Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program, 13355-13356 [2021-04710]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 43 / Monday, March 8, 2021 / Notices jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES • Program Performance Measure 4: The cost efficiency of the Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities program includes the percentage of milestones achieved in the current annual performance report period and the percentage of funds spent during the current fiscal year. • Long-term Program Performance Measure: The percentage of States receiving special education technical assistance and dissemination services regarding scientifically or evidencebased practices for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities that successfully promote the implementation of those practices in school districts and service agencies. The measures apply to projects funded under this competition, and grantees are required to submit data on these measures as directed by OSEP. Grantees will be required to report information on their project’s performance in annual and final performance reports to the Department (34 CFR 75.590). The Department will also closely monitor the extent to which the products and services provided by the Center meet needs identified by stakeholders and may require the Center to report on such alignment in their annual and final performance reports. 6. Continuation Awards: In making a continuation award under 34 CFR 75.253, the Secretary considers, among other things: Whether a grantee has made substantial progress in achieving the goals and objectives of the project; whether the grantee has expended funds in a manner that is consistent with its approved application and budget; and, if the Secretary has established performance measurement requirements, whether the grantee has made substantial progress in achieving the performance targets in the grantee’s approved application. In making a continuation award, the Secretary also considers whether the grantee is operating in compliance with the assurances in its approved application, including those applicable to Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance from the Department (34 CFR 100.4, 104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23). VII. Other Information Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities can obtain this document and a copy of the application package in an accessible VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:05 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 253001 format. The Department will provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible format. Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this document, as well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site. You may also access documents of the Department published in the Federal Register by using the article search feature at www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published by the Department. David Cantrell, Deputy Director, Office of Special Education Programs, Delegated the authority to perform the functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. [FR Doc. 2021–04665 Filed 3–5–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4000–01–P DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [Docket ID ED–2020–FSA–0145] Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program Federal Student Aid, Department of Education. ACTION: Notice of a New Matching Program. AGENCY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 and the Computer Matching and Privacy Protections Amendments of 1990 (Privacy Act), and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance on the conduct of matching programs, notice is hereby given of the re-establishment of the matching program between the Department of Education (ED or Department) (recipient agency) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) (source agency) to assist the Department in its obligation to ensure that applicants for student financial assistance under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), satisfy eligibility requirements. SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 13355 The period of this matching program is estimated to cover the 18month period from April 11, 2021 through October 10, 2022. However, the computer matching agreement (CMA) will become applicable at the later of the following two dates: April 11, 2021, or 30 days after the publication of this notice, on March 8, 2021, unless comments have been received from interested members of the public requiring modification and republication of the notice. The matching program will continue for 18 months after the applicable date and may be extended for up to an additional 12 months, if the respective agency Data Integrity Boards (DIBs) determine that the conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments. • Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to submit your comments electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under the ‘‘help’’ tab. • Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you mail or deliver your comments about this new matching program, address them to: Gerard Duffey, Management and Program Analyst, Wanamaker Building, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, 100 Penn Square East, Suite 509.B10, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Telephone: (215) 656–3249. Privacy Note: The Department’s policy is to make all comments received from members of the public available for public viewing in their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly available. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerard Duffey, Management and Program Analyst, Wanamaker Building, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, 100 Penn Square East, Suite 509.B10, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Telephone: (215) 656–3249. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Privacy Act; OMB DATES: E:\FR\FM\08MRN1.SGM 08MRN1 13356 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 43 / Monday, March 8, 2021 / Notices Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of Public Law 100–503, the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, published in the Federal Register on June 19, 1989 (54 FR 25818); and OMB Circular No. A– 108, notice is hereby provided of the reestablishment of the matching program between SSA and ED to assist ED in the verification of Social Security numbers (SSNs) and confirmation of citizenship status as recorded in SSA records in order to verify the eligibility of applicants for student financial assistance under title IV of the HEA. Participating Agencies ED and SSA. jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Purpose(s) The purpose of this matching program between ED and SSA is to assist the Secretary of Education with verification of immigration status and SSNs under 20 U.S.C. 1091(g) and (p). SSA will verify the issuance of an SSN and a date of death (if applicable) to students and the parent(s) of dependent students, and will confirm the citizenship status of those students applying for financial assistance programs authorized under title IV of the HEA. Verification of this information by SSA will help ED satisfy its obligation to ensure that individuals applying for financial assistance meet eligibility requirements of the HEA. Verification by this matching program effectuates the purpose of the HEA because it provides an efficient and comprehensive method of verifying the accuracy of each individual’s SSN, date of death if applicable, and claim to a citizenship status that permits that individual to qualify for title IV, HEA assistance. 19:05 Mar 05, 2021 ED’s systems of records involved in the matching program maintain information on individuals who apply for Federal student financial assistance through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and on individuals who apply to receive Person Authentication Service (PAS) Credentials, a user ID, and a password to electronically access their FAFSA record. SSA’s system of records involved in the matching program maintains records about each individual who has applied for, and obtained, an SSN. Categories of Records Authority for Conducting the Matching Program ED is authorized to participate in the matching program under sections 428B(f) (20 U.S.C. 1078–2(f)), 483(a)(12) (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)(12)), 484(g) (20 U.S.C. 1091(g)), and 484(p) (20 U.S.C. 1091(p)) of the HEA. SSA is authorized to participate in the matching program under section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1306)) and the regulations promulgated pursuant to that section (20 CFR part 401). Section 7213 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 provides SSA authority to add a death indicator to verification routines that SSA determines to be appropriate. The legal authority for ED and SSA to disclose information under the matching program also includes subsection (b)(3) of the Privacy Act ((5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)). VerDate Sep<11>2014 Categories of Individuals Jkt 253001 ED’s systems of records involved in the matching program contain (1) the information to determine an applicant’s eligibility for Federal student financial assistance, and (2) the applicant’s information to receive PAS Credentials, a user ID, and a password. The specific data elements that ED will transmit to SSA are: students’ and parent(s) of dependent students’ SSN, first name, last name, and date of birth (DOB). SSA’s system of records involved in the matching program maintains information required to apply for, and obtain, an SSN. The specific data elements that SSA will send back to ED include: SSN, first name, last name, DOB, and an SSA verification code on each record to indicate the match results. The verification codes are: 1 = No match on SSN, 3 = SSN match, name match, no match on DOB, 5 = SSN match, no match on name, DOB not checked, 6 = SSN not verified, Blank = SSN match, name match, DOB match. SSA will also send a date of death if one is present on SSA’s database for the record. Records returned from SSA also will include a citizenship status code as follows: A = U.S. citizen, B = legal alien, eligible to work, C = legal alien, not eligible to work, D = other, E = alien, student restricted, F = conditionally legalized alien, * = foreign born, Blank = domestic born (U.S. citizen), N = unable to verify citizenship due to no match on name, DOB, or SSN. System(s) of Records There are two ED systems of records involved in the disclosure of information from ED to SSA in this matching program. The first is entitled, ‘‘Federal Student Aid Application File’’ (18–11–01), last published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2019 (84 FR 57856). (See https:// www2.ed.gov/notices/ed-pia.html#fsa) (Note: the ED Central Processing System (CPS) is the ED information system that PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 9990 processes data from the Federal Student Aid Application File). The second is entitled, ‘‘Person Authentication Service (PAS)’’ (18–11–12) published in the Federal Register on March 20, 2015 (80 FR 14981). In addition, ED will maintain the information that it receives back from SSA in the foregoing ED systems of records and in the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system of records (18–11–02), which was last published in the Federal Register on August 16, 2019 (84 FR 41979). (See https:// www.federalregister.gov/documents/ 2019/08/16/2019-17615/privacy-act-of1974-system-of-records.) SSA’s system of records involved in this matching program is entitled, ‘‘Master Files of Social Security Number (SSN) Holders and SSN Applications’’ (Enumeration System) 60–0058, last published in the Federal Register on December 29, 2010 (75 FR 82121), July 5, 2013 (78 FR 40542), February 13, 2014 (79 FR 8780), July 3, 2018 (83 FR 31250), and November 1, 2018 (83 FR 54969). Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, or audiotape) by contacting the contact person listed in the preceding paragraph. Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this document, as well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site. You may also access documents of the Department published in the Federal Register by using the article search feature at www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published by the Department. Mark Brown, Chief Operating Officer Federal Student Aid. [FR Doc. 2021–04710 Filed 3–5–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4000–01–P E:\FR\FM\08MRN1.SGM 08MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 43 (Monday, March 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13355-13356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04710]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2020-FSA-0145]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a New Matching Program.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 and the Computer 
Matching and Privacy Protections Amendments of 1990 (Privacy Act), and 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance on the conduct of 
matching programs, notice is hereby given of the re-establishment of 
the matching program between the Department of Education (ED or 
Department) (recipient agency) and the Social Security Administration 
(SSA) (source agency) to assist the Department in its obligation to 
ensure that applicants for student financial assistance under title IV 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), satisfy 
eligibility requirements.

