[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56080-56081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19717]



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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-7062-N-16]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Office of Policy Development & Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended, the Department of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 
Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R) is issuing a public 
notice of its intent to establish a Privacy Act system of records 
titled the Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration Evaluation data files. 
The purpose of the Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration Evaluation 
data files system is to serve as a repository to store, maintain, and 
statistically analyze all data collected through the evaluation of the 
Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration.

DATES: Comments will be accepted on or before October 13, 2022. This 
proposed action will be effective on the date following the end of the 
comment period unless comments are received which result in a contrary 
determination.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by one of the following 
methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.
    Fax: 202-619-8365.
     Email: [email protected].
    Mail: Attention: Privacy Office; LaDonne White, Chief Privacy 
Officer; The Executive Secretariat; 451 Seventh Street SW, Room 10139, 
Washington, DC 20410-0001.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. including any 
personal information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Privacy Office; LaDonne White; 451 
Seventh Street, SW, Room 10139; Washington, DC 20410-0001; telephone 
number 202-708-3054 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals who 
are hearing- or speech-impaired may access this telephone number via 
TTY by calling the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339 (this is a 
toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration 
(STRD) is an experiment that will be carried out by Public Housing 
Agencies (PHAs) in the second cohort of the Moving to Work (MTW) 
Expansion, in which 10 PHAs will test new ways of setting rents in HUD-
assisted housing. These new rent policies--stepped rents and tiered 
rents--will be implemented as a randomized controlled trial (RCT); 
eligible households will be randomly assigned to continue paying rent 
under traditional rules or to pay rent under the new rules (the stepped 
rent or tiered rent). The Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration 
Evaluation Data Files will be a data system established to store the 
information that is needed to evaluate the impact of the stepped and 
tiered rent policies. HUD researchers (including MDRC, the contractor 
currently leading the evaluation) will use this information to examine 
a broad range of household outcomes related to self-sufficiency and 
housing subsidies. Researchers will also seek to understand the 
experience of households participating in the new rent policies and the 
PHAs that implement the new rent policies. This System of Records will 
contain data necessary to evaluate the effect of these new rent 
policies.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration Evaluation Data Files, PD&R/
RRE.04.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    The Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration Evaluation Files are 
maintained at the following locations: MDRC's FedRAMP-approved cloud 
storage environment (MDRC offices are at 200 Vesey Street, 23rd Floor, 
New York, NY 10281-2103); and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20410-0001.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Carol Star, Director, Program Evaluation Division, Office of Policy 
Development and Research, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
451 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20410-0001, telephone Number (202) 
402-6139.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Sections 501 and 502 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 
1970 (Pub. L. 91-609) (12 U.S.C. 1701z-1; 1701z-2(d) and (g)).

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The purpose of the Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration Evaluation 
Data Files will be to store the information that is needed to evaluate 
the impact of the Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration. The 
information to be maintained in this records system is necessary to 
identify and track the participating families over the course of the 
study and determine the effectiveness of the interventions. The data in 
this system will be analyzed using statistical methods and any results 
shared with the public or published in anyway will be reported only in 
the aggregate. Resulting reports will not disclose or identify any 
individuals or sensitive personal information.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Families enrolled in the Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Tenant data: Includes enrollment information, administrative data, 
and baseline survey responses from tenants, including: head of 
household's full name, date of birth, social security number, unique 
study ID, home address, household composition, demographics of 
household members, educational attainment, employment and income 
information, housing and housing subsidy information, receipt of non-
housing public benefits, and contact information.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration program participants, HUD PIH 
Inventory Management System/PIH Information Center, National Directory 
of New Hires, Homelessness Management Information Systems, Public 
Housing Agency information systems.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    (1) To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants, Federal 
agencies, and non-Federal entities, including, but not limited to, 
State and local governments and other research institutions or their 
parties, and entities and their agents with whom HUD has a contract, 
service agreement, grant, cooperative agreement, or other agreement, 
for the purposes of statistical analysis and research in support of 
program operations, management, performance monitoring, evaluation, 
risk management, and policy development, or to otherwise support the 
Department's mission. Records under this routine use may not be used in

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whole or in part to make decisions that affect the rights, benefits, or 
privileges of specific individuals. The results of the matched 
information may not be disclosed in identifiable form.
    (2)(a) To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when: (1) HUD 
suspects or has confirmed there has breached the system of records; (2) 
HUD has determined that as a result of the suspected or confirmed 
breach there is a risk of harm to individuals, HUD (including its 
information systems, programs, and operations), the Federal Government, 
or national security; and (3) The disclosure made to such agencies, 
entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to assist with HUD's 
efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed breach or to prevent, 
minimize, or remedy such harm.
    (3) To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when HUD 
determines that information from this system of records is reasonably 
necessary to assist the recipient agency or entity in (1) responding to 
suspected or confirmed breach, or (2) preventing, minimizing, or 
remedying the risk of harm to individuals, the recipient agency or 
entity (including its information systems, programs, and operations), 
the Federal Government, or national security, resulting from a 
suspected or confirmed breach.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Electronic and Paper.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    Records are retrieved by the Name, SSN, unique study ID, home 
address, telephone number, and personal email address.

POLICIES AND PRACTICIES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    Temporary. Destroy upon verification of successful creation of the 
final document or file, or when no longer needed for business use, 
whichever is later.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    For Electronic Records: All personal data will be maintained on a 
secure workstation or server that is protected by a firewall and 
complex passwords in a directory that can only be accessed by the 
network administrators and the analysts actively working on the data; 
access rights to the data are granted to limited researchers on a need-
to-know basis, and the level of access provided to each researcher is 
based on the minimal level required that individual to fulfill his 
research role; all systems used to process or store data have Federal 
security controls applied to them; the data will be backed up on a 
regular basis to safeguard against system failures or disasters; and, 
unencrypted data will never be stored on a laptop or on a movable media 
such as CDs, diskettes, or USB flash drives.
    For Paper Records: The site interviewers will securely store any 
hard copy forms with personal identifiers until they are shipped to the 
evaluation contractor via commercial mail services; all hard copy forms 
with personal identifying data (the participant agreement/informed 
consent form) will be stored securely in a locked cabinet that can only 
be accessed by authorized individuals working on the data. The locked 
cabinet will be stored in a locked office in a limited-access building. 
Additionally, permissions will be defined for each authorized user 
based on the user's role on the project. For example, the local site 
interviewer will be able to review data for study participants only for 
his or her own specific site. Study data will be aggregated or de-
identified at the highest level possible for each required, authorized 
use.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals seeking notification of and access to their records in 
this system of records may submit a request in writing to the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Attn: FOIA Program Office, 
451 7th Street SW, Suite 10139, Washington, DC 20410-0001 or by 
emailing [email protected]. Individuals must furnish the following 
information for their records to be located:
    1. Full name.
    2. Signature.
    3. The reason why the individual believes this system contains 
information about him/her.
    4. The address to which the information should be sent.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Same as the Notification Procedures above.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Any person wanting to know whether this system of records contains 
information about him or her should contact the System Manager. Such 
person should provide his or her full name, position title and office 
location at the time the accommodation was requested, and a mailing 
address to which a response is to be sent.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    N/A.

LaDonne White,
Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-19717 Filed 9-12-22; 8:45 am]
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