[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 6, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54322-54324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25923]


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 FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

[Docket No. R-1047]


Privacy Act of 1974; Notice of Amendment of System of Records

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Amendment of system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act, the Board of Governors of 
the Federal Reserve System (Board) is amending one system of records, 
entitled General Personnel Records (BGFRS-4). These amendments include 
new routine uses and reflect changes due to use of more computerized 
records and a reorganization of the Board's human resources function. 
We invite public comment on this publication.

DATES: Comment must be received on or before November 5, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments, which should refer to Docket No. R-1047, may be 
mailed to Ms. Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary, Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20551. Comments addressed to Ms. Johnson also may be 
delivered to the Board's mail room between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. on 
weekdays, and to the security control room outside of those hours. The 
mail room and the security control room are accessible from the 
courtyard entrance on 20th Street between Constitution Avenue and C 
Street, NW. Comments will be available for inspection and copying by 
members of the public in the Freedom of Information Office, Room MP-
500, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, except as provided in 
Sec. 261.13(i) of the Board's Rules Regarding Availability of 
Information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elaine M. Boutilier, Senior Counsel, 
Legal Division (202/452-2418), or Chris Fields, Manager, Human 
Resources Function, Management Division (202/452-3654). For the hearing 
impaired only, contact Diane Jenkins, Telecommunications Device for the 
Deaf (TDD)(202/452-3544), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, 20th and Constitution, NW, Washington, DC 20551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Unlike most Federal government agencies 
whose personnel files are maintained by the Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM), the Board maintains its own personnel files because 
the Board has independent statutory authority to hire staff and set the 
salary and benefit terms for its staff. Accordingly, the personnel 
files of Board employees are not contained in the system of records 
identified as OPM/GOVT-1. Nevertheless, the Board's personnel files are 
used in much the same manner as personnel files of other federal 
employees. Accordingly, after reviewing the routine uses for the 
existing system of records, the Board has determined to adopt many of 
the routine uses that are included in OPM/GOVT-1.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), a report of these amended 
systems of records is being filed with the Chair of the House Committee 
on Government Reform and Oversight, the Chair of the Senate Committee 
on Governmental Affairs, and the Office of Management and Budget. These 
amendments will become effective on November 9, 1999, without further 
notice, unless the Board publishes a notice to the contrary in the 
Federal Register.
    Accordingly, the system of records entitled FEB-General Personnel 
Records (BGFRS-4) is amended as set forth below.

BGFRS-4.

System name:
    FRB--General Personnel Records.

Security classification:
    None.

System location:
    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th and 
Constitution, NW, Washington, DC 20551.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Current and former employees of the Board, and the surviving 
spouses and children of former Board employees.

Categories of records in the system:
    This system of records consists of information relating to 
personnel actions of the Board and its determinations made about an 
individual during the course of his or her employment by the Board. 
These records may contain information about employees and former 
employees relating to employment, placement, personnel actions; 
academic assistance, and training and development activities; 
background investigations; and salary actions. Performance Management 
Program (PMP) ratings for the most recent two years are included, but 
the actual PMP form is not. It also includes minority group and medical 
disability designators; records relating to benefits and designation of 
beneficiary; emergency contact information; address and name changes; 
documentation supporting personnel actions or decisions made about an 
individual; information concerning awards; and other information 
relating to the status of the individual while employed by the Board, 
including records of jury duty by the employee and any doctor's 
certificate that may have been filed at the request of the employee 
regarding the employee's health. The system of records also contains 
information regarding surviving beneficiaries of deceased Board 
employees to the extent necessary to provide benefits to those 
individuals.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    Sections 10 and 11 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 244 and 
248(l)).

Purpose(s):
    These records are collected and maintained to assist the Board in 
its personnel actions and decisions, and in the administration of its 
benefits programs.

