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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 234 (Thursday, December 5, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 96531-96532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-28442]

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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

29 CFR Part 4902

RIN 1212-AB59

Privacy Act Regulation; Exemption for Legal Case Management 
Records

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule amends Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's 
Privacy Act regulation to exempt a system of records that supports law 
enforcement investigations through legal case management.

DATES: This rule is effective January 6, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Levin ([email protected]), 
Attorney, Regulatory Affairs Division ([email protected]), Office 
of the General Counsel, at 202-229-3559, or Shawn Hartley 
([email protected]), Chief Privacy Officer, Office of the General 
Counsel, at 202-229-6321. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay 
services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Summary

    This final rule amends the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's 
(PBGC's) regulation on Disclosure and Amendment of Records Pertaining 
to Individuals under the Privacy Act (29 CFR part 4902) to exempt from 
disclosure information contained in a system of records for PBGC's 
Office of Negotiations and Restructuring/Office of General Counsel Case 
Management System. The exemption is needed because records in this 
system include investigatory material compiled for administrative, 
civil, and criminal law enforcement purposes.
    PBGC's legal authority for this rulemaking is provided by section 
4002(b)(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA) and 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2).

Background

    PBGC administers two insurance programs for private-sector defined 
benefit pension plans under title IV of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA): a single-employer plan termination 
insurance program and a multiemployer plan insolvency insurance 
program. In addition, PBGC administers a special financial assistance 
program for certain financially distressed multiemployer plans.
    As a Federal agency, PBGC is subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 
U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act), in its collection, maintenance, use, and 
dissemination of any personally identifiable information that it 
maintains in a ``system of records.'' A system of records is defined 
under the Privacy Act as ``a group of any records under the control of 
any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the 
individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying 
particular assigned to the individual.'' \1\
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    \1\ See 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(5).
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    PBGC previously established a system of records, ``PBGC-19, Office 
of Negotiations and Restructuring/Office of General Counsel Case 
Management System.'' This system of records was last published in the 
``Notice'' section of the Federal Register on September 9, 2024, at 89 
FR 73196.
    This system collects and maintains personally identifiable 
information obtained by the Office of General Counsel in matters 
involving

[[Page 96532]]

administrative, civil, or criminal law enforcement investigations. 
Records from this system are used on a need-to-know basis to manage 
various legal matters; to facilitate administrative, civil, or criminal 
law enforcement investigations and activities; to receive referrals for 
investigation from internal and external partners; to meet other Office 
of General Counsel program requirements; and to investigate/manage 
cases involving violations of administrative, civil, or criminal laws.
    On October 22, 2024 (89 FR 84314), PBGC published a proposed rule 
to amend its Privacy Act regulation (29 CFR part 4902) to exempt 
certain records that will be maintained in PBGC-19 from certain 
provisions of the Privacy Act, and to make other minor changes. PBGC 
received no comments on the proposed rule. The final regulation is 
unchanged from the proposed regulation except for editorial changes to 
conform some system names.

