[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 230 (Friday, December 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68717-68718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26376]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No: SSA-2021-0027]


Agency Information Collection Activities: New Emergency 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 a new, emergency information collection.
    SSA is asking OMB for approval of this information collection seven 
days after the date of publication of this Federal Register Notice, 
independent of public comment, due to its emergency nature. However, we 
still welcome comment 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. We will consider any comments if 
we ultimately seek to extend this information collection beyond the 
standard six-month emergency approval. 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.
    Comments: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Submit your

[[Page 68718]]

comments online referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-2021-0027].
(SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Director, Office of 
Regulations and Reports Clearance, 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 https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, referencing Docket 
ID Number [SSA-2021-0027]. We recommend submitting comments via this 
link as the fastest way for them to reach us.

    SSA is submitting the information collection below to OMB for 
clearance. If you wish to submit comments, we recommend you do so no 
later than January 3, 2022. However, please be aware that due to the 
emergency nature of this collection, SSA will be seeking OMB clearance 
in advance of this date. Individuals may obtain copies of this OMB 
clearance package by writing to [email protected].
    COVID-19 Symptoms Screener for In-Person Hearings--20 CFR 404.929, 
404.933, 416.1429, 416.1433, 418.1350, and 422.203--0960-NEW. Following 
a temporary pause on in-person service, such as in-person hearings due 
to the COVID-19 pandemic, SSA will soon restart in-person hearings on a 
limited basis. When SSA resumes these limited in-person hearings, we 
will ask participating members of the public to complete a brief COVID-
19 symptoms screener questionnaire within 24 hours of their hearings.

Background

    During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, SSA conducted its services 
almost exclusively online or by telephone, to protect the health of 
both the public and our employees. We took these measures in accordance 
with relevant Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 pandemic guidance, 
and to comply with existing Occupational Safety and Health Act 
provisions regarding workplace safety.
    While in-person hearings have not been available since March 2020, 
claimants or their appointed representatives who wished to appeal a 
redetermination could choose to participate in an online video hearing 
or phone hearing instead. We would like to soon resume in-person 
hearings on a limited-capacity basis. Initially, we plan to keep the 
number of in-person hearings to an average of three separate hearings 
per hearings office per day, to ensure the continued health and safety 
of the public and SSA employees. The number of in-person hearings per 
hearing office may be revised over the course of reentry.

Need for Information Collection; Collection Methodology; How 
Information Will Be Used

    Because of COVID-19 health and safety considerations, we plan to 
require all members of the public entering an SSA hearing office to 
participate in an in-person hearing to complete a brief screener 
questionnaire designed to identify COVID-19 symptoms. A link to the 
questionnaire will be provided in the mailed notice of scheduled 
hearings. People participating in a hearing can complete and submit the 
questionnaire online within 24 hours before the start of the hearing. 
If hearings participants do not wish to use the internet, they can call 
the hearings office where the hearing is scheduled and complete the 
questionnaire over the phone.
    The questionnaire will ask questions relating to personal 
experience of any COVID symptoms; exposure to someone diagnosed with 
COVID; or travel by means other than land travel, such as car, bus, 
ferry, or train. SSA will use the screener responses to determine if 
the in-person hearings participant is ``cleared'' or ``not cleared'' to 
enter an SSA hearing office. If participants answer ``no'' to all 
questions, they are ``cleared'' to participate. If they answer ``yes'' 
to any part of the screener, they will be ``not cleared.'' Persons who 
are not cleared may seek to be rescheduled for the next in-person 
hearing date that at least 14 days after the COVID-19 symptoms first 
presented, or 14 days after they tested positive for COVID-19.

Alternatives to Completing the Information Collection

    Although completion of the questionnaire will be required for an 
in-person hearing, it is not required for other modalities of appeals 
hearings. One may choose an online video hearing or telephone hearing 
as an alternative to an in-person hearing. Claimants may obtain Social 
Security payments regardless of the hearing method they choose.
    Type of Request: New (temporary, emergency) information collection.

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                                                                                                           Average
                                                                    Average burden   Estimated total     theoretical    Average wait      Total annual
     Modality of completion          Number of       Frequency of    per response     annual  burden     hourly cost       time in      opportunity cost
                                    respondents        response        (minutes)         (hours)           amount      hearing office    (dollars) ***
                                                                                                         (dollars) *    (minutes) **
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COVID Screener Questionnaire...  179,580 (164                    1              10  29,930 (179,580           $19.01*            10**  $1,934,496***
                                  hearing offices                                    respondents x 10                                   (29,930 response
                                  x 3 hearings per                                   completion                                         hours + 71,832
                                  office per day x                                   minutes/60                                         office wait time
                                  2 persons per                                      minutes per                                        hours = 101,762
                                  hearing x 182.5                                    burden hour).                                      total hours.
                                  days, which is                                                                                        Then multiply
                                  the duration of                                                                                       101,762 hours x
                                  the emergency                                                                                         $19.01).
                                  information
                                  collection
                                  request (ICR)).
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* We based this figure on averaging both the average disability insurance (DI) payments based on SSA's current fiscal year (FY) 2021 data (https://www.ssa.gov/legislation/2021FactSheet.pdf), and the average U.S. worker's hourly wages, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm).
** We based this figure on the average FY 2021 wait times for hearing offices, based on SSA's current management information 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.


    Dated: November 17, 2021.
Naomi Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Office of Legislation and Congressional 
Affairs, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-26376 Filed 12-2-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P