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:
    a. To disclose information to Government training facilities 
(Federal, State, and local) and to non-Government training facilities 
(private vendors of training courses or programs, private schools, 
etc.) for training purposes.
    b. To disclose information to educational institutions on 
appointment of a recent graduate to a position at the Board, and to 
provide college and university officials with information about their 
students who are working in internships or other similar programs 
necessary to a student's obtaining credit for the experience gained.
    c. To disclose information to the Department of Labor, Department 
of Veterans Affairs, Social Security Administration, Department of 
Defense, a Federal Reserve Bank, or any Federal

[[Page 54323]]

agencies that have special civilian employee retirement programs; or to 
a national, State, county, municipal, or other publicly recognized 
charitable or income security, administration agency (e.g., State 
unemployment compensation agencies), when necessary to adjudicate a 
claim under the retirement, insurance, unemployment, or health benefits 
programs of the Board, a Federal Reserve Bank, or any agency cited 
above, or to an agency to conduct an analytical study or audit of 
benefits being paid under such programs.
    d. To disclose to the Office of Federal Employees Group Life 
Insurance, information necessary to verify election, declination, or 
waiver of regular and/or optional life insurance coverage, eligibility 
for payment of a claim for life insurance, or a Thrift Savings Program 
(TSP) election change and designation of beneficiary.
    e. To disclose to the manager of the Federal Reserve Thrift Plan, 
or any other TSP, information necessary to complete enrollment, 
determine appropriate levels of withholding and/or contributions, 
determine eligibility for disbursements, verify designation of 
beneficiary, or to carry out the coordination or audit of the Plan or 
savings program.
    f. To disclose, to health insurance carriers contracting with the 
Board and/or the Federal Government to provide a health benefits plan 
(e.g., Federal Employees Health Benefits Program), 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 or audit of benefit provisions of such contracts.
    g. 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, when 
the Board becomes aware of an indication of a violation or potential 
violation of civil or criminal law or regulation.
    h. To disclose information to any source from which additional 
information is requested (to the extent necessary to identify the 
individual, inform the source of the purpose(s) of the request, and to 
identify the type of information requested), when necessary to obtain 
information relevant to a Board decision to hire or retain an employee, 
issue a security clearance, conduct a security or suitability 
investigation of an individual, classify jobs, let a contract, or issue 
a license, grant, or other benefits.
    i. To disclose to a Federal agency in the executive, legislative or 
judicial branch of government, or to a Federal Reserve Bank, in 
response to its request, or at the initiation of the Board, information 
in connection with the hiring of an employee, the issuance of a 
security clearance, the conducting of a security or suitability 
investigation of an individual, the classifying of jobs, the letting of 
a contract, the issuance of a license, grant, or other benefits by the 
requesting agency, or the lawful statutory, administrative, or 
investigative purpose of the agency to the extent that the information 
is relevant and necessary to the requesting agency's decision.
    j. To provide information to a congressional office from the record 
of an individual in response to an inquiry from the congressional 
office made at the request of the individual.
    k. To disclose information to another Federal agency, a court, or a 
party in litigation before a court or in an administrative proceeding 
being conducted by a Federal agency, when the Board is a party to the 
judicial or administrative proceeding.
    l. To disclose information to the Department of Justice or in a 
proceeding before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative 
body before which the Board is authorized to appear, when:
    (1) The Board or any employee of the Board in his or her official 
capacity; or
    (2) Any employee of the Board in his or her individual capacity 
where the Department of Justice or the Board has agreed to represent 
the employee; or
    (3) The United States (when the Board determines that the 
litigation is likely to affect the Board) 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 Board is deemed by the Board to be 
relevant and necessary to the litigation provided, however, that in 
each case it has been determined that the disclosure is compatible with 
the purpose for which the records were collected.
    m. By the National Archives and Records Administration in 
connection with records management inspections and its role as 
Archivist.
    n. When an individual to whom a record pertains is mentally 
incompetent or under other legal disability, information in the 
individual's record may be disclosed to any person who is responsible 
for the care of the individual, to the extent necessary to assure 
payment of benefits to which the individual is entitled.
    o. To disclose to the Board-appointed representative of an employee 
all notices, determination, decisions, or other written communications 
issued to the employee, in connection with an examination ordered by 
the Board under--
    (1) Fitness-for-duty examination procedures; or
    (2) Agency-filed disability retirement procedures.
    p. To disclose, in response to a request for discovery or for 
appearance of a witness, information that is relevant to the subject 
matter involved in a pending judicial or administrative proceeding.
    q. To disclose to a requesting agency, organization, or individual 
the home address and other relevant information on those individuals 
who it reasonably believed might have contracted an illness or might 
have been exposed to or suffered from a health hazard while employed in 
the Federal workforce.
    r. To disclose information to the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission when requested in connection with investigations or other 
functions vested in the Commission.
    s. To disclose to prospective non-Federal employers the following 
information about a specifically identified current or former Board 
employee: (1) Tenure of employment; (2) civil service status; (3) 
length of service at the Board and in the Government; and (4) when 
separated, the date and nature of action as shown on the Job Action.
    t. To disclose information to contractors, grantees, or volunteers 
performing or working on a contract, service, grant, cooperative 
agreement, or job for the Board.
    u. To disclose information to a Federal, State or local 
governmental entity or agency (or its agent) when necessary to locate 
individuals who are owed money or property either by a Federal, State, 
or local agency, or by a financial or similar institution.
    v. To disclose to a spouse or dependent child (or court-appointed 
guardian thereof) of a Board employee enrolled in the Federal Employees 
Health Benefits Program, upon request, whether the employee has changed 
from a self-and-family to a self-only health benefits enrollment.
    w. To verify for an entity preparing to make a loan to an employee 
the individual's employment status and salary.
    x. To disclose information to officials of labor organizations 
recognized under applicable law when relevant and necessary to their 
duties of exclusive representation concerning personnel policies, 
practices, and matters affecting working conditions.

