Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 16 / Wednesday, January 27, 2021 / Notices 7307 

Agency Contacts. Information collected 

under this clearance is used to support 

the administrative and programmatic 

needs of jointly conducted BLS/State 

Labor Market Information and 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Statistics cooperative statistical 

programs. 

III. Desired Focus of Comments 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is 

particularly interested in comments 

that: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility. 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used. 

• Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected. 

• Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology, 

e.g., permitting electronic submissions 

of responses. 

Title of Collection: General Inquiries 

to State Agency Contacts. 

OMB Number: 1220–0168. 

Type of Review: Extension without 

change of a currently approved 

collection. 

Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal 

Government. 

Total Respondents: 54. 

Frequency: As needed. 

Total Responses: 23,890. 

Average Time per Response: 40 

minutes. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 15,927 

hours. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget approval of the 

information collection request; they also 

will become a matter of public record. 

Signed at Washington, DC, on January 21, 

2021. 

Mark Staniorski, 

Chief, Division of Management Systems. 

[FR Doc. 2021–01715 Filed 1–26–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–24–P 

MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION 

BOARD 

Privacy Act of 1974; System of 

Records 

AGENCY: U.S. Merit Systems Protection 

Board. 

ACTION: Notice of a new system of 

records. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Privacy Act of 1974 (Privacy Act), the 

U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board 

(MSPB or Board) proposes to establish 

a new MSPB system of records titled 

‘‘Surveys for Special Studies of the Civil 

Service.’’ This system of records 

contains information that MSPB 

collects, maintains, and uses in order to 

develop and administer the Merit 

Principles Survey (MPS) and other 

surveys for special studies of the civil 

service and to evaluate and distribute 

the results of such surveys. This system 

of records will be included in MSPB’s 

inventory of record systems. 

DATES: Please submit comments on or 

before February 26, 2021. This new 

system is effective upon publication in 

today’s Federal Register, with the 

exception of the routine uses, which are 

effective February 26, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments to the Office of the Clerk of 

the Board by any of the following 

methods: By email to privacy@mspb.gov 

or by mail to Clerk of the Board, U.S. 

Merit Systems Protection Board, 1615 M 

Street NW, Washington, DC 20419. All 

comments must reference ‘‘MSPB—2, 

Surveys for Special Studies of the Civil 

Service.’’ Regardless of the method used 

for submitting comments or material, all 

submissions will be posted, without 

change, to MSPB’s website 

(www.mspb.gov) and will include any 

personal information you provide, such 

as your name, address, phone number, 

email address, or any other personally 

identifying information in your 

comment or materials. Therefore, any 

submissions will be made public and 

without change. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fon 

Muttamara at (202) 653–7200. You may 

submit written questions to the Office of 

the Clerk of the Board by any of the 

following methods: By email to 

privacy@mspb.gov or by mail to Clerk of 

the Board, U.S. Merit Systems 

Protection Board, 1615 M Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20419. Please include 

‘‘MSPB—2, Surveys for Special Studies 

of the Civil Service’’ with your 

question(s). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 

U.S.C. 552a, MSPB proposes to establish 

a new system of records titled ‘‘Surveys 

for Special Studies of the Civil Service.’’ 

This system of records is being 

established in order to develop and 

administer the Merit Principles Survey 

(MPS), along with other surveys for 

special studies of the civil service and 

to evaluate and distribute the results of 

such surveys. This system of records 

contains information that MSPB 

collects, maintains, and uses regarding 

individuals who are potential or actual 

survey respondents. 

MSPB was instituted under the Civil 

Service Reform Act of 1978 and 

administers surveys under its general 

authorities to conduct studies and 

research on matters relevant to the 

MSPs and Prohibited Personnel 

Practices (PPPs). The statute (5 U.S.C. 

1204(a)(3)) also authorizes a ‘‘special 

studies’’ function, under which MSPB 

has the authority to conduct studies 

when it deems appropriate on the topics 

it deems appropriate, so long as the 

studies relate to ‘‘the civil service and 

to other merit systems in the executive 

branch[.]’’ This function enables MSPB 

to independently conduct research and 

present the subsequent findings to the 

President, Congress, and other Federal 

human capital stakeholders so that they 

can have access to information to aid in 

their decision-making processes. 

MSPB established the MPS in support 

of its statutory responsibility to assess 

the health of Federal merit systems. 

