Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request and Comment Request, 52578-52580 [2010-21239]

Agencies

• Social Security Administration

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 165 (Thursday, August 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52578-52580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21239]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


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 (Pub. L.) 
104-13, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. 
This notice includes revisions and extensions of OMB-approved 
information collections and a new information 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, e-mail, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer to the following 
addresses or fax numbers.

(OMB), Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, 
Fax: 202-395-6974, E-mail address: OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov.
(SSA), Social Security Administration, DCBFM, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Officer, 1333 Annex Building, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235, 
Fax: 410-965-6400, E-mail address: OPLM.RCO@ssa.gov.

    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 
October 25, 2010. Individuals can obtain copies of the collection 
instruments by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer at 410-965-
8783 or by writing to the above e-mail address.
    1. Statement of Agricultural Employer (Year Prior to 1988; and 1988 
and later)--20 CFR 404.702, 404.802, 404.1056--0960-0036. SSA collects 
the information on Forms SSA-1002-F3 and SSA-1003-F3 to resolve 
discrepancies when farm workers allege their employers did not report 
their wages, or reported their wages incorrectly. If an agricultural 
employer incorrectly reported wages, or failed to report any wages for 
an employee, SSA must attempt to correct its records by contacting the 
employer to obtain convincing evidence of the wages paid. The 
respondents are agricultural employers having knowledge of wages paid 
to agricultural employees.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                               Average Burden
                Form No.                      Number of       Frequency of      per Response      Total Annual
                                             respondents        response          (minutes)      Burden  (hours)
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SSA-1002................................             7,500                 1                30             3,750
SSA-1003................................            25,000                 1                30            12,500
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    Total...............................            32,500  ................  ................            16,250
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[[Page 52579]]

    2. Student Reporting Form--20 CFR 404.367 & 404.368--0960-0088. 
Sections 20 CFR 404.367 and 404.368 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
provide that a student beneficiary must attend an educational 
institution full-time to qualify for Social Security benefits. SSA 
requires beneficiaries to report events that may cause a reduction, 
termination, or suspension of their benefits. SSA collects information 
on Form SSA-1383 to determine if the change or event a student reports 
affects continuing entitlement to Social Security benefits. We also use 
the information to determine the correct benefit amounts. The 
respondents are Social Security student beneficiaries.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                               Average burden
                Form No.                      Number of       Frequency of      per response      Total annual
                                             respondents        response          (minutes)      burden  (hours)
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SSA-1383................................            74,887                 1                 6              7489
SSA-1383-FC.............................               113                 1                 6                11
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    Total...............................            75,000  ................                 6             7,500
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    3. Work Activity Report (Self-Employed Person)--20 CFR 404.1520(b), 
20 CFR 404.1571-404.1576, 20 CFR 404.1584-404.1593, and 20 CFR 416.971-
416.976--0960-0598. SSA uses the information on Form SSA-820-U4 to 
determine initial or continuing eligibility for Supplemental Security 
Income (SSI) payments or Social Security disability benefits. Under 
Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act, applicants for disability 
benefits and SSI payments must prove they cannot perform any kind of 
substantial gainful activity (SGA) generally available in the national 
economy for which we expect them to qualify based on age, education, 
and work experience. SSA needs information about this work to determine 
whether the applicant was (or is) engaging in SGA. Working, after a 
claimant becomes entitled, can cause SSA to discontinue disability 
benefits or SSI payments. Using information from Form SSA-820-U4, SSA 
can determine if we should stop the respondent's benefits or payments. 
The respondents are applicants and claimants for SSI or Social Security 
disability benefits.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 100,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 50,000 hours.
    4. Request for Waiver of Special Veterans Benefits (SVB) 
Overpayment Recovery or Change in Repayment Rate--20 CFR 408.900-
408.950, 408.923(b), 408.931(b), 408.932(c), (d) and (e), 408.941(b) 
and 408.942--0960-0698. Title VIII of the Social Security Act (the Act) 
allows SSA to pay a monthly benefit to a qualified World War II veteran 
who resides outside the United States. When an overpayment in 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 
met the waiver of recovery provisions of the overpayment, and to 
determine the repayment rate if we do not waive repayment. Respondents 
are 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.
    Number of Respondents: 450.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: 120 minutes.
    Total Annual Burden: 900 hours.
    5. Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security 
(PABSS)--Grant Awardees/Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of 
Social Security (PABSS)--Beneficiaries--20 CFR 435.51-435.52--0960-
0768. In August of 2004, SSA announced its intention to award grants to 
establish community-based protection and advocacy projects in every 
State and U.S. Territory, as authorized under section 1150 of the 
Social Security Act. Potential awardees were protection and advocacy 
organizations established under Title I of the Developmental 
Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, which submitted a 
timely application conforming to the requirements listed in the 2004 
announcement. The projects SSA funds under PABSS program are part of 
SSA's strategy to increase the number of beneficiaries who return to 
work and achieve self-sufficiency as the result of receiving advocacy 
or other services. The overall goal of the program is to provide 
information and advice about obtaining vocational rehabilitation and 
employment services, and to provide advocacy or other services a 
beneficiary with a disability may need to secure, maintain, or regain 
gainful employment.
    The PABSS Semi-Annual Program Performance Report collects 
statistical information from the various protection and advocacy (P&A) 
projects to manage program performance. SSA uses the information to 
evaluate the efficacy of the program, and to ensure beneficiaries are 
receiving the dollars appropriated for PABSS services. The project data 
is valuable to SSA in its analysis of, and future planning for, the 
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and SSI programs. The 
respondents are the 57 designated P&A project system sites (in each of 
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Territories), and 
beneficiaries of SSDI and SSI programs.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                      Average
                                     Number of     Frequency of      Number of      burden per     Total annual
       Type of  respondent          respondents      response         annual         response         burden
                                                                     responses       (minutes)        (hours)
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PABBS Program Grantees..........              57               2             114              60             114
Beneficiaries...................           5,000               1           5,000              15           1,250
 
