Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 1995 / Proposed Rules 3787

comments filed in response to this

notice, the rule changes will be

promulgated in accordance with the

APA (see 5 U.S.C. § 553), and will be

codified in 19 CFR part 210.

Dated: January 11, 1995.

By Order of the Commission.

Donna R. Koehnke,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–1332 Filed 1–18–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7020–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Social Security Administration

20 CFR Parts 404 and 422

RIN 0960–AD74

Statement of Earnings and Benefit

Estimates

AGENCY: Social Security Administration,

HHS.

ACTION: Proposed rules.

SUMMARY: We are proposing to revise

our rules on sending statements of

earnings and benefit information to

individuals. Under our current rules,

which implement section 1143(a) of the

Social Security Act (the Act), we are

required to send a statement to an

eligible individual who requests it.

Under these proposed rules, we will

provide the statement without a request

to an eligible individual, as required by

section 1143(c) of the Act.

DATES: Your comments will be

considered if we receive them no later

than March 20, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

submitted in writing to the

Commissioner of Social Security,

Department of Health and Human

Services, P.O. Box 1585, Baltimore, MD

21235, sent by telefax to (410) 966–

0869, or delivered to the Office of

Regulations, Social Security

Administration, 3–B–1 Operations

Building, 6401 Security Boulevard,

Baltimore, MD 21235, between 8:00 a.m.

and 4:30 p.m. on regular business days.

Comments received may be inspected

during these same hours by making

arrangements with the contact person

shown below.

The electronic file of this document is

available on the Federal Bulletin Board

(FBB) at 9 a.m. on the date of

publication in the Federal Register. To

download the file, modem dial (202)

512–1387. The FBB instructions will

explain how to download the file and

the fee. This file is in Wordperfect and

will remain on the FBB during the

comment period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack

Schanberger, Legal Assistant, 3–B–1

Operations Building, 6401 Security

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235, (410)

965–8471.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

1143 of the Act requires the Secretary of

Health and Human Services (the

Secretary) to provide to eligible

individuals ‘‘a social security account

statement’’ (statement). We must fulfill

this requirement in three phases. In the

first phase, we were required, by

October 1, 1990, to provide, upon the

request of an ‘‘eligible individual,’’ a

statement that contains certain

information described below. Section

1143 defines an ‘‘eligible individual’’ as

one who has a social security account

number, has attained age 25 or over, and

has wages or net earnings from selfemployment.

The statement we provide under

section 1143 of the Act must contain the

following information as of the date of

the request:

1. The amount of wages paid to and

self-employment income derived by the

individual;

2. An estimate of the aggregate of the

employee and self-employment

contributions of the individual for oldage, survivors’, and disability insurance

benefits;

3. A separate estimate of the aggregate

of the employee and self-employment

contributions of the individual for

medicare hospital insurance coverage;

and

4. An estimate of the potential

monthly retirement (old-age), disability,

dependents’, and survivors’ insurance

benefits payable on the individual’s

earnings record and a description of

medicare hospital insurance coverage.

We are carrying out this first phase,

which is required by section 1143(a) of

the Act and which we explained in the

final rules published November 23,

1992, in the Federal Register (57 FR

54917). In these proposed rules, we

explain how we will fulfill our

obligations in the second and third

phases of section 1143.

The second phase of providing

statements, as stated in section

1143(c)(1) of the Act, requires that by

not later than September 30, 1995, we

must furnish this statement to each

‘‘eligible individual’’ who has attained

age 60 by October 1, 1994 (i.e., by the

beginning of fiscal year 1995), is not

receiving benefits under title II of the

Act, and for whom we can determine a

current mailing address by methods we

consider appropriate. We must also

send this statement to each ‘‘eligible

individual’’ who attains age 60 in fiscal

years 1995 through 1999, i.e., October 1,

1994 through September 30, 1999, if the

individual is not receiving benefits

under title II of the Act, and if we can

determine a current mailing address by

methods we consider appropriate. In the

case of an individual who attains age 60

in fiscal years 1995 through 1999, we

will mail a statement to the individual

in the fiscal year in which he or she

attains age 60. We will mail the

statement without requiring a request

from the individual. We will also advise

individuals receiving these statements

that the information in our records will

be updated annually and is available

upon request.

