[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 48 (Monday, March 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17529-17530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05097]
[[Page 17529]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
[Docket ID: OPM-2024-0003]
Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program
AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 and the Computer
Matching Privacy Protections Amendment of 1990 (Privacy Act), and
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance on the conduct of
matching programs, notice is hereby given of the reestablishment of a
matching program between the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and
the Social Security Administration (SSA) (Computer Matching Agreement
1045), the purpose of which is to assist OPM in meeting its legal
obligation to offset benefits payable by OPM to annuitants.
DATES: Please submit comments on or before April 10, 2024. The matching
program will begin on April 20, 2024, unless comments have been
received from interested members of the public that require
modification and republication of the notice. The matching program will
continue for 18 months from the beginning date and may be extended for
an additional 12 months if the respective agency Data Integrity Boards
determine that the conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(D) have
been met.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments via mail to: Stanley McMichael,
Resource Management Officer, Retirement Services and Management,
Retirement Services, Office of Personnel Management, Room 3313-D, 1900
E. Street NW Washington, DC 20415 or via email at
[email protected]. You may also submit comments, identified by
docket number and title, at the Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions for submitting
comments. All submissions received must include the agency name and
docket number for this document. The general policy for comments and
other submissions from members of the public is to make these
submissions available for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov
as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers
or contact information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Morgan, Retirement Services,
Office of Personnel Management, at (202) 936-0866.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974,
as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988
and the Computer Matching Privacy Protection Amendment of 1990 (Privacy
Act), and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance on the conduct
of matching programs, including OMB Final Guidance Interpreting the
Provision of Public Law 100-53 (published in the Federal Register on
June 19, 1989 (54 FR 25818) and OMB Circular A-108, notice is hereby
given of a re-established matching program between the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) and the Social Security Administration
(SSA). This matching program, Computer Matching Agreement 1045, is
being reestablished to enable SSA to disclose wage and self-employment
income information to OPM. OPM will match SSA's information with OPM's
records on disability retirees under age 60, disabled adult child
survivors, certain retirees in receipt of a supplemental benefit under
the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), and certain annuitants
receiving a discontinued service retirement benefit under the Civil
Service Retirement System (CSRS). The law limits the amount these
retirees, survivors, and annuitants can earn while retaining benefits
paid to them. Retirement benefits cease upon re-employment in Federal
service for discontinued service annuitants. OPM will use the earnings
and self-employment information from SSA to determine continued
eligibility for benefits under OPM programs.
PARTICIPATING AGENCIES:
OPM and SSA.
AUTHORITY FOR CONDUCTING THE MATCHING PROGRAM:
Legal authorities for the disclosures under this agreement are 5
U.S.C. 8337(d), 8341(a)(4)(B), 8344(a)(4)(b), and 8468, which establish
earnings limitations for certain CSRS and FERS annuitants. The
authority to terminate benefits may be found in 5 U.S.C. 8341(e)(3)(B)
and 8443(b)(3)(B). The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), at 26 U.S.C. 6103
(l)(11), requires SSA to disclose tax return information to OPM upon
request for purposes of the administration of chapters 83 and 84 of
title 5 of the United States Code. SSA is authorized to verify the SSNs
submitted by OPM under the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)); the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1306); and SSA's privacy regulations (20
CFR part 401).
PURPOSE(S):
The purpose of this agreement between OPM and SSA is to assist OPM
in meeting its legal obligation to offset benefits payable by OPM to
annuitants. SSA will disclose wage and self-employment income data
available from tax return information governed by the Internal Revenue
Code (IRC), (26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(11)) information to OPM. OPM will use
the wage and self-employment data obtained from SSA to match against
OPM's records of disability retirees under age 60, disabled adult-child
survivors, certain retirees in receipt of a supplemental benefit under
the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS), and certain annuitants
receiving a discontinued service retirement benefit under the Civil
Service Retirement System (CSRS). Because the law limits the amount
these individuals can earn and still retain the benefits paid to them
by OPM, OPM will use the SSA information to determine an individual's
continued eligibility to receive a benefit from OPM.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS:
The individuals whose information is involved in this matching
program are those disability retirees under the age of 60, disabled
adult-child survivors, certain retirees in receipt of a supplemental
benefit under the FERS, and certain annuitants receiving a discontinued
service retirement benefit under the CSRS who receive benefits from
OPM. SSA will provide information about these individuals by
referencing their master file of all individuals with Social Security
numbers (SSN) and their file of earnings and self-employment records.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS:
The categories of records involved in this matching program include
the full name, SSN, date of birth, and the tax year for requested
earnings for those individuals about who the match is being conducted.
In turn, SSA will disclose the following records to OPM: In the case of
a ``match'' response, SSA will disclose wage and self- employment data
(employer identification number(s), employer address(es), wage
amount(s) from Form W-2, and/or earnings amount(s) from self-
employment, annual total wages, and earnings report type) to OPM. SSA
will also provide a death indicator if the individual is listed as
deceased in SSA records. In the case of a ``no-match'' response, SSA
will disclose the reason for the ``no match'', which may include the
following: SSN not in file (never issued to anyone); Name and DOB
[[Page 17530]]
match; gender code does not; Name and gender code match; DOB does not;
Name matches, DOB, and gender code do not; Name does not match; DOB and
gender code not checked Death indicator (yes/no) if applicable; gender
is not required to perform SSN verifications by SSA; it is optional.
SYSTEM(S) OF RECORDS:
OPM's system of records involved in this matching program is OPM/
Central-1, Civil Service Retirement and Insurance Published at 73 FR
15013 (March 20, 2008) and 87 FR 5874 (February 2, 2022). SSA's systems
of records involved in this matching program are the Master Files of
Social Security Number Holders and SSN Applications, referred to as the
Enumeration System), 60-0058, last fully published at 87 FR 263
(January 4, 2022), and the Earnings Recording and Self Employment
Income System, 60-0059 (referred to as the Master Earnings File (MEF))
last fully published at 71 FR 1819 (January 11, 2006) and amended at 78
FR. 40542 (July 5, 2013), and 83 FR 54969 (November 1, 2018).
Office of Personnel Management.
Kayyonne Marston,
Federal Register Liaison.
[FR Doc. 2024-05097 Filed 3-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-38-P