[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 212 (Monday, November 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59357-59358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28965]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: 45 CFR part 303.72--Request for collection of past-due 
support by Federal tax refund offset and administrative offset.
    OMB No.: 0970-0161.
    Description: The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) 
operates the Tax refund offset TROP. The TROP was enacted by Congress 
on August 13, 1981 (Pub. L. 97-35, section 2331). This is a 
computerized system operated by the Office of Child Support Enforcement 
(OCSE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and State child 
support agencies. The TROP was established to recover delinquent AFDC 
child support debts with ongoing cooperation of states and local child 
support agencies.
    The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-508) 
signed by the President in November 1990, expanded the Program to 
include a provision for non-AFDC cases.
    In 1996 the Debt Collection Improvement Act (Pub. L. 104-134) 
further expanded the program to increase the collection of nontax debts 
owned to the Federal Government and to assist families in collecting 
past-due child support. It required the development and implementation 
of procedures necessary to collect past-due support by administrative 
offset by agencies. As a result, this program is now known as the Tax 
Refund and Administrative Offset Program TROP/ADOP).
    Purpose: Pursuant to Public Law 97-35 enacted by Congress on August 
13, 1981, Pub. L. 101-508 signed by the President in November 1990 and 
Pub. L. 104-134 enacted into law on April 26, 1996, the Debt Collection 
Improvement Act of 1996, and pursuant to the Executive Order 13019 
dated September 28, 1996, the OSCE will match the tax refund records 
against Federal payment certification records and Federal financial 
assistance records. The purpose is to facilitate the collection of 
delinquent child support obligations from persons who may be entitled 
or eligible to receive certain Federal payments or Federal assistance. 
State child support agencies submit cases of delinquent child support 
claims to the OSCE for submission to the Financial Management Service 
(FMS). These cases are sent by on-line dial-up access via personal 
computer, tape and cartridge via mail, Mitron tape, file transfer, or 
electronic data transmission. The Office of Child Support Enforcement 
serves as a conduit between state child support enforcement agencies 
and the FMS by processing weekly updates of collection data and 
distributing the information back to the appropriate State child 
support agency. The information will be disclosed by OCSE to state 
child support agencies for use in the collection of child support 
debts, through locate action wage withholding or other enforcement 
actions.
    Respondents: State District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and 
Virgin Islands Governments
    Respondents: State and local governments.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates                                            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Number of                                                   
           Instrument               Number of     responses per    Average burden hours     Total burden hours  
                                   respondents     respondent         per  response                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub/test tape and Data Spec....           1,744              52  5 minutes..............  7,557.3 hours.        
Sub/test tape and Data Spec....              54              52  5 minutes..............  234 hours.            
Withdrawal notice..............           1,744               5  2 minutes..............  291 hours.            
Pre-offset notice..............              54          87,075  2 minutes..............  15,673.5 hours.       
Case Cert......................              54              52  3 minutes..............  140.4 hours.          
Payment Infor..................              26               1  10 minutes.............  4.3 hours.            
Local office contact phone                1,744               1  30 minutes.............  872 hours.            
 address.                                                                                                       
Request for update.............              54              52  5 minutes..............  234 hours.            

[[Page 59358]]

                                                                                                                
Federal Tax Offset contact.....              54               1  2 minutes..............  1.8 hours.            
Update Spec....................              54               1  2 minutes..............  1.8 hours.            
Issuance of pre-offset notice..              54               1  2 minutes..............  1.8 hours.            
Contact point for OCSE Pre-                  30               1  1 minute...............  0.9 hours.            
 offset notice.                                                                                                 
Non-TANF Tax Refund Offset                1,744          40,735  10 minutes.............  6,789.2 hours.        
 Information.                                                                                                   
Offset notice address/phone                  54               1  10 minutes.............  9.0 hours.            
 number change.                                                                                                 
Personal computer data.........              54               1  5 minutes..............  4.5 hours.            
Notice of intention............              25               1  2 minutes..............  0.8 hours.            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 31,816.3.
    Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be 
obtained by writing to The Administration for Children and Families, 
Office of Information Services, Division of Information Resource 
Management Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447, 
Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer.
    OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning the 
collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of 
this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best 
assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of 
publication. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office 
of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, 725 17th Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attn: Ms. Wendy Taylor.

    Dated: October 28, 1997.
Bob Sargis,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 97-28965 Filed 10-31-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M