Exemption

    Under section 552a(k) of the Privacy Act, PBGC may promulgate 
regulations exempting information contained in certain systems of 
records from specified sections of the Privacy Act including the 
section mandating disclosure of information to an individual who has 
requested it. Among other systems, PBGC may exempt a system that is 
``investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes.'' \2\ 
Under this provision, PBGC has exempted, in Sec. Sec.  4902.10, 
4902.11, and 4902.12 of its Privacy Act regulation, records of the 
investigations conducted by its Personnel Security Department contained 
in ``PBGC-12, Personnel Security Investigation Records,'' records of 
the investigations conducted by the Office of Inspector General 
contained in ``PBGC-17, Office of Inspector General Investigative File 
System,'' and records of insider threat investigations conducted by 
PBGC contained in ``PBGC-26, PBGC Insider Threat and Data Loss 
Prevention.''
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    \2\ See 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2).
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    The PBGC-19, Office of Negotiations and Restructuring/Office of 
General Counsel Case Management System contains: (1) records derived 
from the Office of Inspector General, Personnel Security, or insider 
threat investigations, (2) summaries or reports containing information 
about administrative, civil, and criminal legal investigations, (3) 
information related to investigative or analytical efforts by PBGC 
legal, security, or law enforcement personnel, (4) reports about 
potential administrative, civil, or criminal law enforcement activities 
obtained through the management and operation of the Office of General 
Counsel, and (5) reports about potential civil or criminal legal 
investigations obtained from other Federal Government sources involving 
PBGC. The records contained in this system include investigative 
material of actual, potential, or alleged criminal, civil, or 
administrative violations and law enforcement actions. These records 
are within the material permitted to be exempted under section 
552a(k)(2) of the Privacy Act.
    This final rule amends PBGC's Privacy Act regulation to redesignate 
Sec.  4902.13 (Filing rules; computation of time) as Sec.  4902.14 and 
to add a new Sec.  4902.13 as an exemption for PBGC-19, Office of 
Negotiations and Restructuring/Office of General Counsel Case 
Management System, from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), 
(H), and (I) and (f). Exemption from these sections of the Privacy Act 
means that, with respect to records in the system, PBGC is not required 
to: (1) disclose records to an individual upon request, (2) keep an 
accounting of individuals who request records, (3) maintain only 
records as necessary to accomplish an agency purpose, or (4) publish 
notice of certain revisions of the system of records. In addition, this 
final rule makes changes to some of the system names previously used in 
part 4902 to conform them to the systems of records published in the 
Federal Register on September 9, 2024, at 89 FR 73196.

Compliance With Rulemaking Guidelines

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined that this 
rulemaking is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive 
Order 12866. Accordingly, OMB has not reviewed the final rule under 
Executive Order 12866.
    PBGC certifies under section 605(b) of the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act that this final rule will not have a significant economic impact on 
a substantial number of small entities. The rule will only affect the 
maintenance and disclosure of information about individuals by PBGC 
under the Privacy Act and therefore will have no economic impact on 
entities of any size. Accordingly, sections 603 and 604 of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act do not apply. See 5 U.S.C. 603, 604.

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 4902

    Privacy.

    In consideration of the foregoing, PBGC is amending 29 CFR part 
4902 as follows:

PART 4902--DISCLOSURE AND AMENDMENT OF RECORDS PERTAINING TO 
INDIVIDUALS UNDER THE PRIVACY ACT

0
1. The authority citation for part 4902 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 552a, 29 U.S.C. 1302(b)(3).

Sec.  4902.1   [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  4902.1, amend paragraph (d) by removing ``4902.12'' and 
adding in its place ``4902.13''.

Sec.  4902.10  [Amended]

0
3. In 4902.10, amend paragraph (a) by removing ``--PBGC''.

Sec.  4902.11   [Amended]

0
4. In 4902.11, amend paragraphs (a)(1), (b)(1), and (c)(1) by removing 
``--PBGC''.

Sec.  4902.12  [Amended]

0
5. In 4902.12, amend paragraph (a) by removing ``--PBGC''.

Sec.  4902.13  [Redesignated as Sec.  4902.14]

0
6. Redesignate Sec.  4902.13 as Sec.  4902.14.

0
7. Add new Sec.  4902.13 to read as follows:

Sec.  4902.13  Specific exemptions: Legal Case Management.

    (a) Exemption. Under the authority granted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), 
PBGC hereby exempts the system of records entitled ``PBGC-19, Office of 
Negotiations and Restructuring/Office of General Counsel Case 
Management System'' from the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d), 
(e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H), and (I), and (f).
    (b) Reasons for exemption. The reasons for asserting this exemption 
are because the disclosure and other requirements of the Privacy Act 
could substantially compromise the efficacy and integrity of PBGC's 
ability to investigate administrative, civil, or criminal legal 
matters. Disclosure could invade the privacy of individuals and 
disclose their identity when they were expressly promised 
confidentiality. Disclosure could interfere with the integrity of 
information which would otherwise be subject to legal privileges, see, 
e.g., 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5), and which could interfere with other 
important law enforcement concerns, see, e.g., 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7).

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Ann Y. Orr,
Acting Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2024-28442 Filed 12-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P
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