[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50903-50905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22024]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2018-FSA-0065]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: This provides notice of the re-establishment of the matching 
program between the U.S. Department of Education (Department) and the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which sets forth the terms, 
safeguards, and procedures under which the VA will disclose data to the 
Department regarding Veterans whom VA has designated as (1) having a 
service-connected disability rating that is 100 percent disabling, or 
(2) being totally disabled based on an individual unemployability 
rating.

DATES: Submit your comments on the proposed matching program on or 
before November 9, 2018.
    The matching program will go into effect 30 days after the 
publication of this notice, on November 9, 2018, unless comments have 
been received from interested members of the public

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requiring modification and republication of the notice. The matching 
program will continue for 18 months after it becomes effective and may 
be extended for an additional 12 months, if the respective Data 
Integrity Boards (DIBs) of the Department and VA determine that the 
conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after 
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, 
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the 
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under the ``help'' tab.
     Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments about the matching program, address them 
to the Project Manager, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of 
Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320.

    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to 
include in their comments only information that they wish to make 
publicly available.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Eliadis, Service Director, System 
Operations & Aid Delivery Management, Federal Student Aid, U.S. 
Department of Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-
5320.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll 
free, at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We provide this notice in accordance with 
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) (5 U.S.C. 552a); Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) Final Guidance Interpreting the 
Provisions of Public Law 100-503, the Computer Matching and Privacy 
Protection Act of 1988, 54 FR 25818 (June 19, 1989); and OMB Circular 
No. A-108.
    Participating Agencies: The U.S. Department of Education and the 
U.S Department of Veterans Affairs.
    Authority for Conducting the Matching Program: The Department's 
legal authority to enter into this matching program is provided in 
sections 420N(c), 437(a), and 455(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2(c), 1087(a), and 
1087e(a)(1)), and the regulations promulgated pursuant to those HEA 
sections (34 CFR 682.402(c), 685.213, and 686.42(b)), and subsection 
(a)(8) of the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(8)).
    VA's legal authority to enter into this matching program and to 
disclose information as part of this matching program is described in 
subsection (a)(8) of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(8) and is in 
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3).
    Purpose(s): The matching program will assist the Department in its 
obligation to ensure that borrowers of loans under title IV of the HEA 
and individuals with Teacher Education Assistance for College and 
Higher Education (TEACH) Grant service obligations more efficiently and 
effectively apply for Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) discharge of 
their loans under title IV of the HEA and TEACH Grant service 
obligations. The Department will proactively send notices to inform 
individuals that they may be eligible for a TPD discharge, provided 
that the VA has designated them as having a service-connected 
disability rating that is 100 percent disabling, or being totally 
disabled based on an individual unemployability rating, as described in 
38 CFR 3.4(b) and 38 CFR 3.340. Additionally, these individuals are 
eligible for a TPD discharge only where: (1) They owe a balance on any 
loans disbursed under the authority of title IV of the HEA, (2) they 
have had any loans under title IV of the HEA written off due to 
default, or (3) they are responsible for completing a service 
obligation in exchange for having received a TEACH Grant under the 
TEACH Grant Program. The Department's notices also will inform these 
individuals that the Department will accept VA data matched information 
in lieu of their submission of a VA Statement with their TPD loan 
discharge application, thereby making it easier for them to submit a 
TPD loan discharge application to the Department.
    Categories of Individuals: The VA will disclose to the Department 
information in VA's records about Veterans who are in receipt of VA 
disability compensation benefits with a VA determination that they have 
a 100 percent disabling service-connected disability rating or that 
they are totally disabled based on an individual unemployability 
rating.
    The Department will match this information on Veterans with its 
records on borrowers of loans under title IV of the HEA who owe 
balances on any loans or have had any loans written off due to default 
as well as on individuals who are responsible for completing a service 
obligation in exchange for having received a TEACH Grant under the 
TEACH Grant Program.
    Categories of Records: The records to be used in the matching 
program are described as follows: VA will disclose to the Department, 
on a quarterly basis, the name (first, middle and last), date of birth 
(DOB), and Social Security number (SSN) of all Veterans who are in 
receipt of VA disability compensation benefits with a VA determination 
that they have a 100 percent disabling service-connected disability 
rating or that they are totally disabled based on an individual 
unemployability rating, along with the VA disability determination date 
for each Veteran.
    The Department will match the data elements of name, DOB, and SSN 
received from VA with the Department's records on borrowers of loans 
under title IV of the HEA who owe balances on any loans or have had any 
loans written off due to default, as well as individuals who are 
responsible for completing a service obligation in exchange for having 
received a TEACH Grant under the TEACH Grant Program.
    System(s) of Records: VA will use the system of records identified 
as ``BIRLS--VA'' (38VA21), first published at 49 FR 38095 (August 26, 
1975), routine use 21, as added by 66 FR 30049 (June 4, 2001), which is 
the published system notice that added routine use 21 to this system of 
records notice. VA has determined that this system of records contains 
appropriate routine use disclosure authority and that the use is 
compatible with the purpose for which the information is collected.
    The Department will match information on these Veterans with 
records in its system of records entitled ``National Student Loan Data 
System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-06), as last published in the Federal Register 
in full on June 28, 2013 (78 FR 38963) and last updated on April 2, 
2014 (79 FR 18534).
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (such as, braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to Lisa Tessitore, Program 
Operations Specialist, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of 
Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320. Telephone: 
(202) 377-3249.

[[Page 50905]]

    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations via the Federal Digital System at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well as all other 
documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text 
or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe 
Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: October 4, 2018.
James F. Manning,
Acting Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2018-22024 Filed 10-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P