[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63012-63016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-25693]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Departmental Offices; Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Departmental Offices, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed New Privacy Act System of Records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 
1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Treasury Department, Departmental 
Offices, gives notice of a newly proposed system of records, 
``Treasury/DO .214-DC Pensions Retirement Records.''

DATES: Comments must be received no later than November 8, 2002. The 
proposed new system of records will become effective November 18, 2002 
unless comments are received which would result in a contrary 
determination.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Department of the Treasury, ATTN: 
Marc Rigrodsky, Office of the General Counsel, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Room 1410, Washington, DC 20220, or to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marc Rigrodsky, (202) 622-0450.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of the Treasury (Department) 
is establishing the DC Pensions Retirement Records system to assist the 
Department in carrying out its responsibilities under Title XI of the 
Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Pub. L. 105-33, as amended (the Act), for

[[Page 63013]]

administering and paying retirement benefits for certain teachers, 
police officers, firefighters, and judges who were or are employed by 
the government of the District of Columbia (District). The Federal 
Government is responsible for paying police officers,'' firefighters', 
and teachers' retirement benefits based upon service accrued through 
June 30, 1997. The District is responsible for paying benefits based 
upon service accrued after June 30, 1997. The Federal Government is 
responsible for paying judges' retirement benefits regardless of when 
they accrued. All benefit payments that are the responsibility of the 
Federal Government under the three District retirement programs 
(police-firefighters, teachers, and judges) are referred to herein as 
``Federal benefit payments.'' Benefit payments for service accrued 
after June 30, 1997, to which an individual is entitled under the 
District's Replacement Plan for police officers, firefighters and 
teachers, are the responsibility of the District.
    This system of records will consist of information furnished by the 
subjects of the records, the District and other entities or persons 
that will enable the Department to calculate and verify eligibility 
for, and calculate amounts of, Federal benefit payments payable by the 
Department under the Act. The records in this system will be maintained 
indefinitely. Because records in the system are retrieved by individual 
identifier, including by name, social security number and an 
automatically assigned, system generated number, the Privacy Act of 
1974, as amended, requires a general notice of the existence of this 
system of records to the public.
    The new system of records report, as required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) 
of the Privacy Act, has been submitted to the Committee on Government 
Operations of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Office of Management and 
Budget, pursuant to Appendix I to OMB Circular A-130, ``Federal Agency 
Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals,'' dated 
November 30, 2000.
    The proposed system of records, ``Treasury/DO .214-D.C. Pensions 
Retirement Records,'' is published in its entirety below.

    Dated: October 2, 2002.
W. Earl Wright, Jr.,
Chief, Management and Administrative Programs Officer.
TREASURY/DO .214.

System name:
    D.C. Pensions Retirement Records.

System Location:
    Director, Office of D.C. Pensions, Department of the Treasury, 
Metropolitan Square, Washington, DC 20220. Certain records pertaining 
to Federal benefit payments are located with contractors engaged by the 
Department of the Treasury (Department), bureaus of the Department, and 
the government of the District of Columbia (District).

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    a. Former District teachers, police officers and firefighters who 
performed service subject to the District's retirement plans for 
teachers, and police officers and firefighters, on or before June 30, 
1997.
    b. Former District judges, regardless of their dates of service.
    c. Current District teachers, police officers, firefighters, who 
have performed service prior to July 1, 1997:
    (1) that may make them eligible to receive Federal benefit 
payments;
    (2) who have filed a designation of beneficiary for Federal benefit 
payments; or
    (3) who have filed a service credit application in connection with 
former Federal service; or
    (4) who have filed an application for disability retirement with 
the District or the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) and who are 
waiting for a final decision, whose disability retirement application 
has been approved by the District or the Secretary, or whose disability 
retirement application has been disapproved by the District or the 
Secretary, and who will receive or would have received Federal benefit 
payments if their applications are or had been approved.
    d. Current District judges;
    e. Former District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and 
judges who died entitled to or while receiving Federal benefit 
payments, or their surviving spouses, and/or children and/or dependent 
parents.
    f. Former spouses of District teachers, police officers, 
firefighters, and judges, who have received or are receiving Federal 
benefit payments, or who have filed a court order awarding future 
benefits.