    Totals......................           5,057  ..............           5,114  ..............           1,364
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[[Page 52580]]

    II. SSA has submitted the information collections listed below to 
OMB for clearance. Your comments on the information collections would 
be most useful if OMB and SSA receive them within 30 days from the date 
of this publication. To be sure we consider your comments, we must 
receive them no later than September 27, 2010. You can obtain a copy of 
the OMB clearance packages by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer 
at 410-965-8783 or by writing to the above e-mail address.
    1. Travel Expense Reimbursement--20CFR 404.999(d) and 416.1499--
0960-0434. The Social Security Act provides for travel expense 
reimbursement by Federal and State agencies for claimant travel 
incidental to medical examinations, and to parties, their 
representatives, and all reasonably necessary witnesses for travel 
exceeding 75 miles to attend medical examinations, reconsideration 
interviews, and proceedings before an administrative law judge (ALJ). 
Reimbursement procedures require the claimant to provide (1) a list of 
expenses incurred, and (2) receipts of such expenses. Federal and State 
personnel review the listings and receipts to verify the reimbursable 
amount to the requestor. The respondents are claimants for Title II 
benefits and Title XVI payments, their representatives, and witnesses.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 50,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 8,333 hours.
    2. 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 ALJ makes a 
wholly favorable oral decision that includes all the findings and 
rationale for the decision for a claimant of Title II or Title XVI 
payments at an administrative appeals hearing, 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 if the involved parties want a record of the oral 
decision, they may submit a written request for these records. 
Therefore, 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 SSDI and SSI 
payments, or their representatives, to whom SSA gave a wholly favorable 
oral decision under the regulations cited above.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 2,500.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 208 hours.
    3. Authorization for SSA to Disclose Tax Information for Your 
Appeal of Your Medicare Part B Income-Related Monthly Adjustment 
Premium Amount--20 CFR 418.1350--0960-0762. Medicare Part B 
beneficiaries who wish to appeal SSA's reconsideration of their Income-
Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) must ensure the availability 
of relevant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) income tax data to the 
Health and Human Services ALJ who will consider their appeal. Through 
Form SSA-54, SSA obtains beneficiary authorization to disclose the IRS 
beneficiary tax data to the ALJ. The respondents are Medicare Part B 
recipients who want to appeal SSA's reconsideration of their IRMAA 
amount.
    Correction Notice: This is a correction notice. SSA published this 
information collection as an extension on June 7, 2010 at 75 FR 32231. 
Since we are revising the Privacy Act Statement, this is now a revision 
of an OMB-approved information collection.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 6,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 1,500 hours.

    Dated: August 23, 2010,
Faye Lipsky,
Reports Clearance Officer, Center for Reports Clearance, Social 
Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-21239 Filed 8-25-10; 8:45 am]
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