[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 111 (Thursday, June 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37218-37219]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-13643]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program (Railroad Retirement 
Board--Office of Personnel Management)

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board (RRB).

ACTION: Notice of a renewal of an existing computer-matching program 
that expires on July 1, 2016.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DATES: This matching program will become effective July 19, 2016. 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, with an expiration 
date of January 1, 2019.
SUMMARY: As required by the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the RRB is 
issuing public notice of its renewal of an ongoing computer-matching 
program with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). 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.
    We will file a report of this computer-matching program with the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives; and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Timothy Grant, Chief Privacy 
Officer, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, 
Illinois 60611-2092, telephone 312-751-4869 or email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. General

    The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, (Pub. L. 
100-503), amended by the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. 552a) as 
amended, requires a Federal agency participating in a computer matching 
program to publish a notice in the Federal Register for all matching 
programs.
    The Privacy Act, as amended, regulates the use of computer matching 
by Federal agencies when records contained in a Privacy Act System of 
Records are matched with other Federal, State, or local government 
records. It requires Federal agencies involved in computer matching 
programs to:
    (1) Negotiate written agreements with the other agency or agencies 
participating in the matching programs;
    (2) Obtain the approval of the matching agreement by the Data 
Integrity Boards (DIB) of the participating Federal agencies;
    (3) Publish notice of the computer matching program in the Federal 
Register;
    (4) Furnish detailed reports about matching programs to Congress 
and OMB;
    (5) Notify applicants and beneficiaries that their records are 
subject to matching; and
    (6) Verify match findings before reducing, suspending, terminating, 
or denying a person's benefits or payments. The last published notice 
for this matching program was November 27, 2013 (78 FR 70971).

B. RRB Computer Matches Subject to the Privacy Act

    We have taken appropriate action to ensure that all of our computer 
matching programs comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act, as 
amended.

Notice of Computer Matching Program, RRB With the Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM)

A. Name of Participating Agencies
    OPM and RRB.
B. Purpose of the Matching Program
    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 timely and accurate Federal public pension benefit 
information for affected RRB annuitants.
C. Authority for Conducting the Match
    Sections 3(a)(1), 4(a)(1) and 4(f)(1) of the Railroad Retirement 
Act, as amended, 45 U.S.C. 231b(a)(1), 231c(a)(1) and 231c(f)(1) 
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 non-covered earnings. We call this reduction a Public Service 
Pension (PSP) offset.
    Section 224 of the Social Security Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 424a, 
provides for the reduction of disability benefits when the disabled 
worker is also entitled to a public disability benefit (PDB). We call 
this a PDB offset. A civil service disability benefit is considered a 
PDB. Section 224(h)(1) requires any Federal agency to provide RRB with

[[Page 37219]]

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.
D. Categories of Individuals Covered
    Individuals receiving Federal public pensions or RRB annuities.
E. Categories of Records Covered
    OPM will provide the RRB once a year via secure electronic file 
transfer, data extracted from its annuity and survivor master file of 
its Civil Service Retirement and Insurance Records. Normally on 
December of each year, OPM transmits to us approximately 2.5 million 
electronic records for matching. The records contain these data 
elements: 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 current 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 OPM file against approximately the 1.2 million records 
in our files. For records that match, the RRB will extract the civil 
service payment information.
F. Systems of Records Covered
    The Privacy Act System of Records designation is OPM/Central-1, 
(Civil Service Retirement and Insurance Records), Published in the 
Federal Register on June 7, 2011 (76 FR 32997). The RRB Privacy Act 
System of Records is RRB-22, Railroad Retirement, Survivor, and 
Pensioner Benefit System, published in the Federal Register on May 15, 
2015 (80 FR 28018).

    Dated: June 6, 2016.

    By authority of the Board.
Martha P. Rico,
Secretary to the Board.
[FR Doc. 2016-13643 Filed 6-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7905-01-P