Privacy Act; Altered System of Records

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Docket No. 980223045-8045-01]

Privacy Act; Altered System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e) (4) and

(11)), the Department of Commerce is issuing notice of our intent to

amend the system of records entitled Commerce Department System 1,

``Attendance, Leave, and Payroll Records of Employees and Certain Other

Persons'', to include a new routine use, a disclosure required by the

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

(PRWORA, Pub. L. 104-193); to update the list of Commerce Department

bureaus; to update the location and system manager of our system of

records; and to update the notification procedures. We invite public

comment on the proposed routine use in this publication.

DATES: Effective Date: The amendments will become effective as proposed

without further notice on April 15, 1998, unless comments dictate

otherwise.

Comment Date: To be considered, written comments must be submitted

on or before April 15, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Diane M. Atchinson, U.S.

Department of Commerce, Room 5001, 14th & Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC, 20230. All comments received will be available for

public inspection at U.S. Department of Commerce, Central Reference

Room Inspection Facility, Room 6204, 14th & Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC, 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane M. Atchinson, U.S. Department of

Commerce, Room 5001, 14th & Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC,

20230, 202-482-4425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Pub. L. 104-193, the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the

Department of Commerce will disclose data from Commerce Department

System 1; Attendance, Leave, and Payroll Records of Employees and

Certain Other Persons system of 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, part of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) and Federal

Tax Offset System, HHS/OCSE No. 09-90-0074. A description of the

Federal Parent Locator Service may be found at 62 FR 51663 (October 2,

1997).

FPLS is a computerized network through which States may request

location information from Federal and State agencies to find non-

custodial parents and their employers for purposes of establishing

paternity and securing support. On October 1, 1997, the 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,

the FPLS will be expanded further to include a Federal Case Registry.

The Federal Case Registry 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. If the FPLS identifies a person as being a participant in a

State child support case, that State will be notified. State requests

to the FPLS for location information will also continue to be processed

after October 1, 1998.

[[Page 12723]]

When individuals are hired by the Department of Commerce, we may

disclose to the FPLS their names, social security numbers, home

addresses, dates of birth, dates of hire, and information identifying

us as the employer. We also may disclose to the FPLS names, social

security numbers, and quarterly earnings of each Department of Commerce

employee, within one month of the end of the quarterly reporting

period.

Information submitted by the Department of Commerce to the 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. The data disclosed by the

Department of Commerce to the FPLS will also be disclosed by the Office

of Child Support Enforcement 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.

We are also making other changes required to update the system of

records. The list of Commerce Department bureaus is updated to add the

Office of the Secretary, Bureau of Export Administration, Economic and

Statistics Administration, National Institute of Standards and

Technology, Technology Administration and Office of Inspector General;

and to remove Departmental Offices and United States Travel and Tourism

Administration. The location and manager of our system is updated to:

Remove the Management Service Center in Germantown, Maryland; add the

National Finance Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, in New

Orleans, Louisiana; and add the Field Administrative Payroll System,

Bureau of the Census, Suitland, Maryland.

Accordingly, the Attendance, Leave, and Payroll Records of

Employees and Certain Other Persons system notice originally published

at 46 FR 63502, December 31, 1981, is amended by the addition of the

following routine use and updates:

COMMERCE/DEPT-1

SYSTEM NAME:

Attendance, Leave, and Payroll Records of Employees and Certain

Other Persons.

* * * * *

SYSTEM LOCATION:

For employees of the Office of the Secretary, Bureau of Economic

Analysis, Bureau of Export Administration, Bureau of the Census,

Economic Development Administration, Economics and Statistics

Administration, International Trade Administration, Minority Business

Development Agency, National Institute of Standards and Technology,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National

Telecommunications and Information Administration, National Technical

Information Service, Office of Inspector General, Patent and Trademark

Office, Technology Administration: National Finance Center, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, PO Box 70160, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70160.

For Census Field Representative employees: Field Administrative

Payroll System, Bureau of the Census, Suitland, Maryland, 20746.

* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES

OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

The names, social security numbers, home addresses, dates of birth,

dates of hire, quarterly earnings, employer information, and State of

hire of employees may be disclosed to the Office of Child Support

Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, Department of

Health and

[[Page 12724]]

Human Services, for the purpose of locating individuals to establish

paternity, establishing and modifying orders of child support,

identifying sources of income, and for other child support enforcement

actions as required by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act (PRWORA, Pub. L. 104-193).

* * * * *

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:

National Finance Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, PO Box

70160, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70160.

Field Administrative Payroll System, Demographic and Decennial

Census Staff, Bureau of the Census, Suitland, Maryland, 20746.

