Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD

[No. 97-N-11]

Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Board.

ACTION: Notice with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (Privacy Act), the

Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board) is providing notice of

its intent to amend the system of records entitled FHFB-1 Employee

Attendance Records, to include payroll records and a new routine use

required by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Reconciliation Act).

DATES: This amendment will become effective as proposed without further

notice on January 21, 1998 unless comments dictate otherwise. The

Finance Board will accept comments in writing on or before January 21,

1998.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments to Elaine L. Baker, Secretary to the Board,

Federal Housing Finance Board, 1777 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20006. Comments will be available for public inspection at this

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

E. Alan Simpson, Personnel Officer, Office of Resource Management, 202/

408-2585, or Janice A. Kaye, Attorney-Advisor, Office of General

Counsel, 202/408-2505, Federal Housing Finance Board, 1777 F Street,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the requirements of the Privacy

Act, the Finance Board is publishing a notice of an amendment to its

system of records entitled FHFB-1 Employee Attendance Records, to

expressly include payroll records and a new routine use required by the

Reconciliation Act. See 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11); Pub. L. 104-193,

sec. 316(f), 110 Stat. 2175 (Aug. 22, 1996), codified at 42 U.S.C. 653.

Under the Reconciliation Act, the Finance Board is required to

disclose data from the system of records entitled FHFB-1 Employee

Payroll and Attendance Records to the Office of Child Support

Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, Department of

Health and Human Services, for use in the National Database of New

Hires, which is part of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) and

Federal Tax Offset System, DHHS/OCSE No. 09-90-0074. See 62 FR 61663

(Oct. 2, 1997) (describing FPLS).

FPLS is a computerized network through which states may request

location information from federal and state agencies to find non-

custodial parents and their employees for purposes of establishing and

enforcing child support obligations. On October 1, 1997, FPLS was

expanded to include the National Directory of New Hires, a database

containing employment information on employees recently hired,

quarterly wage data on private and public sector employees, and

information on unemployment compensation benefits. On October 1, 1998,

FPLS will be expanded further to include a Federal Case Registry that

will contain abstracts on all participants involved in child support

enforcement cases. When the Federal Case Registry is instituted, its

files will be matched on an ongoing basis against the files in the

National Directory of New Hires to determine if an employee is a

participant in a child support case anywhere in the country. The

appropriate state will be notified if FPLS identifies a person as a

participant in a child support case. State requests to FPLS for

location information also will continue to be processed after October

1, 1998.

When the Finance Board hires a person, it may disclose to FPLS his

or her name, social security number, home address, date of birth, date

of hire, and information identifying the Finance Board as the employer.

The Finance Board also may disclose to FPLS the names, social security

numbers, and quarterly earnings of each Finance Board employee, within

one month of the end of the quarterly reporting period.

Information the Finance Board submits to FPLS will be disclosed by

the Office of Child Support Enforcement to the Social Security

Administration for verification to ensure that the social security

number provided is correct. It also will be disclosed to the Secretary

of the Treasury for use in verifying claims for the advance payment of

the earned income tax credit or to verify a claim of employment on a

tax return.

Accordingly, the Finance Board hereby amends the system of records

entitled FHFB-1 Employee Attendance Records, originally published in

the Federal Register in September 1995, see 60 FR 46120 (Sept. 5,

1995), as follows:

FHFB-1

System name:

Employee Attendance and Payroll Records.

* * * * *

Categories of individuals covered by the system:

Current and former Finance Board employees.

Categories of records in the system:

Records consist of salary and payroll data, including time and

attendance information.

* * * * *

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories

of users and the purposes of such uses:

* * * * *

2. The Department of Agriculture's National Finance Center for

payroll purposes.

* * * * *

7. OPM or the General Accounting Office (GAO) when the information

is required for evaluation of payroll or leave administration.

10. The Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for

Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, upon

its request and as required by the Personal Responsibility and Work

Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, see Pub. L. 104-193, sec.

316(f), 110 Stat. 2175 (Aug. 22, 1996), codified at 42 U.S.C. 653, for

the purposes of establishing and enforcing child support obligations.

* * * * *

System manager and address:

Office of Resource Management, Federal Housing Finance Board, 1777

F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006.

* * * * *

By the Federal Housing Finance Board.

Dated: December 12, 1997.

William W. Ginsberg,

Managing Director.

[FR Doc. 97-33255 Filed 12-19-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6725-01-U