Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 34 / Monday, February 22, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 7551 

Compliance and Field Operations, 

Consumer Product Safety Commission, 

4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 

20814; telephone (301) 504–7520; 

mschoem@cpsc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In FR Doc. 

E9–30485 appearing on page 68668 in 

the Federal Register of Tuesday, 

December 29, 2009, there was a 

discrepancy between the text describing 

the registration form and the figures 

illustrating the form. The regulatory text 

reversed the location of information on 

the bottom of the form. To address this, 

the following corrections are made: 

§ 1130.6 [Corrected] 

1. On page 68677, in the first and 

second columns, in § 1130.6, in 

paragraph (b)(3), ‘‘The bottom front 

panel shall have blocks for the 

consumer to provide his/her contact 

information as required in § 1130.7(c).’’ 

is corrected to read ‘‘The bottom back 

panel of the form shall have blocks for 

the consumer to provide his/her contact 

information as required in § 1130.7(c).’’ 

2. On page 68677, in the second 

column, in § 1130.6, in paragraph (b)(3), 

‘‘The back of the bottom portion of the 

form shall be pre-addressed and 

postage-paid with the manufacturer’s 

name and mailing address where 

registration information is to be 

collected.’’ is corrected to read ‘‘The 

front of the bottom portion of the form 

shall be pre-addressed and postage-paid 

with the manufacturer’s name and 

mailing address where registration 

information is to be collected.’’ 

Dated: February 16, 2010. 

Todd Stevenson, 

Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2010–3297 Filed 2–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–P 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

20 CFR Parts 404 and 416 

[Docket No. SSA–2009–0067] 

RIN 0960–AH08 

Transfer of Accumulated Benefit 

Payments 

AGENCY: Social Security Administration 

(SSA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are revising our 

regulations to allow a representative 

payee who will no longer be serving in 

that capacity to transfer accumulated 

benefit payments and interest directly to 

a beneficiary if we determine that it 

would be in the best interest of the 

beneficiary. This change will give us 

more flexibility in deciding how 

conserved funds should be handled in 

these circumstances. The change will 

also reduce or eliminate delays in the 

delivery of conserved funds to some 

beneficiaries. 

DATES: This final rule will be effective 

March 24, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Richard Bresnick, Office of Regulations, 

Social Security Administration, 6401 

Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 

21235–6401, (410) 965–1758. For 

information on eligibility or filing for 

benefits, call our national toll-free 

number, 1–800–772–1213 or TTY 

1–800–325–0778, or visit our Internet 

site, Social Security Online, at http:// 

www.socialsecurity.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Version 

The electronic file of this document is 

available on the date of publication in 

the Federal Register at http:// 

www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. 

Background 

Our representative payment 

regulations are in Subpart U of part 404 

and subpart F of part 416. In certain 

cases, we will appoint a representative 

payee to receive benefit payments on 

behalf of a beneficiary. Generally, we 

appoint a representative payee if we 

have determined that the beneficiary is 

not able to manage his or her own 

benefits or direct the management of 

benefit payments in his or her interest. 

The payee must use the payments only 

for the beneficiary’s use and benefit. 

The payee must conserve or invest for 

the beneficiary any funds remaining 

after paying for the beneficiary’s current 

needs. 

If a payee is no longer going to serve 

in that capacity, our regulations require 

the payee to return conserved funds to 

us or transfer them to a successor payee, 

as we will specify. The payee is not 

permitted to transfer these conserved 

funds to a beneficiary directly. 20 CFR 

404.2060 and 416.660. The payee’s 

inability to transfer funds directly to a 

beneficiary can cause difficulty for both 

the beneficiary and the representative 

payee. When we determine that a payee 

is no longer needed because the 

beneficiary has become capable of 

managing his or her own benefits, this 

two-step process delays our payment of 

the conserved funds to the beneficiary. 

Our current regulatory process is 

particularly problematic for those 

beneficiaries who make the transition 

out of foster care and for their payees. 

These beneficiaries might need 

immediate access to the conserved 

funds to pay for rent or other 

necessities. Additionally, at least one 

State requires State agency 

representative payees for beneficiaries 

in foster care to turn over all conserved 

funds directly to the beneficiary when 

he or she transitions out of foster care. 

Explanation of Changes 

We are revising §§ 404.2060 and 

416.660 of our regulations to permit a 

payee to transfer conserved funds to a 

beneficiary if we so specify. The change 

will give us the discretion to authorize 

a payee-to-beneficiary transfer of 

conserved funds and make the 

representative payment process more 

efficient. Allowing direct transfer will 

conserve administrative resources and 

provide faster access to beneficiaries 

who have become capable of managing 

their own benefits. 

Public Comments 

On October 14, 2009, we published a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 

in the Federal Register and provided a 

60-day comment period. 74 FR 52706. 

We received one letter with comments. 

We carefully considered the comments 

in publishing this final rule. 

Comment: The commenter is an 

employee of another federal agency who 

deals with our beneficiaries and 

payment centers. The commenter 

supports the changes and believes the 

changes will benefit us and our 

beneficiaries. The commenter further 

notes that ‘‘it is essential that funds still 

be available to the beneficiary especially 

in economic recession periods.’’ The 

commenter asks how the changes will 

affect current rules on reissuing benefits 

if the payee misused funds, how the 

replaced funds will be handled during 

the transfer, and whether there is an 

order of importance in selecting the new 

payee. 

Response: We appreciate the 

commenter’s support. The changes will 

allow a representative payee who will 

no longer be serving in that capacity to 

transfer accumulated benefit payments 

and interest directly to a beneficiary if 

we direct the representative payee to do 

so. The changes will not otherwise 

affect our current rules on reissuing 

benefits if a payee misused funds, how 

the replaced benefits will be handled, or 

how we choose a payee. 

