[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 107 (Monday, June 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36556-36558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11856]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[ED-2023-FSA-0012]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new computer matching agreement (CMA).

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SUMMARY: This document provides notice of a new matching program 
between the Department of Education (ED) and the Department of Justice 
(DOJ). The current 18-month CMA was recertified for an additional 12 
months on July 2, 2022 and will automatically expire on July 1, 2023.

DATES: Submit your comments on the proposed CMA on or before July 5,

[[Page 36557]]

2023. The CMA will be effective the later of: (1) July 2, 2023, or (2) 
July 3, 2023, unless comments have been received from interested 
members of the public requiring modification and republication of the 
notice. The CMA will continue for 18 months after the effective date of 
the CMA and may be extended for an additional 12 months thereafter if 
the conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at regulations.gov. However, if you require an accommodation or 
cannot otherwise submit your comments via regulations.gov, please 
contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT. The Department will not accept comments by email or by fax. 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 
``FAQ'' tab.
    Privacy Note: ED'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: Gerard Duffey, Management and Program 
Analyst, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, 
Philadelphia, PA 19107. Telephone: (215) 656-3249.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We provide this notice in accordance with 
the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended by the Computer 
Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-503) and the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Amendments of 1990 (Pub. L. 
101-508) (CMPPA); the 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 A-108, Federal Agency Responsibilities for 
Review, Reporting, and Publication under the Privacy Act (81 FR 94424, 
December 23, 2016).
    Participating Agencies: The Department of Education (ED) and the 
Department of Justice (DOJ).
    Authority for Conducting the Matching Program: Under section 421 of 
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 862) (originally enacted as 
section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100-690, 21 
U.S.C. 853a, which was amended and re-designated as section 421 of the 
Controlled Substances Act by section 1002(d) of the Crime Control Act 
of 1990, Pub. L. 101-647) (hereinafter referred to as ``section 
5301'')), an individual convicted of a Federal or State drug 
trafficking or possession offense may be denied, at the discretion of 
the court, certain Federal benefits, including those under the Federal 
Student Financial Assistance Programs authorized by title IV of the 
Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended (title IV, HEA student 
financial assistance). The Denial of Federal Benefits and Defense 
Procurement Fraud Debarment Clearinghouse Programs (DFB/DPFD) database 
(formerly known as DEBARS) collects information regarding those 
individuals for whom benefits are denied and forwards this information 
to the General Services Administration (GSA) for inclusion in the 
publication ``Lists of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement or 
Non-procurement Programs,'' more commonly known as the ``Debarment 
List.'' Federal agencies are required by law to consult the Debarment 
List, prior to the provision of certain benefits. However, ED and DOJ 
have determined that, for purposes of verifying title IV, HEA student 
financial assistance eligibility, direct access to the DFB/DPFD 
database would be more useful than access to the GSA's Debarment List 
because the DFB/DPFD database contains information essential to the 
effective operation of the match that is not available in the GSA List.
    By matching the names, dates of birth, and Social Security Number 
(SSNs) in the DFB/DPFD database with ED's student financial aid 
records, ED is able to identify students who do not qualify for Federal 
student financial assistance pursuant to section 5301. DOJ's system of 
records also contains information concerning the specific program or 
programs for which benefits have been denied, as well as the period of 
ineligibility. DOJ will make available for the CMA the records of only 
those individuals who have been denied Federal benefits under one or 
more of the title IV, HEA programs. Thus, ED avoids the cost of 
disbursing student financial assistance funds to individuals who do not 
qualify for Federal student financial assistance, but who would 
otherwise receive aid had the CMA not existed.
    DOJ is the lead contact agency for information related to 
violations of section 5301 and, as such, provides this data to ED. The 
18-month CMA was recertified for an additional 12 months on July 2, 
2022 and will automatically expire on July 1, 2023.
    Purpose(s): The purpose of this matching program is to ensure that 
the requirements of section 5301 are met.
    DOJ is the lead contact agency for information related to section 
5301 violations and, as such, provides this data to ED. ED seeks access 
to the information contained in the Denial of Federal Benefits and 
Defense Procurement Fraud Debarment Clearinghouse program (DFB/DPFD) 
database (formerly known as DEBARS) that is authorized under section 
5301 for the purpose of ensuring that HEA student financial assistance 
is not awarded to individuals subject to denial of benefits under court 
orders issued pursuant to the Denial of Federal Benefits Program.
    Categories of Individuals: The individuals whose records are 
included in this matching program are individuals who are the subject 
of section 5301 denial of benefits court orders, and all students who 
complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. ED receives data 
from the DOJ DFB/DPFD system that is used to match title IV, HEA 
applicant data in ED's Aid Awareness and Application Processing System 
of Records (AAAP) (18-11-21)--published in the Federal Register on 
September 13, 2022 (87 FR 56026), and available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/09/13/2022-19890/privacy-act-of-1974-system-of-records.
    Categories of Records: ED will use the SSN, date of birth, and the 
first two letters of an applicant's last name for the match. These data 
elements are contained in ED's Central Processing System (CPS) and Free 
Application for Federal Student Aid Processing System (FPS). The DOJ 
DFB/DPFD system contains the names, SSNs, dates of birth, and other 
identifying information regarding individuals convicted of Federal or 
State offenses involving drug trafficking or possession of a controlled 
substance who have been denied Federal benefits by Federal or State 
courts. This system of records also contains information concerning the 
specific program or programs for which benefits have been denied, as 
well as the duration of the period of ineligibility. DOJ will make 
available for the matching program the records of only

[[Page 36558]]

those individuals who have been denied Federal benefits under one or 
more of the title IV, HEA programs.
    System(s) of Records: DOJ system of records: DFB/DPFD (The most 
recent full DFB/DPFD system of records notice was published in the 
Federal Register on May 10, 1999, 64 FR 25071). ED system of records: 
Aid Awareness and Application Processing (18-11-21)--published in the 
Federal Register on September 13, 2022 (87 FR 56026), and available at: 
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/09/13/2022-19890/privacy-act-of-1974-system-of-records. (Note: The ED Central Processing 
System (CPS) and Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 
Processing System (FPS) are the ED information systems that process 
FAFSA data from the Aid Awareness and Application Processing system of 
records. CPS will process this data through September 30, 2024 for 
Award Year (AY) 2023-24. FPS will become operational on or after 
December 1, 2023 and begin processing FAFSA data for AY 2024-25. After 
September 30, 2024, CPS will be decommissioned and be fully replaced by 
FPS within AAAP. FPS will process data for all AYs thereafter.
    Accessible Format: By request to the program contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities 
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will 
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich 
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, 
braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible 
format.
    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 at www.govinfo.gov. 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.

Richard Cordray,
Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2023-11856 Filed 6-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P