[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 155 (Thursday, August 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49013-49015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19914]


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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 requiring clearance by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Public Law (Pub. L.) 
104-13, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. 
This notice includes revisions and extensions of OMB-approved 
information collections and a new information collection.
    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 ways to minimize burden 
on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. Mail, e-mail, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer to the following 
addresses or fax numbers.
    (OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA. 
Fax: 202-395-6974. E-mail address: [email protected].
    (SSA) Social Security Administration, DCBFM, 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 below are pending at SSA. SSA will 
submit them to OMB within 60 days from the date of this notice. To be 
sure we consider your comments, we must receive them no later than 
October 12, 2010. Individuals can obtain copies of the collection 
instruments by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer at 410-965-
8783 or by writing to the above e-mail address.
    1. Benefit Offset National Demonstration--0960-NEW. SSA is 
undertaking the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND), a 
demonstration and evaluation of policy changes and services in the 
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, to obtain strong 
evidence about the effectiveness of potential solutions that would 
improve the historically very low rate of return to work among SSDI 
beneficiaries. Under current law, Social Security beneficiaries lose 
their SSDI benefit if they have earnings and/or work activity above the 
threshold of Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) after completing the 
Trial Work Period and two-month grace period. The benefit-offset 
component of this demonstration will reduce benefits by $1 for every $2 
in earnings above the BOND threshold, gradually reducing benefits as 
earnings increase.
    The experimental design for BOND will test a benefit offset alone 
and in conjunction with enhanced work incentives counseling. The 
central research questions include:
     What is the effect of the benefit offset alone on 
employment and other outcomes?
     What is the effect of the benefit offset in combination 
with enhanced work incentives counseling on employment and other 
outcomes?
    The proposed public survey data collections will have four 
components: An impact study, a cost-benefit analysis, a participation 
analysis, and a process study. The data collections are a primary 
source for data to measure the effects of a more generous benefit 
offset and the provision of enhanced work incentives counseling on SSDI 
beneficiaries' work efforts and earnings. Ultimately, these data will 
provide information for researchers, policy analysts, policy makers and 
the United States Congress on a wide range of program areas. The 
effects of BOND on the well-being of SSDI beneficiaries could manifest 
in many dimensions and could be relevant to an array of other public 
programs. This project offers the first opportunity to obtain reliable 
measures of these effects based on a nationally representative sample. 
The long-term indirect benefits of this research are likely to be 
substantial. Respondents are SSDI beneficiaries, and concurrent SSDI 
and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients whom we randomly 
assign to the study (Stage 1), and SSDI beneficiaries who agree to 
participate in the study (Stage 2).
    Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.

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                                                                                                            Average burden
                          Survey                               Number of     Frequency of      Number of     per response    Total annual
                                                              respondents      response        responses       (minutes)    burden (hours)
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Baseline Survey...........................................          12,600               1          12,600              41           8,610
Interim Survey............................................          10,080               1          10,080              29           4,872
Stage 1 36-month Survey...................................           8,000               1           8,000              49           6,533
Stage 2 36-month Survey...................................          10,080               1          10,080              60          10,080
Key Informant Interviews..................................             100               7             700              60             700
Stage 2 Participant Focus Groups..........................             600               1             600              90             900
                                                           ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals................................................          41,460  ..............          42,060  ..............          31,695
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[[Page 49014]]

