Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 152 / Thursday, August 7, 1997 / Proposed Rules 42443

performed by SSA (e.g., disclosures of

information), and contractor debts.

(b) Notice to debtor. Before we report

any administrative debt to a credit

reporting agency, we will send the

debtor written notice of the following: (1) We have determined that payment

of the debt is overdue;

(2) We will refer the debt to a credit

reporting agency within not less than 60

calendar days after the date of the notice

unless, within that 60-day period, the

debtor pays the full amount of the debt

or takes either of the actions described

in paragraphs (b)(6) or (b)(7) of this

section;

(3) The specific information we will

provide to the credit reporting agency,

including information that identifies the

debtor (e.g., name, address, social

security number, and employer

identification number) and the amount,

status, and history of the debt. (4) the debtor has the right to a

complete explanation of the debt; (5) the debtor may dispute the

accuracy of the information to be

provided to the credit reporting agency; (6) the debtor may request a review of

the debt by giving us evidence showing

that he or she does not owe all or part

of the amount of the debt or that we do

not have the right to collect it; and (7) the debtor may request an

installment payment plan.

§ 422.310 Collection of overdue debts by

administrative offset.

(a) Referral to the Department of the

Treasury for offset. We will recover

overdue debts by offsetting Federal

payments due the debtor through the

Treasury Offset Program (TOP). TOP is

a Governmentwide delinquent debt

matching and payment offset process

operated by the Department of the

Treasury, whereby debts owed to the

Federal Government are collected by

offsetting them against Federal

payments owed the debtor. (b) Debts we will refer. We will refer

for administrative offset all overdue

debts over $25.

(c) Notice to debtor. Before we refer

any debt for collection by administrative

offset, we will send the debtor written

notice that:

(1) We have determined that payment

of the debt is overdue;

(2) We will refer the debt for

administrative offset within not less

than 60 calendar days after the date of

the notice unless, within that 60-day

period, the debtor pays the full amount

of the debt or takes either of the actions

described in paragraphs (c)(4) or (c)(5)

of this section;

(3) The debtor may inspect or copy

our records relating to the debt; (4) The debtor may request a review

of the debt by giving us evidence

showing that the debtor does not owe all

or part of the amount of the debt or that

we do not have the right to collect it;

and

(5) The debtor may request an

installment payment plan.

§ 422.315 Review of our records related to

the debt.

(a) Notification by the debtor. The

debtor may request to inspect or copy

our records related to the debt.

(b) Our response. In response to a

request from the debtor described in

paragraph (a) of this section, we will

notify the debtor of the location and

time at which the debtor may inspect or

copy our records related to the debt. We

may also, at our discretion, mail to the

debtor copies of the records relating to

the debt.

§ 422.317 Review of the debt.

(a) Notification and presentation of

evidence by the debtor. A debtor who

receives a notice described in

§§ 422.305(b), 422.306(b), or 422.310(c)

has a right to have us review the debt.

To exercise this right, within 60

calendar days from the date of our

notice, the debtor must notify us and

give us evidence that he or she does not

owe all or part of the debt or that we do

not have the right to collect it. If the

debtor does not notify us and give us

this evidence within the 60 calendarday period, we may take the action

described in our notice.

(b) Review of the evidence. If the

debtor notifies us and presents evidence

within the 60 calendar day period

described in paragraph (a) of this

section, we will not take the action

described in our notice unless and until

we consider all of the evidence and

send the debtor our findings that all or

part of the debt is overdue and legally

enforceable.

(c) Findings by SSA. Following our

review of all of the evidence presented,

we will issue written findings,

including the supporting rationale for

the findings. Issuance of these findings

will be the final Agency action on the

debtor’s request for review. If we find

that the debt is not overdue or we do not

have the right to collect it, we will not

send information about the debt to

consumer or other credit reporting

agencies or refer the debt to the

Department of the Treasury for

administrative offset.

[FR Doc. 97–20742 Filed 8–6–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4190–29–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

31 CFR Part 1

Privacy Act of 1974, Proposed Rule

Exempting System of Records From

Certain Provisions

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service,

Treasury.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974,

as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the

Department of the Treasury gives notice

of a proposed rule to exempt a new

system of records entitled, ‘‘Customer

Feedback System Treasury/IRS 00.003,’’

from certain provisions of the Privacy

Act. The exemption is intended to

comply with legal prohibitions against

the disclosure of certain kinds of

information and to protect certain

information on individuals maintained

in this system of records.

DATES: Comments must be received no

later than September 8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please submit comments to

the National Director, Governmental

Liaison and Disclosure Office, Internal

Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution

Avenue, NW, Washington DC. 20224.

Comments will be made available for

inspection and copying at the Freedom

of Information Reading Room upon

request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Sincavage, 6103/Privacy

Operations, Governmental Liaison and

Disclosure, Internal Revenue Service at

(202) 622–6240.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant

to the Privacy Act of 1974, the

Department of the Treasury is

publishing separately the notice of a

new Treasury/IRS system of records to

be maintained by the IRS. The

Department of the Treasury is hereby

giving notice of a proposed rule to

exempt the Customer Feedback System

of records from certain provisions of the

Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a

(k)(4) and the authority vested in the

Commissioner of Internal Revenue by 31

CFR 1.23(c).

Under 5 U.S.C. 552a, the head of any

agency may promulgate rules to exempt

any system of records within the agency

from certain provisions of the Privacy

Act of 1974, if the system is required by

statute to be maintained and used solely

as statistical records.

