[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 179-182]

 

                      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 180]]



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 181]]



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 182]]



    (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]