The third phase of providing

statements, as stated in section

1143(c)(2) of the Act, requires that

beginning not later than October 1,

1999, we must provide this statement on

an annual basis to each ‘‘eligible

individual’’ who is not receiving

benefits under title II and for whom we

can determine a current mailing address

by methods we consider appropriate.

We must provide a statement without a

request from the individual and, unlike

the second phase, regardless of whether

the eligible individual has attained age

60.

To implement the second phase of

section 1143, we will use our records of

assigned social security account

numbers to identify eligible individuals

who will attain age 60 by the

appropriate times and who are not

receiving benefits under title II of the

Act. We have decided that the

appropriate method now for

determining an individual’s current

mailing address is to obtain it from the

individual taxpayer files of the Internal

Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS is

authorized by section 6103(m)(7) of the

Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.

6103(m)(7)), as added by section 5111 of

Public Law 101–508 (the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990), to

disclose this information to us for our

use in mailing the statements required

by section 1143 of the Act. This source

of address information is readily

available to us, i.e., electronically

accessible, using social security

numbers as identifiers, and was clearly

contemplated by Congress in the

enactment of section 6103(m)(7) of the

Internal Revenue Code.

Because individuals who live in

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and

Guam generally are not required to pay

Federal income taxes, the IRS does not

have their addresses. We have arranged

to use the addresses from their local
3788 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 1995 / Proposed Rules

taxpayer records, which the tax agencies

in these three entities will provide to us.

In these proposed regulations, we

state the circumstances under which we

will not send an unrequested statement.

Those circumstances, stated in proposed

§ 404.812(b), are based on our judgment

that sending, or attempting to send, a

statement to specified categories of

individuals would not reasonably be

required under section 1143 of the Act.

We will mail the statements

throughout the fiscal year, rather than in

one mass mailing. This is an

administratively effective and costefficient method of handling the more

than 6 million statements we will mail

in fiscal year 1995 and the nearly 2

million we expect to mail in each fiscal

year 1996 through 1999. The statements

we send to eligible individuals who

attain age 60 during fiscal years 1995

through 1999 or attain age 60 by the

start of fiscal year 1995 will be mailed

throughout the fiscal year so that

individuals will receive statements in

the fiscal year in which they qualify to

receive one, as required by section 1143.

To implement the third phase of

section 1143, i.e., sending an annual

statement to eligible individuals who

are not receiving benefits under title II

of the Act, we will follow essentially the

same procedures as those for the second

phase of sending statements to eligible

individuals age 60 or older, except that

we will send statements to all eligible

individuals, i.e., those age 25 and older.

In the final rules we published on

November 23, 1992 (57 FR 54917), we

revised § 404.810 to describe an

individual’s right to obtain a statement

of earnings and benefit estimate, how to

request it, and the information we need

to comply with the request. In a new

§ 404.811, we listed the information that

we will furnish in the statement of

earnings and benefit estimate. Further,

we revised § 422.125 so that most of the

rules on statements of earnings and

benefit estimates are now located in

Subpart I of Part 404.

In these proposed regulations, we are

revising § 404.811 for consistency with

the new § 404.812, which explains the

statement we will send without a

request, as required by section 1143(c)

of the Act. We will also indicate

whether the individual has the required

credits (quarters of coverage) to be

eligible for each type of benefit, and the

ages at which various retirement

amounts are potentially payable.

When individuals request statements,

they are asked for information about

when they expect to retire, i.e., stop

working, how much they earned last

year, and how much they expect to earn

this year and in future years up to

retirement. In § 404.811, we explain that

if the individual does not already have

the required credits (quarters of

coverage) to be eligible to receive

benefits, we may include up to eight

additional estimated credits (four per

year maximum) based on the requester’s

information about earnings for last year

and this year that are not yet on our

records. In addition, we state that the

benefit estimate will be based partly on

the information the requester provided

about his or her planned retirement age

and current and future earnings.

For the unrequested statements, we

will not have information from the

individual. Instead, we will estimate the

individual’s recent and future earnings

based on his or her current social

security record. In § 404.812, we explain

that if there are earnings recorded in

either of the two years before the year

in which the individual is selected to

get a statement, we will use the same

earnings amount as that recorded in the

later of these two years to project

earnings for the current year and future

years when we estimate the benefits. In

addition, if the individual does not

already have the required credits

(quarters of coverage) to be eligible to

receive benefits, we will use that last

recorded earnings amount to estimate

up to eight additional credits (four per

year) for the last year and the current

year. If there are no earnings recorded

in either of the 2 years preceding the

year of selection, we will not estimate

any current and future earnings or

additional credits (quarters of coverage)

for the individual.

