This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

2942

Vol. 63, No. 12

Tuesday, January 20, 1998

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary

Privacy Act: Renewal of a Computer

Matching Program

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of renewal of a computer

matching program.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA) is giving notice of a

renewal of a computer program between

the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)

and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for

the purpose of debt collection.

DATES: This renewal will become

effective on March 2, 1998, unless

modified by a subsequent notice to

incorporate comments received from the

public. To be assured of consideration,

comments must be received by the

contact person listed below on or before

February 19, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

addressed to James I. Porter, Assistant

Branch Chief, State Administration

Branch, Program Accountability

Division, Food Stamp Program, 3101

Park Center Drive, Room 905,

Alexandria, Virginia 22302.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joseph M. Scordato, Food and Nutrition

Service Privacy Act Officer, 3101 Park

Center Drive, Room 308, Alexandria,

Virginia 22302. Telephone (703) 305–

2244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

computer matching program is

conducted to (1) identify postal

employees who owe delinquent debts to

the Federal government under the Food

Stamp Program (FSP) administered by

USDA’s FNS and (2) collect those debts

under the salary offset provisions of the

Debt Collection Act of 1982 when

voluntary repayment is not forthcoming.

As part of their responsibility for

administering the FSP, State agencies

are responsible for establishing claims

for these overissued benefits and for

taking certain steps to try to collect

those claims.

The Debt Collection Improvement Act

of 1996 expanded the statutory

authority for administrative offset by

creating the Treasury Offset Program

(TOP). Under TOP, agencies are

required to transfer delinquent non-tax

debt to Treasury for the purpose of

offsetting Federal payments for debt

collection. When fully implemented

TOP will operate in accordance with

statutory and regulatory authorities,

including those contained in 31 U.S.C.

3716 and 4 CFR part 102. Because TOP

has not yet been fully implemented,

FNS will collect the debts through the

Federal Salary Offset Program (FSOP).

FNS has been referring delinquent

food stamp debts that were the result of

an intentional Program violation or an

inadvertent household error. The

Personal Responsibility and Work

Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

broadened the scope of referable debts

to include State agency error claims.

This computer match will provide

otherwise unavailable information

which State agencies can use to try to

collect delinquent food stamp claims

owed by USPS employees. The public

was given notice of the current

matching program in a General Notice at

59 FR 42205, dated August 17, 1994.

This Notice is being published as

required by Subsection (e)(12) of the

Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C.

552a(e)(12)), as amended by the

Computer Matching and Privacy Act of

1988 (Pub. L. 100–503).

The following information is provided

as required by paragraph (b)(3) of

Appendix I to Office of Management

and Budget Circular A–130, dated

February 20, 1996.

1. Participating agencies: The

recipient agency is USPS. The source

agency is USDA.

2. Beginning and ending dates: The

matching program will begin with the

effective date of this notice and

continue in effect no longer than

December 31, 1998. If within 3 months

of the termination date, the Data

Integrity Boards of both USDA and the

USPS find that the matching program

can be conducted without change, and

both USDA and the USPS certify that

the matching program has been

conducted in compliance with the

matching agreement, the matching

program may be extended for 1

additional year.

3. Purpose of the match: In addition

to providing information to assist in

collecting delinquent food stamp

recipient claims, the names of USPS

employees identified through this

matching program will be removed from

lists of delinquent debts being referred

to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for

collection from Federal income tax

refunds. This action is required to

conform to an IRS requirement for the

Federal Income Tax Refund Offset

Program (FTROP). (A description of

FTROP is contained in a final

rulemaking at 60 FR 45990, dated

September 1, 1995.)

4. Description of the match: The

subject matching program will involve

several steps. USDA will provide USPS

a magnetic computer tape of claims

submitted by State agencies

participating in FTROP. By computer,

USPS will compare that information

with its payroll file, identifying matched

individuals on the basis of Social

Security Numbers (SSNs). For each

matched individual, the USPS will

provide to USDA the individual’s name,

SSN, home address, date of birth, work

location, and employee type (permanent

or temporary).

USDA will prepare lists of matched

individuals according to the State

agencies which established the claim for

the overissued benefits and will

distribute the State agency lists

accordingly. The respective State

agencies will review those lists and

their casefiles. In this review State

agencies will verify identity and debtor

status of the matched individuals by

comparing those lists of matched

individuals to their records on the debts

and by conducting independent

inquiries when necessary to resolve

questionable identities. State agencies

will also review the records of payments

to determine if the debt is still

delinquent and the correct amount of

the debt.

In addition to verifying debtor

identity and the status of the debt, prior

to USDA taking any steps to refer debts

for offset, State agencies will provide

debtors with a 30-day written notice

stating the amount of the debt and that

the debtor may repay the debt

voluntarily by entering into a written

agreement with the State agency. Debts

not repaid voluntarily would be referred

to USDA for involuntary offset. Prior to

such action, USDA will notify debtors of
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 1998 / Notices 2943

the intended collection action and offer

them an opportunity for a hearing on

the debt, including the right to copy

documentation relating to the debt.

