Privacy Act of 1974; Computer Matching Program Between the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Matching Tenant Data in Assisted Housing Programs, 47336-47339 [2013-18795]
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47336
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 150 / Monday, August 5, 2013 / Notices
Persons with hearing or speech
impairments may access this number
through TTY by calling the toll-free
Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339.
Copies of available documents
submitted to OMB may be obtained
from Ms. Mussington.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
notice informs the public that HUD is
seeking approval from OMB for the
information collection described in
Section A.
A. Title of Proposal: Public Housing
Contracting with Resident-Owned
Businesses/Application Requirements.
OMB Approval Number: 2577–0161.
Description of the Need for the
Information and Its Proposed Use:
PHAs that enter into contracts with
resident-owned businesses must comply
with the requirements/procedures set
forth in 24 CFR 963.10, 24 CFR 963.12,
24 CFR 85.36(h), 24 CFR 85.36(i) and
other such contract terms that may be
applicable to the procurement under the
Department’s regulations. These
requirements include:
• Certified copies of any State,
county, or municipal licenses that may
be required of the business to engage in
the type of business activity for which
it was formed. Where applicable, the
PHA must obtain a certified copy of its
corporate charter or other organizational
document that verifies that the business
was properly formed in accordance with
State law;
• Certification that shows the
business is owned by residents,
disclosure documents that indicate all
owners of the business and each
owner’s percentage of the business
along with sufficient evidence sufficient
that demonstrates to the satisfaction of
the PHA that the business has the ability
to perform successfully under the terms
and conditions of the proposed contract;
• Certification as to the number of
contracts awarded, and the dollar
amount of each contract award received,
under the alternative procurement
process; and
• Contract award documents, proof of
bonding documents, independent cost
estimates and comparable price
analyses.
Agency form number, if applicable:
None.
Members of Affected Public: Public
Housing Agencies and Applicable
Resident Entrepreneurs
Estimation of the Total number of
hours needed to prepare the information
collection including number of
respondents, frequency of response, and
hours of response: Estimated number of
respondents: 81. The calculation for
burden hours is as follows: Calculation
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for number of respondents: 81
(estimated number of PHAs contracting
with resident owned businesses) × 24
(number of hours for procurement
process) = 1,944 total hours.
Number
of
PHAs
Number of
responses
annually*
Hours per
response
Total
annual
burden
hours
81 .......
81
* 24
1,944
Status of the Proposed Information
Collection: Meeting HUD Regulation
requirements
B. Solicitation of Public Comment:
This notice is soliciting comments from
members of the public and affected
parties concerning the collection of
information described in Section A on
the following:
(1) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond; including through
the use of appropriate automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
HUD encourages interested parties to
submit comment in response to these
questions.
Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35.
Dated: July 26, 2013.
Merrie Nichols-Dixon,
Deputy Director, Office of Policy, Programs
and Legislative Initiatives.
[FR Doc. 2013–18804 Filed 8–2–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–5693–N–05]
Privacy Act of 1974; Computer
Matching Program Between the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) and the
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS): Matching Tenant Data
in Assisted Housing Programs
Office of the Chief Information
Officer, HUD.
AGENCY:
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Notice of a new computer
matching agreement between HUD and
HHS.
ACTION:
Pursuant to the Computer
Matching and Privacy Protection Act of
1988, as amended, HUD is providing
notice of its intent to execute a new
computer matching agreement with
HHS for a recurring matching program
with HUD’s Office of Public and Indian
Housing (PIH) and Office of Housing,
involving comparisons of information
provided by participants in any
authorized HUD rental housing
assistance program with the
independent sources of income
information available through the
National Directory of New Hires
(NDNH) maintained by HHS.
Specifically, the HUD–HHS computer
matching program now provides an
updated cost/benefit analysis providing
an assessment of the benefits attained by
HUD through the matching program.
The most recent renewal of the current
matching agreement expires on August
3, 2013.
DATES: HUD will file a report of the
subject matching program with the
Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate, and Office of
Management and Budget’s (OMB),
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs. The matching program will
become effective as cited in Section V
of this notice.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit comments regarding
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk,
Office of General Counsel, Room 10276,
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20410–0500.
Communications should refer to the
above docket number and title.