    2. Private Printing and Modification of Prescribed Application and 
Other Forms--20 CFR 422.527--0960-0663. 20 CFR 422.527 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations requires a person, institution, or organization 
(third-party entities) to obtain approval from SSA prior to 
reproducing, duplicating, or privately printing any application or 
other form established by the agency. SSA collects the information to 
ensure requests comply with the law and regulations. We also use the 
information to process requests from third-party entities who want to 
reproduce, duplicate, or privately print any SSA application or other 
form owned by SSA. To obtain SSA's approval, entities must make their 
requests in writing, using their company letterhead, providing the 
required information set forth in the regulation. SSA employees review 
the requests and provide approval via e-mail or mail to the third-party 
entities. The respondents are third-party entities who submit a request 
to SSA to reproduce, duplicate, or privately print an SSA-owned form.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 10.
    Frequency of Response: 15.
    Number of Responses: 150.
    Average Burden per Response: 8 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 20 hours.
    II. SSA has submitted the information collections listed below to 
OMB for clearance. Your comments on the information collections would 
be most useful if OMB and SSA receive them within 30 days from the date 
of this publication. To be sure we consider your comments, we must 
receive them no later than September 13, 2010. You can obtain a copy of 
the OMB clearance packages by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer 
at 410-965-8783 or by writing to the above email address.
    1. Certificate of Coverage Request--20 CFR 404.1913--0960-0554. The 
United States has agreements with 24 foreign countries to eliminate 
double Social Security coverage and taxation where, except for the 
provisions of the agreement, a worker would be subject to coverage and 
taxes in both countries. These agreements contain rules for determining 
the country under whose laws the worker's period of employment is 
covered, and to which country the worker will pay taxes. The agreements 
further dictate that, upon the request of the worker or employer, the 
country under whose system the period of work is covered will issue a 
certificate of coverage. The certificate serves as proof of exemption 
from coverage and taxation under the system of the other country. The 
information we collect assists us in determining a worker's coverage 
and in issuing a U.S. certificate of coverage as appropriate. 
Respondents are workers and employers wishing to establish exemption 
from foreign Social Security taxes.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of     Frequency of     burden per     Total annual
               Type of respondent                   respondents      response        response     burden (hours)
                                                                                     (minutes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individuals.....................................          30,000               1              30          15,000
Private Sector..................................          20,000               1              30          10,000
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................          50,000  ..............  ..............          25,000
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    2. Request to Decision Review Board To Vacate the Administrative 
Law Judge Dismissal of Hearing--20 CFR 405.427--0960-0755. When an 
administrative law judge (ALJ) dismisses a hearing for a claim for 
Title II or Title XVI disability payments, the claimant may request to 
vacate or stop this decision by completing and submitting Form SSA-525 
to the SSA Decision Review Board (Board). The Board uses this 
information to: (1) Establish the continued involvement of the 
requestor in the claim; (2) consider the requestor's arguments for 
vacating the dismissal; and (3) vacate or decline to vacate the ALJ's 
dismissal order. The respondents are SSDI or SSI claimants who are 
requesting the Board vacate their dismissal order.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 30,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 5,000 hours.
    3. Request for Accommodation in Communication Method--0960-0777. In 
American Council of the Blind, et al. v. Michael Astrue and Social 
Security Administration, class plaintiffs representing Social Security 
applicants, beneficiaries, recipients, and representative payees who 
are blind or visually impaired challenged the adequacy of the 
communication methods SSA uses in its notices and other communications. 
Prior to the court's order of October 20, 2009 in American Council of 
the Blind, SSA offered three modes of communications for blind and 
visually impaired Social Security recipients: (1) A standard print 
notice by first-class mail; (2) a standard print notice by first-class 
mail with a follow-up telephone call; and (3) certified mail. In 
American Council of the Blind, the court required SSA to offer two 
additional modes of communication to blind or visually impaired 
applicants, beneficiaries, recipients, and representative payees: (4) 
Braille; and (5) Microsoft Word files (on data compact discs).
    In American Council of the Blind, the court further ordered SSA to 
implement Section 504 through 45 CFR 85.51 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations, meaning SSA must ``take appropriate steps to ensure 
effective communication with applicants, participants, personnel of 
other Federal entities, and members of the public.'' To meet the 
court's mandates, SSA uses Form SSA-9000, Request for Accommodation in 
Communication Method, to gather information from blind or visually 
impaired individuals about why their particular accommodation (other 
than the five accommodations already offered by the agency) will allow 
SSA to communicate effectively with them. This form asks respondents to 
describe the type of accommodation they want, to disclose the condition 
they have that necessitates the need for a different type of 
accommodation, and to explain why none of the five methods described 
above are sufficient for their needs. The respondents are Social 
Security applicants, beneficiaries, recipients, and representative 
payees who are blind or visually impaired and are asking SSA to send 
notices and other communications in an alternative method besides the 
five modalities we describe in this notice.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

[[Page 49015]]



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                                                     Number of     Frequency of    Response time
        Method of information  collection           respondents      response        (minutes)    Burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal Interview (over the phone or in-person)           2,250               1              10             375
Form (taken or mailed from field office)........             250               1              15              63
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................           2,500  ..............  ..............             438
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    Dated: August 6, 2010.
Faye Lipsky,
Reports Clearance Officer, Center for Reports Clearance, Social 
Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-19914 Filed 8-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P