[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 154 (Thursday, August 11, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46901-46902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15963]


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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 Public Law 
104-13, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. 
The information collection packages that may be included in this notice 
are for revisions to OMB-approved information collections, extensions 
(no change) of OMB-approved information collections and new information 
collection requests.
    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. The information can be mailed and/or faxed to the individuals 
at the addresses and fax numbers listed below:
    (OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Fax: 202-395-6974.
    (SSA) Social Security Administration, DCFAM, Attn: Reports 
Clearance Officer, 1333 Annex Building, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, 
MD 21235. Fax: 410-965-6400.
    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. Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants 
With Deferred Benefits, Schedule SSA--0960-0606

    Schedule SSA is a form filed annually as part of a series of 
pension plan documents required by section 6057 of the IRS Code. 
Administrators of pension benefit plans are required to report specific 
information on future plan benefits for those participants who left 
plan coverage during the year. SSA maintains the information until a 
claim for Social Security benefits has been approved. At that time, SSA 
notifies the beneficiary of his/her potential eligibility for payments 
from the private pension plan. The respondents are administrators of 
pension benefit plans or their service providers employed to prepare 
the schedule SSA on behalf of the pension benefit plan. Below are the 
estimates of the cost and hour burdens for completing and filing 
schedule SSA(s). We have used an average to estimate the hour burden. 
However, the burden may be greater or smaller depending on whether the 
respondent is a large or small pension benefit plan and how many 
schedule SSA's are filed in a given year.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 88,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 2.5 hours.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 220,000 hours.
    Estimated Annual Cost Burden for all Respondents: $12,194,400.

2. Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security 
(PABSS)--0960-NEW

Background

    In August of 2004, SSA announced its intention to award grants to 
establish community-based protection and advocacy projects in every 
State and U.S. Territory, as authorized under section 1150 of the 
Social Security Act. Potential awardees were protection and advocacy 
organizations established under Title I of the Developmental 
Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act which submitted a timely 
application conforming to the requirements in the notice. The projects 
funded under this grant are part of SSA's strategy to increase the 
number of beneficiaries who return to work and achieve self-sufficiency 
as the result of receiving advocacy or other services. The overall goal 
of the program is to provide information and advice about obtaining 
vocational rehabilitation and employment services and to provide 
advocacy or other services that a beneficiary with a disability may 
need to secure, maintain, or regain gainful employment.

Collection Activities

    The PABSS project collects identifying information from the project 
sites and benefits specialists. In addition, data are collected from 
the beneficiaries on background, employment, training, benefits, and 
work incentives. SSA uses the information to manage the program, with 
particular emphasis on contract administration, budgeting, and 
training.
    SSA also uses the information to evaluate the efficacy of the 
program and to ensure that those dollars appropriated for PABSS 
services are being spent on SSA beneficiaries. The project data will be 
valuable to SSA in its analysis of and future planning for the Social 
Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income 
programs.
    Type of Request: New information collection.

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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of     Frequency of     burden per       Estimated
               Title of collection                    annual         response        response      annual burden
                                                     responses                       (minutes)         hours
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Site............................................              57               5             1.8             8.6
Specialist......................................             225               5             1.8            33.8
Beneficiary.....................................          60,000               1             5.3           5,300
                                                 -----------------
    Total Estimated Annual Burden...............  ..............  ..............  ..............           5,342
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[[Page 46902]]

    II. The information collections listed below have 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 at 410-965-0454, or by 
writing to the address listed above.

Statement Regarding Date of Birth and Citizenship--20 CFR 404.716--
0960-0016

    Form SSA-702 collects information needed when preferred or other 
evidence is not available to prove age or citizenship for an individual 
applying for Social Security benefits. SSA uses this form for 
individuals who must establish age as a factor of entitlement or U.S. 
citizenship as a payment factor. Respondents are applicants for one or 
more Social Security benefits who need to establish their dates of 
birth as a factor of entitlement or U.S. citizenship as a factor of 
payment.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 1,200.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 200 hours.

National Direct Deposit Initiative--31 CFR 210--0960-NEW

    Many recipients of social security benefits choose to receive their 
payments via the Direct Deposit Program, in which funds are transferred 
directly into recipients' accounts at a financial institution (FI). 
However, 8 million Title II payment recipients still receive their 
payments through traditional paper checks. In an effort to encourage 
these beneficiaries to change from paper checks to the Direct Deposit 
Program, SSA is collaborating with the Department of the Treasury and 
several FIs to implement the National Direct Deposit Initiative. In 
this program, SSA will work with FIs to determine which of the target 8 
million Title II beneficiaries have accounts at the participating 
banks. The banks will then send forms to these beneficiaries 
encouraging them to enroll in the Direct Deposit Program. The 
respondents are the participating FIs and Title II beneficiaries 
currently receiving their payments via check.
    Type of Request: New information collection.

    Note: Please note that in the 60-day Federal Register Notice 
(published on May 13, 2005 at 70 FR 25643) we reported different 
data for the number of respondents, total burden, and cost burden. 
Since that time, SSA has received updated information on these 
categories. The new numbers in the chart below reflect the updated 
data.


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                                                                                   Average     Estimated                         Estimated
                                      Information       Number of    Frequency    burden per     annual                         cost burden     Total
           Respondents                 collection      respondents  of response    response      burden     Cost  requirement       per      annual cost
                                      requirement                                 (minutes)     (hours)                          respondent     burden
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Title II Payment Recipients.....  Direct Deposit           100,000            1            2        3,333  N/A                          N/A          N/A
                                   Enrollment Form.
Financial Institutions (banks)..  Data screening/               10            1          240           40  Printing and              $1,039      $10,390
                                   matching                                                                 mailing of 100,000
                                   activities; SSA's                                                        Enrollment Forms.
                                   data management
                                   requirements.
                                 ----------------------
    Totals......................  ...................      110,000  ...........  ...........        3,373  ...................  ...........       10,390
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    Dated: August 8, 2005.
Elizabeth A. Davidson,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-15963 Filed 8-10-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P