[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63195-63198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-22006]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5921-N-15]


Privacy Act of 1974; Notice of a Computer Matching Program 
Between the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the 
Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(DHS/FEMA)

AGENCY: Office of Administration, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of a Computer Matching Program Between HUD and DHS/FEMA.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 63196]]

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, and the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching 
Programs (54 FR 25818 (June 19, 1989); and OMB Bulletin 89-22, 
``Instructions on Reporting Computer Matching Programs to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), Congress and the Public,'' HUD is issuing 
a public notice of its intent to conduct a recurring computer matching 
program with DHS/FEMA.
    The purpose of this CMA is to ensure that eligible housing 
assistance applicants do not receive a duplication of housing benefits 
from both DHS/FEMA and HUD, as required by section 312 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, and 
as may be required by statutes making available supplemental 
appropriations for activities eligible under Title I of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (CDBG-DR Appropriations 
Acts), and by the notices published in the Federal Register that govern 
these CDBG-DR Appropriations Acts, including the Clarification of 
Duplication of Benefits Requirements Under the Stafford Act for 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Grantees at 
76 FR 71060 (Nov. 16, 2011).

DATES: Effective Date: The effective date of the matching program shall 
begin October 14, 2016, or at least 40 days from the date that copies 
of the Computer Matching Agreement, signed by both HUD and DHS/FEMA 
Data Integrity Boards (DIBs), are sent to OMB and Congress, whichever 
is later, provided that no comments that would result in a contrary 
determination are received.
    Comments Due Date: October 14, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, Room 
10110, SW., Washington, DC 20410. Communications should refer to the 
above docket number and title. A copy of each communication submitted 
will be available for public inspection and copying between 8:00 a.m. 
and 5:00 p.m. weekdays at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Contact the ``Recipient/Source 
Agency'' Helen Goff Foster, Departmental Privacy Officer, Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room 10139, 
Washington, DC 20410, telephone number (202) 402-6147 or the 
``Recipient/Source Agency'' Tammi Hines, Acting Privacy Director, DHS/
FEMA, 500 C Street SW., Washington, DC 20479, telephone number (202) 
212-5100. [These are not a toll-free numbers.] A telecommunication 
device for hearing- and speech-impaired individuals (TTY) is available 
at (800) 877-8339 (Federal Relay Service).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The Computer Matching program seeks to 
ensure that applicants for HUD Housing Assistance and DHS/FEMA 
Individuals and Households Program, which provides Other Needs 
Assistance (ONA) and Housing Assistance (HA), do not receive a 
duplication of housing benefits. This will be accomplished by matching 
specific DHS/FEMA disaster applicant data with HUD Inventory Management 
System/PIH Information Center (IMS/PIC) tenant data, Enterprise Income 
Verification (EIV) tenant data and Tenant Rental Assistance 
Certification System (TRACS) data that HUD is authorized to collect for 
its rental housing assistance programs. DHS/FEMA will provide a 
database with Disaster Recovery Assistance (DRA) records, which only 
include the necessary data elements needed for the matching. HUD will 
provide Household Member data from the EIV, IMS/PIC, and TRACS 
databases. DHS/FEMA and HUD will exchange data, defined in the 
Interface Control Document, using secured web services and with all 
matching conducted internally.

Reporting of Matching Program

    In accordance with Public Law 100-503, the Computer Matching and 
Privacy Protection Act of 1988 as amended, and OMB Bulletin 89-22, 
``Instructions on Reporting Computer Matching Programs to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), Congress and the Public,'' copies of this 
notice and report are being provided to the U.S. House Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs Committee, and OMB.