Facsimile (FAX) comments are not
acceptable. A copy of each
communication submitted will be
available for public inspection and
copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
weekdays at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
Privacy Act Inquires: Office of the Chief
Information Officer, contact the Chief
Privacy Officer, Department of Housing
and Urban Development, 451 Seventh
Street SW., Room 2256, Washington, DC
20410, telephone number (202) 402–
8073. For program information: Office of
Public and Indian Housing, contact
Nelson Stephens, Program Manager for
the Real Estate Assessment Center,
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW.,
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 150 / Monday, August 5, 2013 / Notices
Room PCFL1, Washington, DC 20410,
telephone number (202) 475–7963; and
for the Office of Housing, contact Yvette
Viviani, Director of the Housing
Assistance Policy Division, Department
of Housing and Urban Development,
451 Seventh Street SW., Room 6160,
Washington, DC 20410, telephone
number (202) 402–2366. (These are not
toll-free numbers.) A
telecommunications device for hearingand speech-impaired individuals (TTY)
is available at (800) 877–8339 (Federal
Information Relay Service).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant
to the Computer Matching and Privacy
Protection Act (CMPPA) of 1988, as
amended, OMB’s guidance on this
statute entitled ‘‘Final Guidance
Interpreting the Provisions of Public
Law 100–503’’, and OMB Circular No.
A–130, Appendix 1 to OMB’s Revisions
of Circular No. A–130, ‘‘Transmittal
Memorandum No. 4, Management of
Federal Information Resources,’’ which
prescribes responsibilities for agencies
maintaining records about individuals,
HUD is providing the public with notice
of a new computer matching agreement
with HHS (notice of a computer
matching program between HUD and
HHS was previously published at 73 FR
10046 on February 25, 2008 and 76 FR
579 on January 5, 2011). The first HUD–
HHS computer matching program was
conducted in September 2005, with
HUD’s Office of Public and Indian
Housing. The scope of the HUD–HHS
computer matching program was
extended to include HUD’s Office of
Housing in December 2007. This notice
supersedes the previous notice and
changes the scope of the existing
computer matching program to now
include the updated cost/benefit
analysis.
The matching program will be carried
out only to the extent necessary to: (1)
Verify the employment and income of
individuals participating in programs
identified in Section I below, to
correctly determine the amount of their
rent and assistance, (2) identify,
prevent, and recover improper
payments made on behalf of tenants,
and (3) after removal of personal
identifiers, to conduct analyses of the
employment and income reporting of
individuals participating in any HUD
authorized rental housing assistance
program.
HUD will make the results of the
computer matching program available to
public housing agencies (PHAs), private
housing owners and management agents
(O/As) administering HUD rental
assistance programs to enable them to
verify employment and income and
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correctly determine the rent and
assistance levels for individuals
participating in those programs, and
contract administrators (CAs) overseeing
and monitoring O/A operations. This
information also may be disclosed to the
HUD Inspector General (HUD/IG) and
the Attorney General in detecting and
investigating potential cases of fraud,
waste, and abuse of the above named
programs.
In addition to the above noted
information disclosures, limited
redisclosure of reports containing
NDNH information may be redisclosed
to the following persons and/or entities:
(1) Independent auditors for the sole
purpose of performing an audit of
whether these HUD authorized entities
verified tenants’ employment and/or
income and calculated the subsidy and
rent correctly; and (2) entities and/or
individuals associated with grievance
procedures and judicial proceedings
(i.e. lawyers, court personnel, agency
personnel, grievance hearing officers,
etc.) relating to independently verified
unreported income identified through
this matching program.
HUD and its third party
administrators (PHAs, O/As, and CAs)
will use this matching authority to
identify, reduce or eliminate improper
payments in HUD’s rental housing
assistance programs, while continuing
to ensure that HUD rental housing
assistance programs serve and are
accessible by its intended program
beneficiaries.
I. Authority
This matching program is being
conducted pursuant to Section 217 of
the Consolidated Appropriation Act of
2004 (Pub. L. 108–199, Approved
January 23, 2004), which amended
Section 453(j) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 653(j)), Sections 3003 and
13403 of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103–
66, approved August 10, 1993); Section
542(b) of the 1998 Appropriations Act
(Pub. L. 105–65); Section 904 of the
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless
Assistance Amendments Act of 1988, as
amended by Section 239 of HUD’s 2009
Appropriations, effective March 11,
2009 (42 U.S.C. 3544); Section 165 of
the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C.
3543); the National Housing Act (12
U.S.C. 1701–1750g); the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437–
1437z); Section 101 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1965
(12 U.S.C. 1701s); the Native American
Housing Assistance and SelfDetermination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C.
4101 et seq.); and the Quality Housing
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and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42
U.S.C. 1437a(f)).
The Housing and Community
Development Act of 1987 authorizes
HUD to require applicants and
participants (as well as members of their
household six years of age and older) in
HUD-administered programs involving
rental housing assistance to disclose to
HUD their social security numbers
(SSNs) as a condition of initial or
continuing eligibility for participation
in the programs. Effective January 31,
2010, all applicants and participants
under the age of six, are required to
disclose their SSN to HUD, in
accordance with regulatory revisions
made to 24 CFR 5.216, as published at
74 FR 68924, on December 29, 2009.
Section 217 of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2004 (Pub. L.