Notification procedure:

For Economics and Statistics Administration and Bureau of the

Census records of employees employed in the Washington, DC,

metropolitan area, Census Regional Offices, the Census Hagerstown

Telephone Center and the Census Tucson Telephone Center, information

may be obtained from: Bureau of the Census, Human Resources Division,

ATTN: Chief, Pay, Processing and Systems Branch, Room 3254, FOB #3,

Washington, DC 20233, (301) 457-3710.

For records of Census employees employed by the Jeffersonville

Census Data Preparation Division, information may be obtained from:

Bureau of the Census, Data Preparation Division, ATTN: Chief, Human

Resources Branch, Room 113, Bldg. 66, Jeffersonville, Indiana, 47132,

(812) 218-3323.

For Patent and Trademark Office records, information may be

obtained from: Human Resources Manager, U.S. Patent and Trademark

Office, Box 3, Washington, DC, 20231, (703) 305-8221.

For records of International Trade Administration employees

employed in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, information may be

obtained from: Human Resources Manager, Personnel Management Division,

Room 4809, 14th & Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20230, (202)

482-3438.

For records of National Institute of Standards and Technology

employees other than those employed in Colorado and Hawaii and for

Technology Administration and National Technical Information Service

records, information may be obtained from: Personnel Officer, Office of

Human Resources Management, Administration Building, Room A-123,

Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, (301) 975-3000.

For Office of Inspector General records, information may be

obtained from: Human Resources Manager, Resource Management Division,

Room 7713, 14th & Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20230, (202)

482-4948.

For records of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

employees in the Washington, DC. metropolitan area, information may be

obtained from: Chief, Human Resources Services Division, National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1315 East-West Highway, Room

13619, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910, (301) 713-0524

For records of Office of the Secretary, Bureau of Economic

Analysis, Bureau of Export Administration, Economic Development

Administration, Minority Business Development Agency, and National

Telecommunications and Information Administration employees in the

Washington, DC. metropolitan area, information may be obtained from:

Human Resources Manager, Office of Personnel Operations, Office of the

Secretary, Room 5005, 14th & Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20230, (202) 482-3827.

For records of regional employees of the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration, National Institute of Standards and

Technology, Bureau of Export Administration, Economic Development

Administration, Minority Business Development Agency, International

Trade Administration, National Telecommunications and Information

Administration, information may be obtained from the Human Resources

Manager servicing the region or State in which they are employed, as

follows:

a. Central Region. For National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration employees in the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,

Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan,

Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin; for

National Marine Fisheries Service employees in the States of North

Carolina, South Carolina and Texas; and for National Weather Service

employees in the States of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota,

South Dakota, and Wyoming; for employees in the Bureau of Export

Administration, Economic Development Administration, Minority Business

Development Agency, and International Trade Administration in the

States of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi,

Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South

Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin: Human

Resources Manager, Central Administrative Support Center (CASC),

Federal Building, Room 1736, 601 East 12th Street, Kansas City,

Missouri, 64106, (816) 426-2056.

b. Eastern Region. For the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration employees in the States of: Connecticut, Delaware,

Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,

Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands;

for employees in the Bureau of Export Administration, Economic

Development Administration, Minority Business Development Agency, and

International Trade Administration in the States of Connecticut,

Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey,

New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,

Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands:

Human Resources Manager, Eastern Administrative Support Center (EASC),

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration EC, 200 World Trade

Center, Norfolk, Virginia, 23510, 757) 441-6517.

c. Mountain Region. For National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration employees in the States of: Alaska, Colorado, Florida,

Hawaii, Idaho, and Oklahoma, at the South Pole and in American Samoa;

and for the National Weather Service employees in the States of

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New

Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and in Puerto Rico; for employees in

the Bureau of Export Administration, Economic Development

Administration, Minority Business Development Agency, National

Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National

Telecommunications and Information Administration in the states of

Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, South

Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin: Human Resources Office, Mountain

Administrative Support Center (MASC), MC22A, 325 Broadway, Boulder,

Colorado, 80303, (303) 497-3578.

d. Western Region. For National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration employees in the States of Arizona, California, Montana,

Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and the Trust Territories; for

employees in the Bureau of Export Administration, Economic Development

Administration, Minority Business Development Agency, and International

Trade Administration in the States of Arizona, California, Nevada,

Oregon, Utah, Washington, and the Trust Territories:

[[Page 12725]]

Human Resources Manager, Western Administrative Support Center (WASC),

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration WC2, 7600 Sand Point

Way, NE, Bin C15700, Seattle, Washington, 98115, 206) 526-6057.

For all other records, information may be obtained from: Director

for Human Resources Management, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 5001,

14th & Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. 20230, (202) 482-4807.

* * * * *

Dated: February 27, 1998.

Brenda Dolan,

Privacy Act Officer.

[FR Doc. 98-6590 Filed 3-13-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-FA