5. Legal authorities: This matching

program will be conducted under the

following authorities:

(a) The Debt Collection Act of 1982 (5

U.S.C. 5514), which gives authority to

Federal agencies to offset the salaries of

Federal and USPS employees who are

delinquent on debts owed to the Federal

government.

(b) The Debt Collection Improvement

Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 5514(a)) which

provides for salary offset and (31 U.S.C.

3716(c)) which mandates centralized

administrative offset through the

Treasury Offset Program.

(c) The Personal Responsibility and

Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

1996 (7 U.S.C. 2022(b)(1)) which added

a new category of claims, State agency

error claims, to those eligible for offset.

(d) Office of Personnel Management

(OPM) regulations, 5 CFR part 550,

subpart K (Collection by Offset from

Indebted Government Employees),

§§ 550.1101–1108, which set the

standards for Federal agency rules

implementing the Debt Collection Act.

(e) USDA regulations at 7 CFR part 3,

subpart C, which implement 5 U.S.C.

5514 and OPM regulations, and which

authorize USDA agencies to issue

regulations governing debt collection by

salary offset (7 CFR 3.68).

(f) USDA regulations at 7 CFR 273.18

(g)(6) which set the procedures for the

operation of the Federal salary offset

program for the FSP.

(g) Section 13941 of the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub.

L. 103–66), which amended Sections

11(e)(8) and 13 of the Food Stamp Act

of 1977, 7 U.S.C. 2020(e)(8), 2022, to

authorize the Federal salary offset

program for the FSP.

6. Categories of individuals involved:

Two groups of individuals will be

involved with this matching program.

One group is USPS employees. The

other group is individuals who have

participated in the Food Stamp Program

but are no longer participating, and who

owe delinquent debts for overissued

food stamp benefits for which they are

not making repayments.

7. Record systems used: (a) USPS will

use records from its Privacy Act system

of records ‘‘Finance Records—Payroll

System, USPS 050.020,’’ containing

payroll records for approximately

700,000 current employees. Disclosure

will be made pursuant to routine use

Number 24 of USPS 050.020, (57 FR

57515, dated December 4, 1992).

(b) USDA will use records from its

Privacy Act system of records ‘‘Claims

Against Food Stamp Recipients—

USDA/FNS—3,’’ containing

approximately 350,000 records.

Disclosure will be made pursuant to

routine use Number 4 of record system

USDA/FNS—3, (58 FR 48633, dated

September 17, 1993).

8. Agency contact: Inquiries about this

matching program should be directed to

James I. Porter, Assistant Branch Chief,

State Administration Branch, Program

Accountability Division, Food Stamp

Program, FNS, USDA, 3101 Park Center

Drive, Room 905, Alexandria, Virginia

22302, telephone (703) 305–2385.

Dated: January 6, 1998.

Dan Glickman,

Secretary of Agriculture.

[FR Doc. 98–1184 Filed 1–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–30–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

Notice of Request for Reinstatement

and Revision of a Currently Approved

Information Collection

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this

notice announces the Farm Service

Agency’s (FSA) intention to request a

reinstatement and revision of a

currently approved information

collection in support of the Dairy

Indemnity Payment Program (DIPP)

contingent upon the appropriation of

funds.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received on or before March 23, 1998 to

be assured consideration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Raellen Erickson, Agricultural Program

Specialist, Price Support Division,

USDA, FSA, STOP 0512, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20250–0512; telephone

(202) 720–7320; e-mail

rerickso@wdc.fsa.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

notice announces FSA’s intention to

request a reinstatement and revision of

the currently approved information

collection in support of the DIPP. The

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food

and Drug Administration, and Related

Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998

(Pub. L. 105–86, 111 Stat. 2079)

appropriated funds and authorized DIPP

to be carried out until all available

funds are expended.

Title: 7 CFR Part 760, Dairy Indemnity

Payment Program.

OMB Control Number: 0560–0116.

Expiration Date: June 30, 1997.

Type of Request: Reinstatement and

revision of a currently approved

information collection.

Abstract: This information is needed

to administer the DIPP. The information

will be gathered from milk producers

and milk handlers to determine the

amount of indemnity payment a dairy

producer or manufacturer is eligible to

receive. Producers are required to meet

certain eligibility requirements to

ensure the integrity of the program so

that only eligible producers receive

indemnity payments. The number of

times producers or manufacturers have

been removed from the market has

declined in recent years. Accordingly,

fewer requests for assistance have been

received. Therefore, the currently

approved information collection is

revised to reduce the number of

responses per request and the annual

burden per respondent to half of the

currently approved estimate. The

emergency clearance of the Information

Collection Package for Indemnity

Payment Programs was approved by the

Office of Management and Budget on

November 20, 1997, and extended the

expiration date to April 30, 1998.

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to average 17 minutes per

response.

Respondents: Dairy farms and small

businesses.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

80.

Estimated Number of Responses per

Respondent: 6.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 140 hours.

Proposed topics for comments

include: (a) Whether the collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

agency, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate

of burden including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility and

clarity of the information to be

collected; or (d) ways to 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 should be sent to the Desk

Officer for Agriculture, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget,

Washington, D.C. 20503 and to Raellen

Erickson, Agricultural Program

Specialist, USDA-Farm Service Agency-