Categories of records in the system:
    This system comprises retirement service history records of 
employee service in the District, the Federal Government, and other 
entities upon which Federal benefit payments may be based. Also 
included in the system are current personnel data pertaining to active 
District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges who, by 
virtue of the Act, may be eligible for Federal benefit payments. It 
also contains information concerning health benefit and group life 
insurance enrollment/change in enrollment. Also included are medical 
records and supporting evidence for disability retirement applications, 
and documentation regarding their acceptance or rejection. Consent 
forms and other records related to the withholding of State income tax 
from annuitant payments, whether physically maintained by the State or 
the Department, are included in this system.
    These records contain the following information:
    a. Documentation of District service subject to the retirement 
plans for District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges.
    b. Documentation of service credit and refund claims made by 
District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges under 
their retirement plans who are potentially eligible for Federal benefit 
payments.
    c. Documentation of retirement contributions made by eligible 
teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges.
    d. Retirement and death claims files applicable to Federal benefit 
payments, including documents supporting the retirement application, 
health benefits, and life insurance eligibility, medical records 
supporting disability claims, and designations of beneficiary.
    e. Enrollment and change in enrollment information under the 
Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the employee health benefits 
program for District employees, the Federal Employee Group Life 
Insurance Program and the employee group life insurance program for 
District employees.
    f. Court orders submitted by former spouses of District teachers, 
police officers, firefighters, and judges in support of claims for 
Federal benefit payments.
    g. Records relating to overpayments of Federal benefit payments and 
other debts arising from the Federal Government's responsibility to 
administer the retirement plans for District judges, police officers, 
firefighters, and teachers, and records relating to other Federal debts 
owed by recipients of Federal benefit payments.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    Title XI, Subtitle A, chapters 1 through 9, and Subtitle C, chapter 
4, subchapter B of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Pub. L. 105-33.

Purpose(s):
    These records provide information on which to base determinations 
of:

[[Page 63014]]

eligibility for, and computation of, Federal benefit payments; 
eligibility and premiums for health insurance and group life insurance; 
and withholding of State income taxes from annuities. These records 
also may be used to locate individuals for personnel research.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    These records may be used:
    1. 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, where 
the Department becomes aware of an indication of a violation or 
potential violation of civil or criminal law or regulation.
    2. To disclose information to a Federal agency, in response to its 
request in connection with the hiring or retention of an employee, the 
issuance of a security clearance, the conducting of a suitability or 
security investigation of an individual, the classifying of jobs, the 
letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant, or other 
benefit by the requesting agency, to the extent that the information is 
relevant and necessary to the requesting agency's decision on the 
matter.
    3. To provide information to a congressional office from the record 
of an individual in response to an inquiry from that congressional 
office made at the request of that individual.
    4. To disclose information to another Federal agency, to a court, 
or a party in litigation before a court or in an administrative 
proceeding being conducted by a Federal agency, when the Federal 
Government is a party to the judicial or administrative proceeding. In 
those cases where the Federal Government is not a party to the 
proceeding, records may be disclosed if a subpoena has been signed by a 
judge.
    5. To disclose information to the National Archives and Records 
Administration for use in records management inspections.
    6. To disclose information to the Department of Justice, or in a 
proceeding before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative 
body before which the Department is authorized to appear, when:
    (A) The Department, or any component thereof;
    (B) Any employee of the Department in his or her official capacity;
    (C) Any employee of the Department in his or her individual 
capacity where the Department of Justice or the Department has agreed 
to represent the employee;
    (D) The United States, when the Department determines that 
litigation is likely to affect the Department or any of its components; 
or
    (E) The Federal funds established by the Act to pay Federal benefit 
payments; 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 Department is deemed by the Department of Justice or the Department 
to be relevant and necessary to the litigation provided, however, that 
the disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which records were 
collected.
    7. To disclose information to contractors, subcontractors, 
financial agents, grantees, or volunteers performing or working on a 
contract, service, grant, cooperative agreement, or job for the 
Department, including the District.
    8. To disclose, to the following recipients, information needed to 
adjudicate a claim for Federal benefit payments under the retirement 
plans for District teachers, police officers, firefighters, and judges, 
or information needed to conduct an analytical study of benefits being 
paid under such programs as: Social Security Administration's Old Age, 
Survivor and Disability Insurance and Medical Programs, military 
retired pay programs; and Federal civilian employee retirement programs 
(Civil Service Retirement System, Federal Employees Retirement System, 
and other Federal retirement systems).
    9. To disclose to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and 
to the District information necessary to verify the election, 
declination, or waiver of regular and/or optional life insurance 
coverage.
    10. To disclose to health insurance carriers contracting with OPM 
to provide a health benefits plan under the Federal Employees Health 
Benefits Program or health insurance carriers contracting with the 
District to provide a health benefits plan under the health benefits 
program for District employees, Social Security Numbers and other 
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 for benefits provisions of such contracts.
    11. To disclose to any inquirer, if sufficient information is 
provided to assure positive identification of an individual on whom the 
Department maintains records, the fact that an individual is or is not 
on the retirement rolls, and if so, the type of annuity (employment or 
survivor, but not retirement on disability) being paid, or if not, 
whether a refund has been paid.
    12. When an individual to whom a record pertains dies, to disclose 
to any person possibly entitled in the applicable order of precedence 
for lump-sum benefits, information in the individual's record that 
might properly be disclosed to the individual, and the name and 
relationship of any other person whose claim for benefits takes 
precedence or who is entitled to share the benefits payable.
    13. To disclose information to any person who is legally 
responsible for the care of an individual to whom a record pertains, or 
who otherwise has an existing, facially-valid Power of Attorney, 
information necessary to assure payment of Federal benefit payments to 
which the individual is entitled.
    14. To disclose to the Parent Locator Service of the Department of 
Health and Human Services, upon its request, the present address of a 
Federal benefit payments annuitant or survivor, or a former employee 
entitled to deferred Federal benefit payments, for enforcing child 
support obligations of such individual.
    15. In connection with an examination ordered by the District or 
the Secretary of the Treasury under
    (A) Medical examination procedures; or
    (B) Involuntary disability retirement procedures to disclose to the 
representative of an employee, notices, decisions, other written 
communications, or any other pertinent medical evidence other than 
medical evidence about which a prudent physician would hesitate to 
inform the individual; such medical evidence will be disclosed only to 
a licensed physician, designated in writing for that purpose by the 
individual or his or her representative. The physician must be capable 
of explaining the contents of the medical record(s) to the individual 
and be willing to provide the entire record(s) to the individual.
    16. To disclose information to any source from which the Department 
seeks additional information that is relevant to a determination of an 
individual's eligibility for, or entitlement to, coverage under the 
applicable retirement, life insurance, and health benefits program, to 
the extent necessary to obtain the information requested.
    17. To disclose information to the Office of Management and Budget 
at any stage of the legislative coordination and clearance process in 
connection with private relief legislation as set forth in OMB Circular 
No. A-19.