108–199, approved January 23, 2004)
authorizes HUD to provide to HHS
information on persons participating in
any programs authorized by:
(i) The United States Housing Act of
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);
(ii) Section 202 of the Housing Act of
1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q);
(iii) Section 221(d)(3), 221(d)(5) or
236 of the National Housing Act (12
U.S.C. 17151(d) and 1715z–1);
(iv) Section 811 of the CranstonGonzalez National Affordable Housing
Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); or
(v) Section 101 of the Housing and
Urban Development Act of 1965 (12
U.S.C. 1701s);
The Refinement of Income and Rent
Determination Requirements in Public
and Assisted Housing Programs:
Implementation of the Enterprise
Income Verification (EIV) System—
Amendments; Final rule published at 74
FR 68924 on December 29, 2009,
requires program administrators to use
HUD’s EIV system to verify tenant
employment and income information
during mandatory reexaminations or
recertifications of family composition
and income and reduce administrative
and subsidy payment errors in
accordance with HUD administrative
guidance (new HUD regulation at 24
CFR 5.233).
This matching program also assists
HUD in complying with the following
federal laws, requirements, and
guidance related to identifying and
reducing improper payments:
1. Improper Payments Elimination
and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA) (Pub.
L. 111–204);
2. Presidential Memorandum on
Enhancing Payment Accuracy Through
a ‘‘Do Not Pay List’’ (June 18, 2010);
3. Office of Management and Budget
M–10–13, Issuance of Part III to OMB
Circular A–123, appendix C;
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4. Presidential Memorandum on
Finding and Recapturing Improper
Payments (March 10, 2010);
5. Reducing Improper Payments and
Eliminating Waste in Federal Programs
(Executive Order 13520, November
2009);
6. Improper Payments Information
Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107–300); and
7. Office of Management and Budget
M–03–13, Improper Payments
Information Act of 2002 Implementation
Guide.
HHS shall then compare this
information provided by HUD with data
contained in the National Directory of
New Hires and report the results of the
data match to HUD. The Act gives HUD
the authority to disclose this
information to CAs, O/As, and PHAs for
the purpose of verifying the
employment and income of individuals
receiving benefits in the above
programs. HUD shall not seek, use or
disclose information relating to an
individual without the prior written
consent of that individual, and HUD has
the authority to require consent as a
condition of participating in HUD rental
housing assistance programs.
HHS’ disclosure of data from the
National Directory of New Hires is
authorized by Section 217 of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2004 (Pub. L. 108–199). The disclosures
from the HHS system of records,
‘‘Location and Collection System of
Records,’’ No. 09–90–0074, will be
made pursuant to ‘‘Routine Use’’ (17),
identified in the Federal Register last
published at 72 FR 51446 on September
7, 2007. This routine use authorizes
HHS to ‘‘disclose to the Department of
Housing and Urban Development
information in the NDNH portion of this
system for purposes of verifying
employment and income of individuals
participating in specified programs and,
after removal of personal identifiers, to
conduct analyses of the employment
and income reporting of these
individuals.’’
II. Objectives To Be Met by the
Matching Program
HUD’s primary objective of the
computer matching program is to verify
the employment and income of
individuals participating in the housing
programs identified in Section I above,
to determine the appropriate level of
rental assistance, and to detect, deter
and correct fraud, waste, and abuse in
rental housing assistance programs. In
meeting these objectives HUD also is
carrying out a responsibility under 42
U.S.C. 1437f(K) to ensure that income
data provided to PHAs, and O/As, by
household members is complete and
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accurate. HUD’s various rental housing
assistance programs require that
participants meet certain income and
other criteria to be eligible for rental
assistance. In addition, tenants generally
are required to report and recertify the
amounts and sources of their income at
least annually. However, under the
QHWRA of 1998, PHAs operating Public
Housing programs may now offer
tenants the option to pay a flat rent, or
an income-based rent. Those tenants
who select a flat rent will be required
to recertify income at least every three
years. In addition, the changes to the
Admissions and Occupancy final rule
(March 29, 2000 (65 FR 16692))
specified that household composition
must be recertified annually for tenants
who select a flat rent or income-based
rent.
An additional objective of this
computer matching program is to
facilitate the statistical measurement of
subsidy error by completing an annual
QC study. The QC study provides
national estimates of the extent,
severity, costs, and sources of rent errors
for rental assistance programs,
administered by the Offices of Housing
and Pubic and Indian Housing. This
study is designed to measure the extent
of administrative error by housing
providers and tenant income reporting
errors. The errors evaluated in this
study affect the rent contributions
tenants should have been charged. HUD
will use NDNH information resulting
from this data comparison and
disclosure solely for the purpose of
conducting aggregate analyses of
employment and income reporting of
individuals participating in the rental
housing assistance programs. The study
will not contain personally identifiable
information of individuals.
