[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 17, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22831-22833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9203]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Emergency Clearance 
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 104-13, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. This 
notice includes requests for expedited emergency clearance of a new 
collection and a revision of an existing OMB-approved 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, email, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Director at the following 
addresses or fax numbers.

(OMB), Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, 
Fax: 202-395-6974, mail address: [email protected].
(SSA), Social Security Administration, DCRDP, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Officer, 107 Altmeyer Building, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 
21235, Fax: 410-966-2830, Email address: [email protected].

    SSA submitted the information collections below to OMB for 
Emergency Clearance. SSA is requesting Emergency Clearance from OMB no 
later than May 17, 2012. Your comments regarding 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 May 17, 2012. Individuals 
can obtain copies of the collection instruments by contacting the SSA 
Reports Clearance Director at the above fax number or email address.

1. Protecting the Public and Our Personnel To Ensure Operational 
Effectiveness (RIN 0960-AH35), Regulation 3729F--20 CFR 422.905, 
422.906--0960-NEW

Background

    When members of the public demonstrate disruptive, violent, or 
threatening actions or behavior toward SSA employees, the agency will 
take measures to ensure the safety of everyone involved, including 
banning such individuals from appearing in person at any of our field 
offices. In lieu of in-person office visits, the agency provides 
services to banned individuals through alternate methods, including our 
800 number, online applications, mail services, or, in limited 
circumstances, face-to-face services by appointment with additional 
security present.
    On September 2, 2011, the agency published regulations and 
notifications

[[Page 22832]]

processes for the ban decision at 76 FR 54700. The current information 
collection request (ICR) requests approval for the public reporting 
burdens from the interim final rules.

Information Collection Description

    The interim final ban decision rules contain two public reporting 
burdens:
     20 CFR 422.905--After SSA issues a ban decision against an 
individual, the individual has 60 days to appeal that determination. 
Individuals must submit a written appeal stating why they believe SSA 
should rescind the ban and allow them to conduct business with us on a 
face-to-face basis in one of our offices. There is no printed form for 
this request; banned individuals create their own written statement of 
appeal, and submit it to a sole decision-maker in the Regional Office 
of the region where the ban originated. The individuals may also 
provide additional documentation to support their appeal.
     20 CFR 422.906--Three years after the original ban 
decision, banned individuals may re-submit a written appeal of the 
determination. The same criteria apply as for the original appeal: (1) 
It must be in writing; (2) it must go to a sole decision-maker in the 
Regional Office of the region where the ban originated for review; and 
(3) it may accompany supporting documentation.
    Respondents for this collection are individuals appealing their 
banning from SSA field offices.

Justification for Emergency Clearance

    When we originally published the banning decision rules at 76 FR 
54700, the agency did not anticipate the number of respondents would 
meet the threshold for PRA clearance. Since then, our field offices 
have provided us with evidence indicating we will meet and exceed this 
threshold, so we are pursuing OMB PRA clearance now. Because of the 
compelling personal security issues the banning rules address, we are 
pursuing expedited emergency clearance from OMB no later than May 17, 
2012.
    Type of Request: Emergency request for a new information 
collection.

 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of     Frequency of     burden per       Estimated
               Regulation section                   respondents      response        response      annual burden
                                                                                     (minutes)        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 CFR 422.905..................................              75               1              15              19
20 CFR 422.906..................................              75               1              20              25
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             150  ..............  ..............              44
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. The Ticket To Work and Self-Sufficiency Program--20 CFR 411--0960-
0644

Background

    SSA's Ticket to Work Program (TTW) transitions Social Security 
Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 
recipients toward independence by allowing them to receive Social 
Security payments while maintaining employment under the auspices of 
the program. SSA uses service providers, called Employment Networks 
(ENs), to supervise participant progress through the stages of ticket 
program participation, such as job searches and interviews, progress 
reviews, and changes in ticket status. ENs can be private for-profit 
and non-profit organizations, as well as state vocational 
rehabilitation agencies (VRs).
    SSA and the ENs utilize the Ticket to Work Program Manager to 
operate the TTW program and exchange information about TTW 
participants. For example, the ENs use Program Manager to provide 
updates on tasks such as selecting a payment system or requesting 
payments for helping the beneficiary achieve certain work goals. Since 
the ENs are not PRA-exempt, the multiple information collections within 
the TTW Program Manager require OMB approval, and we clear them under 
this ICR number.