MSPB has conducted the MPS since 

1983 as part of its statutory oversight 

responsibilities (5 U.S.C. 1204(a)(3) and 

5 U.S.C. 1204(e)(3)). The survey tracks 

a variety of Federal workforce issues 

related to the MSPs and PPPs, with 

results reported to the President and 

Congress and shared with Federal 

policy-makers and decision-makers. 

This survey differs from the Federal 

Employee Viewpoint Survey 

administered by the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) in several respects, 

such as: A focus on MSPs and PPPs and 

human resources policy and practice; 

administration every few years instead 

of annually; and a smaller sample, and 

use of non-recurring questions to delve 

into discrete topics of interest. MSPB 

conducted Government-wide MPS 

administrations as part of its program of 

survey research in 1983, 1986, 1989, 

1992, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2010, and 

2016. In addition, MSPB has 

administered and collected data from 

other surveys, such as the 2007 Career 

Advancement Survey, 2009 MSPB 

Federal Telework Survey, and the 2011 

Fair and Open Competition Survey. 

The MPS and other surveys 

conducted by MSPB are tools that 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
7308 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 16 / Wednesday, January 27, 2021 / Notices 

measure Federal employees’ perceptions 

of whether, and to what extent, MSPs 

are being protected and PPPs are being 

prevented in Federal agencies. MSPB 

surveys ask participants to share their 

attitudes, behaviors, and thoughts on 

topic areas related to the MSPs, PPPs, 

and other human capital management 

topics relevant to the MSPs. 

Demographic questions are also 

included to evaluate differences among 

subgroups in the way responses were 

distributed. 

In order to administer an MSPB 

survey, information about Federal 

employees is routinely collected from 

the OPM Enterprise Human Resource 

Integration (EHRI) system and other 

Federal Government entities associated 

with the administration of the surveys. 

This data is used to (1) identify current 

Federal employees, (2) determine survey 

eligibility, (3) collect contact 

information where necessary and 

available, (4) perform statistical 

weighting procedures using select 

demographic information, and (5) 

support research and reporting 

functions. All survey administrations, 

data cleaning, and statistical weighting 

procedures are executed by MSPB. At 

the end of the survey cycle, selected 

summary results and a technical report 

may be published, and a public version 

of the data file is released. 

While individual employee 

participation in our surveys is 

voluntary, agency participation in our 

surveys is mandatory for agencies 

selected by MSPB (5 U.S.C. 1204(e)(3)). 

The records concerning the potential 

and actual survey respondents will be 

maintained in this system of records, 

pursuant to the Privacy Act, which will 

be included in MSPB’s inventory. The 

Privacy Act embodies fair information 

practice principles in a statutory 

framework governing the means by 

which Federal agencies collect, 

maintain, use, and disseminate 

individuals’ records. The Privacy Act 

applies to records about individuals that 

are maintained in a ‘‘system of records.’’ 

A system of records is a group of any 

records under the control of an agency 

from which information is retrieved by 

the name of an individual or by some 

identifying number, symbol, or other 

identifying particular assigned to the 

individual. The Privacy Act defines an 

individual as a United States citizen or 

lawful permanent resident. Individuals 

may request access to their own records 

that are maintained in a system of 

records in the possession or under the 

control of MSPB by complying with 

MSPB Privacy Act regulations at 5 CFR 

part 1205, and following the procedures 

outlined in the Records Access, 

Contesting Record, and Notification 

Procedures sections of this notice. The 

Privacy Act requires each agency to 

publish in the Federal Register a 

description denoting the existence and 

character of each system of records that 

the agency maintains and the routine 

uses of each system. The new Surveys 

for Special Studies of the Civil Service 

System of Records Notice is published 

in its entirety below. In accordance with 

the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), and 

OMB Circular A–108, ‘‘Federal Agency 

Responsibilities for Review, Reporting, 

and Publication under the Privacy Act’’ 

(Dec. 2016), MSPB has submitted a 

report of a new system of records to the 

Office of Management and Budget and 

Congress. 

Jennifer Everling, 

Acting Clerk of the Board, U.S. Merit Systems 

Protection Board. 

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER: 

MSPB—2, Surveys for Special Studies 

of the Civil Service. 

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: 

Unclassified. 

SYSTEM LOCATION: 

Records are maintained by the Office 

of Policy and Evaluation, U.S. Merit 

Systems Protection Board, 1615 M 

Street NW, Washington, DC 20419 and 

the third-party vendor(s) providing the 

survey administration system. 