III. Program Description
In this computer matching program,
tenant-provided information included
in HUD’s automated systems of records
known as Tenant Rental Assistance
Certification System (TRACS) (HUD/H–
11), Inventory Management System
(HUD/PIH–4, formerly the Public and
Indian Housing Information Center (PIC)
(HUD/PIH–4), and Enterprise Income
Verification (EIV) System (HUD/PIH–5)
will be compared to data from the
NDNH database. The notices for these
systems were published at 65 FR 52777,
67 FR 20986, and 70 FR 41780, which
was subsequently amended and
published at 72 FR 17589, respectively.
The notice for the EIV system was
subsequently updated and published in
the Federal Register on September 1,
2009, at 74 FR 45235. HUD will disclose
to HHS only tenant personal identifiers,
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i.e., full name, Social Security Number,
and date of birth. HHS will match the
HUD-provided personal identifiers to
personal identifiers included in the
National Directory of New Hires
(NDNH) contained within their systems
of records known as ‘‘Location and
Collection System of Records,’’ No. 09–
90–0074. HHS will provide income data
to HUD only for individuals with
matching personal identifiers.
A. Income Verification
Any disparity between tenantreported income and/or sources and the
income and sources derived from the
match (i.e., a ‘‘hit’’) will be further
reviewed by HUD, the program
administrator, or the HUD Office of
Inspector General (OIG) to determine
whether the income reported by tenants
to the program administrator is correct
and complies with HUD and program
administrator requirements.
Specifically, current or prior wage
information and other data will be
sought directly from employers and/or
tenants.
B. Administrative or Legal Actions
With respect to the ‘‘hits’’ that will
occur as a result of this matching
program, HUD requires program
administrators to take appropriate
action in consultation with tenants to:
(1) resolve income disparities between
tenant-reported and independent
income source data, and (2) use correct
income amounts in determining housing
rental assistance.
Program administrators must compute
the rent in full compliance with all
applicable occupancy regulations.
Program administrator must ensure that
they use the correct income and
correctly compute the rent. The program
administrator may not suspend,
terminate, reduce, or make a final denial
of any housing assistance to any tenant
as the result of information produced by
this matching program until: (a) The
tenant has received notice from the
program administrator of its findings,
and tenants are informed of the
opportunity to contest such findings
and (b) either the expiration of any
notice period provided in applicable
HUD requirements of the program or the
30-day period beginning on the date on
which notice of adverse findings was
mailed or otherwise provided to the
tenant. In all cases, program
administrators will resolve income
discrepancies in consultation with
tenants. Additionally, serious
violations, which program
administrators, HUD program staff, or
HUD OIG verify, should be referred for
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full investigation and appropriate civil
and/or criminal proceedings.
IV. Records To Be Matched
HHS will conduct the matching of
tenant SSNs, full names, and dates of
births (DOBs) to tenant data HUD
supplies from its Tenant Rental
Assistance Certification System
(TRACS) (HUD/H–11) and Public and
Indian Housing Information Center (PIC)
system (HUD/PIH–4). Program
administrators utilize the form HUD–
50058 module within the PIC system
and the form HUD–50059 module
within the TRACS to provide HUD with
the tenant data.
HHS will match the tenant records
included in HUD/H–11 and HUD/PIH–
4 to NDNH records contained in HHS’
‘‘Location and Collection System of
Records,’’ No. 09–90–0074. HUD will
place the resulting matched data into its
Enterprise Income Verification (EIV)
system (HUD/PIH–5). The notice for this
system was published at 72 FR 17589,
and subsequently updated and
published in the Federal Register on
September 1, 2009, at 74 FR 45235.
Routine uses of records maintained in
the system, including categories of users
and purposes of such uses was
published in that Notice.
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V. Period of the Match
The matching program will become
effective and the matching may
commence after the respective Data
Integrity Boards (DIBs) of both agencies
approve and sign the computer
matching agreement, and after, the later
of the following: (1) 40 days after report
of the matching program is sent to
Congress and OMB; (2) at least 30 days
after publication of this notice in the
Federal Register, unless comments are
received, which would result in a
contrary determination. The computer
matching program will be conducted
according to agreement between HUD
and HHS. The computer matching
agreement for the planned match will
terminate either when the purpose of
the computer matching program is
accomplished, or 18 months from the
effective date. The agreement may be
renewed for one 12-month period, with
the mutual agreement of all involved
parties, if the following conditions are
met:
(1) Within three months of the expiration
date, all Data Integrity Boards (DIBs) review
the agreement, find that the program will be
conducted without change, and find a
continued favorable examination of benefit/
cost results; and (2) All parties certify that
the program has been conducted in
compliance with the agreement.