Information Collection Description

    SSA requires ENs to submit multiple types of TTW program and 
participant information, resulting in 13 information collection 
instruments (described below in categories a-i; if we do not mention a 
specific form number, we require information in writing with no 
established form):
    a. Establishing Ticket Assignments and Ticket Use: Forms SSA-1365 
and SSA-1370 collect information regarding the establishment of the 
Ticket assignment and the Individual Work Plan;
    b. Requesting Ticket Unassignments and Notifying of VR Case 
Closures in writing;
    c. Tracking Progress: SSA-1375--request for certification of work 
and educational progress from individuals; SSA-L1377--request for 
certification of work and educational progress from ENs and VR 
agencies; request for Ticket-use status after not making timely 
progress; request to place a Ticket in inactive status;
    d. Selecting a Payment System for EN use;
    e. Reporting Referral Agreement Activity of the ENs;
    f. Requesting EN Payments through use of the SSA-1389, SSA-1391, 
SSA-1393, SSA-1396, SSA-1398, and SSA-1399; reporting split payment 
situations using the SSA-1401;
    g. EN Reporting of Periodic Outcomes;
    h. Dispute Resolution between ENs, VR agencies, and individual 
Ticket holders;
    i. EN Contract Changes report.
    The respondents for these collections are the ENs, and by 
extension, the TTW participants from whom they obtain information to 
complete some of these collections.

Modality of Collection and Proposed Changes

    Although it has used some semi-electronic and electronic collection 
methodologies, such as faxes and, to a limited extent, the Internet, to 
date, the majority of the Program Manager information has been written 
paper documentation. To redress this, the agency is planning to 
implement a new web-based Secure Provider Portal that ENs and the 
agency can use to quickly and securely exchange information and update 
a TTW ticket holder's file.

Justification for Emergency Clearance

    The agency believes the new Web-based portal will represent a 
significant savings of time and resources, both for the agency and for 
the participating ENs. In a time when government agencies such as ours 
are operating under severe budgetary and human capital constraints, we 
believe we have an obligation to immediately implement a program that 
would make such a drastic difference. For this reason,

[[Page 22833]]

because of the overwhelmingly positive and eager interest ENs have 
expressed in using the web portal, and because of manpower limitations 
we will be facing in the upcoming months, SSA is seeking expedited 
emergency clearance of this collection.
    Delayed implementation of the Web portal could have the following 
consequences: (1) Reduced productivity for the second half of FY 2012 
(since it will continue to take ENs longer to submit requests, and it 
will take us longer to process them); (2) subsequent delayed services 
to beneficiaries; and (3) an inability to process payment requests to 
EN's and State VR's for the services they provide beneficiaries. In 
addition, if the portal is not available for use until shortly before 
we make the remaining contract reductions, and there are problems with 
transitioning to it, there will not be labor to process ticket 
assignments, payment requests, and other incoming documents, or to 
fulfill requests for reports. This would bottleneck or possibly suspend 
some daily TTW operations.
    Finally, the agency is only planning to pilot this collection with 
a limited number of ENs after receiving emergency OMB approval. We will 
not expand rollout to all ENs until seeking standard OMB clearance. We 
are asking for OMB approval of this Emergency Clearance no later than 
May 17, 2012.
    Type of Request: Emergency request for a new information 
collection.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  Average burden     Estimated
             Modality of collection                  Number of     Frequency of    per response    annual burden
                                                    respondents      response        (minutes)        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. SSA-1365 (Paper).............................           2,370               1              15             593
a. SSA-1365 (Portal)............................           2,370               1              11             434
a. SSA-1370 (Paper).............................           3,913               1              60           3,913
a. SSA-1370 (Portal)............................           3,912               1              45           2,934
a. Electronic file submission...................          35,584               1               5           2,965
b. Requesting unassignments (written)...........           4,988               1              15           1,247
b. Requesting unassignments (Portal)............           4,988               1              11             914
b. VR case closures.............................           8,505               1               5             709
c. Request to place Ticket in inactive status...               6               1              30               3
c. SSA-1375.....................................         112,362               1              15          28,091
c. SSA-L1377 (Paper)............................          43,216               1              15          10,804
c. SSA-L1377 (Portal)...........................          21,608               1              11           3,961
c. Request to reenter Ticket-Use status.........              41               1              30              21
d. Selecting a payment system...................               5               1              10               0
e. Reporting referral agreements................              1*               1             480               8
f. Requesting EN payments: SSA-1389; SSA-1391;            14,025               1              40           9,350
 SSA-1393; SSA-1396; SSA-1398; SSA-1399.........
f. Requesting EN payments (Portal)..............          14,025               1              22           5,142
f. Requesting EN payments (Automatic Payments)..          28,050               1               0               0
f. SSA-1401 (split payment form)................             100               1              20              33
g. Periodic outcome reporting...................            1371               1              60            1371
h. Dispute resolution...........................               2               1             120               4
i. EN contract changes..........................             210               1              10              35
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................         301,652  ..............  ..............          72,534
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*(None received in 2010 or 2011.)


    Dated: March 12, 2012.
Faye Lipsky,
Reports Clearance Director, Office of Regulations and Reports 
Clearance, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-9203 Filed 4-16-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P