SYSTEM MANAGER(S): 

Program Manager, Office of Policy 

and Evaluation, U.S. Merit Systems 

Protection Board, 1615 M Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20419, studies@

MSPB.gov. 

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM: 

5 U.S.C. 1204(a)(3), 1204(e)(3), 1206. 

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM: 

The purpose of the system or records 

is to permit MSPB to administer, collect, 

maintain, and evaluate the results of the 

special studies surveys. These surveys 

include sets of questions posed to 

selected Federal employees throughout 

executive branch agencies; to measure 

Federal employees’ perceptions of 

whether, and to what extent, conditions 

that characterize successful merit 

principles protection are in place in 

their agencies; to obtain general 

indicators of how well the Federal 

Government is (1) protecting merit, (2) 

preventing PPPs, and (3) managing the 

Federal workforce consistent with merit 

in order to provide senior managers 

with critical information needed to 

make their agency work better; to write 

reports of findings to the President and 

to Congress and other oversight entities, 

as appropriate; to determine 

individuals’ eligibility for the survey; 

and to conduct statistical weighting 

procedures. In addition, information in 

this system of records is used to 

produce a de-identified, publicly 

available data file that contains survey 

responses, select demographics, and 

limited agency organizational 

information; as well as to produce 

reports of summarized survey results for 

participating agencies, their 

subcomponents, and others. 

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE

SYSTEM: 

Current and former Federal 

employees. 

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: 

1. Pay (e.g., Grade, Pay Plan). 

2. Work Location (e.g., Agency, 

Personnel Office Identifier). 

3. The Position (e.g., Occupational 

Series, Supervisory Status). 

4. Performance (e.g., Rating Level, 

Rating Pattern). 

5. EHRI Demographics (e.g., Sex, 

Veteran’s Status). 

6. Personal Identifiers, whether 

provided by the individual or as part of 

the administration of the survey (e.g., 

Employee Name and Email Address, 

randomly assigned identifier for survey 

administration). 

7. Voluntary Survey Question 

Responses (e.g., Responses to Survey 

Questions). 

8. Personnel Actions History (e.g., 

Service Computation Date for 

Retirement Purposes, Hiring Authority). 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

Individual survey participant records 

are obtained from OPM’s EHRI system, 

which contains general personnel 

records from the OPM/GOVT–1 General 

Personnel Records system of records, 

from the individual Federal agencies 

that participate in MSPB’s surveys, and 

from the individuals who voluntarily 

complete these surveys. 

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

PURPOSES OF SUCH USES: 

In addition to those disclosures 

generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 

552a(b) of the Privacy Act, all or a 

portion of the records or information 

contained in this system may be 

disclosed outside MSPB as a routine use 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as 

follows: 

a. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), 

including Offices of the U.S. Attorneys; 

or other Federal agency conducting 

litigation or in proceedings before any 

court, adjudicative, or administrative 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 16 / Wednesday, January 27, 2021 / Notices 7309 

body, when it is relevant or necessary to 

the litigation and one of the following 

is a party to the litigation or has an 

interest in such litigation: 

(1) MSPB, or any component thereof; 

(2) Any employee or former employee 

of MSPB in his or her official capacity; 

(3) Any employee or former employee 

of MSPB in his or her individual 

capacity where the Department of 

Justice or MSPB has agreed to represent 

the employee; 

(4) The United States, a Federal 

agency, or another party in litigation 

before a court, adjudicative, or 

administrative body, upon the MSPB 

General Counsel’s approval, pursuant to 

5 CFR part 295 or otherwise. 

b. To the appropriate Federal, State, 

or local agency responsible for 

investigating, prosecuting, enforcing, or 

implementing a statute, rule, regulation, 

or order, when a record, either on its 

face or in conjunction with other 

information, indicates or is relevant to 

a violation or potential violation of civil 

or criminal law or regulation. 

c. To a member of Congress from the 

record of an individual in response to 

an inquiry made at the request of the 

individual to whom the record pertains. 

d. To the National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA) in 

records management inspections 

conducted under the authority of 44 

U.S.C. 2904 and 2906. 