[[Page 63015]]

    18. To disclose to a Federal agency, in response to its request, 
the address of an annuitant or applicant for refund of retirement 
deductions, if the agency requires that information in connection with 
the collection of a debt due the United States.
    19. To disclose to a State agency responsible for the collection of 
State income taxes the information required by an agreement authorized 
by law to implement voluntary State income tax withholdings from 
Federal benefit payments.
    20. To disclose to the Social Security Administration the names and 
Social Security Numbers of Federal benefit payment annuitants when 
necessary to determine: (1) Their vital status as shown in the Social 
Security Master Records; and (2) whether retirees receiving Federal 
benefit payments under the District's retirement plan for police 
officers and firefighters with post-1956 military service credit are 
eligible for or are receiving old age or survivors benefits under 
section 202 of the Social Security Act based upon their wages and self-
employment income.
    21. To disclose to Federal, State, and local government agencies 
information about retirees and survivors under the retirement plans 
administered by the Department pursuant to the Act, including name, 
Social Security Number, date of birth, sex, health benefit enrollment 
code, retirement date, retirement code (type of retirement), annuity 
rate, pay status of case, correspondence address, and ZIP code, to help 
eliminate fraud and abuse in a benefits program administered by a 
requesting Federal, State, or local government agency, to ensure 
compliance with Federal, State, and local government tax obligations by 
persons receiving Federal benefits payments under such retirement 
plans, and to collect debts and overpayments owed to the requesting 
Federal, State, or local government agency.
    22. To disclose to a Federal agency, or a person or an organization 
under contract with a Federal agency to render collection services for 
a Federal agency as permitted by law, in response to a written request 
from the head of the agency or his designee, or from the debt 
collection contractor, the following data concerning an individual 
owing a debt to the Federal Government: (A) The debtor's name, address, 
Social Security Number, and other information necessary to establish 
the identity of the individual; and (B) the amount, status, and history 
of the debtor's Federal benefit payments.
    23. To disclose, as permitted by law, information to a State court 
or administrative agency in connection with a garnishment, attachment, 
or similar proceeding to enforce an alimony or a child support 
obligation.
    24. To disclose to a former spouse information necessary to explain 
how that former spouse's benefit was computed.
    25. To disclose information necessary to locate individuals who are 
owed money or property by a Federal, State or local government agency, 
or by a financial institution or similar institution, to the government 
agency owing or otherwise responsible for the money or property (or its 
agent).
    26. To disclose information necessary in connection with the review 
of a disputed claim for health benefits to a health plan provider 
participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or the 
health benefits program for employees of the District, and to a program 
enrollee or covered family member or an enrollee or covered family 
member's authorized representative.
    27. To disclose to an agency of a State or local government, or a 
private individual or association engaged in volunteer work, 
identifying and address information and other pertinent facts, for the 
purpose of developing an application by such an entity or person to 
serve as a representative payee for a person who is mentally 
incompetent or under other legal disability and who is or may be 
eligible for Federal benefit payments.
    28. To disclose information to another Federal agency for the 
purpose of effecting administrative or salary offset against a person 
employed by that agency or receiving or eligible to receive benefit 
payments from the agency when the Department as a creditor has a claim 
against that person relating to Federal benefit payments.
    29. To disclose information concerning delinquent debts relating to 
Federal benefit payments to other Federal agencies for the purpose of 
barring delinquent debtors from obtaining Federal loans or loan 
insurance guarantees pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3720B.
    30. To disclose information concerning delinquent debts relating to 
Federal benefit payments to State and local governments, for the 
purpose of collecting such debts.

