[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 56 (Friday, March 23, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13851-13854]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5281]


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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 new information collections, approval of existing 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. The information can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to the 
individuals at the addresses and fax numbers listed below:

(OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, Fax: 
202-395-6974, E-mail address: [email protected].
(SSA) Social Security Administration, DCFAM, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Officer, 1333 Annex Building, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235, 
Fax: 410-965-6400, E-mail address: [email protected].

    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

[[Page 13852]]

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. State Agency Report of Obligations for SSA Disability Programs 
(SSA-4513); Time Report of Personnel Services for Disability 
Determination Services (SSA-4514); State Agency Schedule of Equipment 
Purchased for SSA Disability Programs (SSA-871)--20 CFR 404.1626-0960-
0421. Forms SSA-4513, SSA-4514 and SSA-871 are used to collect data 
necessary for detailed analysis and evaluation of costs incurred by 
State Disability Determination Services in making determinations of 
disability for SSA. The data are also utilized in determining funding 
levels for each DDS. Respondents are State DDSs.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 54.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 756 hours.

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                                                                                  Average burden     Estimated
                                    Respondents    Frequency of    Total annual    per response    annual burden
                                                     response        responses       (minutes)        (hours)
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SSA-4513........................              54               4             216              90             324
SSA-4514........................              54               4             216              90             324
SSA-871.........................              54               4             216              30             108
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................              54  ..............  ..............  ..............             756
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Subpoena-Disability Hearing--20 CFR 404.916(b)(1) & 
416.1416(b)(1)--0960-0428. Form SSA-1272-U4 is completed by State and 
Federal disability hearing officers (DHOs) to subpoena evidence or 
testimony in connections with hearings required by the Social Security 
Act. Actual issuance of the subpoena will be done by that appropriate 
delegated SSA official. Respondents are DHOs.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 36.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 18 hours.
    3. Summary of Evidence--20 CFR 404.913(b), 404.914(a), 416.1707, 
416.1313(b), 416.1414(a)--0960-0430. Form SSA-887 is completed by a DHO 
from the claimant's State Disability Determination Service (DDS). The 
DHO summarizes all medical and vocational reports that were used to 
make the no-disability determination. This form, which is used to 
prepare for and conduct the disability hearing, is also made available 
to claimants so that they are aware of the basis for the no-disability 
decision and they can prepare for the reconsideration accordingly. 
Respondents are DHOs.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 49,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 12,250 hours.
    4. Information About Joint Checking/Savings Accounts--20 CFR 
416.1201(b), 416.1208--0960-0461. The SSA-2574 is used to collect 
information when a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applicant/
recipient objects to the assumption that he/she owns all or part of the 
funds in a joint checking or savings account which bears his or her 
name. Information about the account is collected from both the SSI 
applicant/recipient and other accountholder(s). These statements 
regarding ownership are required to determine whether the account is a 
resource of the SSI claimant. The amount of resources a person owns is 
one of the factors considered in determining eligibility for SSI. 
Respondents are applicants and recipients of SSI and individuals who 
are joint owners of financial accounts with SSI applicants/recipients.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 200,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 7 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 23,333 hours.
    5. Beneficiary Recontact Form--20 CFR 404.703, 404.705--0960-0502. 
SSA must ensure that eligibility for benefits continues after 
entitlement. Studies show that mothers/fathers who marry fail to report 
the marriage and/or the fact that they no longer have a child entitled 
in their care. SSA uses the SSA-1588-OCR-SM to ask mothers/fathers 
about their marital status and children in care to detect overpayments 
and avoid continuing payment to those no longer entitled. Respondents 
are recipients of survivor mother/father Social Security benefits.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 133,400.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 11,117 hours.
    6. Wage Reports and Pension Information--20 CFR 422.122(b)--0960-
0547. The information collected through 20 CFR 422.122(b) is used by 
SSA to identify the requestor of pension plan information and to 
confirm the individual is entitled to the data SSA provides. 
Respondents are requestors of pension plan information.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 600.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 300 hours.
    7. SSI Monthly Wage Reporting System-- 20 CFR 416.701-732--0960-
0715.

Collection Background

    SSI recipients are required to report changes in their income, 
resources and living arrangements that may affect eligibility or 
payment amount. Currently, SSI recipients report changes on Form SSA-
8150, Reporting Events--SSI, or to an SSA teleservice representative 
through SSA's toll-free telephone number, or they visit their local 
Social Security office.
    Wages have, historically, been the source of SSI's highest error 
rate largely due to non-reporting by beneficiaries, deemors, and 
representative payees. Failure to report changes in wages timely 
accounts for approximately $400 million in overpayments each year. 
Consequently, SSA is evaluating methods for increasing reporting. SSA 
has tested and determined that given an easily accessible automated 
format, individuals will increase compliance with reporting 
responsibilities. Increased timely reporting has resulted in a decrease 
in improper payments. One of the methods tested, described

[[Page 13853]]

below, is the SSI Wage Reporting System.

Collection Description

    Participants who need to report a change in monthly wages (Comment: 
There are other forms of earned income that the phone line does not 
support) will call SSA's toll-free telephone number to report the 
change. The participants will access SSA's system using knowledge-based 
authentication (providing name, SSN and date of birth). Participants 
will speak their report (voice recognition technology) and/or key in 
the information using the telephone key pad. This automated system will 
then directly update our records and issue receipts in compliance with 
Section 202 of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004.
    We are requesting permanent authorization of the existing wage 
reporting system to continue providing an alternative, and more 
efficient, means by which beneficiaries, their representative payees, 
and deemors can report wages via a toll-free telephone number. We 
believe this permanent authorization is necessary to effectively 
implement national usage of the system and substantially increase the 
number of reports received via this collection method. Without 
permanent authorization, we are concerned that an interruption in 
reporting would prove detrimental to our earlier efforts to recruit and 
train reporters, would damage the current regularity of reporting, and 
would considerably mitigate SSA's potential to reduce improper payments 
resulting from erroneous, or deficient, wage reports. Respondents to 
this collection are SSI recipients, deemors and representative payees 
of recipients who agree to participate in the program.
    Type of Request: Revision of OMB approval.
    Number of Respondents: 50,000.
    Frequency of Response: 12.
    Average Burden Per Response: 4 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 40,000 hours.
    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 
packages by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer at 410-965-0454, 
or by writing to the address listed above.
    1. Complaint Form for Allegations of Discrimination in Programs or 
Activities Conducted by the Social Security Administration--0960-0585. 
The information collected on form SSA-437 is used by SSA to investigate 
and formally resolve complaints of discrimination based on race, color, 
sex, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, status as a parent, 
retaliation, and national origin, including limited or no ability with 
English in any program or activity conducted by SSA. A person who 
believes that he or she has been discriminated against on any of the 
above basis may file a written complaint of discrimination. The 
information will be used to identify the complainant; identify the 
alleged discriminatory act; ascertain the date of such alleged act; 
obtain the identity of any individual(s) with information about the 
alleged discrimination; and ascertain other relevant information that 
would assist in the investigation and resolution of the complaint. The 
respondents are individuals who believe they have been discriminated 
against by SSA or by SSA's employees, contractors or agents in programs 
or activities conducted by SSA.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 140.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 60 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 140 hours.
    2. Work Incentives Planning and Assistance Program (formerly the 
BPAO Program)--0960-0629. Like the Benefits Planning Assistance 
Outreach (BPAO) program which it replaces, the Work Incentives Planning 
and Assistance (WIPA) program collects identifying information from the 
project sites and the community work incentives coordinators. In 
addition, data are collected from the beneficiaries on background 
employment, training, benefits and work incentives. SSA is interested 
in identifying beneficiary outcomes under the WIPA program to determine 
the extent to which beneficiaries with disabilities achieve their 
employment, financial and health care goals. The data will also be 
valuable to SSA in its analysis and future planning for Social Security 
Disability Insurance and SSI programs.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 5,019 hours.