e. To appropriate agencies and 

persons when (1) MSPB suspects or has 

confirmed that there has been a breach 

of the system of records; (2) MSPB has 

determined that as a result of the 

suspected or confirmed breach there is 

a risk of harm to individuals, MSPB 

(including its information systems, 

programs, and operations), the Federal 

Government, or national security; and 

(3) the disclosure made to such 

agencies, entities, and persons is 

reasonably necessary to assist in 

connection with MSPB’s efforts to 

respond to the suspected or confirmed 

breach or to prevent, minimize, or 

remedy such harm. 

f. To another Federal agency or 

Federal entity, when MSPB determines 

that information from this system of 

records is reasonably necessary to assist 

the recipient agency or entity in (1) 

responding to a suspected or confirmed 

breach or (2) preventing, minimizing, or 

remedying the risk of harm to 

individuals, the recipient agency or 

entity (including its information 

systems, programs, and operations), the 

Federal Government, or national 

security, resulting from a suspected or 

confirmed breach. 

g. To contractors, grantees, experts, 

consultants, or volunteers performing or 

working on a contract, service, grant, 

cooperative agreement, or other 

assignment for MSPB when MSPB 

determines that it is necessary to 

accomplish an agency function related 

to this system of records. Individuals 

provided information under this routine 

use are subject to the same Privacy Act 

requirements and limitations on 

disclosure as are applicable to MSPB 

employees. 

h. To Federal agencies whose 

employees participate in MSPB special 

studies surveys, and their 

subcomponents, where MSPB 

determines that assistance may be 

required in any aspect of administering 

and reporting on the special studies 

survey. 

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF

RECORDS: 

The records in this system of records 

are stored electronically on (1) MSPB 

system(s) and/or (2) temporarily on an 

MSPB vendor’s system(s) to facilitate 

the administration of the survey(s). 

Access in both locations is limited to a 

small number of authorized personnel at 

MSPB and at MSPB’s vendor. 

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF

RECORDS: 

Records may be retrieved by survey 

case identifier or other personal 

identifier but are generally only 

retrieved in this manner leading up to 

and during the administration of special 

studies surveys. After the survey is 

administered, personal identifiers are 

rarely used to retrieve records or for any 

other purpose. Instead, postadministration of the survey, records are 

typically retrieved by a respondent 

characteristic (such as agency or 

demographic group) or response pattern 

(such as response to a particular survey 

item or set of items) in a manner that is 

not intended to identify individual 

survey respondents. Additionally, postadministration of the survey, records 

may be retrieved by personal identifier 

for another research purpose as 

permitted by law, regulation, or 

agreement. 

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND

DISPOSAL OF RECORDS: 

MSPB is currently working to develop 

a records schedule for the survey 

responses to submit to NARA for 

approval. Until a records schedule is in 

place, the records will be retained as 

permanent records. 

Data provided to MSPB from OPM’s 

EHRI data warehouse under an OPM– 

MSPB Memorandum of Understanding 

is retained until no longer needed or 

when OPM instructs MSPB to destroy 

data. 

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL

SAFEGUARDS: 

Records in the system are protected 

from unauthorized access and misuse 

through various administrative, 

technical, and physical security 

measures, such as access controls, 

mandatory security and privacy 

training, encryption, multi-factor 

authentication, security guards, and 

locked offices. 

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES: 

Individuals seeking notification of 

and access to their records in this 

system of records may submit a request 

in writing to the Office of the Clerk of 

the Board, Merit Systems Protection 

Board, 1615 M Street NW, Washington, 

DC 20419. Individuals requesting access 

must comply with MSPB’s Privacy Act 

regulations regarding verification of 

identity and access to records (5 CFR 

part 1205). 

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES: 

Individuals may request that records 

about them be amended by writing to 

the Office of the Clerk of the Board, 

Merit Systems Protection Board, 1615 M 

Street, NW, Washington, DC 20419. 

Individuals requesting amendment must 

follow MSPB’s Privacy Act regulations 

regarding verification of identity and 

amendment to records (5 CFR part 

1205). 

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES: 

See Record Access Procedures above. 

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM: 

None. 

HISTORY: 

None. 

[FR Doc. 2021–01812 Filed 1–26–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7400–01–P 

NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE 

ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES 

National Endowment for the Arts 

Arts Advisory Panel Meetings 

AGENCY: National Endowment for the 

Arts, National Foundation on the Arts 

and the Humanities. 

ACTION: Notice of meetings. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 

notice is hereby given that 2 meetings of 

the Arts Advisory Panel to the National 

Council on the Arts will be held by 

teleconference. 

DATES: See the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for individual 

meeting times and dates. All meetings 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES