[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 247 (Thursday, December 27, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 73260-73261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-24915]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Part 422

[Docket No. SSA-2007-0009]
RIN 0960-AG36


Private Printing of Prescribed Applications, Forms, and Other 
Publications

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are issuing these final rules to adopt without change the 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published on August 16, 2007 at 72 FR 
45991. These final rules amend the regulation at 20 CFR 422.527, which 
requires a person, institution, or organization (person) to obtain the 
Social Security Administration's (SSA's) approval prior to reproducing, 
duplicating, or privately printing any SSA prescribed application or 
other form whether or not the person intended to charge a fee. Section 
1140(a)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (the Act) prohibits a person 
from charging a fee to reproduce, reprint, or distribute any SSA 
application, form, or publication unless he/she obtains the 
authorization of the Commissioner of Social Security in accordance with 
such regulations as he may prescribe. (42 U.S.C. 1320b-10(a)(2)(A)).

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 28, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You may contact Renee Williams, Forms 
Management Team, Office of Publications and Logistics Management, 6401 
Security Boulevard, P.O. Box 7703, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-7703, 
(410) 965-4163, for information about this regulation. For information 
on eligibility or claiming benefits, please call our national toll-free 
numbers, 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-800-325-0778, or visit our Internet 
site, SSA Online, at http://www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Version

    The electronic file of this document is available on the date of 
publication in the Federal Register at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.

Background

    The current regulation at 20 CFR 422.527 requires any person who 
wishes to reproduce, duplicate, or privately print any application or 
other form prescribed by SSA to obtain prior approval of such use from 
SSA. Consistent with the requirements of 20 CFR 422.527, in 1992, SSA 
began approving requests from the public to duplicate or privately 
print the Administration's applications or other forms. The requirement 
to obtain SSA approval applied whether or not the person intended to 
charge a fee.
    Section 312(a) of the Social Security Independence and Program 
Improvement Act (SSIPA) amended the Social Security Act (the Act) and, 
among other things, added section 1140(a)(2)(A) to the Act. Pub. L. 
103-296, Sec. 312(a) (codified as 42 U.S.C. 1320b-10(a)(2)(A)). This 
section prohibits any person from charging a fee to reproduce, reprint, 
or distribute SSA's official applications, forms, or publications 
unless the Commissioner grants the person specific written 
authorization in accordance with regulations which the Commissioner 
shall prescribe. These final rules will implement section 312(a) of the 
SSIPA by adding SSA publications to Sec.  422.527 and by providing for 
SSA's prior approval of requests to reproduce, reprint, and/or 
distribute its applications, forms, or publications when the person 
intends to charge a fee. Furthermore, this final rule will implement 
section 312(a) by establishing the procedure any person who intends to 
charge a fee for reproducing, reprinting, or distributing SSA materials 
must follow to obtain SSA's prior approval. The requirement to obtain 
SSA's prior approval will apply regardless of the means the person uses 
to transmit the document, e.g., Internet or direct mail. These final 
rules will help to ensure that consumers obtain accurate and current 
materials and information regarding the Administration's programs. 
Nothing in this rule alters or affects the requirement to submit the 
forms and applications prescribed by SSA or otherwise permits any 
modifications of SSA's prescribed forms and applications.

Regulatory Procedures

Executive Order 12866

    We have consulted with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
and determined that these final rules do not meet the criteria for a 
significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866, as amended.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    We certify that these final rules will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Therefore, a 
regulatory flexibility analysis as provided in the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act, as amended, is not required.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In these final rules at 20 CFR 422.527, we are implementing the 
following provisions: (1) SSA's publications will be added to the list 
of items which require the Administration's pre-authorization to 
reprint privately; (2) SSA's authorization to reprint applications, 
forms, or publications will only be required if the person or company 
intends to charge a fee to for the reprinted item(s); and (3) the 
procedures a person who intends to charge a fee must follow to obtain 
SSA's authorization.
    These final rules contain information collection requirements that 
need Office of Management and Budget clearance under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). As required by the PRA, SSA has submitted 
a clearance request for the regulation section and for form SSA-1010 
(``Request to Reproduce, Duplicate, or Distribute SSA Forms, 
Applications, or Publications''). SSA will use Form SSA-1010 to collect 
the required information described in these final rules. SSA will 
publish the OMB number and expiration date upon approval.
    As required by the PRA, SSA published a Notice of Proposed

[[Page 73261]]

Rulemaking on August 16, 2007, at 72 FR 45991. In this Notice, SSA 
solicited comments under the PRA on the burden estimate; the need for 
the information; its practical utility; ways to enhance its quality, 
utility and clarity; and ways to minimize the burden on respondents, 
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology. We did not receive any comments from the 
public.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 422

    Administrative practice and procedure, Organization and functions 
(Government agencies), Social Security, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Dated: December 13, 2007.
Michael J. Astrue,
Commissioner of Social Security.

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For the reasons set forth in the preamble, we are amending part 422 of 
chapter III of title 20 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 422--ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES

Subpart F--[Amended]

0
1. The authority citation for subpart F of part 422 is revised to read 
as follows:

    Authority: Sec. 1140(a)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act. 42 
U.S.C. 1320b-10(a)(2)(A) (Pub. L. 103-296, Sec. 312(a)).


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2. Section 422.527 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  422.527  Private printing and modification of prescribed 
applications, forms, and other publications.

    Any person, institution, or organization wishing to reproduce, 
reprint, or distribute any application, form, or publication prescribed 
by the Administration must obtain prior approval if he or she intends 
to charge a fee. Requests for approval must be in writing and include 
the reason or need for the reproduction, reprinting, or distribution; 
the intended users of the application, form, or publication; the fee to 
be charged; any proposed modification; the proposed format; the type of 
machinery (e.g., printer, burster, mail handling), if any, for which 
the application, form, or publication is being designed; estimated 
printing quantity; estimated printing cost per thousand; estimated 
annual usage; and any other pertinent information required by the 
Administration. Forward all requests for prior approval to: Office of 
Publications Management, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-
6401.

 [FR Doc. E7-24915 Filed 12-26-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P