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contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

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Rules and Regulations Federal Register

68093 

Vol. 79, No. 220 

Friday, November 14, 2014 

FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT 

INVESTMENT BOARD 

5 CFR Parts 1630 and 1631 

Privacy Act and Freedom of 

Information Requests 

AGENCY: Federal Retirement Thrift 

Investment Board. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Retirement Thrift 

Investment Board (Agency) is amending 

its Privacy Act and FOIA regulations to 

reflect the Agency’s current 

organizational structure and to transfer 

responsibility for reviewing Privacy Act 

and FOIA requests from the Agency’s 

Office of Resource Management 

(formerly known as the Office of 

Administration) to the Office of General 

Counsel. 

DATES: This rule is effective November 

14, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laurissa Stokes at (202) 942–1645. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Agency administers the Thrift Savings 

Plan (TSP), which was established by 

the Federal Employees’ Retirement 

System Act of 1986 (FERSA), Public 

Law 99–335, 100 Stat. 514. The TSP 

provisions of FERSA are codified, as 

amended, largely at 5 U.S.C. 8351 and 

8401–79. The TSP is a tax-deferred 

retirement savings plan for Federal 

civilian employees and members of the 

uniformed services. The TSP is similar 

to cash or deferred arrangements 

established for private-sector employees 

under section 401(k) of the Internal 

Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 401(k)). 

On April 22, 2014, the Agency 

published a proposed rule with request 

for comments in the Federal Register 

(79 FR 22454). The Agency received no 

comments. Therefore, the Agency is 

publishing the proposed rule as final 

without modification. 

The Agency has eleven organizational 

offices: The Office of the Executive 

Director, the Office of Participant 

Operations and Policy, the Office of 

General Counsel, the Office of 

Investments, the Office of 

Communications and Education, the 

Office of Enterprise Planning, the Office 

of Enterprise Risk Management, the 

Office of External Affairs, the Office of 

Financial Management, the Office of 

Resource Management, and the Office of 

Technology Services. This regulation 

updates the list of Agency offices 

contained in section 1631.3. 

The Office of Resource Management 

(formerly known as the Office of 

Administration) currently has 

responsibility for reviewing, processing, 

and responding to initial requests for 

disclosure and initial requests to amend 

non-TSP records covered under the 

Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a. The 

Executive Director currently considers 

appeals of initial decisions to deny 

access to or amendment of records in 

consultation with the General Counsel. 

This regulation transfers the 

responsibility for reviewing, processing, 

and responding to initial requests for 

disclosure and initial requests to amend 

non-TSP records covered under the 

Privacy Act to the Office of General 

Counsel by defining ‘‘Privacy Act 

Officer’’ to mean ‘‘the Board’s General 

Counsel or his or her designee.’’ The 

Executive Director will retain 

responsibility for making a final 

decision on appeal of an initial decision 

to deny access to or amendment of 

records. However, the Executive 

Director will no longer be required to 

consult the General Counsel before 

making a final determination. 

Freedom of Information Act 

The Office of Resource Management 

(formerly known as the Office of 

Administration) currently has 

responsibility for making initial 

determinations to approve or deny 

requests received pursuant to the 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 

U.S.C. 552. The General Counsel 

currently considers appeals of initial 

decisions to deny requests for records 

under the Freedom of Information Act. 

This regulation transfers the 

responsibility for making initial 

determinations to approve or deny FOIA 

requests to the Office of General 

Counsel by defining ‘‘FOIA Officer’’ to 

mean ‘‘the Board’s General Counsel or 

his or her designee.’’ In order to retain 

the opportunity for fair review on 

appeal, this regulation also transfers the 

responsibility for deciding appeals from 

the General Counsel to the Executive 

Director. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that this regulation will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

This regulation will affect Federal 

employees and members of the 

uniformed services who participate in 

the Thrift Savings Plan, which is a 

Federal defined contribution retirement 

savings plan created under the Federal 

Employees’ Retirement System Act of 

1986 (FERSA), Public Law 99–335, 100 

Stat. 514, and which is administered by 

the Agency. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

I certify that these regulations do not 

require additional reporting under the 

criteria of the Paperwork Reduction Act. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

Pursuant to the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 602, 632, 

653, 1501–1571, the effects of this 

regulation on state, local, and tribal 

governments and the private sector have 

been assessed. This regulation will not 

compel the expenditure in any one year 

of $100 million or more by state, local, 

and tribal governments, in the aggregate, 

or by the private sector. Therefore, a 

statement under section 1532 is not 

required. 

Submission to Congress and the 

General Accounting Office 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 810(a)(1)(A), the 

Agency submitted a report containing 

this rule and other required information 

to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 

Representatives, and the Comptroller 

General of the United States before 

publication of this rule in the Federal 

Register. This rule is not a major rule as 

defined at 5 U.S.C. 814(2). 

List of Subjects 

5 CFR Part 1630 

Privacy. 

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68094 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 220 / Friday, November 14, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

5 CFR Part 1631 

Courts, Freedom of information, 

Government employees. 

Gregory T. Long, 

Executive Director, Federal Retirement Thrift 

Investment Board. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the Agency amends 5 CFR 

chapter VI as follows: 

PART 1630—PRIVACY ACT 

REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1630 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a. 

■ 2. In § 1630.2, redesignate paragraphs 

(g) through (r) as paragraphs (h) through 

(s), and add new paragraph (g) to read 

as follows: 

§ 1630.2 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(g) Privacy Act Officer means the 

Board’s General Counsel or his or her 

designee; 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 1630.14, by revising the 

first sentence of paragraph (a) to read as 

follows: 

§ 1630.14 Appeals process. 

(a) Within 20 work days of receiving 

the request for review, the Executive 

Director will make a final determination 

on appeal. * * * 

* * * * * 

§ 1630.16 [Amended] 

■ 4. In § 1630.16, paragraph (d) 

introductory text, remove the words and 

punctuation ‘‘Head, TSP Service 

Office’’, and add, in their place, the 

words ‘‘Executive Director’’. 

PART 1631—AVAILABILITY OF 

RECORDS 

Subpart A—Production or Disclosure 

of Records Under the Freedom of 

Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552 

■ 5. The authority for part 1631, subpart 

A, continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552. 

■ 6. Amend § 1631.1, by revising 

paragraph (e) to read as follows: 

§ 1631.1 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(e) FOIA Officer means the Board’s 

General Counsel or his or her designee. 

* * * * * 

■ 7. Amend § 1631.3, by revising 

paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

§ 1631.3 Organization and functions. 

(a) The Federal Retirement Thrift 

Investment Board was established by 

the Federal Employees’ Retirement 

System Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99–335, 5 

U.S.C. 8401 et seq.). Its primary function 

is to manage and invest the Thrift 

Savings Fund for the exclusive benefit 

of its participants (e.g., participating 

Federal employees, Federal judges, and 

Members of Congress). The Board is 

responsible for investment of the assets 

of the Thrift Savings Fund and the 

management of the Thrift Savings Plan. 

The Board consists of: 

(1) The five part-time members who 

serve on the Board; 

(2) The Office of the Executive 

Director; 

(3) The Office of Participant 

Operations and Policy; 

(4) The Office of General Counsel; 

(5) The Office of Investments; 

(6) The Office of Communications and 

Education; 

(7) The Office of Enterprise Planning; 

(8) The Office of Enterprise Risk 

Management; 

(9) The Office of External Affairs; 

(10) The Office of Financial 

Management; 

(11) The Office of Resource 

Management; and 

(12) The Office of Technology 

Services. 

* * * * * 

■ 8. Amend § 1631.4, by revising the 

first sentence of paragraph (c) to read as 

follows: 

§ 1631.4 Public reference facilities and 

current index. 

* * * * * 

(c) The FOIA officer shall also 

maintain a file open to the public, 

which shall contain copies of all grants 

or denials of FOIA requests, appeals, 

and appeal decisions by the Executive 

Director. * * * 

■ 9. Amend § 1631.9, by revising 

paragraph (b)(5) to read as follows: 

§ 1631.9 Responses—form and content. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(5) A statement that the denial may be 

appealed to the Executive Director 

within 30 calendar days of receipt of the 

denial or partial denial. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. Revise § 1631.10 to read as 

follows: 

§ 1631.10 Appeals to the Executive 

Director from initial denials. 

(a) When the FOIA Officer has denied 

a request for expedited processing or a 

request for records, in whole or in part, 

the person making the request may, 

within 30 calendar days of receipt of the 

response of the FOIA Officer, appeal the 

denial to the Executive Director. The 

appeal must be in writing, addressed to 

the Executive Director, Federal 

Retirement Thrift Investment Board, 77 

K Street NE., Suite 1000, Washington, 

DC 20002, and be clearly labeled as a 

‘‘Freedom of Information Act Appeal.’’ 

(b)(1) The Executive Director will act 

upon the appeal of a denial of a request 

for expedited processing within 5 work 

days of its receipt. 

(2) The Executive Director will act 

upon the appeal of a denial of a request 

for records within 20 work days of its 

receipt. 

(c) The Executive Director will decide 

the appeal in writing and mail the 

decision to the requester. 

(d) If the appeal concerns an 

expedited processing request and the 

decision is in favor of the person 

making the request, the Executive 

Director will order that the request be 

processed on an expedited basis. If the 

decision concerning a request for 

records is in favor of the requester, the 

Executive Director will order that the 

subject records be promptly made 

available to the person making the 

request. 

(e) If the appeal of a request for 

expedited processing of records is 

denied, in whole or in part, the 

Executive Director’s decision will set 

forth the basis for the decision. If the 

appeal of a request for records is denied, 

in whole or in part, the Executive 

Director’s decision will set forth the 

exemption relied on and a brief 

explanation of how the exemption 

applies to the records withheld and the 

reasons for asserting it, if different from 

the reasons described by the FOIA 

Officer under § 1631.9. The denial of a 

request for records will state that the 

person making the request may, if 

dissatisfied with the decision on appeal, 

file a civil action in Federal court. (A 

Federal court does not have jurisdiction 

to review a denial of a request for 

expedited processing after the Board has 

provided a complete response to the 

request.) 

(f) No personal appearance, oral 

argument, or hearing will ordinarily be 

permitted in connection with an appeal 

of a request for expedited processing or 

an appeal for records. 

(g) On appeal of a request concerning 

records, the Executive Director may 

reduce any fees previously assessed. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26933 Filed 11–13–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6760–01–P 

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