[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30428-30433]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08565]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No: SSA-2024-0011]


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 of OMB-approved information collections, and one new 
collection for OMB-approval.
    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
(SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Director, Mail Stop 3253 Altmeyer, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 
21235, Fax: 833-410-1631, Email address: [email protected]

    Or you may submit your comments online through https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain by clicking on Currently under 
Review--Open for Public Comments and choosing to click on one of SSA's 
published items. Please reference Docket ID Number [SSA-2024-0011] in 
your submitted response.

[[Page 30429]]

    I. The information collection below is pending at SSA. SSA will 
submit it 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 June 
24, 2024. Individuals can obtain copies of the collection instruments 
by writing to the above email address.
    1. Partnership Questionnaire--20 CFR 404.1080-404.1082--0960-0025. 
SSA considers partnership income in determining entitlement to Social 
Security benefits. SSA uses information from Form SSA-7104 to determine 
several aspects of eligibility for benefits, including the accuracy of 
reported partnership earnings; the veracity of a retirement; and lag 
earnings where SSA needs this information to determine the status of 
the insured. The respondents are applicants for, and recipients of, 
Title II Social Security benefits who are reporting partnership 
earnings.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                                              Average
                                                                              Average        Estimated      theoretical    Average wait    Total annual
         Modality of completion              Number of     Frequency of     burden per     total annual     hourly cost   time in  field    opportunity
                                            respondents      response        response     burden (hours)      amount          office      cost (dollars)
                                                                             (minutes)                      (dollars) *    (minutes) **         ***
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-7104 (mailed).......................           2,154               1              30           1.077         * 31.48  ..............      *** 33,904
SSA-7104 (completed in or brought to a             2,154               1              30           1,077         * 31.48           ** 24      *** 61,040
 field office)..........................
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............................           4,308  ..............  ..............           2,154  ..............  ..............      *** 94,944
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We based this figure on average the U.S. citizen's hourly salary, 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 2024 wait times for field 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.

    2. Medical Source Statement of Ability To Do Work Related 
Activities (Physical and Mental)--20 CFR 404.1512-404.1513, 416.912-
416.913, 404.1517, and 416.917--0960-0662. When a claimant appeals a 
denied disability claim, SSA may ask the claimant to have a 
consultative examination at the agency's expense, if the claimant's 
medical sources cannot, or will not, give the agency sufficient 
evidence to determine whether the claimant has a disability. The 
medical providers who perform these consultative examinations provide a 
statement about the claimant's state of disability. Specifically, these 
medical source statements determine the work-related capabilities of 
these claimants. SSA collects the medical data on the HA-1151 and HA-
1152 to assess the work-related physical and mental capabilities of 
claimants who appeal SSA's previous determination on their issue of 
disability. The respondents are medical sources who provide reports 
based either on existing medical evidence or on consultative 
examinations.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                              Average
                                                                                              Average        Estimated      theoretical    Total annual
                 Modality of completion                      Number of     Frequency of     burden per     total annual     hourly cost     opportunity
                                                            respondents      response        response     burden (hours)      amount      cost (dollars)
                                                                                             (minutes)                      (dollars) *         **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HA-1151.................................................           5,000              30              15          37,500         * 49.07    ** 1,840,125
HA-1152.................................................           5,000              30              15          37,500         * 49.07    ** 1,840,125
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............................................          10,000  ..............  ..............          75,000  ..............    ** 3,680,250
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We based this figure on average medical professionals' salaries, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes290000.htm)
** 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 May 23, 2024. Individuals can obtain copies of these 
OMB clearance packages by writing to the [email protected].
    1. Representative Availability Portal for Social Security 
Administration Hearings--20 CFR 404.929, 404.933, 404.1740, 416.1429, 
416.1433, 416.1540, 418.1350, 422.203--0960-NEW. As part of the appeals 
process, claimants can request a hearing with an Administrative Law 
Judge (ALJ). Approximately 80 percent of claimants have appointed 
representatives at the hearing level. When the Social Security 
Administration (SSA) schedules hearings before an ALJ, it usually 
considers the availability of appointed representatives, if applicable. 
Appointed representatives may be members of large firms, appearing at 
hearings nationwide, or may be solo practitioners servicing a specific 
geographic location or hearing office. In both situations, it is 
typical for appointed representatives to represent more than one 
claimant at any given moment; some represent hundreds of claimants at 
once.
    Historically, the process of seeking, tracking, and considering 
representative availability has been a manual and time-intensive 
activity. In the past, hearing offices sought representative 
availability information by contacting each representative 
individually. More recently, Office of Hearings Operations' Regional 
Offices representatives collected availability information. 
Representatives provided Regional Office staff with their hearing 
availability via telephone or email. However, the process for gathering 
and considering representative availability was not standardized and 
varied greatly amongst Regional Offices. The appointed representative 
community informed SSA they would appreciate a

