This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

4213

Vol. 63, No. 18

Wednesday, January 28, 1998

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary

Privacy Act of 1974; Revision of

System of Records

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Revision of an Existing

Privacy Act System of Records.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(11)), the

Department of Agriculture (USDA) is

issuing notice of our intent to amend the

system of records entitled the Personnel

and Payroll System for USDA

Employees, USDA/OP–1, to include a

new routine use. The disclosure is

required by the Personal Responsibility

and Work Opportunity Reconciliation

Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104–193). We invite

public comment on this publication.

DATES: Persons wishing to comment on

the proposed routine use must do so by

30 days from date of publication.

(February 27, 1998).

EFFECTIVE DATE: The proposed routine

use will become effective as proposed

without further notice 45 days from date

of publication (March 16, 1998), unless

comments dictate otherwise.

ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may

comment on this publication by writing

to Joan Golden, Room 341–W Jamie L.

Whitten Federal Building, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20250, by fax to (202)

720–8721, or by email to

joan.golden@usda.gov. All comments

received will be available for public

inspection at that address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Evelyn Davis, Room 43–W Jamie L.

Whitten Federal Building, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20250, (202) 720–7765,

(202) 690–4728 (Fax).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant

to Pub. L. 104–193, the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act of 1996, USDA will

disclose data from its Personnel and

Payroll System for USDA Employees

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, DHHS/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.

When individuals are hired by USDA,

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 FPLS

names, social security numbers, and

quarterly earnings of each USDA

employee, within one month of the end

of the quarterly reporting period.

Information submitted by USDA 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 USDA to the

FPLS will also be disclosed by the

Office of Child Support Enforcement to

the Secretary of 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.

A ‘‘Report on New System,’’ required

by 5 U.S.C. 552a(o), as implemented by

Transmittal Memoranda 1 and 3 to OMB

Circular A–108, was sent to the

Chairman, Committee on Governmental

Affairs, United States Senate, the

Chairman, Committee on Government

Reform and Oversight, House of

Representatives, and the Administrator,

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget on January 22, 1998.

Signed at Washington, DC, on January 22,

1998.

Dan Glickman,

Secretary of Agriculture.

Accordingly, the system notice is

amended as follows:

USDA/OP–1

SYSTEM NAME:

Personnel and Payroll System for

USDA Employees.

* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

* * * * *

(26) The names, social security

numbers, home addresses, dates of

birth, dates of hire, quarterly earnings,

employer identifying 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 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 of 1996 (Pub. L. 104–

193).

[FR Doc. 98–2051 Filed 1–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–96–M