The reason for exempting the abovenamed system of records is that

disclosure of statistical records

(including release of any accounting for

disclosure) would be of no benefit to a

particular individual since the records
42444 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 152 / Thursday, August 7, 1997 / Proposed Rules

do not have a direct effect on a given

individual, and the record may contain

personal information about third

parties.

The provisions of the Privacy Act of

1974 from which exemption for only

those records required to be maintained

by statute is claimed under 5 U.S.C.

552a(k)(4) are as follows: 5 U.S.C.

552a(c)(3);(d)(1),(2),(3) and (4);

(e)(1),(e)(4)(G),(H), and (I); and (f).

As required by Executive Order

12866, it has been determined that this

proposed rule is not a significant

regulatory action and, therefore, does

not require a regulatory impact analysis.

Pursuant to the requirements of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601–

612, it is hereby certified that these

regulations will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The proposed

rule imposes no duties or obligations on

small entities.

In accordance with the provisions of

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980,

the Department of the Treasury has

determined that this proposed rule

would not impose on the public new

record keeping, application, reporting or

other types of information collection

requirements.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 1

Privacy.

Part 1 of title 31 of the Code of

Federal Regulations is amended as

follows:

1. The authority citation for Part 1

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301 and 31 U.S.C. 321.

Subpart A also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552 as

amended. Subpart C also issued under 5

U.S.C. 552a.

§ 1.36 [Amended]

2. Section 1.36 of subpart C is

amended by revising paragraph (d)

under the heading THE INTERNAL

REVENUE SERVICE to read as follows:

* * * *

*

(d) Exemption under 5 U.S.C.

552a(k)(4). (1) This paragraph applies to

the following systems of records

maintained by the Internal Revenue

Service, for which exemption is claimed

under 5 U.S.C. 552a (k)(4):

Name of System No.

Customer Feedback System .......... 00.003

Statistics of Income-Individual Tax

Returns ........................................ 70.001

(2) Under 5 U.S.C. 552a (k)(4), the

head of any agency may promulgate

rules to exempt any system of records

within the agency from certain

provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, if

the system is required by statute to be

maintained and used solely as statistical

records.

(3) The Statistics of Income—

Individual Tax Returns is maintained

under § 6108 of the Internal Revenue

Code, which provides that ‘‘the

Secretary or his delegate shall prepare

and publish annually statistics

reasonably available with respect to the

operation of the income tax laws,

including classification of taxpayers and

of income, the amounts allowed as

deductions, exemptions, and credits,

and any other facts deemed pertinent

and valuable.’’

(4) The Customer Feedback System is

maintained under § 6108 of the Internal

Revenue Code, and § 1211 of Pub. L.

104–168, the Taxpayers Bill of Rights 2

(TBOR 2), which provides that the

Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a

report to Congress on the misconduct of

IRS employees. The Department is

prohibited from using these records for

any purpose involving the making of a

determination about the individual to

whom they pertain.

(5) The reason for exempting the

above-named systems of records is that

disclosure of statistical records

(including release of accounting for

disclosures) would in most cases be of

no benefit to a particular individual

since the records do not have a direct

effect on a given individual.

(6) The provisions of the Privacy Act

of 1974 from which exemption is

claimed under 5 U.S.C. 552a (k)(4) are

as follows:

5 U.S.C. 552a (c)(3)

5 U.S.C. 552a (d)(1), (2), (3), and (4)

5 U.S.C. 552a (e)(1)

5 U.S.C. 552a (e)(4)(G), (H), and (I)

5 U.S.C. 552a (f)

* * * *

*

Dated: July 10, 1997.

Alex Rodriguez,

Deputy Assistant Secretary (Administration).

[FR Doc. 97–20817 Filed 8–6–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 4810–30–F

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

41 CFR Part 101–16

RIN 3090–AF95

Governmentwide Real Property Policy

AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide

Policy, General Services

Administration.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The proposed rule describes

the current real property policies

applicable to GSA and Federal agencies

to whom GSA real property operations

have been delegated. The policies

contained in this proposed rule have

been separated from their procedural

components and reflect the way that

real property operations are currently

conducted. This regulation, once

finalized, will be located in the Federal

Property Management Regulations

(FPMR), Part 101–16, entitled

‘‘Governmentwide Real Property

Policy.’’

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before October 6, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be sent to the General Services

Administration, Office of

Governmentwide Policy, Office of Real

Property, Real Property Policy Division

(MPR), Washington, DC 20405.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stanley C. Langfeld, Director, Real

Property Policy Division, at (202) 501–

1737.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

General Services Administration (GSA)

has determined that this rule is not a

significant regulatory action for the

purposes of Executive Order 12866.

This rule is not required to be

published in the Federal Register for

notice and comment. Therefore, the

Regulatory Flexibility Act does not

apply.

The Paperwork Reduction Act does

not apply to this action because the

proposed changes to the Federal

Property Management Regulations do

not impose reporting, recordkeeping or

information collection requirements

which require the approval of the Office

of Management and Budget pursuant to

44 U.S.C. §§ 3501 et seq.

List of Subjects in 41 CFR Part 101–16

Federal buildings and facilities,

Government real property management.

Therefore, it is proposed that 41 CFR

Part 101–16 be added to read as follows:

PART 101–16—GOVERNMENTWIDE

REAL PROPERTY POLICY

Sec.

Subpart 101–16.1—General

101–16.100 Philosophy and scope of part.

101–16.101 Definitions.

101–16.102 Applicability.

101–16.103 Basic authority.

101–16.104 Legislative and executive

impacts.

101–16.105 Policy implementation.