Privacy Act of 1974; New Computer Matching Program

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs

Privacy Act of 1974; New Computer Matching Program

AGENCY: Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States

Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of computer matching program between the Office of

Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) and the United States Postal

Service (USPS) for public comment.

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SUMMARY: Subsection (e)(12) of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, (5

U.S.C. 552a), requires agencies to publish advance notice of computer

matching programs as a means of informing benefit recipients/employees

of plans to conduct computer matches and to allow public comment. This

publishes notice that the OWCP intends to conduct a computer matching

program with the United States Postal Service (USPS). This matching

program will compare OWCP delinquent debtor records with USPS payroll

records to identify postal employees who are delinquent in their

repayment of debts owed to the federal government under the Federal

Employees' Compensation Act so as to permit OWCP to pursue and collect

the debt by voluntary repayment or by salary offset procedures under

the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-365).

DATES: Comments must be received no later than December 9, 1994. Unless

comments are received that result in a contrary determination, this

matching program will become effective 40 days after transmittal of a

matching report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) or 40 days

after transmittal of a matching report and a copy of the matching

agreement to the Congress or 30 days after the date of this notice,

whichever occurs last.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Director for Federal

Employees' Compensation, U.S. Department of Labor, OWCP, 200

Constitution Avenue. NW., Room S-3229, Washington, DC 20210-0002 or

delivered to the above address between 8:15 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. Comments

received may also be inspected during the above hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Alex J. Senecal at the above address or at telephone (202) 219-

8461.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to subsection (o) of the Privacy

Act of 1974, OWCP and USPS have concluded an agreement to conduct a

computer matching program between the agencies. The purpose of the

match is to exchange personal data between the agencies for debt

collection. The match will yield the identity and location of OWCP

debtors employed by USPS so that OWCP can pursue recoupment of the debt

by voluntary payment or by salary offset procedures. Computer matching

appeared to be the most efficient and effective manner to accomplish

this task with the least amount of intrusion of personal privacy of the

individuals concerned.

A copy of the computer matching agreement between OWCP and USPS is

available to the public upon request. Requests should be submitted to

the address caption above or to the USPS Records Office, 475 L'Enfant

Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260-5240.

Pursuant to subsection (r) of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the

reporting requirements set forth in paragraph 4d of Appendix I to OMB

Circular No. A-130, Revised, ``Management of Federal Information

Resources,'' dated July 2, 1993 (58 FR 36068-36086), a computer

matching program report, including an advance copy of this notice, was

submitted to Congress and to the Office of Management and Budget on

November 4, 1994. The matching program is subject to review by OMB and

Congress and shall not become effective until that review period has

elapsed.

Notice of a Computer Matching Program Between the Office of Workers'

Compensation Programs and the United States Postal Service for Debt

Collection

A. Participating agencies: The United States Postal Service (USPS)

is the recipient agency and will perform the computer match with debtor

records provided by the Department of Labor, Office of Workers'

Compensation Programs (OWCP), the source agency in this matching

program.

B. Purpose of the matching program: The computer match will compare

USPS payroll and OWCP delinquent debtor records so that OWCP can

identify and locate postal employees who owe delinquent debts to the

federal government under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act

administered by OWCP. The pay of an employee verified as a delinquent

debtor may be offset under the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of

1982 when voluntary payment is not made.

C. Legal authority for conducting the match: This matching program

will be conducted under the authority of the Debt Collection Act of

1982 (Pub. L. 97-365) which authorizes federal agencies to offset a

federal employee's salary as a means of satisfying delinquent debts

owed to the United States (5 U.S.C. 5514(a)). The implementing

regulations are contained in 4 CFR Chapter II, Federal Claims

Collection Standards (General Accounting Office--Department of

Justice). 20 CFR 10.320-324 (Department of Labor) contains OWCP's

regulations governing the establishment and recovery of overpayments

and 29 CFR 20.74-20.90, Salary Offset (Department of Labor),

establishes the Department's regulations governing salary offset when

the debtor is a current employee of the United States.

D. Categories of individuals involved and identification of records

used: The systems of records maintained by the participant agencies

under the Privacy Act of 1974 from which records will be disclosed for

the purpose of this computer match are:

1. The USPS will use records from its system ``Finance Records--

Payroll System, USPS 050.020'' containing payroll records for

approximately 700,000 current USPS employees. Disclosure will be made

under routine use 24 of that system, a full description of which was

last published in 57 FR 57515, dated December 4, 1992.

2. OWCP will use records from its system identified as DOL/GOVT-1,

entitled ``Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Federal Employees'

Compensation Act File'' and containing approximately 1,000 delinquent

debt account records. Disclosure will be made under routine use ``n''

of that system, a full description of which was last published in the

Federal Register at 58 FR 49548, 49556-8, on September 23, 1993 with

amendments published at 59 FR 47361 on September 15, 1994.

E. Description of the computer matching program: OWCP will provide

to USPS a magnetic computer tape containing the names and Social

Security Numbers (SSNs) of its delinquent debtors. By computer, the

USPS will compare that information with its payroll file, establishing

matched individuals (i.e., ``hits'') on the basis of like SSNs. For

each matched individual, the USPS will provide to OWCP the name, SSN,

date of birth, home address, work address, and employee type (permanent

or temporary). OWCP will be responsible for verifying and determining

if the data of the USPS matched records are consistent with OWCP's

source data and will resolve any discrepancies or inconsistencies on an

individual basis, conducting independent inquiries when necessary to

resolve questionable identities. OWCP will also be responsible for

making final determinations as to positive identification, amount of

indebtedness and recovery efforts as a result of the match.

F. Beginning and ending dates of the matching program: This

computer matching program is expected to begin in December, 1994. By

agreement between OWCP and USPS, the matching program will continue in

effect for a period of 18 months and may be extended for 12 additional

months unless one of the parties to the agreement advises the other by

written request to terminate or modify the agreement.

Dated: November 4, 1994.

Shelby Hallmark,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Workers' Compensation

Programs.

[FR Doc. 94-27765 Filed 11-8-94; 8:45 am]

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