[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR200.8]

[Page 161-164]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
                  CHAPTER II--RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
 
PART 200_GENERAL ADMINISTRATION--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 200.8  Disclosure of information obtained in the administration 
of the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.

    (a) Purpose and scope. The purpose of this section is to establish 
specific procedures necessary for compliance with section 12(d) of the 
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, which is incorporated into the 
Railroad Retirement Act by section 7(b)(3) of that Act. Except as 
otherwise indicated in this section, these regulations apply to all 
information obtained by the Railroad Retirement Board in connection with 
the administration of the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad 
Unemployment Insurance Act.
    (b) Definitions--Agency. The term agency refers to the Railroad 
Retirement Board, an independent agency in the executive branch of the 
United States Government.
    Applicant. The term applicant means a person who signs an 
application for an annuity or lump-sum payment or unemployment benefits 
or sickness benefits for himself or herself or for some other person.
    Beneficiary. The term beneficiary refers to an individual to whom a 
benefit is payable under either the Railroad Retirement Act or the 
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.
    Board. The term Board refers to the three-member governing body of 
the Railroad Retirement Board.
    Document. The term document includes correspondence, applications, 
claims, reports, records, memoranda and any other materials or data 
used, prepared, received or transmitted to, from, by or for the agency 
in connection with the administration of the Railroad Retirement Act or 
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.
    Information. The term information means any non-medical document or 
data which is obtained by the agency in the administration of the 
Railroad Retirement Act and/or the Railroad

[[Page 162]]

Unemployment Insurance Act. Information does not include the fact of 
entitlement to or the amount of a benefit under either of these Acts. 
Medical records are subject to the disclosure provisions set out in 
Sec. 200.5(e) of this part.
    Testify and testimony. The terms testify and testimony include both 
in-person oral statements before a court or a legislative or 
administrative body and statements made in the form of depositions, 
interrogatories, declarations, affidavits or other means of formal 
participation in such proceedings.
    (c) General rule. Except as otherwise authorized by this section, 
information shall not be produced, disclosed, delivered or open to 
inspection in any manner revealing the identity of an employee, 
applicant or beneficiary unless the Board or its authorized designee 
finds that such production, disclosure, delivery, or inspection is 
clearly in furtherance of the interest of the employee, applicant or 
beneficiary or of the estate of such employee, applicant, or 
beneficiary. Where no such finding is made, no information shall be 
released except in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 200.5 of this 
part, unless release of such information is required by a law determined 
to supersede this general rule. In addition, regardless of whether or 
not such finding can be made, information which is compiled in 
anticipation of a civil or criminal action or proceeding against an 
applicant or beneficiary may not be released under this general rule.
    (d) Subpoenas--statement of policy and general rule. (1) It is the 
policy of the Board to provide information, data, and records to non-
Federal litigants to the same extent and in the same manner that they 
are available to the general public. The availability of Board employees 
to testify before state and local courts and administrative and 
legislative bodies, as well as in Federal court and administrative 
proceedings which involve non-Federal litigants, concerning information 
acquired in the course of performing their official duties or because of 
the employee's official capacity, is governed by the Board's policy of 
maintaining strict impartiality with respect to private litigants and 
minimizing the disruption of an employee's official duties. Thus, the 
Board may refuse to make an employee available for testimony under this 
paragraph or paragraph (e) or (f) of this section if it determines that 
the information sought is available other than through testimony and 
where making such employee available would cause disruption of agency 
operations. However, this paragraph does not apply to any civil or 
criminal proceeding where the United States, the Railroad Retirement 
Board, or any other Federal agency is a party; to Congressional requests 
or subpoenas for testimony; to consultative services and technical 
assistance provided by the Board or the agency in carrying out its 
normal program activities; to employees serving as expert witnesses in 
connection with professional and consultative services rendered as 
approved outside activities (in cases where employees are providing such 
outside services, they must state for the record that the testimony 
represents their own views and does not necessarily represent the 
official position of the agency); or to employees making appearances in 
their private capacity in legal or administrative proceedings that do 
not relate to the official business of the agency (such as cases arising 
out of traffic accidents, crimes, domestic relations, etc.) and not 
involving professional and consultative services as described above.
    (2) No officer, agent, or employee of the agency is authorized to 
accept or receive service of subpoenas, summons, or other judicial 
process addressed to the Board or to the agency except as the Board may 
from time to time delegate such authority by power of attorney. The 
Board has issued such power of attorney to the Deputy General Counsel of 
the agency and to no one else.
    (3) In the event the production, disclosure, or delivery of any 
information is called for on behalf of the United States or the agency, 
such information shall be produced, disclosed, or delivered only upon 
and pursuant to the advice of the Deputy General Counsel.
    (4) When any member, officer, agent, or employee of the agency is 
served with a subpoena to produce, disclose, deliver, or furnish any 
information, he