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The agreement may be terminated,
prior to accomplishment of the
computer matching purpose or 18
months from the date the agreement is
signed (whichever comes first), by the
mutual agreement of all involved parties
within 30 days of written notice.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a; 88 Stat. 1896; 42
U.S.C. 3535(d).
Dated: July 17, 2013.
Harold E. Williams,
Acting Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013–18795 Filed 8–2–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–5725–N–01]
Proposed Fair Market Rents for the
Housing Choice Voucher Program,
Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room
Occupancy Program and Other
Programs Fiscal Year 2014
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Policy Development and
Research, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Fiscal Year
(FY) 2014 Fair Market Rents (FMRs).
AGENCY:
Section 8(c)(1) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA)
requires the Secretary to publish FMRs
periodically, but not less than annually,
adjusted to be effective on October 1 of
each year. The primary uses of FMRs are
to determine payment standards for the
Housing Choice Voucher (HCV)
program, to determine initial renewal
rents for some expiring project-based
Section 8 contracts, to determine initial
rents for housing assistance payment
contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation
Single Room Occupancy program, and
to serve as rent ceilings in the HOME
program. FMRs are also used in the
calculation of maximum award amounts
for Continuum of Care grantees. Today’s
notice provides proposed FY 2014
FMRs for all areas that reflect the
estimated 40th and 50th percentile rent
levels trended to April 1, 2014. The FY
2014 FMRs are based on 5-year, 2007–
2011 data collected by the American
Community Survey (ACS). These data
are updated by one-year ACS data for
areas where statistically valid one-year
ACS data is available. The Consumer
Price Index (CPI) rent and utility
indexes are used to further update the
data from 2011 to the end of 2012. HUD
continues to use ACS data in different
ways according to the statistical
reliability of rent estimates for areas of
different population sizes and counts of
rental units.
SUMMARY:
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47339
The proposed FY 2014 FMR areas are
based on Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) metropolitan area
definitions as updated through
December 1, 2009 and include HUD
modifications that were first used in the
determination of FY 2006 FMR areas.
The February 28, 2013 OMB Area
definition update has not been
incorporated in the FMR process due to
the timing of the release and the
availability of ACS data. HUD will work
toward incorporating these new area
definitions into the Proposed FY 2015
FMR calculations; however, this is
dependent on the availability of ACS
data conforming to the new area
definitions.
The proposed FY 2014 FMRs in this
notice reflect several updates to the
methodology used to calculate FMRs.
HUD has updated the information used
to calculate FMRs in Puerto Rico. Puerto
Rico FMRs are now based on 2007–2011
Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS)
data (the PRCS is a part of the ACS
program). Moreover, HUD is using
Consumer Price Index data calculated
specifically for Puerto Rico rather than
using South Census Region CPI data.
Additionally, these FMRs continue to
use the annually updated trend factor
calculation methodology. This trend
factor for the FY2014 FMRs is based on
the change in national gross rents from
2006 to 2011.
Comment Due Date: September
4, 2013.
DATES:
Interested persons are
invited to submit comments regarding
the proposed FMRs to the Regulations
Division, Office of General Counsel,
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW.,
Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410–
0001. Communications must refer to the
above docket number and title and
should contain the information
specified in the ‘‘Request for
Comments’’ section. There are two
methods for submitting public
comments.
1. Submission of Comments by Mail.
Comments may be submitted by mail to
the Regulations Division, Office of
General Counsel, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, 451
7th Street SW., Room 10276,
Washington, DC 20410–0500. Due to
security measures at all federal agencies,
however, submission of comments by
mail often results in delayed delivery.
To ensure timely receipt of comments,
HUD recommends that comments
submitted by mail be submitted at least
two weeks in advance of the public
comment deadline.
ADDRESSES:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 150 (Monday, August 5, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47336-47339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18795]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-5693-N-05]
Privacy Act of 1974; Computer Matching Program Between the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS): Matching Tenant Data in Assisted
Housing Programs
AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of a new computer matching agreement between HUD and
HHS.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act
of 1988, as amended, HUD is providing notice of its intent to execute a
new computer matching agreement with HHS for a recurring matching
program with HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) and Office
of Housing, involving comparisons of information provided by
participants in any authorized HUD rental housing assistance program
with the independent sources of income information available through
the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) maintained by HHS.
Specifically, the HUD-HHS computer matching program now provides an
updated cost/benefit analysis providing an assessment of the benefits
attained by HUD through the matching program. The most recent renewal
of the current matching agreement expires on August 3, 2013.