In summary, both §§ 404.811 and

404.812 list the information that we will

include in the revised statement format.

In addition, § 404.812 explains who will

be sent an unrequested statement, who

will not be sent an unrequested

statement, and the selection and mailing

process we will use. We are also

proposing to amend § 422.125 to

conform it to the changes we have

described for subpart I of part 404.

Regulatory Procedures

Executive Order 12866

The Office of Management and Budget

has reviewed these rules and

determined that they do not meet the

criteria for a significant regulatory

action under E.O. 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

We certify that these proposed

regulations will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities since these

regulations affect only individuals.

Therefore, a regulatory flexibility

analysis as provided in Pub. L. 96–354,

the Regulatory Flexibility Act, is not

required.

Paperwork Reduction Act

These proposed regulations impose

no additional reporting and

recordkeeping requirements subject to

Office of Management and Budget

clearance.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 93.802 Social SecurityDisability Insurance; 93.803 Social SecurityRetirement Insurance; 93.805 Social SecuritySurvivors Insurance; 93.773 MedicareHospital Insurance)

List of Subjects

20 CFR Part 404

Administrative practice and

procedure; Blind; Disability benefits;

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability

Insurance; Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements; Social Security.

20 CFR Part 422

Administrative practice and

procedure; Freedom of information;

Organization and functions

(Government agencies); Social Security.

Dated: June 28, 1994.

Shirley Chater,

Commissioner of Social Security.

Approved: August 31, 1994.

Donna E. Shalala,

Secretary of Health and Human Services.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, we propose to amend Subpart

I of Part 404 of 20 CFR Chapter III and

Subpart B of Part 422 of 20 CFR Chapter

III as follows:

PART 404—FEDERAL OLD-AGE,

SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY

INSURANCE (1950– )

1. The authority citation for Subpart

I of Part 404 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: Secs. 205(a), (c)(1), (c)(2)(A),

(c)(4), (c)(5), (c)(6), and (p), 1102 and 1143 of

the Social Security Act; 42 U.S.C. 405(a),

(c)(1), (c)(2)(A), (c)(4), (c)(5), (c)(6), and (p),

1302, and 1320b–13.

2. Section 404.811 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 404.811 The statement of earnings and

benefit estimates you requested.

(a) General. After receiving a request

for a statement of earnings and the

information we need to comply with the

request, we will provide you or your

authorized representative a statement of

the earnings we have credited to your

record at the time of your request. With

the statement of earnings, we will

include estimates of the benefits
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 1995 / Proposed Rules 3789

potentially payable on your record,

unless you do not have the required

credits (quarters of coverage) for any

kind of benefit(s). (However, see

paragraph (b)(3) of this section regarding

the possibility of our estimating up to

eight additional credits on your record.)

If we do not provide a statement of

earnings and an estimate of all the

benefits potentially payable, or any

other information you requested, we

will explain why.

(b) Contents of statement of earnings

and benefit estimate. The statement of

your earnings and benefit estimates will

contain the following information:

(1) Your social security taxed earnings

as shown by our records as of the date

of your request;

(2) An estimate of the social security

and medicare hospital insurance taxes

paid on your earnings (although we do

not maintain tax information);

(3) The number of credits, i.e.,

quarters of coverage, not exceeding 40,

you have for both social security and

medicare hospital insurance purposes,

and the number you need to be eligible

for social security and also for medicare

hospital insurance coverage. If you do

not already have the required credits

(quarters of coverage) to be eligible to

receive social security benefits and

medicare hospital insurance coverage,

we may include up to eight additional

estimated credits (four per year) based

on the earnings you told us you had for

last year and this year that we have not

yet entered on your record;

(4) A statement as to whether you

meet the credits (quarters of coverage)

requirements, as described in subpart B

of this part, for each type of social

security benefit when we prepare the

benefit estimates, and also whether you

are eligible for medicare hospital

insurance coverage;

(5) Estimates of the monthly

retirement (old-age), disability,

dependents’ and survivors’ insurance

benefits potentially payable on your

record if you meet the credits (quarters

of coverage) requirements. The benefit

estimates we send you will be based

partly on your stated earnings for last

year (if not yet on your record), your

estimate of your earnings for the current

year and for future years before you plan

to retire, and on the age at which you

plan to retire. The estimate will include

the retirement (old-age) insurance

benefits you could receive at age 62 (or

your current age if you are already over

age 62), at full retirement age (currently

age 65 to 67, depending on your year of

birth) or at your current age if you are

already over full retirement age, and at

age 70;

(6) A description of the coverage

under the medicare program;

(7) A reminder of your right to request

a correction of your earnings record; and

(8) A remark that an annually updated

statement is available on request.