Disclosures to consumer reporting agencies:
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(12), disclosures may be made from this 
system to consumer reporting agencies in accordance with 31 U.S.C. 
3711(e).

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, safeguarding, retaining 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    These records are maintained on magnetic tapes, disks, microfiche, 
and in paper folders.

Retrievability:
    These records are retrieved by the name and/or Social Security 
Number and/or an automatically assigned, system generated number, of 
the individual to whom they pertain.

Safeguards:
    Records are kept in lockable metal file cabinets or in a secured 
facility with access limited to those persons whose official duties 
require access. Data in electronic format may also be password 
protected. Personnel screening and training are employed to prevent 
unauthorized disclosure.

Retention and disposal:
    All records on a claim for retirement, including salary and service 
history, survivor annuity elections and tax and other withholdings are 
maintained permanently. Records not relevant to the calculation, 
administration, and payment of Federal benefit payments are disposed of 
in accordance with Department guidelines. Disposal of paper records and 
microfiche is by shredding or burning; magnetic tapes and discs are 
erased.

System manager(s) and address:
    Director, Office of DC Pensions, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 
Washington, DC 20220.

Notification procedure:
    Individuals seeking notification and access to any record contained 
in the system of records, or seeking to contest its contents, should 
contact the system manager. Individuals must furnish the following 
information for their records to be located and identified:
    a. Name, including all former names.
    b. Date of birth.
    c. Social Security Number.
    d. Name and address of office in which currently and/or formerly 
employed in the District.
    e. Annuity, service credit, or voluntary contributions account 
number, if assigned.
    f. Automatically assigned, system generated number, if known.
    Individuals requesting amendment of their records must also follow 
the Department's Privacy Act regulations regarding verification of 
identity and amendment of records (31 CFR part 1 subpart C, appendix 
A).

[[Page 63016]]

Record access procedure:
    See ``Notification procedure,'' above.

Contesting record procedure:
    See ``Notification procedure,'' above.

Record source categories:
    The information in this system is obtained from:
    a. The individual to whom the information pertains.
    b. District pay, leave, and allowance records.
    c. Health benefits and life insurance plan systems records 
maintained by the Office of Personnel Management and the District.
    d. Federal civilian retirement systems.
    e. Military retired pay system records.
    f. Social Security Old Age, Survivor, and Disability Insurance and 
Medicare Programs.
    g. Health insurance carriers and plans participating in the Federal 
Employee Health Benefits Program and the health benefits program for 
employees of the District.
    h. Official personnel folders.
    i. The individual's co-workers and supervisors.
    j. Physicians who have examined or treated the individual.
    k. Former spouses of the individual to whom the information 
pertains.
    l. State courts or support enforcement agencies.
    m. Credit bureaus.
    n. The District Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief 
Board.
    o. The District Board of Education.
    p. The District Public Charter School Board.
    q. District public charter schools.
    r. The Executive Office of the District of Columbia Courts.
    s. The General Services Administration National Payroll Center.
    t. The District Retirement Board.
    u. The District Office of Personnel.
    v. The District Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.

[FR Doc. 02-25693 Filed 10-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-94-P