[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54690-54692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21483]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request and 
Comment Request

    The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of 
information collection packages that will require clearance by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Pub. L. 104-13 
effective October 1, 1995, The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The 
information collection packages that may be included in this notice are 
for new information collections, revisions to OMB-approved information 
collections and extensions (no change) of OMB-approved information 
collections.
    SSA is soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden 
estimate; the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to 
enhance its quality, utility and clarity; and on ways to minimize 
burden on respondents, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. Written comments 
and recommendations regarding the information collection(s) should be 
submitted to the OMB Desk Officer and the SSA Reports Clearance Officer 
at the following addresses:

(OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th St., NW., Washington, 
DC 20503.
(SSA) Social Security Administration, DCFAM, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Officer, 1300 Annex Bldg., 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235.

    I. The information collections listed below are pending at SSA and 
will be submitted to OMB within 60 days from the date of this notice. 
Therefore, your comments should be submitted to SSA within 60 days from 
the date of this publication. You can obtain copies of the collection 
instruments by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer at 410-965-
0454, or by writing to the address listed above.
    1. Application for Disability Insurance Benefits--0960-0060--20 CFR 
Subpart P--404.1501-1512 and Subpart D--404.315-404.322. The 
information collected on form SSA-16 helps to determine eligibility for 
social security disability benefits. The respondents are applicants for 
Social Security disability benefits.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 1,513,677.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 20 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 504,559 hours.
    2. Worker's Compensation/Public Disability Benefit Questionnaire--
0960-0247--20 CFR Subpart R--404.1720 and 404.1725, Subpart F--
410.686b, Subpart O--416.1520. Section 224 of the Act provides for the 
reduction of disability insurance benefit (DIB) when the combination of 
DIB benefits and any worker's compensation (WC) and/or certain Federal, 
State or Local public disability benefits (PDB) exceeds 80% of the 
worker's predisability earnings. SSA-546 collects the information to 
determine whether or not the worker's receipt of WC/PDB payments will 
cause a reduction of DIB. The respondents are applicants for title II 
DIB.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection.

[[Page 54691]]

    Number of Respondents: 100,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 25,000 hours.
    3. Medical Report on Adult with Allegation of Human Immune 
Deficiency Virus Infection and Medical Report on Child with Allegation 
of Human Immune Deficiency Virus Infection--0960-0500--20 CFR Subpart 
I--416.933. The information collected on forms SSA-4814-F5 and SSA-
4815-F6 assist the field offices/disability determination services to 
make findings of presumptive disability that confirms the claimants' 
disease manifestations meet the severity of listing-level criteria for 
Human Immunodeficency Virus (HIV) infection. The respondents are 
medical sources of claimants for title XVI disability payments based on 
HIV infection.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 59,100.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 9,850.
    II. The information collection listed below has been submitted to 
OMB for clearance. Your comments on the information collections would 
be most useful if received by OMB and SSA within 30 days from the date 
of this publication. You can obtain a copy of the OMB clearance package 
by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer on (410) 965-0454, or by 
writing to the address listed above.
    1. Petition To Obtain Approval Of A Fee For Representing A Claimant 
Before the Social Security Administration--0960-0104--20 CFR Subpart R-
-404.1720, 404.1725, Subpart F--410.686b, Subpart O--416.1520 and 
416.1525. A representative of a claimant for Social Security benefits 
must file either a fee petition or a fee agreement with SSA in order to 
charge a fee for representing a claimant in proceedings before SSA. The 
representative uses Form SSA-1560 to petition SSA for authorization to 
charge and collect a fee. A claimant may also use the form to agree or 
disagree with the requested fee amount or other information the 
representative provides on the form. SSA uses the information to 
determine a reasonable fee that a representative may charge and collect 
for his or her services. The respondents are claimants, their attorneys 
and other persons representing them.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection
    Number of Respondents: 34,624.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Average Burden: 17,312 hours.
    2. Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments--0960-0425-
-20 CFR Subpart M. In order for State and local employees working in 
positions covered by Social Security to get credit for their covered 
wages, States and Interstate Instrumentalities are required to provide 
wage and deposit contribution information (for Pre-1987 periods) to 
SSA. The information collected is needed to post wages to individuals' 
Social Security earnings records and to perform audit and Trust Fund 
accounting functions. The respondents are State and Local Governments, 
or Interstate Instrumentalities, that are required to provide SSA with 
wage and deposit contribution information for Pre-1987 periods.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 55.
    Frequency of Response: varies.
    Average Burden Per Response: varies (.5-5 hours) .
    Estimated Annual Burden: 434 hours.
    3. Application for Mother's or Father's Insurance Benefits--0960-
0003--20 CFR Subpart D--404.339-.342, Subpart G--404.601-.603. SSA uses 
the information collected on the Form SSA-5-F6 or during a personal 
interview with a claimant to entitle an individual to mother's or 
father's insurance benefits. The respondents are applicants for 
mother's or father's insurance Benefits.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection
    Number of Respondents: 50,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1 .
    Average Burden Per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 12,500 hours.
    4. Marriage Certification--0960-0009--20 CFR Subpart H--404.725. 
Form SSA-3-F6 is used by SSA to determine if the claimant filing for 
spouse's benefits has the necessary relationship to the worker for 
eligibility to benefits as required by section 216(h)(1) of the Social 
Security Act. The respondents are applicants for spouse's benefits.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection
    Number of Respondents: 180,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 15,000 hours.
    5. Claimant's Work Background--0960-0300--20 CFR P--404.1565, 
Subpart I--416.965. SSA uses the information collected on form HA-4633 
to provide claimant's their statutory right to a hearing and decision 
under the Social Security Act. A completed form provides an updated 
summary of a claimant's past relevant work and helps the Administrative 
Law Judge to decide whether or not the claimant is disabled. The 
respondents are claimants requesting hearings on entitlement to 
benefits based on disability under titles II and/or XVI of the Act.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection
    Number of Respondents: 120,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 60,000 hours.
    6. Letter to Landlord Requesting Rental Information--0960-0454--20 
CFR Subpart K--416.1130. Form SSA-L5061 is used by SSA to provide a 
nationally uniform vehicle for collecting information from landlords in 
making a rental subsidy determination in the Supplemental Security 
Income (SSI) Program. The information is used in deciding whether 
income limits are met for SSI eligibility. The respondents are 
landlords who provide subsidized rental arrangements to SSI applicants 
and recipients.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-Approved Information 
Collection Number of Respondents: 49,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Average Burden: 8,167.
    7. Pay.Gov Pilot--Phase-2 Testing--0960-New; 20 CFR 401.45(b)

