[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 82 (Monday, April 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20986-20989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-10504]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4556-N-18]


Privacy Act of 1974; Establishment of a New System of Records

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Notification of the Establishment of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provision of the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development developed the Public and Indian Housing (PIH) Information 
Center (PIC). This system combines several individual PIH business 
systems into one integrated system. The PIH systems now exist in one 
environment, enabling users access to a wealth of data without signing 
onto multiple systems. PIC incorporates the former Integrated Business 
System (IBS); Multifamily Tenant Characteristics System (MTCS), 
previously released on October 1, 1999; and Capital Fund Verification 
System (FOCVS). It also incorporates new functionality such as the 
Building and Unit Inventory; Section 8 Management Assessment Program 
(SEMAP); and Risk Assessment.
    PIH developed a state of the art system to improve the submission 
of information to HUD from the Office of Public and Indian Housing 
program participants. PIC facilitates more timely and accurate 
exchanges of data between public housing agencies (PHAs) and HUD 
Offices.
    PIC contains building and unit details, PHA program information, 
financial and budgetary data, and family records with demographic, 
rent, and income details.
    This system of records also supports the administration of programs 
for families receiving housing assistance from HUD by those entities 
that administer HUD's rental assistance programs. Entities that 
administer HUD's rental assistance programs include: PHAs, Indian 
Tribes, state agencies, and Tribally Designated Housing Entities 
participating in the Section 8 Program.

System Security Measures: The integrity and availability of data in PIC 
are important. Much of the data needs to be protected from 
unanticipated or unintentional modification. HUD restricts the use of 
this information to HUD approved officials and PHAs; thus, the data is 
protected accordingly. As a part of HUD's oversight responsibility, the 
collected data in PIC is used to calculate the amount of subsidy 
authorized and disbursed to PHAs to monitor PHAs' overall performance 
and use of HUD funds.
    Vulnerabilities and corresponding security measures include: (1) 
Multi-user access--access to the PIC system is controlled using PIC's 
Security module. This module controls a user's access to particular 
modules, update access, read-only access, and approval access based on 
the user's role and security access level; (2) unauthorized system 
access--unauthorized access is reduced by restricting access by job 
function and by the use of user identifications (User IDs) and 
passwords. User IDs will also be utilized to identify transactions by 
users; (3) inaccurate and incomplete data--inaccurate and incomplete 
data are identified and eliminated with extensive edits, (4) data 
corruption/destruction--there are limited user IDs that will have 
update rights to the production server/databases. This will greatly 
reduce the risk of data destruction or corruption, (5) multi-user 
processing--PIC utilizes reactive locking (which is an algorithm 
implemented in database management software so that multiple users 
cannot update the same data at the same time).

Data Quality: PHAs enter management, building, unit, and family 
information into PIC. Family information includes the families' names, 
social security numbers (SSN), and dates of birth. When a PHA submits 
family data to PIC, the system will verify whether or not the SSN for 
the family's head of household exists in PIC. If the SSN does exist in 
PIC, but is actively associated with another PHA, the PHA will receive 
an error message that states that the family's SSN currently exists in 
PIC. The error message will also list the PHA that houses the family.
    If PHA A submits a SSN to PIC, and the next day PHA B submits the 
same SSN, PHA B will receive a message that the family's SSN currently 
exists in PIC.
    PHA B will verify the individual's social security number for 
accuracy. If the SSN is correct, PHA B may call the PHA A to compare 
families. The PHAs may exchange the family name, SSN, and date of birth 
of the head of household to determine if the family currently receives 
benefits from multiple PHAs.
    This social security number search feature was established to help 
HUD maintain data quality and integrity and to support one of its 
strategic objectives to prevent fraud and abuse. This search feature 
will (1) help confirm that those families entitled to benefits receive 
benefits, (2) assist in limiting the duplication of benefits, and (3) 
help prevent the false application for benefits, thereby ensuring data 
quality. In addition, PIC will receive income data from state wage-
information collection agencies (SWICAs), one or more private vendors 
and, the Social Security Administration. This will allow PHAs to verify 
the income of applicants and tenants at the time of occupancy and at 
re-certification.

