[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 136 (Wednesday, July 16, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38094-38095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-18677]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: 45 CFR Part 303.72--Request for collection of past-due 
support by Federal tax refund offset and administrative offset.
    OMB No.: None.
    Description: The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) 
operates the Tax refund offset (TROP). The TROP was enacted by Congress 
on August 13, 1981 (Pub. L. 97-35, section 2331). This is a 
computerized system operated by the Office of Child Support Enforcement 
(OCSE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and State child 
support agencies. The TROP was established to recover delinquent AFDC 
child support debts with ongoing cooperation of states and local child 
support agencies.
    The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-508) 
signed by the President in November 1990, expanded the Program to 
include a provision for non-AFDC cases.
    In 1996 the Debt Collection Improvement Act (Pub. L. 104-134)

[[Page 38095]]

further expanded the program to increase the collection of nontax debts 
owed to the Federal Government and to assist families in collecting 
past-due child support. It required the development and implementation 
of procedures necessary to collect past-due support by administrative 
offset by agencies. As a result, this program is now known as the Tax 
Refund and Administrative Offset Program (TROP/ADOP).
    Purpose: Pursuant to Public Laws 97-35 enacted by Congress on 
August 13, 1981, Public Law 101-508 signed by the President in November 
1990 and Public Law 104-134 enacted into law on April 26, 1996, the 
Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, and pursuant to the Executive 
Order 13019 dated September 28, 1996, the OCSE will match the tax 
refund records against Federal payment certification records and 
Federal financial assistance records. The purpose is to facilitate the 
collection of delinquent child support obligations from persons who may 
be entitled or eligible to receive certain Federal payments or Federal 
assistance. State child support agencies submit cases of delinquent 
child support claims to the OCSE for submission to the Financial 
Management Service (FMS). These cases are sent by on-line dial-up 
access via personal computer, tape and cartridge via mail, Mitron tape, 
file transfer, or electronic data transmission. The Office of Child 
Support Enforcement serves as a conduit between state child support 
enforcement agencies and the FMS by processing weekly updates of 
collection data and distributing the information back to the 
appropriate State child support agency. The information will be 
disclosed by OCSE to state child support agencies for use in the 
collection of child support debts, through locate action wage 
withholding or other enforcement actions.
    Respondents: State and local governments. (50 States, District of 
Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands.)

                         Annual Burden Estimates                        
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                                                         Average        
                                             Number of   burden    Total
          Instrument            Number of    responses    hours   burden
                               respondents      per        per     hours
                                            respondent  response        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard forms...............         54          30          2    3,240
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 3,240.
    * The 1,620 transmittals (54 x 30) represent 5.2M offset requests 
per year.
    In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children 
and Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of 
the information collection described above.
    Copies of the proposed collection of information can be obtained 
and comments may be forwarded by writing to the Administration for 
Children and Families, Office of Information Management Services, 370 
L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20047, Attn: ACF Reports 
Clearance Officer. All requests should be identified by the title of 
the information collection.
    The Department specifically requests comments on: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.

    Dated: July 10, 1997.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 97-18677 Filed 7-15-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M