information must also comply with section 
626 of the Treasury, Postal, and General Government Appropriations Act 
for Fiscal Year 1998, P.L. 105-61, and any such successor law. Section 
626 provides that none of the funds appropriated by that Act or any 
other Act may be used to provide a Federal employee's home address to 
any labor organization except where the employee has authorized such 
disclosure or that disclosure has been ordered by a court of competent 
jurisdiction. OPM shall exercise its discretion under the new routine 
use in accordance with section 626, or any such successor law.
    The new routine use is added to the following Central System of 
Records: OPM/Central-1, Civil Service Retirement and Insurance Records.
    For Non-Federal Personnel--To disclose information to private 
organizations, contractors, grantees, volunteers, or other non-Federal 
personnel performing or working on a project, contract, service, grant, 
cooperative agreement, or job for, to the benefit of, or consistent 
with the interests of the Federal Government when OPM has determined 
that the use of that information is compatible with proper disclosure 
and will benefit Federal employees, annuitants or their dependents, 
survivors, and beneficiaries.

Office of Personnel Management.
Janice R. Lachance,
Director.
[FR Doc. 98-23011 Filed 8-26-98; 8:45 am]
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