DATES: Effective Date: This proposal shall become effective without 
further notice on May 29, 2002 unless comments are received during or 
before this period which would result in a contrary determination.
    Comments Due Date: May 29, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room 
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, 
SW,

[[Page 20987]]

Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the above 
docket number and title. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable. A 
copy of each communication submitted will be available for public 
inspection and copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays at the 
above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, Departmental Privacy 
Act Officer, telephone number (202) 708-2374. Regarding records 
maintained in Washington, DC, contact: Johnson Abraham, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Administration and Budget in the Office of 
Public and Indian Housing and PIC Project Manager, telephone number 
(202) 708-0440. [The above are not toll free numbers.] A 
telecommunications device for hearing and speech-impaired persons (TTY) 
is available at 1-800-877-8339 (Federal Information Relay Services). 
(This is a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 
U.S.C. 552a), as amended, notice is given that HUD proposes to 
establish a new system of records identified as the Public and Indian 
Housing Information Center (PIC) P113.
    Title 5 U.S.C 552a(e)(4) and (11) provide that the public be 
afforded a 30-day period in which to comment on the new record systems. 
The new system report was submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB), the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the 
House Committee on Government Reform pursuant to paragraph 4c of 
Appendix l to OMB Circular No. A-130, ``Federal Responsibilities for 
Maintaining Records About Individuals,'' July 25, 1994 (59 FR 37914).
    Accordingly, this notice establishes a new system of records and 
accompanying routine uses to be submitted and accessed in the 
management of housing programs of the Office of Public and Indian 
Housing.

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a; 88 Stat. 1896; 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

    Dated: April 22, 2002.
Gloria R. Parker,
Chief Information Officer.
HUD/PIH-4

System Name:
    Public and Indian Housing Information Center (PIC).

System Locations:
    The files will be maintained at the following location: U. S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20410. Lockheed Martin Corporation, located at 4701 
Forbes Blvd., Lanham, MD 20706, will monitor access of any encrypted 
files containing social security and rent information (subject to the 
provisions of 26 U.S.C. 6103).

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    Families receiving rental housing assistance via programs 
administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, state 
agencies, Indian Tribes, Tribally Designated Housing Entities 
participating in the Section 8 program, PHAs and/or owners and 
management agents.

Categories of Records in the System:
    Records consist of automated building, unit, and family 
composition, income, and rent data obtained from PHAs. The system of 
records contains--identification information such as names and social 
security numbers for individuals 6 years and older; alien registration 
information; address and tenant unit numbers; financial data such as 
income, adjustments to income, tenant family composition 
characteristics such as family size, sex of family members, information 
about the family that would qualify them for certain adjustments or for 
admission to a project limited to a special population (e.g., elderly, 
handicapped, or disabled); relationships of members of the household to 
the head of household (e.g., spouse, child); preferences applicable to 
the family at admission; income status at admission; race and ethnicity 
of household members; unit characteristics such as number of bedrooms; 
geographic data obtained by the PHA; data obtained from third parties 
to verify data supplied by an applicant or tenant to determine 
eligibility or level of assistance; data obtained from a state wage 
information collection agency on wages and claim information; and 
information on the results of the follow-up phase of owner 
verifications or a computer match of tenant income (i.e., dollar amount 
of overpaid assistance, amount repaid, prosecution, termination of 
assistance, and termination of tenancy).
    Also included in PIC are records on contractual agreements (e.g., 
obligations, payments, contract terms), financial information, and 
personal data (e.g., names, addresses, taxpayer identification numbers/ 
social security numbers) for PHAs and/or owners and management agents.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    Pursuant to the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments 
Act of 1988 and Section 303(i) of the Social Security Act, HUD and HUD-
funded public housing authorities may request wage and claim data from 
State Wage Information Collection Agencies (SWICAs) responsible for 
administering state unemployment laws. On October 1, 1994, Section 
542(a)(1) of HUD's 1998 Appropriation Act, eliminated a sunset 
provision to Section 303(i) of the Social Security Act, effectively 
making permanent the authority requiring state agencies to disclose 
wage and claim information to HUD and public housing agencies. The 
Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 authorizes HUD to require 
applicants for and participants in (as well as members of their 
households six years of age and older) HUD administered rental housing 
assistance programs to disclose to HUD their social security numbers as 
a condition of initial or continuing eligibility for participation in 
these HUD programs. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 
(Budget Reconciliation Act) authorizes HUD to request from the Social 
Security Administration federal tax data as prescribed in section 6103 
(l)(7) of title 26 of the United States Code (Internal Revenue Code).