[[Page 163]]

or she shall immediately notify the Deputy General Counsel of the fact 
of the service of such subpoena. Unless otherwise ordered by the Deputy 
General Counsel or his or her designee, he or she shall appear in 
response to the subpoena and respectfully decline to produce, disclose, 
deliver, or furnish the information, basing such refusal upon the 
authority of this section.
    (e) Subpoena duces tecum. (1) When any document is sought from the 
agency by a subpoena duces tecum or other judicial order issued to the 
agency by a court of competent jurisdiction in a proceeding wherein such 
document is relevant, a copy of such document, certified by the 
Secretary to the Board to be a true copy, may be produced, disclosed, or 
delivered by the agency if, in the judgment of the Board or its 
designee, such production is clearly in furtherance of the interest of 
the employee, applicant, or beneficiary to whom the document pertains, 
or is clearly in furtherance of the interest of the estate of such 
employee, applicant, or beneficiary, and such document does not consist 
of or include a report of medical information.
    (2) When the production, diclosure, or delivery of any document 
described in paragraph (e)(1) of this section would not be permitted 
under the standards therein set forth, no member, officer, agent, or 
employee of the agency shall make any disclosure of or testify with 
respect to such document.
    (f) Requests for voluntary testimony. All requests for testimony by 
a Board employee in his or her official capacity must be in writing and 
directed to the Deputy General Counsel. They shall state the nature of 
the requested testimony, why the information is not available by any 
other means, and the reasons, if any, why the testimony would be in the 
interest of the Board or the Federal government.
    (g) Authorized release of information. Subject to the limitation 
expressed in paragraph (h) of this section, disclosure of documents and 
information is hereby authorized, in such manner as the Board may by 
instructions prescribe, in the following cases:
    (1) To any employer, employee, applicant, or prospective applicant 
for an annuity or death benefit under the Railroad Retirement Act of 
1974, or his or her duly authorized representative, as to matters 
directly concerning such employer, employee, applicant, or prospective 
applicant in connection with the administration of such Act.
    (2) To any employer, employee, applicant or prospective applicant 
for benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, or his or 
her duly authorized representative, as to matters directly concerning 
such employer, employee, applicant, or prospective applicant in 
connection with the administration of such Act.
    (3) To any officer or employee of the United States lawfully charged 
with the administration of the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, the Social 
Security Act, or acts or executive orders administered by the Department 
of Veterans Affairs, and for the purpose of the administration of those 
Acts only.
    (4) To any applicant or prospective applicant for death benefits or 
accrued annuities under the Railroad Retirement Act, or to his or her 
duly authorized representative, as to the amount payable as such death 
benefits or accrued annuities, and the name of the person or persons 
determined by the agency to be the beneficiary, or beneficiaries, 
thereof, if such applicant or prospective applicant purports to have a 
valid reason for believing himself or herself to be, in whole or in 
part, the beneficiary thereof.
    (5) To any officer or employee of the United States lawfully charged 
with the administration of any Federal law concerning taxes imposed with 
respect to amounts payable under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 and 
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act and the name of the person or 
persons to whom such amount was payable.
    (6) To any officer or employee of any state of the United States 
lawfully charged with the administration of any law of such state 
concerning unemployment compensation, as to the amounts payable to 
payees or beneficiaries under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 and 
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.

[[Page 164]]

    (7) To any court of competent jurisdiction in which proceedings are 
pending which relate to the care of the person or estate of an 
incompetent individual, as to amounts payable under the Railroad 
Retirement Act to such incompetent individual, but only for the purpose 
of such proceedings.
    (8) To parties involved in litigation, including an action with 
respect to child support, alimony, or marital property, the amount of 
any actual or estimated benefit payable under the Railroad Retirement 
Act or the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, where such amount or 
estimated amount is relevant to that litigation.
    (9) To any employer, as to the monthly amount of any retirement 
annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 or benefit under the 
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to which a present or former 
employee of that employer is entitled.
    (10) To any governmental welfare agency, information about the 
receipt of benefits and eligibility for benefits.
    (11) To any law enforcement agency, information necessary to 
investigate or prosecute criminal activity in connection with claims for 
benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act, Railroad Unemployment 
Insurance Act, or any other Act the Board may be authorized to 
administer.
    (12) To any consular official, other than a consular officer of a 
country to which United States Treasury checks and warrants may not be 
sent, acting in behalf of a compatriot who has claimed benefits under 
the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, 
information that is pertinent to the claim and that the applicant 
himself could have upon his or her own request.
    (h) No document and no information acquired solely by reason of any 
agreement, arrangement, contract, or request by or on behalf of the 
agency, relating to the gathering, preparation, receipt or transmittal 
of documents or information to, from or for the agency, which is by 
virtue of such agreement, arrangement, contract, or request in the 
possession of any person other than an employee of the agency, shall be 
produced, reproduced, or duplicated, disclosed or delivered by any 
person to any other person or tribunal (other than the agency or an 
employee thereof, or the person to whom the document or information 
pertains), whether in response to a subpoena or otherwise, except with 
the consent of the Board or its designee. Any person, upon receipt of 
any request, subpoena, or order calling for the production, disclosure, 
or delivery of such document or information shall notify the Board or 
its designee of the request, subpoena, or order and shall take no 
further action except upon advice of the Board or its designee. Unless 
consent of the Board or its designee is given, the person shall 
respectfully decline to comply with the request, subpoena or order.
    (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no 
disclosure of information may be made by the Board or any member, 
officer, agent, or employee of the agency, if the disclosure of such 
information is prohibited by law.
    (j) The Deputy General Counsel or his designee will request the 
assistance of the Department of Justice where necessary to represent the 
interests of the agency and its employees under this section.

[54 FR 43055, Oct. 20, 1989, as amended at 56 FR 50247, Oct. 4, 1991; 63 
FR 2141, Jan. 14, 1998]