[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 187 (Friday, September 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55665-55666]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24312]


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RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD


Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988; Notice of 
RRB Records Used in Computer Matching

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board (RRB).

ACTION: Notice of records used in computer matching programs; 
notification to individuals who are beneficiaries under the Railroad 
Retirement Act.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection 
Act of 1988, RRB is issuing public notice of its use and intent to use, 
in ongoing computer matching programs, civil service benefit and 
payment information obtained from the Office of Personnel Management 
(OPM).

[[Page 55666]]

    The purpose of this notice is to advise individuals applying for or 
receiving benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act of the use made by 
RRB of this information obtained from OPM by means of a computer match.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may comment on this publication by 
writing to Ms. Beatrice Ezerski, Secretary to the Board, Railroad 
Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. LeRoy Blommaert, Privacy Act 
Officer, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, 
Illinois 60611-2092, telephone number (312) 751-4548.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection 
Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100-503, requires a Federal agency participating 
in a computer matching program to publish a notice regarding the 
establishment of a matching program.
    Name of Participating Agencies: Office of Personnel Management and 
Railroad Retirement Board.
    Purpose of the Match: The purpose of the match is to enable the RRB 
to (1) identify affected RRB annuitants who are in receipt of a Federal 
public pension benefit but who have not reported receipt of this 
benefit to the RRB and (2) receive needed Federal public pension 
benefit information for affected RRB annuitants more timely and 
accurately. Previously the RRB relied on the affected annuitant to 
report adjustments in the amounts of such public pension benefits.
    Authority For Conducting The Match: Sections 3(a)(1), 4(a)(1) and 
4(f)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act require that the RRB reduce the 
Railroad Retirement benefits of certain beneficiaries entitled to 
Railroad Retirement employee and/or spouse/widow benefits who are also 
entitled to a government pension based on their own noncovered 
earnings. This reduction is referred to as Public Service Pension 
offset. Section 224 of the Social Security Act provides for the 
reduction of disability benefits when the disabled worker is also 
entitled to a public disability benefit (PDB). This reduction is 
referred to as PDB offset. A civil service disability benefit is 
considered a PDB. Section 224(h)(1) requires any Federal agency to 
provide RRB with information in its possession that RRB may require for 
the purposes of making a timely determination of the amount of 
reduction under section 224 of the Social Security Act. Pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. Section 552A(B)(3) OPM has established routine uses to disclose 
the subject information to RRB.
    Categories of Record and Individuals Covered: The records to be 
used in the match and the roles of the matching participants are 
described as follows: OMB will provide RRB twice a year with a magnetic 
tape file extracted from its annuity and survivor master file of its 
Civil Service Retirement and Insurance Records. The Privacy Act System 
of Record designation is OPM/Central-1. The following information from 
this OPM Privacy Act System of Records will be transmitted to RRB for 
the approximately 2.3 million records in the system: Name, social 
security number, date of birth, civil service claim number, first 
potential month and year of eligibility for civil service benefits, 
first month, day, year of entitlement to civil service benefits, amount 
of gross civil service benefits, and effective date (month, day, year) 
of civil service amount, and where applicable, civil service disability 
indicator, civil service FICA covered month indicator, and civil 
service total service months. The RRB will match the Social Security 
number, name, and date of birth contained in the OMB file against the 
same fields in its Master Benefit Files. The Privacy Act System of 
Records designations for these files are: RRB-25, ``Research Master 
Record for Survivor Beneficiaries Under the Railroad Retirement Act,'' 
and RRB-26, ``Research Master Record for Railroad Employees and Their 
Dependents.'' For records that are matched, the RRB will extract the 
civil service payment information.
    Inclusive Dates of the Matching Program: The matching program will 
become effective 40 days after a copy of the agreement, as approved by 
the Data Integrity Board of each agency, is sent to Congress and the 
Office of Management and Budget, or 30 days after publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register, whichever date is later. The matching 
program will continue for 18 months after the effective date and may be 
extended for an additional 12 months, if the conditions specified in 5 
U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.
    The notice we are giving here in is addition to any individual 
notice.
    A copy of this notice has been or will be furnished to both Houses 
of Congress and the Office of Management and Budget.

    Dated: September 11, 2003.

    By Authority of the Board.
Beatrice Ezerski,
Secretary to the Board.
[FR Doc. 03-24312 Filed 9-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-M