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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1588-1589]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00128]

[[Page 1588]]

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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No: SSA-2025-0001]

Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

    The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of 
information collection packages requiring clearance by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Public Law 104-13, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. This notice 
includes revisions of OMB-approved information collections.
    SSA is soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden 
estimate; the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to 
enhance its quality, utility, and clarity; and ways to minimize burden 
on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. Mail, email, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer at the following 
addresses or fax numbers.
    (OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA.
    (SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Director, Mail Stop 3253 Altmeyer, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 
21235.
    Fax: 833-410-1631.
    Email address: [email protected].
    Or you may submit your comments online through https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain by clicking on Currently under 
Review--Open for Public Comments and choosing to click on one of SSA's 
published items. Please reference Docket ID Number [SSA-2025-0001] in 
your submitted response.
    I. SSA submitted the information collections below to OMB for 
clearance. Your comments regarding these information collections would 
be most useful if OMB and SSA receive them 30 days from the date of 
this publication. To be sure we consider your comments, we must receive 
them no later than February 7, 2025. Individuals can obtain copies of 
these OMB clearance packages by writing to the 
[email protected].
    1. Integrated Registration Services (IRES) System--20 CFR 401.45--
0960-0626. IRES is an internet-based application that replaces the 
respondent's handwritten paper-based signature with a user 
identification number (User ID) and a password. IRES provides 
registration, authentication, and authorization gateway services for 
Business-to-Government (B2G) suites of services, including, but not 
limited to:

a. Business Services Online (BSO)
    [ssquf] Claimant Representative Services
b. Government Services Online (GSO) (OMB#0960-0757)
    [ssquf] Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Services
    [ssquf] Secure exchange of information between SSA and third 
parties in support of SSA and other federal government-supported 
programs
c. Customer Support Application (CSA)
    [ssquf] CSA provides customer support service for IRES. CSA allows 
users to complete the registration process via a telephone interview 
with a Social Security customer service representative.

    The IRES System verifies the identity of individuals, businesses, 
organizations, entities, and government agencies seeking to use SSA's 
secured internet and telephone applications. Individuals need this 
verification to electronically request and exchange business data with 
SSA. Requestors provide SSA with the information needed to establish 
their identities. Once SSA verifies identity, the IRES system issues 
the requestor a user identification number and a password to conduct 
business with SSA. Respondents are employers; employees; third party 
submitters of wage data business entities providing taxpayer 
identification information; appointed representatives; representative 
payees; and data exchange partners conducting business in support of 
SSA programs.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                         Estimated     Average
                                                             Average       total     theoretical   Total annual
    Modality of completion       Number of   Frequency of   burden per    annual     hourly cost    opportunity
                                respondents    response      response     burden       amount          cost
                                                            (minutes)     (hours)    (dollars) *   (dollars) **
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRES Internet Registrations..       266,210             1            5      22,184      * $37.63     ** $834,784
IRES Internet Requestors.....    14,472,710             1            2     482,424       * 37.63   ** 18,153,615
IRES CS (CSA) Registrations..         2,216             1           11         406       * 37.63       ** 15,278
                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.......................    14,741,136  ............  ...........     505,014  ............   ** 19,003,677
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We based this figure on average U.S. citizen's hourly salary, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data
  (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm); hourly wages for Information and Record Keeping Analysts hourly
  salary, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data. (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes434199.htm); and
  average hourly wages for paralegals/legal assistants and lawyers as posted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor
  Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm).
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to
  complete this application; rather, these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents
  will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to respondents to complete the application.

    2. Notification of a Social Security Number (SSN) to an Employer 
for Wage Reporting Purposes--20 CFR 422.103(a)--0960-0778. Individuals 
applying for employment must provide a SSN or indicate they have 
applied for one. However, when an individual applies for an initial 
SSN, there is a delay between the assignment of the number and the 
delivery of the SSN card. At an individual's request, SSA uses Form 
SSA-132 to send the individual's SSN to an employer. Mailing this 
information to the employer: (1) ensures the employer has the correct 
SSN for the individual; (2) allows SSA to receive correct earnings 
information for wage reporting purposes; and (3) reduces the delay in 
the initial SSN assignment and delivery of the SSN information directly 
to the employer. It also enables SSA to verify the employer as a 
safeguard for the applicant's personally identifiable information. The 
respondents are individuals applying for an initial SSN who ask SSA to 
mail confirmation of their application or the SSN to their employers.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

[[Page 1589]]

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                                                                                       Estimated       Average
                                                                           Average       total       theoretical    Average wait time     Total annual
        Modality of completion             Number of     Frequency of    burden per      annual      hourly cost     in field office    opportunity cost
                                          respondents      response       response       burden        amount         (minutes) **       (dollars) ***
                                                                          (minutes)     (hours)      (dollars) *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-132...............................        361,902               1             5       30,159        * $31.48               ** 24     *** $5,506,482
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We based this figure on the average U.S. worker's hourly wages, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm).
** We based this figure on the average FY 2025 wait times for field offices, based on SSA's current management information data.
*** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
  these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
  respondents to complete the application.

    Dated: January 2, 2025
Naomi Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2025-00128 Filed 1-7-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P
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