Purposes:
    The primary purpose of the PIC is to allow PHAs to electronically 
submit information to HUD that is related to the administration of 
HUD's Public and Indian Housing programs. The first component of PIC 
was successfully implemented on December 15, 1999. PIC provides 
automated interactive support in an IIS/MTS/SQL Server environment for 
the Office of Public and Indian Housing staff. It collects data for PIH 
operations, including data submitted via the Internet from HUD's field 
offices and HUD's business partners, and accurately tracks activities 
and processes. PIC also helps to increase sharing of information 
throughout the Office of Public and Indian Housing, which improves 
staff awareness of activities related to the administration of HUD-
subsidized housing programs. PIC is a flexible, scaleable, Internet-
based integrated system, which enables PHA users and HUD personnel to 
access a common database of PHA information via their web browser. PIC 
will aid HUD and entities that administer HUD's assisted housing 
programs in: (a) Increasing the effective distribution of rental 
assistance to individuals that meet the requirements of Federal rental 
assistance programs, (b) detecting abuses in assisted housing programs, 
(c) taking administrative or legal actions to resolve past abuses of 
assisted housing

[[Page 20988]]

programs, (d) deterring abuses by verifying the income of applicants 
and tenants at the time of occupancy and at re-certification via the 
use of electronic income data received from state wage-information 
collection agencies (SWICAs), one or more private vendors and, the 
Social Security Administration, (e) evaluating the effectiveness of 
income discrepancy resolution actions taken by PHAs, owners and 
management agents for HUD's rental assistance programs, (f) evaluating 
program effectiveness, (g) improving the reporting rate, (h) 
forecasting budgets, (i) controlling funds, and (j) updating building 
and unit data. PIC is a management information system that contains 
tools to help: (1) distribute capital and operating funds, (2) monitor 
the Event Tracking System (ETS) by HUD staff, (3) produce management 
reports, and (4) conduct risk assessments.
    The Public and Indian Housing Information Center (PIC) serves as a 
repository for automated information used when comparing family income 
data reported--by recipients of Federal rental assistance--to income 
data received from external sources (e.g., SWICAs, SSA, etc.). Records 
in PIC are subject to use in authorized and approved computer matching 
programs regulated under the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and Purposes of Such Uses:
    In addition to the uses cited in the section of this document 
titled ``Purposes'', other routine uses may include:
    1. To federal, state, and local agencies (e.g., state agencies 
administering the state's unemployment compensation laws, state welfare 
and food stamp agencies, U.S Office of Personnel Management, U.S. 
Postal Service, U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S. Social Security 
Administration)--to verify the accuracy and completeness of the data 
provided, to verify eligibility or continued eligibility in HUD's 
rental assistance programs, and to aid in the identification of tenant 
errors, fraud, and abuse in assisted housing programs through HUD's 
tenant income computer matching program;
    2. To individuals under contract to HUD or under contract to 
another agency with funds provided by HUD--for the preparation of 
studies and statistical reports directly related to the management of 
HUD's rental assistance programs, to support quality control for tenant 
eligibility efforts requiring a random sampling of tenant files to 
determine the extent of administrative errors in making rent 
calculations, eligibility determinations, etc., and for processing 
certifications/re-certifications;
    3. To Public Housing Agencies (PHAs)--to verify the accuracy and 
completeness of tenant data used in determining eligibility and 
continued eligibility and the amount of housing assistance received;
    4. To private owners of assisted housing--to verify the accuracy 
and completeness of applicant and tenant data used in determining 
eligibility and continued eligibility and the amount of housing 
assistance received;
    5. To PHAs, owners and management agents, and contract 
administrators--to identify and resolve discrepancies in tenant data;
    6. To the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)--to report income using 
IRS Form 1099;
    7. To the Social Security Administration and Immigration and 
Naturalization Service--to verify alien status and continued 
eligibility in HUD's rental assistance programs; and 8.To researchers 
affiliated with academic institutions, with not-for-profit 
organizations, or with federal, state or local governments, or to 
policy researchers--without individual identifiers--name, address, 
social security number--for the performance of research and statistical 
activities on housing and community development issues.

