Social Security Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On August 22, 2012,\1\ we announced in the Federal Register a schedule of standardized administrative fees we charge to the public. We charge these fees to recover our full costs when we provide information and related services for non-program purposes. We are announcing an update to the previously published schedule of standardized administrative fees.\2\

The Acting Commissioner of Social Security gives notice of the rescission of Social Security Ruling (SSR) 82-53.

In accordance with the Privacy Act, we are issuing public notice of our intent to establish a new system of records entitled, General Law Litigation Files (60-0272). This notice publishes details of the new system as set forth under the caption, SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

In accordance with the Privacy Act and our disclosure regulations, we are issuing public notice of our intent to publish a new routine use applicable to four of our system of records. The routine use will permit disclosures we intend to make to new entities to support the administration of our representative payee program. The system of records notices (SORN) listed below maintain information used in our representative payee program, in addition to a variety of SSA's core mission operations. This notice publishes details of the proposed updates as set forth below under the caption SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

We are revising our rules of conduct and standards of responsibility for representatives. We are also updating and clarifying the procedures we use when we bring charges against a representative for violating these rules and standards. These changes are necessary to better protect the integrity of our administrative process and to further clarify representatives' existing responsibilities in their conduct with us. The revisions should not be interpreted to suggest that any specific conduct was permissible under our rules prior to these changes; instead, we seek to ensure that our rules of conduct and standards of responsibility are clearer as a whole and directly address a broader range of inappropriate conduct.

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, a number of federal departments and agencies revised to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (often referred to as the ``Common Rule''), which each department and agency adopted into regulations in its part of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same changes in a final rule published on September 18, 2017. The revised Common Rule was scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of the same date. By an interim final rule issued on January 17, 2018 and published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2018, federal departments and agencies delayed the effective date and the general compliance date for the revised Common Rule for a 6-month period, until July 19, 2018. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published an interim final rule adopting the same regulatory changes on January 26, 2018. The revised Common Rule, including technical amendments made by the January 22, 2018 interim final rule, is referred to here as the ``2018 Requirements.'' On April 20, 2018, the federal departments and agencies listed here published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing and seeking comments as to whether the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements should be delayed for an additional 6-month period. The NPRM also proposed and sought comments on whether to allow regulated entities to implement certain burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements in specified circumstances during such continued delay period. Through this final rule, we are adopting the proposals described in the April 20, 2018 NPRM. This rule delays the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for an additional 6-month period, until January 21, 2019. As a result of this delay, regulated entities will be required, with an exception, to continue to comply with the requirements of the pre-2018 version of the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the ``pre-2018 Requirements'') until January 21, 2019. The one exception to this general rule is that institutions will be permitted (but not required) to implement, for certain research, three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements during the delay period (July 19, 2018, through January 20, 2019). Those three provisions are: The revised definition of ``research,'' which deems certain activities not to be research covered by the Common Rule; the elimination of the requirement for annual continuing review with respect to certain categories of research; and the elimination of the requirement that institutional review boards (IRBs) review grant applications or other funding proposals related to the research. Institutions taking advantage of the three-burden reducing provisions must comply with all other pre-2018 Requirements during the delay period. The three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements can only be implemented during the delay period with respect to studies initiated prior to January 21, 2019 that will transition to compliance with the revised Common Rule. Any study that implements these three burden-reducing provisions during the delay period must, beginning on January 21, 2019, comply with all of the 2018 Requirements for the balance of the study's duration.

In today's Federal Register, the Social Security Administration (SSA) separately published, notice of a new system of records, Social Security Administration Violence Evaluation and Reporting System (SSAvers). Because this system will contain investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes, this proposed rule will exempt those records from specific provisions of the Privacy Act.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a new matching program with the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). This matching agreement sets forth the terms, safeguards, and procedures under which RRB, as the source agency, will disclose RRB annuity payment data to SSA, the recipient agency. SSA will use the information to verify Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Special Veterans Benefits (SVB) eligibility and benefit payment amounts. SSA will also record the railroad annuity amounts RRB paid to SSI and SVB recipients in the Supplemental Security Income Record (SSR).

We are extending the expiration date of Endocrine Disorders body system in the Listing of Impairments (listings) in our regulations. We are making no other revisions to the body system in this final rule. This extension ensures that we will continue to have the criteria we need to evaluate impairments in the affected body system at step three of the sequential evaluation processes for initial claims and continuing disability reviews.

In accordance with 20 CFR 402.35(b)(1), the Acting Commissioner of Social Security gives notice of the rescission of Social Security Rulings (SSR): SSR 67-28; SSR 68-13; SSR 68-36; SSR 68- 37; SSR 68-52; SSR 68-78; SSR 70-23c; SSR 72-27; and SSR 74-27c.

