[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 2, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15523-15525]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-7860]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 63 / Tuesday, April 2, 2002 / 
Notices  

[[Page 15523]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Privacy Act of 1974: New System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: USDA proposes to add a new system of records to its inventory 
of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), 
as amended. This action is necessary to meet the requirements of the 
Privacy Act to publish in the Federal Register notice of the existence 
and character of records systems maintained by the agency (5 U.S.C. 
552a(e)(4)).

DATES: This notice will be adopted without further publication in the 
Federal Register on May 17, 2002, unless modified by a subsequent 
notice to incorporate comments received from the public. Although the 
Privacy Act requires only that the portion of the system that describes 
the ``routine uses'' of the system be published for comment, USDA 
invites comment on all portions of this notice. Comments must be 
received by the contact person listed below on or before May 2, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to the Department of Agriculture, 
ATTN: Marge Adams, Office of Human Resources Management, 1400 
Independence Ave, SW, Room 3027-S, Washington, DC 20250-9606.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marge Adams, 202-720-3286.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, 
USDA is creating a new system of records to be maintained by either an 
external contractor such as the Federal Employee and Education 
Assistance Fund and/or mission areas/agencies/staff offices to support 
the USDA Child Care Tuition Assistance Program, a program to increase 
the affordability of licensed child care for lower income Federal 
employees, as provided for in Pub. L. 107-67, section 630. The 
information requested of these employees is necessary to establish and 
verify USDA employees' eligibility for child care tuition assistance 
and the amounts of the tuition assistance in order for USDA to provide 
monetary tuition assistance to its employees. It will also be used to 
collect information from the employee's child care provider(s) for 
verification purposes; e.g., that the provider is licensed. Collection 
of data will be by tuition assistance application forms submitted by 
employees.
    The purpose of the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program is to make 
child care more affordable for lower income Federal employees through 
the use of agency appropriated funds. This program will afford 
employees the opportunity to place their children in a licensed child 
day care programs regulated by State or local authorities or sponsored 
by the Federal government.
    A ``Report on New System,'' required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), as 
implemented by OMB Circular A-130, was sent to the Chairman, Committee 
on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, the Chairman, Committee 
on Government Reform and Oversight, House of Representatives, and the 
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget on March 27, 2002.

    Signed at Washington, DC on March 22, 2002.
Ann Veneman,
Secretary of Agriculture.
USDA/OHRM-5

System Name:
    USDA Child Care Tuition Assistance Records System, USDA/OHRM-5.

System Location:
    Paper and electronic records may be maintained by an external 
contractor such as the Federal Employee and Education Assistance Fund, 
Suite 200, 8441 West Bowles Avenue, Littleton, CO 80123-9501; and/or 
mission areas/agencies/staff offices.

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    Employees of the Department of Agriculture who voluntarily apply 
for child care tuition assistance, their spouses, and their children 
who are enrolled in a licensed child day care program.
    Child-care providers of these employees.

Categories of Records in the System:
    Application forms (OPM-1046 will be used) for child day care 
assistance containing personal information, including the employee 
(parent) name, Social Security Number, pay grade, home and work 
numbers, addresses, and telephone numbers; total family income; 
spouse's name and Social Security Number; spouse's employment 
information; names of children on whose behalf the employee (parent) is 
applying for tuition assistance; each child's date of birth; 
information on child care providers used (including name, address, 
provider license number and State where issued, tuition cost, and 
provider tax identification number), amount of any other subsidies 
received; and copies of employees' and spouses' individual income tax 
returns for verification purposes. Other records may include the 
child's Social Security Number, weekly expenses, pay statements, 
records relating to direct deposits, and verification of qualification 
and administration for child care assistance.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    Pub. L. 107-67, section 630.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purposes of Such Uses:
    a. Relevant records relating to an individual may be disclosed to a 
congressional office in response to an inquiry from the Congressional 
office made at the request of that individual.
    b. Relevant information may be disclosed to the Office of the 
President for responding to an individual.
    c. Relevant records may be disclosed to representatives of the 
National Archives and Records Administration who are conducting records 
management inspections.
    d. Records may be disclosed in response to a request for discovery 
or for the appearance of a witness, to the extent that what is 
disclosed is relevant to the subject matter involved in a pending 
judicial or administrative proceeding.
    e. Relevant records may be disclosed to another Federal agency, to 
a court, or a party in litigation before a court or in