[[Page 30430]]

consistent and standardized electronic process to submit their 
availability for hearing appearances.
    In the Spring of 2023, SSA initiated the Enhanced Representative 
Availability Process (ERAP) to provide representatives with a more 
standardized and streamlined process to email their availability for 
hearings. In the interim, SSA obtained OMB approval to test a new 
Representative Availability Portal (Portal) to offer the representative 
community a web-based option to submit their monthly availability to 
SSA, as per 20 CFR 404.1740(b)(3)(iii) and 416.1540(b)(3)(iii) and in a 
manner consistent with ERAP. SSA tested the Portal among 11 appointed 
representative practice groups nationwide. We are currently seeking OMB 
approval for the national rollout of the Portal, which collects 
standardized information regarding appointed representative 
availability for the purpose of scheduling hearings.
    SSA plans to roll the Portal out to all appointed representatives 
registered with the Registration, Appointment and Services for 
Representatives (RASR) application, other professional representatives 
who regularly conduct hearing business with SSA but are not registered 
with RASR, and delegated officials from appointed representative's 
Designated Scheduling Groups (DSG). A DSG is a representative-
identified scheduling group which can include one representative, or 
multiple representatives. Respondents will need to have a mySocial 
Security account to use the Portal and be registered into the Portal by 
SSA systems. Respondents who wish to use the Portal, but who are not 
registered with RASR, or who do not have a Representative ID, must 
provide SSA systems with the necessary data, including name and SSN, to 
complete the Portal registration process.
    Portal respondents, once registered, are authorized representatives 
and delegated officials from appointed representatives' DSG. SSA will 
use the Portal to track availability for hearings for the DSG. 
Representatives provide hearing availability for the DSG monthly (as 
described above), and SSA considers the DSG-provided availability when 
scheduling hearings.
    SSA will announce the response window for the Portal each month via 
a reminder email, approximately ten days prior to the deadline for 
Portal submissions. Following the submission deadline, the Portal will 
``lock,'' and respondents will not be able to submit availability 
through the Portal at that time. However, SSA has some discretion to 
approve a request for a late submission or modification and plans to 
have the capacity to unlock the Portal, when warranted. Portal response 
options will include DSG group, hearing region, availability during the 
period of submission, and respondent-preferred case maximums. The 
Portal will allow SSA to obtain the information we require to schedule 
hearings for attendees.
    If the respondents choose not to submit their availability via the 
Portal, the option of submitting their availability through email 
submission (as is the current practice) will remain. If a 
representative elects not to timely submit any availability via the 
Portal or email, SSA will schedule their hearings without their input.
    We expect use of the Portal will result in receiving consistent 
structured data from appointed representatives, which will allow for a 
more streamlined and effective hearing scheduling process. The Portal 
also meets a longstanding customer-experience request by the 
representative community, one of SSA's key stakeholders in the process.
    The respondents are appointed representatives, and delegated 
officials from appointed representatives' DSGs who need to submit their 
availability to SSA for hearings.
    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      Number of      per  response    annual burden     hourly cost      opportunity
                                     respondents        response        responses        (minutes)         (hours)           amount      cost  (dollars)
                                                                                                                          (dollars) **         ***
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Representative Availability               * 3,000               12           36,000               20           12,000         ** 84.84    *** 1,018.080
 Portal for SSA Hearings.........
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* This figure represents the approximate number of individual representatives registered with RASR who regularly schedule hearings with the agency.
** We based this figure on the mean hourly wage for the average lawyer in the United States as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes231011.htm).
*** 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. Statement of Death by Funeral Director and State Death Match 
Collections--20 CFR 404.301, 404.310-404.311, 404.316, 404.330-404.341, 
404.350-404.352, 404.371, 404.715, 404.720, and 416.912--0960-0142. The 
death of a beneficiary is an event that terminates the individual's 
entitlement to Social Security benefits. As regulated, states must 
furnish death information to SSA to compare to SSA's payment files. SSA 
employs two modalities for ensuring it efficiently receives accurate 
information regarding the deaths of SSA-insured workers and 
beneficiaries: (1) Form SSA-721, Statement of Death by Funeral 
Director; and (2) the Electronic Death Registration (EDR). SSA operates 
the State Death Match collections, which includes the EDR process for 
electronically reporting death records to SSA. The states furnish death 
certificate information to SSA via a manual registration process (the 
SSA-721), or via the EDR Registration Process. Both death match 
processes are automated electronic transfers between the states and 
SSA. This collection, via paper form SSA-721 or the EDR, allows for the 
funeral director or funeral home responsible for the individual's 
burial or cremation to report the death to SSA. SSA uses this 
information for three purposes: (1) to establish proof of death for the 
insured worker; (2) to determine if the insured individual was 
receiving any pre-death benefits SSA needs to terminate; and (3) to 
ascertain which surviving family member is eligible for the lump-sum 
death payment or for other death benefits. The respondents for this 
information collection are funeral directors who handled death 
arrangements for the insured individuals, and the states' bureaus of 
vital statistics.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

