48308 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 1997 / Notices

1The term ‘‘federal public benefit’’ is defined to

include ‘‘any grant, contract, loan, professional

license, or commercial license provided by an

agency of the United States or by appropriated

funds of the United States.’’ (Section 401(c)(1)(A)).

The definition of state public benefit is identical to

the federal benefit definition except that it refers to

benefits provided by agencies of state or local

governments or by appropriated funds of state or

local governments. (Section 411(c)(1)(A)).

2 In addition to the exception that is the subject

of the Attorney General Order of August 23, 1996,

there are a number of other categories of federal,

state, and local public benefits that Congress

expressly made available to other non-qualified

aliens. These public benefits include specified

types of emergency medical treatment and

emergency disaster relief, along with other benefits

were received by the Disability Rights

Section.

The purpose of this notice is to allow

an additional 30 days for public

comment. Comments are encouraged

and will be accepted until October 15,

1997.

Written comments and/or suggestions

are requested from the public and

affected agencies concerning the

proposed collection of information.

Your comments should address one or

more of the following four points:

(1) Evaluate whether the collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the function of the

agency, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the

agencies estimate of the burden of the

collection of information;

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including through the

use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology

(e.g., permitting electronic submission

of responses).

Written comments and/or suggestions

regarding the item(s) contained in this

notice, especially regarding the

estimated public burden and associated

response time should be directed to the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB), Office of Regulatory Affairs,

Attention: Department of Justice Desk

Office, Washington, DC 20530.

Additionally, comments may be

submitted to OMB via facsimile to (202)

395–7285. Comments may also be

submitted to the Department of Justice

(DOJ), Justice Management Division,

Information Management and Security

Staff, Attention: Department Clearance

Office, Suite 850, 1001 G Street,

NW.,Washington, DC 20530.

Additionally, comments may be

submitted to DOJ via facsimile to (202)

514–1534.

The information collection is listed

below:

(1) Type of information collection.

New Collection.

(2) The title of the form/collection.

Title II of the Americans with

Disabilities Act/Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Discrimination Complaint Form.

(3) The agency form number and

applicable component of the

Department sponsoring the collection.

No form number. Disability Rights

Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S.

Department of Justice.

(4) Affected public who will be asked

to respond, as well as a brief abstract:

Primary: Individuals alleging

discrimination by public entities based

on disability. Under title II of the

Americans with Disabilities Act, an

individual who believes that he or she

has been subjected to discrimination on

the basis of disability by a public entity

may, by himself or herself or by an

authorized representative, file a

complaint. Any Federal agency that

receives a complaint of discrimination

by public entity is required to review

the complaint to determine whether it

has jurisdiction under section 504. If the

agency does not have jurisdiction, it

must determine whether it is the

designated agency responsible for

complaints filed against that public

entity. If the agency does not have

jurisdiction under section 504 and is not

the designated agency, it must refer the

complaint to the Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice then must

refer the complaint to the appropriate

agency.

(5) An estimate of the total number of

respondents and the amount of time

estimated for an average respondent to

respond: 5,000 respondents per year at

0.75 hours per complaint form.

(6) An estimate of the total public

burden (in hours) associated with the

collection: 3,750 hours annual burden.

If additional information is required

contact: Mr. Robert B. Briggs, Clearance

Officer, United States Department of

Justice, Information Management and

Security Staff, Justice Management

Division, Suite 850, Washington Center,

1001 G Street, NW., Washington, DC

20530.

Dated: September 9, 1997.

Robert B. Briggs,

Department Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–24328 Filed 9–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[AG Order No. 2115–97]

Request for Comments on the Attorney

General’s Specification of Community

Programs Necessary for the Protection

of Life or Safety Under the Welfare

Reform Act

AGENCY: Department of Justice.

ACTION: Notice with request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Personal Responsibility

and Work Opportunity Reconciliation

Act of 1996 vests in the Attorney

General the authority to specify nonmeans-tested, government-funded

community programs, services, or

assistance that are necessary for the

protection of life or safety and for which

all aliens remain eligible. On August 23,

1996, the Attorney General issued an

Order implementing that authority, and

making a ‘‘provisional specification.’’

Before the provisional specification is

finalized, the Department is publishing

this Notice to solicit the input of federal,

state, and local agencies operating

programs or providing services or

assistance that may be covered by that

Order.

DATES: Comments must be received by

November 14, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments to

Wendy L. Patten, Counsel, Office of

Policy Development, Department of

Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC, 20530.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Wendy L. Patten, Counsel, Office of

Policy Development, Department of

Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC, 20530, (202) 514–5482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August

22, 1996, the President signed the

Personal Responsibility and Work

Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

(the Act), which vests in the Attorney

General the authority to specify nonmeans-tested, government-funded

community programs, services, or

assistance that are necessary for the

protection of life or safety and for which

all aliens remain eligible. Pursuant to

the Act, on August 23, 1996, the

Attorney General issued an Order (AG

Order No. 2049–96) (Order)

implementing that authority, and

making a ‘‘provisional specification’’ of

such programs. This Order was

published on August 30, 1996 at 61 FR

45985.

Under §§ 401 and 411 of the Act,

aliens who are not ‘‘qualified aliens’’ (as

defined in § 431 of the Act are ineligible

for federal, state, and local public

benefits.1 However, there are a number

of specified exceptions to these

restrictions.2 Included within this list of
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 1997 / Notices 48309

as set forth in § 401(b) and § 411(b) of the Act, as

amended by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Pub.