DATES: The period of this matching program is estimated to cover the 
18-month period from April 11, 2021 through October 10, 2022. However, 
the computer matching agreement (CMA) will become applicable at the 
later of the following two dates: April 11, 2021, or 30 days after the 
publication of this notice, on March 8, 2021, unless comments have been 
received from interested members of the public requiring modification 
and republication of the notice. The matching program will continue for 
18 months after the applicable date and may be extended for up to an 
additional 12 months, if the respective agency Data Integrity Boards 
(DIBs) determine that the conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 
552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after 
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, 
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the 
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under the ``help'' tab.
     Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments about this new matching program, address 
them to: Gerard Duffey, Management and Program Analyst, Wanamaker 
Building, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, 100 Penn 
Square East, Suite 509.B10, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Telephone: (215) 
656-3249.
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerard Duffey, Management and Program 
Analyst, Wanamaker Building, U.S. Department of Education, Federal 
Student Aid, 100 Penn Square East, Suite 509.B10, Philadelphia, PA 
19107. Telephone: (215) 656-3249.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Privacy Act; OMB

[[Page 13356]]

Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of Public Law 100-503, the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, published in the 
Federal Register on June 19, 1989 (54 FR 25818); and OMB Circular No. 
A-108, notice is hereby provided of the re-establishment of the 
matching program between SSA and ED to assist ED in the verification of 
Social Security numbers (SSNs) and confirmation of citizenship status 
as recorded in SSA records in order to verify the eligibility of 
applicants for student financial assistance under title IV of the HEA.