[[Page 30431]]



                                                                           EDR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                           Average
                                                                                        Average cost      Estimated      theoretical      Total annual
                Modality of completion                    Number of     Frequency of     per record     total annual     hourly cost    opportunity cost
                                                         respondents      response         request      burden hours       amount        (dollars) ***
                                                                                                           (cost)       (dollars) **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State Death Match--EDR *.............................              54       3,164,477           $2.77    $473,342,469        ** 23.00     *** 72,782,971
States Expected to Become--State Death Match-EDR                    1           1,247            3.73           4,651        ** 23.00         *** 28,681
 Within the Next 3 Years *...........................
                                                      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals:..........................................              55  ..............  ..............     473,347,120  ..............     *** 72,811,652
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Please note that both of these data matching processes are electronic, and nearly immediate. Therefore, there is only a cost burden, and no hourly
  burden for the respondent to provide this information.
We estimated the frequency of responses by taking the total number of actual records received for calendar year 2023 for each category and dividing by
  the number of respondents, per category.
We have 54 States and Jurisdictions currently using EDR. Guam recently showed interest in becoming an EDR site. Estimated sometime mid to late next year
  2024.
** We based this figure on the average Records Clerk hourly wages as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes434199.htm).
*** 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.


                                                                         SSA-721
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                            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-721...........................................         437,449                1                4           29,163         $27.90 *      $813,648 **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We based this figure on average funeral home manager's hourly salary in May 2024, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes394031.htm).
** 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. Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network 
(RETAIN)--0960-0821. The SSA and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) are 
conducting the Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness 
Network (RETAIN) demonstration. The RETAIN demonstration tests the 
impact of early intervention strategies that improve stay-at-work/
return-to-work (SAW/RTW) outcomes of individuals who experience work 
disability while employed. We define ``Work disability'' as an injury, 
illness, or medical condition that has the potential to inhibit or 
prevent continued employment or labor force participation. SAW/RTW 
programs succeed by returning injured or ill workers to productive work 
as soon as medically possible during their recovery process, and by 
providing interim part-time or light duty work and accommodations, as 
necessary. We loosely modeled the RETAIN Demonstration Projects after 
promising programs operating in Washington State, including the Centers 
of Occupational Health and Education (COHE), the Early Return to Work 
(ERTW), and the Stay at Work programs.
    While these programs operate within the state's workers' 
compensation system, and are available only to people experiencing 
work-related injuries or illnesses, the RETAIN Demonstration Projects 
provide opportunities to improve SAW/RTW outcomes for both occupational 
and non-occupational injuries and illnesses of people who are employed, 
or at a minimum in the labor force, when their injury or illness 
occurs.
    The primary goals of the RETAIN Demonstration Projects are:
    1. To increase employment retention and labor force participation 
of individuals who acquire, and/or are at risk of developing, work 
disabilities; and
    2. To reduce long-term work disability among RETAIN service users, 
including the need for Social Security Disability Insurance and 
Supplemental Security Income.
    The Retain Demonstration aims to validate and expand evidence-based 
strategies to accomplish these goals. DOL funds intervention approaches 
and programmatic technical assistance, while SSA funds evaluation 
support, including technical assistance and the full evaluation for the 
demonstration. The demonstration consists of two Phases. The first 
involves the implementation and assessment of cooperative awards to 
eight states to conduct planning and start-up activities, including the 
launch of a small pilot demonstration. During Phase 1, SSA provided 
evaluation-related technical assistance and planning, and conducts 
evaluability assessments to assess which states' projects would allow 
for a rigorous evaluation if continued beyond the pilot phase. SSA 
completed Phase 1 on May 16, 2021. DOL selected a subset of states and 
continued to Phase 2 full implementation and evaluation on May 17, 
2021, which will end in October 2025. During Phase 2, DOL funds the 
operations and program technical assistance activities for the 
recommended states, and SSA funds the full set of evaluation 
activities. The four components of this evaluation, completed during 
site visits, interviews with RETAIN service users, surveys of RETAIN 
enrollees, and surveys of RETAIN service providers, include:
     The participation analysis: Using RETAIN service user 
interviews and surveys, this analysis provides insights into which 
eligible workers choose to participate in the program, in what ways 
they participate, and how services received vary with participant 
characteristics. Similarly, it will assess the characteristics of, and 
if possible, reasons for non-enrollment of non-participants.
     The process analysis: Using staff interviews and logs, 
this analysis produces information about operational features that 
affect service provision; perceptions of the intervention design by 
service users, providers, administrators, and other stakeholders; 
relationships among the partner