L. No. 105–33 (1997).

statutory exceptions is a provision

authorizing the Attorney General to

establish additional exceptions for

certain types of programs, services, and

assistance. The programs, services, and

assistance that the Attorney General

may specify are limited to those which

(1) deliver in-kind services at the

community level, including through

public or private nonprofit agencies; (2)

do not condition the provision of

assistance, the amount of assistance

provided, or the cost of assistance

provided on the individual recipient’s

income or resources; and (3) are

necessary for the protection of life or

safety. (Sections 401(b)(1)(D) and

411(b)(4).

The Department intends to publish an

Order finalizing the implementation of

that authority. Before it does so, the

Department is publishing this Notice to

solicit the input of federal, state, and

local agencies operating programs or

providing services or assistance that

may be covered by the final Order.

Responses to this solicitation will assist

the Department in reaching a final

determination regarding the types of

programs, services, or assistance that

should be covered by that Order. After

reviewing any comments and consulting

with other agencies, the Attorney

General then will issue a final

specification of programs, services, and

assistance for which all persons remain

eligible, regardless of immigration

status.

If you believe that any program or

programs you administer have been or

may be affected by the Attorney General

Order, the Department would appreciate

receiving your comments. In your

comments, please give the citations of

any applicable federal, state, or local

statutes or regulations that govern the

creation, operation, or scope of your

affected programs. Please also give a

brief description of the structure of the

program(s), your agency’s view of

whether the program, service, or

assistance falls within the purview of

the Attorney General Order, and any

arguments to support that

interpretation.

Dated: September 9, 1997.

Janet Reno,

Attorney General.

[FR Doc. 97–24272 Filed 9–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–BB–M

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Immigration and Naturalization Service

[INS No. 1872–97]

Pilot Programs for Employment

Eligibility Confirmation

AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization

Service, Justice.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice prescribes

guidelines under which employers may

elect to participate in one or more of

three pilot programs for employment

eligibility confirmation to be conducted

by the Immigration and Naturalization

Service (Service) with the involvement

of the Social Security Administration

(SSA). This notice also requests

comments from employers and other

interested parties on the pilots. The

Commissioner of the Service invites

employers in states where the three

pilot programs for employment

eligibility confirmation will be

conducted to contact the Service to elect

to participate in one or more of them.

The pilot programs build on the

experience of the Service and SSA over

the last 5 years in developing and

operating employment verification pilot

programs with the goal of enabling

participating employers to verify their

newly hired employees’ work eligibility

quickly, easily, and accurately.

DATES: There is no deadline for

submission of election forms to

participate in an employment

verification pilot program(s), but

interested employers should send their

completed election forms to the Service

as soon as possible to maximize their

opportunity to participate.

ADDRESSES: Please submit your election

forms, requests for information and any

comments you may have on the pilot

programs to the Immigration and

Naturalization Service, 425 I Street,

NW., ULLICO Building, 4th Floor,

Washington, DC 20536, Attention:

SAVE Program Branch—Election Forms

and/or Comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John E. Nahan, Immigration and

Naturalization Service, SAVE Program,

425 I Street, NW., ULLICO Building, 4th

Floor, Washington, DC 20536, telephone

(202) 514–2317.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory Authority

Title IV, Subtitle A of the Illegal

Immigration Reform and Immigrant

Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA),

Pub. L. 104–208, 110 Stat. 3009, enacted

on September 30, 1996, provides that all

United States employers, subject to

eligibility for participation, geographical

limitations, and limitations of available

Service and SSA resources, may elect to

participate in one or more of three

employment verification pilot programs

to be conducted by the Service. The

three pilot programs are: (1) the Basic

Pilot; (2) the Citizen Attestation Pilot;

and (3) the Machine-Readable

Document Pilot.

II. Purpose

The purpose of these pilot programs

is to implement IIRIRA’s mandate to test

three methods of providing an effective,

nondiscriminatory work eligibility

verification procedure focusing on

electronic verification. Through an

automated confirmation system,

employers will match information

provided by employees on the Form I–

9, Employment Eligibility Verification,

against existing information contained

in SSA’s or the Service’s databases to

confirm that an individual is eligible to

work.

III. General Description of the Pilot

Programs for Employment Eligibility

Confirmation

The IIRIRA requires the Service to

conduct three distinct pilot programs,

each of which can last no longer than 4

years, unless otherwise directed by

Congress. The programs include: (1) the

Basic Pilot; (2) the Citizen Attestation

Pilot; and (3) the Machine-Readable

Document Pilot. Participation in the

pilots will be voluntary on the part of

employers, except with regard to the

executive and legislative branches of the

Federal Government and certain

employers found to be in violation of

sections 274A(e)(4) or 274B(g) of the

Immigration and Nationality Act (Act),

8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., in states where the

pilots are being conducted. Although

the decision for an employer to

participate is voluntary, verification

may not be selective; all employees

subject to verification under the terms of

a pilot program must be verified by an

employer participating in that pilot.

A. Mandatory Elections

1. Federal Government Participation

Certain Federal Government entities

are required by Section 402(e) of IIRIRA

to elect to participate in at least one of

the three pilot programs. The Secretary

of each department of the executive

branch is required to make an election

of one or more of the pilot programs, but

may limit the election to hiring in those

states or geographic areas covered by the

pilot(s) selected, and to specified

divisions within the department, as long