[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
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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