DATES: HUD will file a report of the subject matching program with the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate, and Office of Management and Budget's (OMB),
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The matching program will
become effective as cited in Section V of this notice.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street
SW., Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the
above docket number and title. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not
acceptable. A copy of each communication submitted will be available
for public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at
the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For Privacy Act Inquires: Office of
the Chief Information Officer, contact the Chief Privacy Officer,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW.,
Room 2256, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number (202) 402- 8073. For
program information: Office of Public and Indian Housing, contact
Nelson Stephens, Program Manager for the Real Estate Assessment Center,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW.,
[[Page 47337]]
Room PCFL1, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number (202) 475-7963; and
for the Office of Housing, contact Yvette Viviani, Director of the
Housing Assistance Policy Division, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room 6160, Washington, DC 20410,
telephone number (202) 402-2366. (These are not toll-free numbers.) A
telecommunications device for hearing- and speech-impaired individuals
(TTY) is available at (800) 877-8339 (Federal Information Relay
Service).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Computer Matching and
Privacy Protection Act (CMPPA) of 1988, as amended, OMB's guidance on
this statute entitled ``Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of
Public Law 100-503'', and OMB Circular No. A-130, Appendix 1 to OMB's
Revisions of Circular No. A-130, ``Transmittal Memorandum No. 4,
Management of Federal Information Resources,'' which prescribes
responsibilities for agencies maintaining records about individuals,
HUD is providing the public with notice of a new computer matching
agreement with HHS (notice of a computer matching program between HUD
and HHS was previously published at 73 FR 10046 on February 25, 2008
and 76 FR 579 on January 5, 2011). The first HUD-HHS computer matching
program was conducted in September 2005, with HUD's Office of Public
and Indian Housing. The scope of the HUD-HHS computer matching program
was extended to include HUD's Office of Housing in December 2007. This
notice supersedes the previous notice and changes the scope of the
existing computer matching program to now include the updated cost/
benefit analysis.
The matching program will be carried out only to the extent
necessary to: (1) Verify the employment and income of individuals
participating in programs identified in Section I below, to correctly
determine the amount of their rent and assistance, (2) identify,
prevent, and recover improper payments made on behalf of tenants, and
(3) after removal of personal identifiers, to conduct analyses of the
employment and income reporting of individuals participating in any HUD
authorized rental housing assistance program.
HUD will make the results of the computer matching program
available to public housing agencies (PHAs), private housing owners and
management agents (O/As) administering HUD rental assistance programs
to enable them to verify employment and income and correctly determine
the rent and assistance levels for individuals participating in those
programs, and contract administrators (CAs) overseeing and monitoring
O/A operations. This information also may be disclosed to the HUD
Inspector General (HUD/IG) and the Attorney General in detecting and
investigating potential cases of fraud, waste, and abuse of the above
named programs.
In addition to the above noted information disclosures, limited
redisclosure of reports containing NDNH information may be redisclosed
to the following persons and/or entities: (1) Independent auditors for
the sole purpose of performing an audit of whether these HUD authorized
entities verified tenants' employment and/or income and calculated the
subsidy and rent correctly; and (2) entities and/or individuals
associated with grievance procedures and judicial proceedings (i.e.
lawyers, court personnel, agency personnel, grievance hearing officers,
etc.) relating to independently verified unreported income identified
through this matching program.
HUD and its third party administrators (PHAs, O/As, and CAs) will
use this matching authority to identify, reduce or eliminate improper
payments in HUD's rental housing assistance programs, while continuing
to ensure that HUD rental housing assistance programs serve and are
accessible by its intended program beneficiaries.
I. Authority
This matching program is being conducted pursuant to Section 217 of
the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-199, Approved
January 23, 2004), which amended Section 453(j) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)), Sections 3003 and 13403 of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103- 66, approved August 10, 1993);
Section 542(b) of the 1998 Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 105-65); Section
904 of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of
1988, as amended by Section 239 of HUD's 2009 Appropriations, effective
March 11, 2009 (42 U.S.C. 3544); Section 165 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3543); the National
Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1701-1750g); the United States Housing Act of
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437- 1437z); Section 101 of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s); the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self- Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et
seq.); and the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42
U.S.C. 1437a(f)).
The Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 authorizes HUD to
require applicants and participants (as well as members of their
household six years of age and older) in HUD-administered programs
involving rental housing assistance to disclose to HUD their social
security numbers (SSNs) as a condition of initial or continuing
eligibility for participation in the programs. Effective January 31,
2010, all applicants and participants under the age of six, are
required to disclose their SSN to HUD, in accordance with regulatory
revisions made to 24 CFR 5.216, as published at 74 FR 68924, on
December 29, 2009.
