[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1099-1101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00046]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2020-FSA-0151]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: This provides notice of the re-establishment of the matching 
program between the U.S. Department of Education (Department) and the 
Social Security Administration (SSA), which sets forth the terms, 
safeguards, and procedures under which the SSA will disclose to the 
Department data related to the Medical Improvement Not Expected (MINE) 
disability data of beneficiaries and recipients under title II and 
title XVI of the Social Security Act from the SSA system of records 
entitled the Disability Control File (DCF) and the Master Beneficiary 
Record (MBR). This matching program will enable the Department to 
contact the individuals who have a balance on a loan under title IV of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), have a title IV 
loan written off due to default, or have an outstanding service 
obligation under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and 
Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program to inform those borrowers and 
TEACH Grant recipients of the total and permanent disability (TPD) 
process. Once informed, those borrowers who

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wish to apply for a discharge may do so more efficiently and 
effectively.

DATES: Submit your comments on the proposed re-establishment of the 
matching program on or before February 8, 2021.
    The matching program will go into effect 30 days after the 
publication of this notice, on January 7, 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 effective date and may be renewed for 
up to an additional 12 months if, within 3 months prior to the 
expiration of the 18 months, the respective Data Integrity Boards of 
the Department and SSA 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.
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments about the matching program, address them 
to the Brenda Vigna, Division Chief, Federal Student Aid, U.S. 
Department of Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-
5320.
    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: Ron Bennett, Group Director Program 
Technical & Business Support Group, Federal Student Aid, U.S. 
Department of Education, 830 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20202-
5320.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll 
free, at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We provide this notice in accordance with 
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) (5 U.S.C. 552a); Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) Final Guidance Interpreting the 
Provisions of Public Law 100-503, the Computer Matching and Privacy 
Protection Act of 1988, 54 FR 25818 (June 19, 1989); and OMB Circular 
No. A-108.
    Participating Agencies: The U.S. Department of Education and the 
Social Security Administration.
    Authority for Conducting the Matching Program: The Department's 
legal authority to enter into the matching program and to disclose 
information thereunder is sections 420N(c), 437(a)(1), 455(a)(1), and 
464(c)(1)(F)(ii & iii) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2(c), 1087(a)(1), 
1087e(a)(1)), and 1087dd((c)(1)(F)(ii & iii), the regulations 
promulgated pursuant to those sections (34 CFR 674.61(b), 682.402(c), 
685.213, and 686.42(b)), and subsection (b)(3) of the Privacy Act (5 
U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)).
    SSA's legal authority to disclose information as part of this 
matching program is section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1306), the regulations promulgated pursuant to that section (20 CFR 
part 401), and subsection (b)(3) of the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 
552a(b)(3)).
    Purpose(S): This matching program will enable the Department to 
contact the individuals who have a balance on a loan under title IV of 
the HEA, have a title IV loan written off due to default, or have an 
outstanding service obligation under the TEACH Grant Program to inform 
those borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients of the TPD process. Once 
informed, those borrowers who wish to apply for a discharge may do so 
more efficiently and effectively.
    Categories of Individuals: The individuals whose records are used 
in the matching program are described as follows:
    The Department will disclose to SSA from the system of records 
entitled ``National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-06) 
individuals who owe a balance on one or more title IV, HEA loans, who 
have a title IV, HEA loan written off due to default, or who have an 
outstanding service obligation under the TEACH Grant Program.
    Categories of Records: The records used in the matching program are 
described as follows:
    The Department will disclose to SSA from the system of records 
entitled ``National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-06) the 
name, date of birth (DOB), and Social Security number (SSN) of the 
individuals identified in the preceeding section. These individuals 
will be matched with SSA data recorded in the DCF, which originate from 
the Supplemental Security Income Record and Special Veterans Benefits 
(SSR/SVB), 60-0103, and the MBR, SSA/ORSIS 60-0090, in order to provide 
ED with Medical Improvement Not Expected disability data.
    System(s) of Records: The Department will disclose records to SSA 
from its system of records identified as ``National Student Loan Data 
System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-06), as last published in the Federal Register 
in full on September 9, 2019 (84 FR 47265).
    SSA will disclose records back to the Department from its systems 
of records identified as the ``Disability Control File (DCF)'' and the 
``Master Beneficiary Record (MBR).'' The DCF, which originates from the 
SSR/SVB, 60-0103, was last fully published in the Federal Register at 
71 FR 1830 on January 11, 2006, and updated on December 10, 2007 (72 FR 
69723), July 3, 2018 (83 FR 31250-31251), and November 1, 2018 (83 FR 
54969). The MBR, 60-0090, was last fully published in the Federal 
Register at 71 FR 1826 on January 11, 2006, and updated on December 10, 
2007 (72 FR 69723), July 5, 2013 (78 FR 40542), July 3, 2018 (83 FR 
31250-31251), and November 1, 2018 (83 FR 54969).
    Subsection (b)(3) of the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)) 
authorizes a Federal agency to disclose a record about an individual 
that is maintained in a system of records, without the individual's 
prior written consent, when the disclosure is pursuant to a routine use 
published in a System of Records Notice (SORN) as required by 5 U.S.C. 
552a(e)(4)(D) and is compatible with the purposes for which the records 
were collected. SSA and ED determined that their systems of records 
contain appropriate routine use disclosure authority and that the use 
is compatible with the purpose for which the information was collected.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (such as, braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to Lisa Tessitore, Program 
Operations Specialist, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of 
Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320. Telephone: 
(202) 377-3249.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal

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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. 2021-00046 Filed 1-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P