[[Page 15524]]

an administrative proceeding being conducted by a Federal agency, when 
the Government is a party to the judicial or administrative proceeding. 
In those cases where the Government is not a party to the proceeding, 
relevant records may be disclosed if a subpoena has been signed by a 
judge of competent jurisdiction.
    f. Records may be disclosed to the Department of Justice, or in a 
proceeding before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative 
body before which USDA is authorized to appear, when:
    (1) USDA, or any component thereof; or
    (2) Any employee of USDA in his or her official capacity; or
    (3) Any employee of USDA in his or her individual capacity where 
the Department of Justice or USDA has agreed to represent the employee; 
or
    (4) The United States, when USDA determines that litigation is 
likely to affect USDA or any of its components; is a party to 
litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and the use of such 
records by the Department of Justice or USDA is deemed by USDA to be 
relevant and necessary to the litigation provided, however, that the 
disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which records were 
collected.
    g. In the event that material in this system indicates a violation 
of law, whether civil, criminal, or regulatory in nature, and whether 
arising by general statute, or by regulation, rule, or order issued 
pursuant thereto, the relevant records may be disclosed to the 
appropriate agency, whether Federal, State, local, or foreign, charged 
with the responsibility of investigating or prosecuting such violation 
or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, rule, 
regulation, or order, issued pursuant thereto.
    h. Relevant records may be disclosed to respond to a Federal 
agency's request made in connection with the hiring or retention of an 
employee, the letting of a contract or issuance of a grant, license or 
other benefit by the requesting agency, but only to the extent that the 
information disclosed is relevant and necessary to the requesting 
agency's decision on the matter.
    i. Relevant records may be disclosed to the Office of Personnel 
Management or the General Accounting Office when the information is 
required for evaluation of the subsidy program.
    j. Records may be disclosed to a contractor, expert, consultant, 
grantee, or volunteer performing or working on a contract, service, 
grant, cooperative agreement, or job for the Federal Government 
requiring the use of these records.
    k. Relevant records may be disclosed to child care providers to 
verify a covered child's dates of attendance at the provider's 
facility.
    l. Records may be disclosed by USDA in the production of summary 
descriptive statistics and analytical studies in support of the 
function for which the records are collected and maintained, or for 
related workforce studies. While published studies do not contain 
individual identifiers, in some instances the selection of elements of 
data included in the study may be structured in such a way as to make 
the data individually identifiable by inference.
    m. Records may be disclosed to officials of the Merit Systems 
Protection Board of the Office of the Special Counsel, when requested 
in connection with appeals, special studies of the civil service and 
other merit systems, review of USDA rules and regulations, 
investigations of alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, 
and such other functions, e.g., as promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 
1206, or as may be authorized by law.
    n. Records may be disclosed to the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission when requested in connection with investigations into 
alleged or possible discrimination practices in the Federal sector, 
compliance by Federal agencies with the Uniform Guidelines on Employee 
Selection Procedures or other functions vested in the Commission and to 
otherwise ensure compliance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 7201.
    o. Records may be disclosed to the Federal Labor Relations 
Authority or its General Counsel when requested in connection with 
investigations of allegations of unfair labor practices or matters 
before the Federal Service Impasses Panel.
    p. Relevant records may be disclosed to the Internal Revenue 
Service in connection with tax audit and tax record administration, as 
well as suspected tax fraud.

Purpose(s):
    To establish and verify USDA employees' eligibility for child care 
tuition assistance in order for USDA to provide monetary tuition 
assistance to its employees.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    Information may be collected on paper or electronically and may be 
stored as paper forms or on computers.

Retrievability:
    By name; may also be cross-referenced to Social Security Number.

Safeguards:
    When not in use by an authorized person, paper records are stored 
in lockable file cabinets or secured rooms. Electronic records are 
protected by the use of passwords.

Retention and Disposal:
    Records disposition authority is being requested from the National 
Archives and Records Administration. Records will be retained until 
appropriate disposition authority is obtained, and records will then be 
disposed of in accordance with the authority granted. Records 
Administration (NARA) guidelines.

System Manager(s) and Address:
    USDA's system manager will be the Director, Office of Human 
Resources Management, Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave, 
SW., Washington, DC 20250-9606, with Mission Areas/Agencies/Staff 
Offices maintaining their own records.

Notification Procedure:
    Individuals may submit a request on whether a system contains 
records about them to the system manager indicated. Individuals must 
furnish the following for their records to be located and identified:
    Full name.
    Social Security Number.

Record Access Procedure:
    Individuals wishing to request access to records about them should 
contact the system manager indicated. Individuals must provide the 
following information for their records to be located and identified:
    Full name.
    Social Security Number.
    Individuals requesting access must also follow the USDA's Privacy 
Act regulations regarding verification of identity and access to 
records (7 CFR part 1, subpart G).

Contesting Record Procedure:
    Individuals wishing to request amendment of records about them 
should contact the system manager indicated. Individuals must furnish 
the following information for their records to be located and 
identified:

[[Page 15525]]

    Full name.
    Social Security Number.
    Individuals requesting amendment must also follow the USDA's 
Privacy Act regulations regarding verification of identity and 
amendment of records (7 CFR part 1, subpart G).

Record Source Categories:
    Information is provided by USDA employees who apply for child care 
tuition assistance. Furnishing of the information is voluntary.
[FR Doc. 02-7860 Filed 4-1-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-96-P