Authority

    Purpose. This computer matching agreement, hereinafter referred to 
as ``agreement'' governs a matching program between the Department of 
Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency and the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development. The purpose of the 
matching program is to:
    (1) Establish or verify initial or continuing eligibility for DHS/
FEMA disaster assistance programs;
    (2) Verify compliance with the statutory or regulatory program 
requirements; and
    (3) Recoup payments or delinquent debts under a herein identified 
program. Specifically, DHS/FEMA and HUD seek to ensure that individuals 
do not receive duplicate or erroneous disaster assistance for the same 
disaster or emergency and/or housing benefits from either agency.
    Legal Authority. This agreement is executed in compliance with the 
Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a, as amended) and the statutes, 
regulations, notices and guidance promulgated thereunder.
    A. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance Act 
(Pub. L. 93-288), as amended at 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq., requires each 
federal agency that administers any program that provides financial 
assistance as a result of a major disaster or emergency, to assure that 
no individual or entity receives duplicate financial assistance under 
any program or insurance, or any other source. Furthermore, the Act 
requires DHS/FEMA or HUD (whichever agency provided the duplicate 
assistance) to recover all amounts from the recipient of the financial 
assistance (42 U.S.C. 5155).
    B. Pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(i), as amended), DHS/FEMA is directed 
and authorized to ``develop a system, including an electronic 
database'', to:
    1. Verify the identity and address of recipients of assistance to 
provide reasonable assurance that payments are made only to an 
individual or household that is eligible for such assistance;
    2. Minimize the risk of making duplicative payments or payments for 
fraudulent claims;
    3. Collect any duplicate payment on a claim, or reduce the amount 
of subsequent payments to offset the amount of any such duplicate 
payment;
    4. Provide instructions to recipients of assistance regarding the 
proper use of any such assistance, regardless of how such assistance is 
distributed; and
    5. Conduct an expedited and simplified review and appeal process 
for an individual or household whose application for assistance is 
denied
    C. DHS/FEMA is authorized to provide States (impacted by 
disasters), in which the individuals and households are located, with 
access to the electronic records of individuals and households 
receiving assistance in order

[[Page 63197]]

for the States to make available any additional State and local 
assistance to the individuals and households (42 U.S.C. 5174(f)(2).
    D. Pursuant to the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (31 
U.S.C. 3325(d) and 31 U.S.C. 7701(c)(1)), federal agencies are required 
to collect the taxpayer identification number of each person who 
receives payments from the federal government; and each person doing 
business with the federal government is required to furnish his or her 
taxpayer's identification number.
    1. For the purposes of 31 U.S.C. 7701, a person is considered to be 
doing with business with the federal government if the person is
    i. A lender or services in a federal guaranteed or insured loan 
program administered by a federal agency;
    ii. An applicant for, or recipient of, a federal license permit, 
right-of-way, grant or benefit payment administered by a federal 
agency;
    iii. A contractor of a federal agency;
    iv. Assessed a fine, fee, royalty or penalty by a federal agency;
    v. In a relationship with a federal agency that may give rise to a 
receivable due to that agency, such as a partner of a borrower in or a 
guarantor of a federal direct or insured loan administered by the 
federal agency.
    Each federal agency must inform each person required to disclose 
his or her taxpayer identification number the agency's intent to use 
such number for purposes of collecting and reporting on any delinquent 
amounts arising out of such person's relationship with the federal 
government.
    E. Fraud, waste, and abuse prevention efforts pursuant to the 
aforementioned statutory authorities are also applicable to pilot 
programs designed to provide alternative or additional federal disaster 
assistance programs (6 U.S.C. 776-777).
    F. Pursuant to section 239 of Public Law 111-8, Omnibus 
Appropriations Act, 2009 (123 Stat. 981, March 11, 2009), the Disaster 
Housing Assistance Programs administered by HUD are considered a HUD 
program under section 904 of the McKinney Act for the purpose of income 
verification and matching.
    G. HUD's Routine Use Inventory notice published in the Federal 
Register on December 31, 2015 (80 FR 81837) provides individuals with 
notice of HUD's intended use of information contained within the 
following system of records:
    1. Inventory Management Systems (IMS), also known as the Public and 
Indian Housing Information Center (PIC), HUD/PIH.01 (77 FR 22337, April 
13, 2012).
    2. Enterprise Income Verification (EIV), HUD/PIH-5 (74 FR 45235, 
September 1, 2009).
    3. Tenant Housing Assistance and Contract Verification Data, also 
known as the Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS), 
HUD/H-11 (62 FR 11909, March 13, 1997).
    Specifically, pursuant to routine use 6 (within HUD's Routine Use 
Inventory notice (80 FR 81837)), HUD may disclose records contained in 
the aforementioned systems of records for the purpose of preventing 
fraud, waste and abuse within any federal program. HUD may disclose 
records to federal agencies, non-federal entities, their employees, and 
agents (including contractors, their agents or employees; employees or 
contractors of the agents or designated agents); or contractors, their 
employees or agents with whom HUD has a contract, service agreement for 
the purpose of:
    (1) Detection, prevention, and recovery of improper payments;
    (2) Detection and prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse in major 
federal programs administered by a federal agency or non-federal 
entity;
    (3) Detection of fraud, waste, and abuse by individuals in their 
operations and programs, but only to the extent that the information 
shared is necessary and relevant to verify pre-award and prepayment 
requirements prior to the release of federal funds, prevent and recover 
improper payments for services rendered under programs of HUD or of 
those federal agencies and non-federal entities to which HUD provides 
information under this routine use.
    H. HUD regulations (24 CFR 982.352(c) prohibits a family from 
receiving the benefit of tenant-based assistance while receiving the 
benefit of any of the following forms of other housing subsidy, for the 
same unit or for a different unit:
    1. Public or Indian housing assistance;
    2. Other Section 8 assistance (including other tenant-based 
assistance);
    3. Assistance under former Section 23 of the United States Housing 
Act of 1937 (before amendment by the Housing and Community Development 
Act of 1974);
    4. Section 101 rent supplements;
    5. Section 236 rental assistance payments;
    6. Tenant-based assistance under the HOME program;
    7. Rental assistance payments under Section 521 of the Housing Act 
of 1949 (a program of the Rural Development Administration);
    8. Any local or state rent subsidy;
    9. Section 202 supportive housing for the elderly;
    10. Section 811 supportive housing for persons with disabilities;
    11. Section 202 projects for non-elderly persons with disabilities 
(Section 162 assistance); or
    12. Any other duplicative federal, state, or local housing subsidy, 
as determined by HUD. For this purpose, ``housing subsidy'' does not 
include the housing component of a welfare payment, a social security 
payment received by the family, or a rent reduction because of a tax 
credit.
    I. The following programs are covered under this computer matching 
agreement:
    1. DHS/FEMA housing assistance provided through its Individuals and 
Households Program (IHP) as defined in Section III.
    2. HUD rental assistance programs identified at 24 CFR 5.233 and 
the Disaster Housing Assistance Program.

