[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.

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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originally enacted as section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, 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]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P