Policies for Storing, Retrieving, and Disposing of System Records
Storage:
    Records are stored manually in family case files and electronically 
in office automation equipment. Records are stored on HUD computer 
servers for field office and public housing agencies' access via the 
Internet to: (1) Obtain social security and supplemental security 
income data that are not subject to provisions of 26 U.S.C. 6103; and 
(2) update actions taken in resolving income discrepancies. Software in 
PIC precludes the transfer of any data subject to 26 U.S.C. 6103 to 
unencrypted media.

Retrievability:
    Records may be retrieved by manual or computer search of indices by 
the name or social security number of an existing HUD program 
participant.

Safeguards:
    Records are maintained at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development in Washington, DC with limited access to those persons 
whose official duties require the use of such records. Computer files 
and printed listings are maintained in locked cabinets. Computer 
terminals are secured in controlled areas, which are locked when 
unoccupied. Access to automated records is limited to authorized 
personnel who must use a password system to gain access. HUD will 
safeguard the SSN, income, and rent information obtained pursuant to 26 
U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(A) and (B) in accordance with 26 U.S.C. 6103(p)(4) 
and the IRS's ``Tax Information Security Guidelines for Federal, State 
and Local Agencies,'' Publication 1075 (REV 6/2000).

Retention and Disposal:
    Computerized family records are maintained in a password-protected 
environment. If information is needed for evidentiary purposes, 
documentation will be referred to the HUD Office of Inspector General 
(OIG) in Washington, DC or other appropriate Federal, state or local 
agencies charged with the responsibility of investigating or 
prosecuting violators of federal law. Documents referred to HUD's OIG 
will become part of OIG's Investigative Files. Records will be retained 
and disposed of in accordance with the General Records Schedule 
included in HUD Handbook 2228.2, appendix 14, item 25.

System Manager and Address:
    Johnson Abraham, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration and 
Budget/CFO and Project Manager of PIH's Information Center (PIC), U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20410.

Notification and Record Access Procedures:
    Individuals seeking to determine whether this system of records 
contains information about them, or those seeking access to such 
records, should address inquiries to the Project Manager of PIH's 
Information Center (PIC), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street SW., Washington, DC 20410. Written requests 
must include the full name, Social Security Number, date of birth, 
current address, and telephone number of the individual making the 
request.

Contesting Record Procedures:
    Procedures for the amendment or correction of records, and for 
applicants wanting to appeal initial agency determinations based on 
data in PIC, appear in 24 CFR part 16.

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Record Source Categories:
    The Office of Public and Indian Housing may receive data from HUD 
field office staff, federal government agencies, state and local 
agencies, private data sources, owners and management agents, and 
public housing agencies. Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) routinely 
collect personal and income data from participants in and applicants 
for HUD's public and assisted housing programs. The data collected by 
PHAs is entered into the PIC system on-line via the system itself, via 
PHA-owned software, or via HUD's Family Reporting Software (FRS).

Exemptions From Certain Provisions of the Act:
    None.

[FR Doc. 02-10504 Filed 4-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-72-P