Objectives To Be Met by the Matching Program

    The objective of this CMA is to ensure that eligible housing 
assistance applicants do not receive a duplication of housing benefits 
from DHS/FEMA and HUD.

Description of the Match

    An active survivor completes a FEMA assistance registration after a 
disaster. The NEMIS database stores data provided by the disaster 
victim on a FEMA 90-69 online form. FEMA processes the registration. 
During the FEMA processing period, the registration status will change 
status to `VR' (Valid Registration) in NEMIS. This means that the 
registration has been processed through the data completeness and 
identity verification. The FEMA registration data is sent to HUD for 
initial verification via a secure web service. HUD will match the IA/
IHP data elements to its EIV, IMS/PIC, and TRACS data. There are two 
scenarios for the HUD match process. The scenarios are:
    1. Positive HUD match--HUD finds a match in their respective system 
for the DHS/FEMA data provided:
    a. If a record submitted by DHS/FEMA to HUD results in a match by 
HUD, DHS/FEMA becomes a recipient of HUD Housing Assistance 
information;
    b. DHS/FEMA will use the information it receives from HUD to 
independently evaluate and determine its applicants' eligibility for 
its housing programs under 42 U.S.C. 5174(c)(1);
    c. DHS/FEMA will compare the HUD data with the FEMA registration 
data

[[Page 63198]]

using the survivor's social security number and unique registration ID. 
The comparison process will be an automated process in NEMIS. The IA 
program will also be able to manually verify the comparison results 
using database queries. The registration ID is required to ensure the 
FEMA and HUD data can be aggregated in NEMIS as it is a unique primary 
key for the separate data sets;
    d. Once DHS/FEMA confirms that match, the complete data set for the 
potential duplication of housing benefits is sent to FEMA's Program 
Review process for manual evaluation of any duplication of benefits. If 
FEMA review staff determines that there is a duplication of benefits, 
the duplicated amount is deducted from the eligible award. FEMA 
applicants receive a letter that indicates the amount of their eligible 
award and their ability to appeal.
    2. No HUD match--HUD does not find a match in their respective 
system for the DHS/FEMA data provided:
    a. If the initial verification record submitted by DHS/FEMA to HUD 
does not result in a match by HUD, DHS/FEMA becomes the source agency 
and sends additional FEMA Head of Household IA/IHP data to HUD to 
assist HUD in the future if those same applicants apply for HUD 
benefits. This additional information will aid HUD in making an 
appropriate determination as to whether the applicant qualifies or not 
for assistance under the various HUD programs if they have or have not 
received benefits from FEMA, since HUD does not have access to FEMA 
systems, and thus eliminate the need for future data requests of the 
same data. The additional data is not part of the initial verification 
process;
    b. The FEMA-HUD data exchange process is complete and the 
transmission is terminated;
    c. As part of the Duplication of Housing Benefits effort, HUD may 
share FEMA data via a secure web-service with state and local CDBG 
grantees with whom HUD has an existing ISAA as per the Privacy 
Statement 9420.1 Appendix B/C. CDBG grantees can be municipalities as 
well as individuals that receive federal money to assist low to mid-
level income families with a variety of assistance. In order to avoid 
duplication of benefits between HUD/FEMA and the individual CDBG 
grantee, the information may need to be shared from HUD to state and 
local municipalities;
    d. If the State and Local grantees require targeted data from FEMA 
which is not part of routine use or part of the Duplication of Housing 
Benefits effort, FEMA and the respective entity will need to engage in 
ISAA documentation. Once the ISAA is approved, the data sharing 
mechanism will determine if a CMA is needed between FEMA and the 
respective entity i.e. automated system vs. manual data delivery.