[[Page 54324]]

    y. To disclose information to the Merit Systems Protection Board or 
the Office of Special Counsel in connection with appeals, special 
studies of the civil service and other merit systems, review of Office 
rules and regulations, investigation of alleged practices, and such 
other functions promulgated in 5 U.S.C. chapter 12, or as may be 
authorized by law.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    Not applicable.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Records are maintained in file folders, microfiche, and in computer 
processable storage media.

Retrievability:
    Records are indexed by name, Social Security number, or 
identification number. Electronically maintained records may be sorted 
and retrieved by other variables, such as date of birth, division in 
which an employee works, or date of hire.

Safeguards:
    Paper or microfiche records are located in locked metal file 
cabinets or in metal file cabinets in secured rooms with access limited 
to those whose official duties require it. Access to computerized 
records is limited, through use of access codes, to those whose 
official duties require it. In addition, access to computerized records 
can be tracked through an automatically-generated audit trail.

Retention and disposal:
    The general employment records are retained indefinitely. An 
individual's benefits records are maintained until the death of the 
last surviving beneficiary.

System manager(s) and address:
    Associate Director, Human Resources Function, Management Division, 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th & Constitution, 
NW, Washington, DC 20551.

Notification procedure:
    Inquiries should be sent to the Secretary of the Board, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th and Constitution Avenue, 
NW, Washington, DC 20551. The request should contain the individual's 
name, date of birth, Social Security number, identification number (if 
known), approximate date of record, and type of position.

Record access procedures:
    Current Board employees who wish to gain access to or contest their 
records should contact the system manager, address above. Former Board 
employees should direct such a request in writing to the Secretary of 
the Board, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20551. The request should 
contain the individual's name, date of birth, Social Security number, 
identification number (if known), approximate date of record, and type 
of position.

Contesting record procedures:
    Same as ``Notification procedure'' above.

Record source categories:
    Information in this system of records comes from the individual to 
whom it applies or is derived from the information the individual 
supplied, except information provided by Board officials. Information 
is also obtained from the following sources: OPM Personnel Management 
Records System; personnel records of other Government agencies; 
personnel records of Federal Reserve Banks; and official transcripts 
from schools when authorized by the employee.

Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Act:
    Pursuant to subsections (k)(2) and (k)(5) of the Privacy Act and 
the Board's regulation relating thereto (12 CFR part 261a), certain 
portions of this system of records may be exempted from certain 
provisions of the Act where: (1) Such portions represent investigatory 
material compiled for law enforcement purposes, or (2) such portions 
represent investigatory material compiled solely for the purpose of 
determining suitability, eligibility, or qualifications for Board 
employment to extent that disclosure of such portions would reveal the 
identity of a source who furnished information under a promise of 
confidentiality.

    By order of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, September 30, 1999.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 99-25923 Filed 10-5-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P