Regulatory Procedures 

Executive Order 12866 

We have consulted with the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

determined that this final rule does not 


cprice-sewell on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with RULES
7552 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 34 / Monday, February 22, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

meet the requirements for a significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866. Thus, it was not reviewed by 

OMB. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

We certify that this final rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

because it affects primarily individuals. 

Therefore, a regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not required under the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, as amended. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This rule does not create any new, or 

affect any existing, collections, and 

therefore, does not require OMB 

approval under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 96.001, Social Security— 

Disability Insurance; 96.002, Social 

Security—Retirement Insurance; 96.004, 

Social Security—Survivors Insurance; and 

96.006, Supplemental Security Income) 

List of Subjects 

20 CFR Part 404 

Administrative practice and 

procedure; Blind; Disability benefits; 

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability 

Insurance; Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements; Social Security. 

20 CFR Part 416 

Administrative practice and 

procedure; Aged, Blind, Disability 

benefits, Public Assistance programs; 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements; Supplemental Security 

Income (SSI). 

Dated: February 4, 2010. 

Michael J. Astrue, 

Commissioner of Social Security. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, we amend subpart U of part 

404 and subpart F of part 416 of chapter 

III of title 20 Code of Federal 

Regulations as set forth below: 

PART 404—FEDERAL OLD-AGE, 

SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY 

INSURANCE (1950– ) 

Subpart U—[Amended] 

■ 1. The authority citation for subpart U 

of part 404 is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: Secs. 205(a), (j), and (k), and 

702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

405(a), (j), and (k), and 902(a)(5)). 

■ 2. Amend § 404.2060 by revising the 

first sentence to read as follows: 

§ 404.2060 Transfer of accumulated 

benefit payments. 

A representative payee who has 

conserved or invested benefit payments 

shall transfer these funds and the 

interest earned from the invested funds 

to either a successor payee, to the 

beneficiary, or to us, as we will 

specify. * * * 

PART 416—SUPPLEMENTAL 

SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, 

BLIND, AND DISABLED 

Subpart F—[Amended] 

■ 3. The authority citation for subpart F 

of part 416 is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: Secs. 702(a)(5), 1631(a)(2) and 

(d)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

902(a)(5) and 1383(a)(2) and (d)(1)). 

■ 4. Amend § 416.660 by revising the 

first sentence to read as follows: 

§ 416.660 Transfer of accumulated benefit 

payments. 

A representative payee who has 

conserved or invested benefit payments 

shall transfer these funds and the 

interest earned from the invested funds 

to either a successor payee, to the 

beneficiary, or to us, as we will 

specify. * * * 

[FR Doc. 2010–3380 Filed 2–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

20 CFR Part 416 

[Docket No. SSA–2008–0051] 

RIN 0960–AF97 

Exclusion of Certain Military Pay From 

Deemed Income and Resources 

AGENCY: Social Security Administration. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are revising our rules to 

clarify that, for Supplemental Security 

Income (SSI) purposes, we do not 

consider any combat-related military 

pay as income when we determine 

whether spouses and children of 

members of the uniformed services are 

eligible for SSI. The rules also clarify 

that we do not consider combat-related 

military pay as income when we 

determine the spouse’s or child’s proper 

payment amount. These rules also 

provide that, when we determine 

whether spouses and children are 

eligible for SSI, we do not consider 

retroactive payments of certain military 

pay as resources for 9 months following 

receipt. These final rules protect 

spouses and children of members of the 

uniformed services from a reduction in, 

or loss of, benefits because their spouse 

or parent serves in a combat zone. 

DATES: This final rule will be effective 

March 24, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric 

Skidmore, Social Insurance Specialist, 

Social Security Administration, Office 

of Income Security Programs, 252 

Altmeyer Building, 6401 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235–6401, 

(410) 597–1833. For information on 

eligibility or filing for benefits, call our 

national toll-free number, 1–800–772– 

1213 or TTY 1–800–325–0778, or visit 

our Internet site, Social Security Online, 

at http://www.socialsecurity.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Version 

The electronic file of this document is 

available on the date of publication in 

the Federal Register at http:// 

www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. 

Background 

The SSI program provides a minimum 

income level for aged, blind, and 

disabled persons who do not have 

income or resources above levels 

specified in the Social Security Act (the 

Act). The Act generally requires that 

when we determine a person’s 

eligibility for, and amount of, SSI 

benefits, we must consider the income 

and resources of an ineligible spouse 

living in the same household and, in the 

case of a child under the age of 18, an 

ineligible parent living in the same 

household (and the spouse of such a 

parent). Section 1614(f) of the Act, 42 

U.S.C. 1382c(f). We use the term 

‘‘deeming’’ to refer to the process of 

considering part of an ineligible 

spouse’s or parent’s income and 

resources to be the person’s own income 

and resources. 

Although a member of the uniformed 

services on active duty is unlikely to 

apply or be eligible for SSI benefits, 

some members of the uniformed 

services have spouses or children who 

receive or may apply for SSI benefits. 

For purposes of deeming, the Act 

provides that a spouse or parent who is 

absent from the household solely 

because of a duty assignment as a 

member of the Armed Forces generally 

will be treated as if he or she were living 

in the household. Section 1614(f)(4) of 

the Act, 42 U.S.C. 1382c(f)(4). Therefore, 

we generally deem income and 

resources of the member of the 

uniformed services to his or her spouse 

or child when determining the spouse’s 

or child’s eligibility for, and amount of, 

SSI benefits. Because we consider the 

member of the uniformed services as 

part of the household, we do not treat 

his or her military pay as unearned 

income from a source outside of the 

household. 

Although we generally deem income 

of a member of the uniformed services 


cprice-sewell on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with RULES