[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 155 (Thursday, August 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49013-49015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19914]
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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: [email protected].
(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: [email protected].
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 12, 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. Benefit Offset National Demonstration--0960-NEW. SSA is
undertaking the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND), a
demonstration and evaluation of policy changes and services in the
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, to obtain strong
evidence about the effectiveness of potential solutions that would
improve the historically very low rate of return to work among SSDI
beneficiaries. Under current law, Social Security beneficiaries lose
their SSDI benefit if they have earnings and/or work activity above the
threshold of Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) after completing the
Trial Work Period and two-month grace period. The benefit-offset
component of this demonstration will reduce benefits by $1 for every $2
in earnings above the BOND threshold, gradually reducing benefits as
earnings increase.
The experimental design for BOND will test a benefit offset alone
and in conjunction with enhanced work incentives counseling. The
central research questions include:
What is the effect of the benefit offset alone on
employment and other outcomes?
What is the effect of the benefit offset in combination
with enhanced work incentives counseling on employment and other
outcomes?
The proposed public survey data collections will have four
components: An impact study, a cost-benefit analysis, a participation
analysis, and a process study. The data collections are a primary
source for data to measure the effects of a more generous benefit
offset and the provision of enhanced work incentives counseling on SSDI
beneficiaries' work efforts and earnings. Ultimately, these data will
provide information for researchers, policy analysts, policy makers and
the United States Congress on a wide range of program areas. The
effects of BOND on the well-being of SSDI beneficiaries could manifest
in many dimensions and could be relevant to an array of other public
programs. This project offers the first opportunity to obtain reliable
measures of these effects based on a nationally representative sample.
The long-term indirect benefits of this research are likely to be
substantial. Respondents are SSDI beneficiaries, and concurrent SSDI
and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients whom we randomly
assign to the study (Stage 1), and SSDI beneficiaries who agree to
participate in the study (Stage 2).
Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.
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Average burden
Survey Number of Frequency of Number of per response Total annual
respondents response responses (minutes) burden (hours)
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Baseline Survey........................................... 12,600 1 12,600 41 8,610
Interim Survey............................................ 10,080 1 10,080 29 4,872
Stage 1 36-month Survey................................... 8,000 1 8,000 49 6,533
Stage 2 36-month Survey................................... 10,080 1 10,080 60 10,080
Key Informant Interviews.................................. 100 7 700 60 700
Stage 2 Participant Focus Groups.......................... 600 1 600 90 900
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Totals................................................ 41,460 .............. 42,060 .............. 31,695
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[[Page 49014]]
2. Private Printing and Modification of Prescribed Application and
Other Forms--20 CFR 422.527--0960-0663. 20 CFR 422.527 of the Code of
Federal Regulations requires a person, institution, or organization
(third-party entities) to obtain approval from SSA prior to
reproducing, duplicating, or privately printing any application or
other form established by the agency. SSA collects the information to
ensure requests comply with the law and regulations. We also use the
information to process requests from third-party entities who want to
reproduce, duplicate, or privately print any SSA application or other
form owned by SSA. To obtain SSA's approval, entities must make their
requests in writing, using their company letterhead, providing the
required information set forth in the regulation. SSA employees review
the requests and provide approval via e-mail or mail to the third-party
entities. The respondents are third-party entities who submit a request
to SSA to reproduce, duplicate, or privately print an SSA-owned form.
Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information
collection.
Number of Respondents: 10.
Frequency of Response: 15.
Number of Responses: 150.
Average Burden per Response: 8 minutes.
Estimated Annual Burden: 20 hours.
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 13, 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 email address.
1. Certificate of Coverage Request--20 CFR 404.1913--0960-0554. The
United States has agreements with 24 foreign countries to eliminate
double Social Security coverage and taxation where, except for the
provisions of the agreement, a worker would be subject to coverage and
taxes in both countries. These agreements contain rules for determining
the country under whose laws the worker's period of employment is
covered, and to which country the worker will pay taxes. The agreements
further dictate that, upon the request of the worker or employer, the
country under whose system the period of work is covered will issue a
certificate of coverage. The certificate serves as proof of exemption
from coverage and taxation under the system of the other country. The
information we collect assists us in determining a worker's coverage
and in issuing a U.S. certificate of coverage as appropriate.
Respondents are workers and employers wishing to establish exemption
from foreign Social Security taxes.
Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information
collection.
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Average
Number of Frequency of burden per Total annual
Type of respondent respondents response response burden (hours)
(minutes)
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Individuals..................................... 30,000 1 30 15,000
Private Sector.................................. 20,000 1 30 10,000
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Totals...................................... 50,000 .............. .............. 25,000
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2. Request to Decision Review Board To Vacate the Administrative
Law Judge Dismissal of Hearing--20 CFR 405.427--0960-0755. When an
administrative law judge (ALJ) dismisses a hearing for a claim for
Title II or Title XVI disability payments, the claimant may request to
vacate or stop this decision by completing and submitting Form SSA-525
to the SSA Decision Review Board (Board). The Board uses this
information to: (1) Establish the continued involvement of the
requestor in the claim; (2) consider the requestor's arguments for
vacating the dismissal; and (3) vacate or decline to vacate the ALJ's
dismissal order. The respondents are SSDI or SSI claimants who are
requesting the Board vacate their dismissal order.
Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information
collection.
Number of Respondents: 30,000.
Frequency of Response: 1.
Average Burden per Response: 10 minutes.
Estimated Annual Burden: 5,000 hours.
3. Request for Accommodation in Communication Method--0960-0777. In
American Council of the Blind, et al. v. Michael Astrue and Social
Security Administration, class plaintiffs representing Social Security
applicants, beneficiaries, recipients, and representative payees who
are blind or visually impaired challenged the adequacy of the
communication methods SSA uses in its notices and other communications.
Prior to the court's order of October 20, 2009 in American Council of
the Blind, SSA offered three modes of communications for blind and
visually impaired Social Security recipients: (1) A standard print
notice by first-class mail; (2) a standard print notice by first-class
mail with a follow-up telephone call; and (3) certified mail. In
American Council of the Blind, the court required SSA to offer two
additional modes of communication to blind or visually impaired
applicants, beneficiaries, recipients, and representative payees: (4)
Braille; and (5) Microsoft Word files (on data compact discs).
In American Council of the Blind, the court further ordered SSA to
implement Section 504 through 45 CFR 85.51 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, meaning SSA must ``take appropriate steps to ensure
effective communication with applicants, participants, personnel of
other Federal entities, and members of the public.'' To meet the
court's mandates, SSA uses Form SSA-9000, Request for Accommodation in
Communication Method, to gather information from blind or visually
impaired individuals about why their particular accommodation (other
than the five accommodations already offered by the agency) will allow
SSA to communicate effectively with them. This form asks respondents to
describe the type of accommodation they want, to disclose the condition
they have that necessitates the need for a different type of
accommodation, and to explain why none of the five methods described
above are sufficient for their needs. The respondents are Social
Security applicants, beneficiaries, recipients, and representative
payees who are blind or visually impaired and are asking SSA to send
notices and other communications in an alternative method besides the
five modalities we describe in this notice.
Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information
collection.
[[Page 49015]]
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Number of Frequency of Response time
Method of information collection respondents response (minutes) Burden (hours)
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Personal Interview (over the phone or in-person) 2,250 1 10 375
Form (taken or mailed from field office)........ 250 1 15 63
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Total....................................... 2,500 .............. .............. 438
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Dated: August 6, 2010.
Faye Lipsky,
Reports Clearance Officer, Center for Reports Clearance, Social
Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-19914 Filed 8-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P