Participating Agencies

    ED and SSA.

Authority for Conducting the Matching Program

    ED is authorized to participate in the matching program under 
sections 428B(f) (20 U.S.C. 1078-2(f)), 483(a)(12) (20 U.S.C. 
1090(a)(12)), 484(g) (20 U.S.C. 1091(g)), and 484(p) (20 U.S.C. 
1091(p)) of the HEA.
    SSA is authorized to participate in the matching program under 
section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1306)) and the 
regulations promulgated pursuant to that section (20 CFR part 401). 
Section 7213 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 
2004 provides SSA authority to add a death indicator to verification 
routines that SSA determines to be appropriate.
    The legal authority for ED and SSA to disclose information under 
the matching program also includes subsection (b)(3) of the Privacy Act 
((5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)).

Purpose(s)

    The purpose of this matching program between ED and SSA is to 
assist the Secretary of Education with verification of immigration 
status and SSNs under 20 U.S.C. 1091(g) and (p). SSA will verify the 
issuance of an SSN and a date of death (if applicable) to students and 
the parent(s) of dependent students, and will confirm the citizenship 
status of those students applying for financial assistance programs 
authorized under title IV of the HEA. Verification of this information 
by SSA will help ED satisfy its obligation to ensure that individuals 
applying for financial assistance meet eligibility requirements of the 
HEA.
    Verification by this matching program effectuates the purpose of 
the HEA because it provides an efficient and comprehensive method of 
verifying the accuracy of each individual's SSN, date of death if 
applicable, and claim to a citizenship status that permits that 
individual to qualify for title IV, HEA assistance.

Categories of Individuals

    ED's systems of records involved in the matching program maintain 
information on individuals who apply for Federal student financial 
assistance through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 
and on individuals who apply to receive Person Authentication Service 
(PAS) Credentials, a user ID, and a password to electronically access 
their FAFSA record.
    SSA's system of records involved in the matching program maintains 
records about each individual who has applied for, and obtained, an 
SSN.

Categories of Records

    ED's systems of records involved in the matching program contain 
(1) the information to determine an applicant's eligibility for Federal 
student financial assistance, and (2) the applicant's information to 
receive PAS Credentials, a user ID, and a password. The specific data 
elements that ED will transmit to SSA are: students' and parent(s) of 
dependent students' SSN, first name, last name, and date of birth 
(DOB).
    SSA's system of records involved in the matching program maintains 
information required to apply for, and obtain, an SSN. The specific 
data elements that SSA will send back to ED include: SSN, first name, 
last name, DOB, and an SSA verification code on each record to indicate 
the match results. The verification codes are: 1 = No match on SSN, 3 = 
SSN match, name match, no match on DOB, 5 = SSN match, no match on 
name, DOB not checked, 6 = SSN not verified, Blank = SSN match, name 
match, DOB match. SSA will also send a date of death if one is present 
on SSA's database for the record. Records returned from SSA also will 
include a citizenship status code as follows: A = U.S. citizen, B = 
legal alien, eligible to work, C = legal alien, not eligible to work, D 
= other, E = alien, student restricted, F = conditionally legalized 
alien, * = foreign born, Blank = domestic born (U.S. citizen), N = 
unable to verify citizenship due to no match on name, DOB, or SSN.

System(s) of Records

    There are two ED systems of records involved in the disclosure of 
information from ED to SSA in this matching program. The first is 
entitled, ``Federal Student Aid Application File'' (18-11-01), last 
published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2019 (84 FR 57856). 
(See https://www2.ed.gov/notices/ed-pia.html#fsa) (Note: the ED Central 
Processing System (CPS) is the ED information system that processes 
data from the Federal Student Aid Application File). The second is 
entitled, ``Person Authentication Service (PAS)'' (18-11-12) published 
in the Federal Register on March 20, 2015 (80 FR 14981). In addition, 
ED will maintain the information that it receives back from SSA in the 
foregoing ED systems of records and in the Common Origination and 
Disbursement (COD) system of records (18-11-02), which was last 
published in the Federal Register on August 16, 2019 (84 FR 41979). 
(See https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/08/16/2019-17615/privacy-act-of-1974-system-of-records.)
    SSA's system of records involved in this matching program is 
entitled, ``Master Files of Social Security Number (SSN) Holders and 
SSN Applications'' (Enumeration System) 60-0058, last published in the 
Federal Register on December 29, 2010 (75 FR 82121), July 5, 2013 (78 
FR 40542), February 13, 2014 (79 FR 8780), July 3, 2018 (83 FR 31250), 
and November 1, 2018 (83 FR 54969).
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, or 
audiotape) by contacting the contact person listed in the preceding 
paragraph.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this 
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published 
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

Mark Brown,
Chief Operating Officer Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2021-04710 Filed 3-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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