Background

    The Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998 directed federal 
agencies to develop electronic service delivery instruments as an 
alternative to traditional paper-based methods. SSA plans to expand its 
Internet services to enable citizens to complete the application 
process as well as to process their requests for post-entitlement 
transactions online. A major requirement for filing applications and 
for processing transactional requests is SSA's ability to adequately 
authenticate the citizen. SSA cannot disclose information unless it is 
under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy 
Act of 1974. Because these transactions will be taking place online, 
SSA must authenticate citizens by asking for information that would 
positively

[[Page 54692]]

identify the requester of the information as the proper party. This 
information will be validated against identifying information residing 
in databases outside of SSA. Resultantly, SSA is planning to conduct a 
series of tests of the Treasury Department's ``Pay.Gov'' authentication 
engine as a possible tool for out-of-band authentication.

The Collection Pay.Gov--Phase-2

    SSA plans to conduct a limited pilot using its online Direct 
Deposit application to test the Treasury Department's Pay.Gov 
authentication engine as a possible tool for the Agency to validate 
beneficiaries online that do not have a current Pin/Password. The 
respondents to this test will be SSA Title II recipients who need to be 
authenticated before access can be granted to SSA's Direct Deposit 
online service.
    Type of Request: New Information Collection
    Number of Respondents: 161.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 13 hours.
    8. Statement for Determining Continuing Eligibility for 
Supplemental Security Income Payments--Adult, Form SSA-3988-TEST; 
Statement for Determining Continuing Eligibility for Supplemental 
Security Income Payments--Child, Form SSA-3989-TEST--0960-0643; 20 CFR 
Subpart B--416.204.

Background

    The Social Security Act mandates periodic redeterminations of the 
non-medical factors that relate to the SSI recipients' continuing 
eligibility for SSI payments. Recent SSA studies have indicated that as 
many as \2/3\ of all scheduled redeterminations completed, with the 
assistance of a SSA employee, did not result in any change in 
circumstances that affected payment. Therefore, SSA is planning to 
expand the respondents and revise the test methodology of the currently 
approved test forms. The expansion of the test is needed to further 
validate whether the test redetermination process actually results in 
significant operational savings and a decrease in recipient 
inconvenience, while still timely obtaining the accurate data needed to 
determine continuing eligibility through the process.

The Collection

    A test of forms SSA-3988-TEST and SSA-3989-TEST will be used to 
determine whether SSI recipients have met and continue to meet all 
statutory and regulatory non-medical requirements for SSI eligibility, 
and whether they have been and are still receiving the correct payment 
amount. The SSA-3988-TEST and SSA-3989-TEST are designed as self-help 
forms that will be mailed to recipients or to their representative 
payees for completion and return to SSA. The objectives of the expanded 
test are to determine the public's ability to understand and accurately 
complete the test forms. The respondents are recipients of SSI benefits 
or their representatives.
    Type of Request: Revision of Currently Approval OMB Collection.

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                                                                                  Average burden
                                                    Respondents    Frequency of    per response      Estimated
                                                                     response      (in minutes)    annual burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-3988-TEST...................................          46,500               1              20          15,500
SSA-3989-TEST...................................           8,500               1              20           2,833
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
      Total.....................................  ..............  ..............  ..............          18,333
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    Dated: August 19, 2002.
Nicholas E. Tagliareni,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-21483 Filed 8-22-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P