[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69988-69990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-28856]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Privacy Act of 1974; Computer Matching Program
AGENCY: Department of Education.
[[Page 69989]]
ACTION: Notice--Computer matching between the Department of Education
and the Department of Justice.
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SUMMARY: Section 421(a)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
862(a)(1)) includes provisions regarding the judicial denial of Federal
benefits. Section 421 of the Controlled Substances Act, which was
originally enacted as section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988,
and which was amended and redesignated as section 421 of the Controlled
Substances Act by section 1002(d) of the Crime Control Act of 1990,
Public Law 101-647 (hereinafter referred to as ``section 5301''),
authorizes Federal and State judges to deny certain Federal benefits
(including student financial assistance under Title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA)) to individuals convicted of
drug trafficking or possession of a controlled substance.
In order to ensure that Title IV, HEA student financial assistance
is not awarded to individuals subject to denial of benefits under court
orders issued pursuant to section 5301, the Department of Justice and
the Department of Education implemented a computer matching program.
The 18-month computer matching agreement (CMA) was recertified for an
additional 12 months on December 19, 2009. The 12-month recertification
of the CMA will automatically expire on December 17, 2010.
The Department of Education must continue to obtain from the
Department of Justice identifying information regarding individuals who
are the subject of section 5301 denial of benefits court orders for the
purpose of ensuring that Title IV, HEA student financial assistance is
not awarded to individuals subject to denial of benefits under court
orders issued pursuant to the Denial of Federal Benefits Program. The
purpose of this notice is to announce the continued operation of the
computer matching program and to provide certain required information
concerning the computer matching program.
In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as
amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988
(Pub. L. 100-503) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines
on the Conduct of Matching Programs (54 FR 25818, June 19, 1989), and
OMB Circular A-130, the following information is provided:
1. Names of Participating Agencies.
The Department of Education (ED) (recipient agency) and the
Department of Justice (DOJ) (source agency).
2. Purpose of the Match.
The purpose of this matching program is to ensure that the
requirements of section 421 of the Controlled Substances Act
(originally enacted as section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988,
Pub. L. 100-690, 21 U.S.C. 853a, which was amended and redesignated as
section 421 of the Controlled Substances Act by section 1002(d) of the
Crime Control Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-647) (hereinafter referred to as
``section 5301''), are met.
DOJ is the lead contact agency for information related to section
5301 violations and, as such, provides this data to ED. ED (recipient
agency) seeks access to the information contained in the DOJ (source
agency) Denial of Federal Benefits Clearinghouse System (DEBARS)
database that is authorized under section 5301 for the purpose of
ensuring that Title IV, HEA student financial assistance is not awarded
to individuals subject to denial of benefits under court orders issued
pursuant to the Denial of Federal Benefits Program.
3. Authority for Conducting the Matching Program.
Under section 5301, ED must deny Federal benefits to any individual
upon whom a Federal or State court order has imposed a penalty denying
eligibility for those benefits. Student financial assistance under
Title IV of the HEA is a Federal benefit under section 5301, and ED
must, in order to meet its obligations under the HEA, have access to
information about individuals who have been declared ineligible under
section 5301.
While DOJ provides information about section 5301 individuals who
are ineligible for Federal benefits to the General Services
Administration (GSA) for inclusion in GSA's List of Parties Excluded
from Federal Procurements and Nonprocurement Programs, DOJ and ED have
determined that matching against the DOJ database is more efficient and
effective than access to the GSA List. The DOJ database has specific
information about the Title IV, HEA programs for which individuals are
ineligible, as well as the expiration of the debarment period, making
the DOJ database more complete than the GSA List. Both of these
elements are essential for a successful match.
4. Categories of Records and Individuals Covered by the Match.
ED will submit, for verification, records from its Central
Processing System files (Federal Student Aid Application File (18-11-
01)), the Social Security number (SSN), and other identifying
information for each applicant for Title IV, HEA student financial
assistance. ED will use the SSN, date of birth, and the first two
letters of an applicant's last name for the match.
The DOJ DEBARS system contains the names, SSNs, dates of birth, and
other identifying information regarding individuals convicted of
Federal or State offenses involving drug trafficking or possession of a
controlled substance who have been denied Federal benefits by Federal
or State courts. This system of records also contains information
concerning the specific program or programs for which benefits have
been denied, as well as the duration of the period of ineligibility.
DOJ will make available for the matching program the records of only
those individuals who have been denied Federal benefits under one or
more of the Title IV, HEA programs.
5. Effective Dates of the Matching Program.
The matching program will be effective on the last of the following
dates: (1) December 18, 2010, the day after the expiration of the
current CMA; (2) thirty (30) days after notice of the matching program
has been published in the Federal Register; or (3) forty (40) days
after a report concerning the matching program has been transmitted to
OMB and transmitted to the Congress along with a copy of this
agreement, unless OMB waives 10 days of this 40-day period for
compelling reasons shown, in which case, 30 days after transmission of
the report to OMB and Congress.
The matching program will continue for 18 months after the
effective date of the CMA and may be extended for an additional 12
months thereafter, if the conditions specified in 5 U.S.C.
552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.
6. Address for Receipt of Public Comments or Inquiries.
Leroy Everett, Management and Program Analyst, U.S. Department of
Education, Federal Student Aid, Union Center Plaza, 830 First Street,
NE., Washington, DC 20202-5454. Telephone: (202) 377-3265. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an
accessible format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) by contacting the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph.
Electronic Access to This Document
You can view this document, as well as all other documents of this
Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable
Document Format (PDF) on the Internet
[[Page 69990]]
at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a; 21 U.S.C. 862(a)(1).
Dated: November 10, 2010.
James F. Manning,
Chief of Staff, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2010-28856 Filed 11-15-10; 8:45 am]
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