Three notices of records system modifications by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) would implement a March White House executive order that gives Treasury screening authority over payments by federal agencies.
The notices, published Monday in the Federal Register and including the bureau’s Civil Penalty Fund records, are out for comment until Jan. 21, the same date the changes are set to take effect “unless the comments received result in a contrary determination.”
The modifications are being made specifically to CFPB.025 Civil Penalty Fund and Bureau-Administered Redress Program Records; CFPB.009 Employee Administrative Records System; and CFPB.008 Transit Subsidy Program.
The modifications, presuming they are finalized, will enable disclosure of records to Treasury under Executive Order 14249, “Protecting America’s Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse” and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-25-32, “Preventing Improper Payments and Protecting Privacy Through Do Not Pay.”
The bureau said it is also modifying the purpose of the collection to clarify that records may be used to prevent improper payment of funds. With respect to the Civil Penalty Fund and redress program records, the bureau said it is also updating its policies and practices for records retention and disposal to include the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)-approved records retention schedule.
The executive order, signed by the president March 25, states that it “promotes financial integrity by enabling the Department of the Treasury to more easily conduct improper payment and fraud prevention screening prior to disbursing funds on behalf of agencies.”
Under the order, agency heads are given 90 days from the date of the order to “review and modify, as applicable, their relevant system of records notices under the Privacy Act of 1974 to include a ‘routine use’ that allows for the disclosure of records to the Department of the Treasury for the purposes of identifying, preventing, or recouping fraud and improper payments, to the extent permissible by law.”
The order requires Treasury, in consultation with the OMB, to issue payments guidance to federal agencies to be followed by “certifying officers” within the agencies. It states, among other things, that agency heads shall submit payment files other than with respect to same-day payments to the Treasury secretary or designee “with sufficient lead time prior to the date of disbursement … to allow for fraud and improper payment screening, to the extent permissible by law.” It said that for same-day payments, agency heads shall submit payment files “as much in advance as reasonably practicable.”
Certifying officers will need to include specific data for screening, including identifying information such as, for example, the recipient’s Social Security number, taxpayer identification number, or employer identification number.
Civil Penalty Fund records system modification, comment request
Employee admin records system modification, comment request
Transit Subsidy Program records system modification, comment request
E.O. 14249, “Protecting America’s Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse”
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