[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66262-66265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26148]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No: SSA-2019-0051]


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 104-13, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. This notice 
includes revisions and extensions of OMB-approved information 
collections, and one new 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 Officer at the following 
addresses or fax numbers.

(OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, Fax: 
202-395-6974, Email address: [email protected]
(SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Director, 3100 West High Rise, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 
21235, Fax: 410-966-2830, Email address: [email protected]

    Or you may submit your comments online through www.regulations.gov, 
referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-2019-0051].
    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 
February 3, 2020. Individuals can obtain copies of the collection 
instruments by writing to the above email address.
    Statement Regarding the Inferred Death of an Individual by Reason 
of Continued and Unexplained Absence--20 CFR 404.720 & 404.721--0960-
NEW. Section 202(d)-(i) of the Social Security Act (Act) provides for 
the payment of various monthly survivor benefits, and a lump sum death 
payment, to certain survivors upon the death of an individual who dies 
while fully or currently insured. In cases where insured wage earners 
have been absent from their homes for at least seven years, and there 
is no evidence these individuals are alive, SSA may presume they are 
deceased and pay their survivors the appropriate benefits. SSA uses the 
information from Form SSA-723 to determine if we may presume a missing 
wage earner is deceased, and, if so, establish a date of presumed 
death. The respondents are relatives, friends, neighbors, or 
acquaintances of the presumed deceased wage earner, or the person who 
is filing for survivors benefits.

[[Page 66263]]

    Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.

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                                                                                                                            Average
                                                                                       Average burden  Estimated total    theoretical      Total annual
              Modality of completion                   Number of       Frequency of     per response    annual burden     hourly cost      opportunity
                                                      respondents        response        (minutes)         (hours)           amount       cost (dollars)
                                                                                                                          (dollars) *           **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-723...........................................           3,000                1               30            1,500          * 22.50        ** 33,750
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* We based this figure on average U.S. citizen's hourly salary, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
  these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
  respondents to complete the application.

    II. SSA submitted the information collections below to OMB for 
clearance. Your comments regarding these information collections would 
be most useful if OMB and SSA receive them 30 days from the date of 
this publication. To be sure we consider your comments, we must receive 
them no later than January 2, 2020. Individuals can obtain copies of 
the OMB clearance packages by writing to [email protected].
    1. Incorporation by Reference of Oral Findings of Fact and 
Rationale in Wholly Favorable Written Decisions (Bench Decision 
Regulation)--20 CFR 404.953 and 416.1453--0960-0694. If an 
administrative law judge (ALJ) makes a wholly favorable oral decision, 
including all the findings and rationale for the decision for a 
claimant of Title II or Title XVI payments, at an administrative 
appeals hearing, the ALJ sends a Notice of Decision (Form HA-82), as 
the records from the oral hearing preclude the need for a written 
decision. We call this the incorporation-by-reference process. In 
addition, the regulations for this process state that if the involved 
parties want a record of the oral decision, they may submit a written 
request for these records. SSA collects identifying information under 
the aegis of Sections 20 CFR 404.953 and 416.1453 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations to determine how to send interested individuals 
written records of a favorable incorporation-by-reference oral decision 
made at an administrative review hearing. Since there is no prescribed 
form to request a written record of the decision, the involved parties 
send SSA their contact information and reference the hearing for which 
they would like a record. The respondents are applicants for Social 
Security Disability Insurance benefits (SSDI) or Supplemental Security 
Income (SSI) payments, or their representatives, to whom SSA gave a 
wholly favorable oral decision under the regulations cited above.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                                                            Average
                                                                                       Average burden  Estimated total    theoretical      Total annual
              Modality of completion                   Number of       Frequency of     per response    annual burden     hourly cost      opportunity
                                                      respondents        response        (minutes)         (hours)           amount       cost (dollars)
                                                                                                                          (dollars) *           **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HA-82.............................................           2,500                1                5              208          * 10.22         ** 2,126
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We based this figure on average DI payments, as reported in SSA's disability insurance payment data.
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
  these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
  respondents to complete the application.

    2. Request for Waiver of Special Veterans Benefits (SVB) 
Overpayment Recovery or Change in Repayment Rate--20 CFR 408.900-
408.950--0960-0698. Title VIII of the Act requires SSA to pay a monthly 
benefit to qualified World War II veterans who reside outside the 
United States. When an overpayment in this SVB occurs, the beneficiary 
can request a waiver of recovery of the overpayment or a change in the 
repayment rate. SSA uses the SSA-2032-BK to obtain the information 
necessary to establish whether the claimant meets the waiver of 
recovery provisions of the overpayment, and to determine the repayment 
rate if we do not waive repayment. Respondents are SVB beneficiaries 
who have overpayments on their Title VIII record and wish to file a 
claim for waiver of recovery or change in repayment rate.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                                                            Average
                                                                                       Average burden  Estimated total    theoretical      Total annual
              Modality of completion                   Number of       Frequency of     per response    annual burden     hourly cost      opportunity
                                                      respondents        response        (minutes)         (hours)           amount       cost (dollars)
                                                                                                                          (dollars) *           **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-2032-BK.......................................             134                1              120              268           * 7.67         ** 2,056
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* We based this figure on average SVB payments, as per SSA's data.
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
  these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
  respondents to complete the application.