Section 217 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 (Pub. L.
108-199, approved January 23, 2004) authorizes HUD to provide to HHS
information on persons participating in any programs authorized by:
(i) The United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);
(ii) Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q);
(iii) Section 221(d)(3), 221(d)(5) or 236 of the National Housing
Act (12 U.S.C. 17151(d) and 1715z-1);
(iv) Section 811 of the Cranston- Gonzalez National Affordable
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); or
(v) Section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965
(12 U.S.C. 1701s);
The Refinement of Income and Rent Determination Requirements in
Public and Assisted Housing Programs: Implementation of the Enterprise
Income Verification (EIV) System-- Amendments; Final rule published at
74 FR 68924 on December 29, 2009, requires program administrators to
use HUD's EIV system to verify tenant employment and income information
during mandatory reexaminations or recertifications of family
composition and income and reduce administrative and subsidy payment
errors in accordance with HUD administrative guidance (new HUD
regulation at 24 CFR 5.233).
This matching program also assists HUD in complying with the
following federal laws, requirements, and guidance related to
identifying and reducing improper payments:
1. Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA)
(Pub. L. 111-204);
2. Presidential Memorandum on Enhancing Payment Accuracy Through a
``Do Not Pay List'' (June 18, 2010);
3. Office of Management and Budget M-10-13, Issuance of Part III to
OMB Circular A-123, appendix C;
[[Page 47338]]
4. Presidential Memorandum on Finding and Recapturing Improper
Payments (March 10, 2010);
5. Reducing Improper Payments and Eliminating Waste in Federal
Programs (Executive Order 13520, November 2009);
6. Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-300); and
7. Office of Management and Budget M-03-13, Improper Payments
Information Act of 2002 Implementation Guide.
HHS shall then compare this information provided by HUD with data
contained in the National Directory of New Hires and report the results
of the data match to HUD. The Act gives HUD the authority to disclose
this information to CAs, O/As, and PHAs for the purpose of verifying
the employment and income of individuals receiving benefits in the
above programs. HUD shall not seek, use or disclose information
relating to an individual without the prior written consent of that
individual, and HUD has the authority to require consent as a condition
of participating in HUD rental housing assistance programs.
HHS' disclosure of data from the National Directory of New Hires is
authorized by Section 217 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2004 (Pub. L. 108-199). The disclosures from the HHS system of records,
``Location and Collection System of Records,'' No. 09-90-0074, will be
made pursuant to ``Routine Use'' (17), identified in the Federal
Register last published at 72 FR 51446 on September 7, 2007. This
routine use authorizes HHS to ``disclose to the Department of Housing
and Urban Development information in the NDNH portion of this system
for purposes of verifying employment and income of individuals
participating in specified programs and, after removal of personal
identifiers, to conduct analyses of the employment and income reporting
of these individuals.''
II. Objectives To Be Met by the Matching Program
HUD's primary objective of the computer matching program is to
verify the employment and income of individuals participating in the
housing programs identified in Section I above, to determine the
appropriate level of rental assistance, and to detect, deter and
correct fraud, waste, and abuse in rental housing assistance programs.
In meeting these objectives HUD also is carrying out a responsibility
under 42 U.S.C. 1437f(K) to ensure that income data provided to PHAs,
and O/As, by household members is complete and accurate. HUD's various
rental housing assistance programs require that participants meet
certain income and other criteria to be eligible for rental assistance.
In addition, tenants generally are required to report and recertify the
amounts and sources of their income at least annually. However, under
the QHWRA of 1998, PHAs operating Public Housing programs may now offer
tenants the option to pay a flat rent, or an income-based rent. Those
tenants who select a flat rent will be required to recertify income at
least every three years. In addition, the changes to the Admissions and
Occupancy final rule (March 29, 2000 (65 FR 16692)) specified that
household composition must be recertified annually for tenants who
select a flat rent or income-based rent.
An additional objective of this computer matching program is to
facilitate the statistical measurement of subsidy error by completing
an annual QC study. The QC study provides national estimates of the
extent, severity, costs, and sources of rent errors for rental
assistance programs, administered by the Offices of Housing and Pubic
and Indian Housing. This study is designed to measure the extent of
administrative error by housing providers and tenant income reporting
errors. The errors evaluated in this study affect the rent
contributions tenants should have been charged. HUD will use NDNH
information resulting from this data comparison and disclosure solely
for the purpose of conducting aggregate analyses of employment and
income reporting of individuals participating in the rental housing
assistance programs. The study will not contain personally identifiable
information of individuals.