Records To Be Matched

HUD

    The HUD records shared as part of this matching program reside in 
HUD's EIV, IMS/PIC, and TRACS systems, which include data from the IMS/
PIC the HUD/PIH-5 system of record, 74 FR 45,235 (Sep. 1, 2009); and 
the HUD/H-11 system of records, 62 FR 11,909 (Mar. 13, 1997).

DHS/FEMA

    The DHS/FEMA records shared as part of this CMA resides in DHS/
FEMA's Disaster Recovery Assistance Files system of records, as 
provided by the DHS/FEMA--008 SORN, 74 FR 25,282 (April 30, 2013); 
through its National Emergency Management Information System--
Individual Assistance (NEMIS-IA).

Notice Procedures

    The Privacy Act requires Agreements to specify procedures for 
notifying applicants/recipients at time of registration and other 
periodic notice as directed by the Data Integrity Board of such agency 
(subject to guidance provided by the Director of OMB pursuant to 
subsection (v)) to applicants for and recipients of financial 
assistance or payments under Federal benefit programs.
    DHS/FEMA and HUD have both published system of records notices 
informing applicants/recipients that their information may be subject 
to verification through matching programs per 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(1)(D). 
As further required by the Privacy Act, DHS/FEMA and HUD shall make a 
copy of the Computer Matching Agreement available to the public upon 
request.

DHS/FEMA Recipients

    DHS/FEMA Form 009-0-1 ``Paper Application/Disaster Assistance 
Registration,'' DHS/FEMA Form 009-0-3, ``Declaration and Release'' 
(both contained in OMB ICR No. 1660-0002), and various other forms used 
for financial assistance benefits immediately following a declared 
disaster, use a Privacy Act statement (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(3)) to provide 
notice to applicants regarding the use of their information. The 
Privacy Act statement is read to applicants from DHS/FEMA call center 
employees and is displayed and agreed to by applicants applying over 
the internet. Also, DHS/FEMA Form 009-0-3 requires the applicant's 
signature in order to receive financial assistance.
    Additionally, DHS/FEMA provides notice via its Disaster Assistance 
Improvement Program Privacy Impact Assessment and DHS/FEMA's Privacy 
Act System of Records Notice, DHS/FEMA--008 Disaster Recovery 
Assistance Files, 78 FR 25282 (Apr. 30, 2013). DHS/FEMA has published a 
Notice concerning routine use disclosures in the Federal Register to 
inform individuals that a computer match may be performed to determine 
a loan applicant's credit status with the Federal Government.

Categories of Records/Individuals Involved

    Data elements disclosed in this computer matching are Personally 
Identifiable Information (PII) from the specified systems of record. 
The data elements supplied are as follows:
     FEMA Registration ID.
     Disaster Number.
     Social Security Number (SSN)--the head of household SSN.
     First and Last Name and Middle Initial of the head of 
household.
     DOB--date of birth of head of household.
     Damaged Address Street Address--the head of household's 
damaged street address.

Period of the Match

    Matching will begin at least 40 days from the date that copies of 
the Computer Matching Agreement, signed by HUD and DHS/FEMA DIBs, are 
sent to both Houses of Congress and OMB; or at least 30 days from the 
date this notice is published in the Federal Register, whichever is 
later, provided that no comments that would result in a contrary 
determination are received. The matching program will be in effect and 
continue for 18 months with an option to renew for 12 additional months 
unless one of the parties to the Agreement advises the other in writing 
to terminate or modify the Agreement.

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 552a; 88 Stat. 1896; 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

    Dated: August 26, 2016.
Helen Goff Foster,
Chief Privacy Officer/Senior Agency Official for Privacy.
[FR Doc. 2016-22006 Filed 9-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4210-67-P