[[Page 30432]]

organizations; each program's fidelity to the research design; and 
lessons for future programs with similar objectives.
     The impact analysis: This analysis produces estimates of 
the effects of the interventions on primary outcomes, including 
employment and Social Security disability applications, and secondary 
outcomes, such as health and service usage. SSA identifies evaluation 
designs for each state to generate impact estimates, which could 
include experimental or non-experimental designs.
     The cost-benefit analysis: This analysis assesses whether 
the benefits of RETAIN justify its costs, conducted from various 
perspectives, including participants, state and Federal governments, 
SSA, and society as a whole.
    The purpose and proposed use of this information collection is to 
gather qualitative and quantitative data needed to conduct the 
analysis. These activities, include (1) surveys of RETAIN enrollees and 
(2) follow-up interviews with RETAIN service users. The qualitative 
data collection consists of: (1) semi-structured interviews with 
program staff and service users; and (2) staff activity logs. Program 
staff interviews focus on staff's perceptions of the successes and 
challenges of implementing each states program, while staff activity 
logs house information on staff's time to inform the benefit-cost 
analysis. Service user interviews inform SSA's understanding of users' 
experiences with program services. The quantitative data include SSA's 
program records and survey data. The survey data collection consists 
of: (1) two rounds of follow-up surveys, focusing on individual-level 
outcomes, with enrollees, all of whom who have experienced a disability 
onset; and (2) two rounds of surveys with RETAIN providers. Respondents 
learn of the RETAIN program data collection efforts through various 
outreach methods, including, but not limited to mailings, phone calls, 
and from other individuals. SSA is constantly reviewing our outreach 
strategies to ensure maximum exposure and accessibility to the 
materials. the respondents are staff members selected for staff 
interviews and staff activity logs, and RETAIN service users, 
enrollees, and providers.
    Type of Request: Request for renewal of an information collection.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                              Average      Average wait
                                                                          Average burden     Estimated      theoretical      time for      Total annual
         Modality of completion              Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual     hourly cost     teleservice     opportunity
                                            respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)      amount          centers     cost (dollars)
                                                                                                            (dollars) *    (minutes) **         ***
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               RETAIN 2024 Burden Figures
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enrollee Survey Round 1 (Respondents)...           1,872               1              20             624         * 31.48           ** 19      *** 38,311
Enrollee Survey Round 1 (Nonrespondents)             468               1               3              23         * 31.48            ** 0         *** 724
Enrollee Survey Round 2 (Respondents)...           4,493               1              26           1,947         * 31.48           ** 19     *** 106,088
Enrollee Survey Round 2 (Nonrespondents)           1,123               1               3              56         * 31.48            ** 0       *** 1,763
Follow-up interviews with service users               20               1             141              47         * 31.48           ** 19       *** 1,668
 (Respondents)..........................
Follow-up interviews with service users               30               1               6               3         * 31.48            ** 0          *** 94
 (Nonrespondents).......................
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............................           8,006  ..............  ..............           2,700  ..............  ..............     *** 148,648
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               RETAIN 2025 Burden Figures
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enrollee Survey Round 2 (Respondents)...           1,123               1              26             487         * 31.48           ** 19      *** 26,538
Enrollee Survey Round 2 (Nonrespondents)             281               1               3              14         * 31.48            ** 0         *** 441
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............................           1,404  ..............  ..............             501  ..............  ..............      *** 26,979
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grand Total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............................           9,410  ..............  ..............           3,201  ..............  ..............     *** 175,627
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We based these figures on average U.S. citizen's hourly salary, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm).
** We based this figure on average FY 2023 wait times for teleservice centers (approximately 19 minutes per respondent), 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 these tasks; rather, these
  are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the tasks. There is no actual charge to respondents to
  complete the tasks.



[[Page 30433]]

    Dated: April 17, 2024.
Naomi Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-08565 Filed 4-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P