[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 53 (Friday, March 20, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11879-11880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-6165]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Office of Child Support Enforcement

45 CFR Parts 302, 303 and 307

RIN 0970-AC01


State Parent Locator Service; Safeguarding Child Support 
Information

AGENCY: Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for 
Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2009, from 
the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled 
``Regulatory Review,'' this action temporarily delays until May 22, 
2009, the effective date of the final rule entitled ``State Parent 
Locator Service; Safeguarding Child Support Information,'' published in 
the Federal

[[Page 11880]]

Register on September 26, 2008 [73 FR 56422]. The temporary delay in 
effective date is necessary to give Department officials the 
opportunity for further review of the issues of law and policy raised 
by this rule.

DATES: The effective date of the rule amending 45 CFR parts 302, 303, 
and 307, published in the September 26, 2008 Federal Register [73 FR 
56422] is delayed until May 22, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvette Riddick, Office of Child 
Support Enforcement, Division of Policy, (202) 401-4885.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On September 26, 2008, we published a final rule following notice 
and comment period entitled ``State Parent Locator Service; 
Safeguarding Child Support Information'' in the Federal Register to 
address requirements for State Parent Locator Service responses to 
authorized location requests, State IV-D program safeguarding of 
confidential information, authorized disclosures of this information, 
and restrictions on the use of confidential data and information for 
child support purposes with exceptions for certain disclosures 
permitted by statute. The effective date given for the final rule was 
March 23, 2009.
    In the March 3, 2009 Federal Register [74 FR 9171], we published a 
notice with comment period entitled, ``State Parent Locator Service; 
Safeguarding Child Support Information: Proposed Delay of Effective 
Date.'' That notice solicited public comments on a contemplated 60-day 
delay in the effective date of the September 26, 2008 final rule.

II. Provisions of This Action

    This action delays the effective date of the September 26, 2008 
final rule. The effective date of the September 26, 2008 final rule, 
which would have been March 23, 2009, is now May 22, 2009. The delay in 
the effective date is necessary to give Department officials the 
opportunity for further review of the issues of law and policy raised 
by the rule.

III. Comments Received in Response to the March 3, 2009 Notice

    We received fifteen comments in response to the March 3, 2009 
notice with comment period on the contemplated 60-day delay in 
effective date of the ``State Parent Locator Service; Safeguarding 
Child Support Information'' final rule. Although the March 3, 2009 
notice invited comments generally on whether a delay in effective date 
was needed ``to allow Department officials the opportunity for further 
review and consideration,'' it also generated focused comments 
recommending changes to several particular substantive areas of the 
final rule. The commenters generally supported delaying the effective 
date, and as a result, we are delaying the effective date to May 22, 
2009, to allow sufficient time for Department officials to review 
issues of law and policy raised by the rule.
    A summary of the comments received follows.
    Comments: Three commenters supported delaying the implementation 
date of the final rule. Two of the commenters stated that the delay was 
necessary to allow additional time to implement the new requirements 
and the other commenter supported a delay in the effective date of the 
rule to allow an additional 60 days for review. One State submitted a 
comment indicating that it did not need an extension of the effective 
date in order to implement the regulation.
    Several comments addressed the substance of the rule rather than 
the effective date. One commenter indicated that the final rule 
appeared to prohibit the State IV-D agency from disclosing confidential 
information, such as child support payment records, to other State 
agencies, including the State food assistance (Food Stamps) program and 
the State revenue (Tax) program. Another commenter stated that a delay 
in the effective date would give the Administration an opportunity to 
conduct a review of the child welfare data exchange provisions of the 
rule to ensure that the provisions of the rule conform with The 
Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (Pub. L. 
110-351), signed into law on October 7, 2008, after the rule was 
finalized.
    Several commenters raised specific policy objections to the 
September 26, 2008 final rule. Two commenters raised concerns about the 
rules for disclosure of confidential location information. Another 
commenter stated that the regulations need to be reviewed and revised 
to assure significantly greater protection of that information from use 
for non-child support purposes.
    Additionally, a number of commenters focused on the disclosure of 
information to an ``agent of a child'' and raised concerns that some 
private collection agencies may not actually serve the child's best 
interests and raised concerns that these private entities are not 
subject to ethics and confidentiality rules, such as those governing 
State agencies and attorneys, and there may be unintended adverse 
consequences of such disclosures.
    Response: The Department believes that the comments received on the 
notice published in the Federal Register on March 3, 2009 [74 FR 9171] 
soliciting comments on the temporary delay in the effective date of the 
rule generally support a 60-day delay until May 22, 2009. Thus the 
Department is delaying the effective date of the final rule 60 days to 
allow sufficient time for Department officials to review issues of law 
and policy raised by the rule.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.563, Child 
Support Enforcement)

    Dated: March 17, 2009.
Charles E. Johnson,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-6165 Filed 3-19-09; 8:45 am]
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