In accordance with the Privacy Act, we are issuing public notice of our intent to establish a new system of records entitled, Anti-Fraud Enterprise Solution (AFES) (60-0388), hereinafter called the AFES Record System. The AFES Record System is an agency-wide and overarching system that includes the ability to detect, prevent, and mitigate fraud in SSA's programs. The AFES Record System will collect and maintain personally identifiable information (PII) to assist in identifying suspicious or potentially fraudulent activities performed by individuals across all the agency's programs and service delivery methods. This notice publishes details of the system as set forth under the caption, SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, federal departments and agencies made revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (hereafter the ``2018 Requirements''). The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same regulatory changes in a separate final rule published on September 18, 2017. The 2018 Requirements were scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of January 19, 2018 (with the exception of the revisions to the cooperative research provision). The departments and agencies listed in this document have also published an interim final rule delaying the effective date and general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for six months, to cover the time period of January 19, 2018 until July 19, 2018. As per the interim final rule, the effective date of the 2018 Requirements is now July 19, 2018. The departments and agencies listed in this document propose delaying the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for an additional six months, for the time period of July 19, 2018 until January 21, 2019. This proposed rule is intended to provide additional time to regulated entities for the preparations necessary to implement the 2018 Requirements. This proposed rule, if finalized, would require regulated entities to continue to comply with the requirements of the current Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (hereafter the ``pre-2018 Requirements'') until January 21, 2019. This proposal also takes comment on whether to permit institutions to implement, for certain research studies, the following provisions in the 2018 Requirements during the period from July 19, 2018, until January 21, 2019, that the general compliance date is delayed. Those three provisions, intended to reduce burdens on regulated entities, are the 2018 Requirements' definition of ``research,'' which deems certain activities not to be research, the allowance for no annual continuing review of certain categories of research, and the elimination of the requirement that institutional review boards (IRBs) review grant applications related to the research. The way that this option is proposed, regulated entities would be required to comply with all pre- 2018 Requirements during the period that the general compliance date is delayed, except for provisions substituted by the three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements. As described in section III, below, this flexibility is proposed only for studies for which an institution makes a choice to transition to comply with the 2018 Requirements, beginning on July 19, 2018. In order to clearly describe this proposed flexibility, including how it would impact institutions choosing to transition research to comply with the 2018 Requirements, this document proposes a redrafted transition provision.

We are extending the expiration dates of the following body systems in the Listing of Impairments (listings) in our regulations: Special Senses and Speech and Congenital Disorders That Affect Multiple Body Systems. We are making no other revisions to these body systems in this final rule. This extension ensures that we will continue to have the criteria we need to evaluate impairments in the affected body systems at step three of the sequential evaluation processes for initial claims and continuing disability reviews.

In accordance with section 743 of Division C of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010, we are publishing this notice to advise the public of the availability of the FY 2016 Service Contract inventory. This inventory provides information on FY 2016 service contract actions over $25,000. We organized the information by function to show how we distribute contracted resources throughout the agency. We developed the inventory in accordance with guidance issued on December 19, 2011 by the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP). OFPP's guidance is available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/ procurement/memo/service-contract-inventory-guidance.pdf. You can access the inventory and summary of the inventory on our homepage at the following link: https://www.socialsecurity.gov/sci.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a new matching program with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). This computer matching agreement sets forth the terms, conditions, and safeguards under which VA/VBA will provide SSA with compensation and pension payment data. This disclosure will provide SSA with information necessary to verify an individual's self-certification of eligibility for the Medicare Prescription Drug (Medicare Part D) subsidy (Extra Help). It will also enable SSA to identify individuals who may qualify for Extra Help as part of the agency's Medicare outreach efforts.

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, federal departments and agencies listed in this document made revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same regulatory changes in a separate final rule published on September 18, 2017. The revised policy, reflected in both final rules, is described here as the ``2018 Requirements.'' The 2018 Requirements are scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of January 19, 2018 (with the exception of the revisions to the cooperative research provision). This interim final rule delays the effective date and general compliance date of the 2018 Requirements to July 19, 2018. The federal departments and agencies listed in this document are in the process of developing a proposed rule to further delay implementation of the 2018 Requirements. The limited implementation delay accomplished by this interim final rule both provides additional time to regulated entities for the preparations necessary to implement the 2018 Requirements, and additional time for the departments and agencies listed in this document to seek input from interested stakeholders through a notice and comment rulemaking process that allows for public engagement on the proposal for a further implementation delay.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which provides means-tested payments to the elderly, blind, and disabled, including children. This request for information (RFI) seeks public input on strategies for improving the adult economic outcomes of youth ages 14 to 25 with disabilities receiving SSI. The input we receive will inform our deliberations about potential policy changes and the design of future demonstration projects for transition-age SSI recipients.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a new matching program with the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB).

We are extending the expiration dates of the following body systems in the Listing of Impairments (listings) in our regulations: Musculoskeletal System, Cardiovascular System, Digestive System, and Skin Disorders. We are making no other revisions to these body systems in this final rule. This extension ensures that we will continue to have the criteria we need to evaluate impairments in the affected body systems at step three of the sequential evaluation processes for initial claims and continuing disability reviews.

We intend to consolidate the current Retirement Research Consortium (RRC) and Disability Research Consortium (DRC) into a single program with a scope equivalent to the two currently existing programs. This single program will address issues related to Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI).