[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 139 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34126-34127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15457]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2018-FSA-0029]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a New Matching Program.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This provides notice of the re-establishment of the matching 
program between the U.S. Department of Education (Department) and the 
Social Security Administration (SSA). The purpose of the matching 
program is to assist the Department in facilitating borrowers who owe a 
balance on one or more student loans under title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), should they wish to do so, to 
more efficiently and effectively apply for a total and permanent 
disability (TPD) discharge of their student loans. The matching program 
also will assist the Department in allowing recipients of Teacher 
Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grants 
under title IV of the HEA who are obligated to repay due to failure to 
complete their agreement to serve, should they wish to do so, to more 
efficiently and effectively apply for a TPD discharge of their 
agreement to serve.

DATES: Submit your comments on the proposed matching program on or 
before August 20, 2018.
    The matching program will go into effect 30 days after the 
publication of this notice, on July 19, 2018, unless comments have been 
received from interested members of the public requiring modification 
and republication of the notice. The matching program will continue for 
18 months after the effective date and may be extended for an 
additional 12 months, if the respective Data Integrity Boards (DIBs) of 
the Department and SSA determine that the conditions specified in 5 
U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after 
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, 
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the 
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under the ``help'' tab.
    <bullet> Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments about these proposed regulations, address 
them to Brenda Seidel, Management and Program Analyst, Federal Student 
Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 
20202-5320, Telephone: 202-377-3982.
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Eliadis, Service Director, System 
Operations & Aid Delivery Management, Federal Student Aid, U.S. 
Department of Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-
5320. Telephone: 202-377-3554.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We provide this notice in accordance with 
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) (5 U.S.C. 552a); Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) Final Guidance Interpreting the 
Provisions of Public Law 100-503, the Computer Matching and Privacy 
Protection Act of 1988, 54 FR 25818 (June 19, 1989); and OMB Circular 
No. A-108.
    Participating Agencies: The U.S. Department of Education and the 
Social Security Administration.
    Authority For Conducting The Matching Program: The Department's 
legal authority to enter into this matching program and to disclose 
information as part of this matching program is sections 420N(c), 
437(a)(1), 455(a)(1), and 464(c)(1)(F)(ii and iii) of the HEA (20 
U.S.C. 1070g-2(c), 1087(a)(1), 1087e(a)(1)), and 1087dd(c)(1)(F)(ii and 
iii)), the regulations promulgated pursuant to these sections (34 CFR 
674.61(b),

[[Page 34127]]

682.402(c), 685.213, and 686.42(b)), and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 
552a(b)(3)).
    SSA's legal authority to disclose information as part of this 
computer matching program is section 1106 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1306), the regulations promulgated pursuant to that section 
(20 CFR part 401), and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)).
    Purpose(s): The matching program will assist the Department in 
facilitating borrowers who owe a balance on one or more student loans 
under title IV of the HEA, should they wish to do so, to more 
efficiently and effectively apply for a TPD discharge of their student 
loans. The matching program also will assist the Department in allowing 
recipients of TEACH Grants under title IV of the HEA who are obligated 
to repay due to failure to complete their agreement to serve, should 
they wish to do so, to more efficiently and effectively apply for a TPD 
discharge of their TEACH Grant service obligations.
    Categories of Individuals: The Department will disclose to SSA 
individually identifiable information about individual borrowers who 
owe a balance on one or more loans under Title IV of the HEA. The 
Department also will disclose to SSA individually identifiable 
information about TEACH grant recipients who fail to complete their 
agreements to serve. SSA will compare the data provided by the 
Department with SSA data recorded in SSA's Disability Control File 
(DCF) and Master Beneficiary Record (MBR).
    Categories of Records: The records to be used in the matching 
program are described as follows:
    The Department will disclose to SSA the name, date of birth (DOB), 
and Social Security number (SSN) of individuals who owe a balance on 
one or more student loans under title IV of the HEA from the system of 
records entitled ``National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-
06), as last published in the Federal Register in full on June 28, 2013 
(78 FR 38963) and as last updated on April 2, 2014 (79 FR 18534).
    The data from the Department described in the preceding paragraph 
will be matched with SSA data recorded in the Disability Control File, 
which originate from the Supplemental Security Income Record and 
Special Veterans Benefits (SSR/SVB), 60-0103, published in the Federal 
Register on January 11, 2006 (71 FR 1830) and updated on December 10, 
2007 (72 FR 69723), and the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) SSA/ORSIS 
60-0090, published in the Federal Register on January 11, 2006 (71 FR 
1826) and updated on December 10, 2007 (72 FR 69723) and July 5, 2013 
(78 FR 40542), in order to provide the Department with Medical 
Improvement Not Expected disability data.
    System(s) of Records: The Department will disclose to SSA 
information from, and maintain information obtained from SSA in, the 
Department's system of records entitled ``National Student Loan Data 
System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-06), as last published in the Federal Register 
in full on June 28, 2013 (78 FR 38963) and last updated on April 2, 
2014 (79 FR 18534). SSA will disclose to the Department information 
from SSA's ``Supplemental Security Income Record and Special Veterans 
Benefits'' system of records 60-0103, published in the Federal Register 
on January 11, 2006 (71 FR 1830) and updated on December 10, 2007 (72 
FR 69723), and the Master Beneficiary Record system of records 60-0090, 
published in the Federal Register on January 11, 2006 (71 FR 1826) and 
updated on December 10, 2007 (72 FR 69723) and July 5, 2013 (78 FR 
40542).
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (such as, braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to Lisa Tessitore, Program 
Operations Specialist, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of 
Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320. Telephone: 
202-377-3249.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations via the Federal Digital System at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well as all other 
documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text 
or Portable Document Format. To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat 
Reader, which is available free at the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

James F. Manning,
Acting Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2018-15457 Filed 7-18-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P