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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of     Frequency of     burden per       Estimated
                   Respondent                         annual         response        response      annual burden
                                                     responses                       (minutes)        (hours)
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Site............................................             147               1               2               5
CWIC............................................             422               1               2              14
Beneficiary.....................................          60,000               1               5           5,000
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................          60,569  ..............  ..............           5,019
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    3. Expanded Monitoring Site Review Questionnaire for Volume and Fee 
for Service Payees (SSA-637); Expanded Monitoring Site Review 
Beneficiary Interview Form (SSA-639)--20 CFR 404.2035, 404.2065, 
416.665, 416.701, 416.708--0960-0633. In situations where a Social 
Security beneficiary or SSI recipient is incompetent or physically 
unable to take care of his or her own affairs, SSA may pay Social 
Security benefits and/or SSI payments to a relative, another person, or 
an organization when the best interest of the beneficiary will be 
served. In certain situations SSA conducts site reviews in order to 
ensure that payees are carrying out their responsibilities in 
accordance with representative payment policies and procedures. SSA is 
also able to identify poor payee performance, uncover misuse and 
initiate corrective action. Triennial site reviews are conducted for 
fee-for-service payees and all volume payees (i.e., organizations 
serving 100 or more beneficiaries and individuals serving 20 or more 
beneficiaries). The reviews include a face-to-face meeting with the 
payee (and appropriate staff), examination/verification of a sample of 
beneficiary records and supporting documentation, and usually include 
beneficiary (if competent adult) or custodian (if different from payee) 
interviews. Forms SSA-637 and SSA-639 are used to

[[Page 13854]]

record the information collected during these interviews. The 
respondents are certain representative payees and also competent Social 
Security beneficiaries.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 3,538 hours.

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                                                                                     Time per
                    Form No.                         Number of        Reports        response       Total hours
                                                    respondents      annually        (minutes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-637.........................................           1,763               1              75           2,204
SSA-639.........................................           8,001               1              10           1,334
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................           9,764  ..............  ..............           3,538
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    4. Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form (Country)--31 CFR 210--0960-0686. 
The SSA-1199 form captures the direct deposit information for an 
account at a foreign financial institution. Our International Direct 
Deposit program allows beneficiaries living abroad to have their 
benefits deposited to an account at a financial institution outside the 
U.S. Routing account number information varies slightly for each 
country, so we use a variation of the SF-1199 A (the government 
standard Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form) for each country. The respondents 
are Social Security beneficiaries residing abroad.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 5,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 417 hours.
    5. Certification of Prisoner Identity Information--20 CFR 422.107--
0960-0688. When a valid agreement is in place, prison officials verify 
the identity of certain incarcerated U.S. citizens who need replacement 
Social Security cards. Information the prison officials provide will be 
taken from the official prison files and will be transcribed on their 
letterhead. This information will be used to establish the applicant's 
identity in the Social Security card process. The respondents are 
prison officials that certify identity of prisoners applying for 
replacement Social Security cards.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 1,000.
    Frequency of Response: 200.
    Average Burden Per Response: 3 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 10,000 hours.
    6. Claimant Statement about Loan of Food or Shelter; Statement 
about Food or Shelter Provided to Another--20 CFR 416.1130-416.1148--
0960-0529. Forms SSA-5062 and SSA-L5063 are used to obtain statements 
about food and/or shelter provided to an SSI claimant or recipient. SSA 
uses this information to determine whether food and/or shelter are bona 
fide loans or should be counted as income for SSI purposes. This 
determination can affect eligibility for SSI and the amount of SSI 
benefits payable. The respondents are claimants/recipients for SSI 
benefits and individuals that provide loans of food and/or shelter to 
SSI claimants/recipients.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 21,846 hours.

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                                                                                  Average burden     Estimated
                   Collections                       Number of     Frequency of    per response    annual burden
                                                    respondents      response        (minutes)        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-5062........................................          65,540               1              10          10,923
SSA-L5063.......................................          65,540               1              10          10,923
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................         131,080  ..............  ..............          21,846
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    7. Internet Direct Deposit Application--31 CFR 210--0960-0634. SSA 
uses Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer (DD/EFT) enrollment 
information received from beneficiaries to facilitate DD/EFT of their 
Social Security benefits with a financial institution. Respondents are 
Social Security beneficiaries who use the Internet to enroll in DD/EFT.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 80,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 13,333 hours.
    8. Farm Self-Employment Questionnaire--20 CFR 404.1095--0960-0061. 
Section 211(a) of the Social Security Act requires the existence of a 
trade or business as a prerequisite for determining whether an 
individual or partnership may have ``net earnings from self-
employment.'' Form SSA-7156 elicits the information necessary to 
determine the existence of an agricultural trade or business and 
subsequent covered earnings for Social Security entitlement purposes. 
The respondents are applicants for Social Security benefits, whose 
entitlement depends on whether the worker has covered earnings from 
self-employment as a farmer.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 47,500.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 7,917 hours.

    Dated: March 19, 2007.
Elizabeth A. Davidson,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
 [FR Doc. E7-5281 Filed 3-22-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P