    3. Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security 
(PABSS)--20 CFR 435.51-435.52--0960-0768. The PABSS projects are part 
of Social Security's strategy to increase the number of SSDI or SSI 
recipients

[[Page 66264]]

who return to work and achieve financial independence and self-
sufficiency as the result of receiving support, representation, 
advocacy, or other services. PABSS provides: (1) Information and advice 
about obtaining vocational rehabilitation and employment services; and 
(2) advocacy or other services a beneficiary with a disability may need 
to secure, maintain, or regain gainful employment. The PABSS Annual 
Program Performance Report collects statistical information from each 
of the PABSS projects in an effort to manage and capture program 
performance and quantitative data. Social Security uses the information 
to evaluate the efficiency of the program, and to ensure beneficiaries 
are receiving quality services. The project data is valuable to Social 
Security in its analysis of and future planning for the SSDI and SSI 
programs. The respondents are the 57 PABSS project sites, and 
recipients of SSDI and SSI programs.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                                                              Average
                                                                                          Average burden     Estimated      theoretical    Total annual
                 Modality of completion                      Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual     hourly cost     opportunity
                                                            respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)      amount      cost (dollars)
                                                                                                                            (dollars) *         **
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PABSS Program Grantees..................................              57               1              60              57         * 42.66        ** 2,432
Beneficiaries...........................................           8,284               1              30           4,142         * 10.22       ** 42,331
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............................................           8,341  ..............  ..............           4,199  ..............      ** $44,763
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* We based these figures on average Computer Systems Analyst hourly salary, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and average DI payments, as
  reported in SSA's disability insurance payment data.
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
  these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
  respondents to complete the application.

    4. Methods for Conducting Personal Conferences When Waiver of 
Recovery of a Title II or Title XVI Overpayment Cannot Be Approved--20 
CFR 404.506(e)(3), 404.506(f)(8), 416.557(c)(3), and 416.557(d)(8)--
0960-0769. SSA conducts personal conferences when we cannot approve a 
waiver of recovery of a Title II or Title XVI overpayment. The Act and 
our regulatory citations require SSA to give overpaid Social Security 
beneficiaries and SSI recipients the right to request a waiver of 
recovery and automatically schedule a personal conference if we cannot 
approve their request for waiver of overpayment. We conduct these 
conferences face-to-face, via telephone, or through video 
teleconferences. Social Security beneficiaries and SSI recipients, or 
their representatives, may provide documents to demonstrate they are 
without fault in causing the overpayment, and do not have the ability 
to repay the debt. They may submit these documents by completing Form 
SSA-632, Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery (OMB No. 0960-
0037); Form SSA-795, Statement of Claimant or Other Person (OMB No. 
0960-0045); or through a personal statement submitted by mail, 
telephone, personal contact, or other suitable method, such as fax or 
email. This information collection satisfies the requirements for 
request for waiver of recovery of an overpayment, and allows 
individuals to pursue further levels of administrative appeal via 
personal conference. Respondents are Social Security beneficiaries and 
SSI recipients, or their representatives, seeking reconsideration of an 
SSA waiver decision.
    Type of Request: Revision on an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                      Average
                                                  Average burden     Estimated      theoretical    Total annual
   Modality of       Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual     hourly cost     opportunity
   completion       respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)      amount      cost (dollars)
                                                                                    (dollars) *         **
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title II,                 30,271               1              45          22,703         * 22.50      ** 510,818
 Personal
 Conference,
 404.506(e)(3)
 and
 404.506(f)(8):
 Submittal of
 documents,
 additional
 mitigating
 financial
 information,
 and
 verifications
 for
 consideration
 at personal
 conferences.
Title XVI,                51,192               1              45          38,394         * 10.22      ** 392,387
 Personal
 Conference,
 416.557(c)(3)
 and
 416.557(d)(8):
 Submittal of
 documents,
 additional
 mitigating
 financial
 information,
 and
 verifications
 at personal
 conferences.
                 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals                81,463  ..............  ..............          61,097  ..............      ** 903,205
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* We based these figures on average U.S. citizen's hourly salary, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics
  data; and average DI payments, as reported in SSA's disability insurance payment data.
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to
  complete this application; rather, these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents
  will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to respondents to complete the application.



[[Page 66265]]

    Dated: November 27, 2019.
Naomi Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-26148 Filed 12-2-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4191-02-P