III. Program Description
In this computer matching program, tenant-provided information
included in HUD's automated systems of records known as Tenant Rental
Assistance Certification System (TRACS) (HUD/H- 11), Inventory
Management System (HUD/PIH-4, formerly the Public and Indian Housing
Information Center (PIC) (HUD/PIH-4), and Enterprise Income
Verification (EIV) System (HUD/PIH-5) will be compared to data from the
NDNH database. The notices for these systems were published at 65 FR
52777, 67 FR 20986, and 70 FR 41780, which was subsequently amended and
published at 72 FR 17589, respectively. The notice for the EIV system
was subsequently updated and published in the Federal Register on
September 1, 2009, at 74 FR 45235. HUD will disclose to HHS only tenant
personal identifiers, i.e., full name, Social Security Number, and date
of birth. HHS will match the HUD-provided personal identifiers to
personal identifiers included in the National Directory of New Hires
(NDNH) contained within their systems of records known as ``Location
and Collection System of Records,'' No. 09- 90-0074. HHS will provide
income data to HUD only for individuals with matching personal
identifiers.
A. Income Verification
Any disparity between tenant- reported income and/or sources and
the income and sources derived from the match (i.e., a ``hit'') will be
further reviewed by HUD, the program administrator, or the HUD Office
of Inspector General (OIG) to determine whether the income reported by
tenants to the program administrator is correct and complies with HUD
and program administrator requirements. Specifically, current or prior
wage information and other data will be sought directly from employers
and/or tenants.
B. Administrative or Legal Actions
With respect to the ``hits'' that will occur as a result of this
matching program, HUD requires program administrators to take
appropriate action in consultation with tenants to: (1) resolve income
disparities between tenant-reported and independent income source data,
and (2) use correct income amounts in determining housing rental
assistance.
Program administrators must compute the rent in full compliance
with all applicable occupancy regulations. Program administrator must
ensure that they use the correct income and correctly compute the rent.
The program administrator may not suspend, terminate, reduce, or make a
final denial of any housing assistance to any tenant as the result of
information produced by this matching program until: (a) The tenant has
received notice from the program administrator of its findings, and
tenants are informed of the opportunity to contest such findings and
(b) either the expiration of any notice period provided in applicable
HUD requirements of the program or the 30-day period beginning on the
date on which notice of adverse findings was mailed or otherwise
provided to the tenant. In all cases, program administrators will
resolve income discrepancies in consultation with tenants.
Additionally, serious violations, which program administrators, HUD
program staff, or HUD OIG verify, should be referred for
[[Page 47339]]
full investigation and appropriate civil and/or criminal proceedings.
IV. Records To Be Matched
HHS will conduct the matching of tenant SSNs, full names, and dates
of births (DOBs) to tenant data HUD supplies from its Tenant Rental
Assistance Certification System (TRACS) (HUD/H-11) and Public and
Indian Housing Information Center (PIC) system (HUD/PIH-4). Program
administrators utilize the form HUD- 50058 module within the PIC system
and the form HUD-50059 module within the TRACS to provide HUD with the
tenant data.
HHS will match the tenant records included in HUD/H-11 and HUD/PIH-
4 to NDNH records contained in HHS' ``Location and Collection System of
Records,'' No. 09-90-0074. HUD will place the resulting matched data
into its Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system (HUD/PIH-5). The
notice for this system was published at 72 FR 17589, and subsequently
updated and published in the Federal Register on September 1, 2009, at
74 FR 45235. Routine uses of records maintained in the system,
including categories of users and purposes of such uses was published
in that Notice.
V. Period of the Match
The matching program will become effective and the matching may
commence after the respective Data Integrity Boards (DIBs) of both
agencies approve and sign the computer matching agreement, and after,
the later of the following: (1) 40 days after report of the matching
program is sent to Congress and OMB; (2) at least 30 days after
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, unless comments are
received, which would result in a contrary determination. The computer
matching program will be conducted according to agreement between HUD
and HHS. The computer matching agreement for the planned match will
terminate either when the purpose of the computer matching program is
accomplished, or 18 months from the effective date. The agreement may
be renewed for one 12-month period, with the mutual agreement of all
involved parties, if the following conditions are met:
(1) Within three months of the expiration date, all Data
Integrity Boards (DIBs) review the agreement, find that the program
will be conducted without change, and find a continued favorable
examination of benefit/cost results; and (2) All parties certify
that the program has been conducted in compliance with the
agreement.
The agreement may be terminated, prior to accomplishment of the
computer matching purpose or 18 months from the date the agreement is
signed (whichever comes first), by the mutual agreement of all involved
parties within 30 days of written notice.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a; 88 Stat. 1896; 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).
Dated: July 17, 2013.
Harold E. Williams,
Acting Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-18795 Filed 8-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P