3. Section 404.812 is added to read as

follows:

§ 404.812 Statement of earnings and

benefit estimates sent without request.

(a) Who will be sent a statement.

Unless one of the conditions in

paragraph (b) of this section applies to

you, we will send you, without request,

a statement of earnings and benefit

estimates if:

(1) You have a social security account

number;

(2) You have wages or net earnings

from self-employment on your social

security record;

(3) You have attained age 60 or older

by October 1, 1994; you attain age 60

after October 1, 1994, but before October

1, 1999; or, beginning October 1, 1999,

you have attained age 25 or older;

(4) We can determine your current

mailing address.

(b) Who will not be sent a statement.

We will not send you an unrequested

statement if any of the following

conditions apply:

(1) You do not meet one or more of

the conditions of paragraph (a) of this

section;

(2) Our records contain a notation of

your death;

(3) You are entitled to benefits under

title II of the Act;

(4) We have already sent you a

statement, based on your request, in the

fiscal year we selected you to receive an

unrequested statement;

(5) We cannot obtain your address

(see paragraph (c)(2) of this section); or

(6) We are correcting your social

security earnings record when we select

you to receive a statement of earnings

and benefit estimates.

(c) The selection and mailing process.

Subject to the provisions of paragraphs

(a) and (b) of this section, we will use

the following process for sending

statements without requests:

(1) Selection. We will use our records

of assigned social security account

numbers to identify individuals to

whom we will send statements.

(2) Addresses. If you are living in one

of the 50 States, our current procedure

is to get your address from individual

taxpayer files of the Internal Revenue

Service, as authorized by section

6103(m)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code

(26 U.S.C. 6103(m)(7)). If you live in

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or

Guam, we will get your address from the

taxpayer records of the Territory in

which you live.

(3) Age. If you have attained age 60 by

October 1, 1994, we will send you a

statement on or before September 30,

1995. If you attain age 60 after October

1, 1994 but before October 1, 1999, we

will send you a statement in the fiscal

year, i.e., October 1 through September

30, in which you attain age 60. In either

case, we will inform you that an

annually updated statement is available

on request. Beginning October 1, 1999,

we will send you a statement each year

in which you are age 25 or older.

(4) Ineligible. If we do not send you

a statement because one or more

conditions in paragraph (b) of this

section apply when you are selected, we

will send a statement in the first

appropriate fiscal year thereafter in

which you do qualify.

(5) Undeliverable. If the statement we

send you is returned by the Post Office

as undeliverable, we will not remail it.

(d) Contents of statement of earnings

and benefit estimates. To prepare your

statement and estimate your benefits,

we will use the earnings on our records.

If there are earnings recorded for you in

either of the 2 years before the year in

which you are selected to get a

statement, we will use the later of these

earnings as your earnings for the current

year and future years when we estimate

your benefits. In addition, if you do not

already have the required credits

(quarters of coverage) to be eligible to

receive benefits, we will use that last

recorded earnings amount to estimate

up to eight additional credits (four per

year) for last year and the current year

if they are not yet entered on your

record. If there are no earnings entered

on your record in either of the two years

preceding the year of selection, we will

not estimate current and future earnings

or additional credits for you. Your

earnings and benefit estimate statement

will contain the following information:

(1) Your social security taxed earnings

as shown by our records as of the date

we select you to receive a statement;

(2) An estimate of the social security

and medicare hospital insurance taxes

paid on your earnings (although we do

not maintain tax information);

(3) The number of credits, i.e.,

quarters of coverage, not exceeding 40

(as described in paragraph (d) of this

section), that you have for both social

security and medicare hospital

insurance purposes, and the number

you need to be eligible for social

security benefits and also for medicare

hospital insurance coverage;

(4) A statement as to whether you

meet the credit (quarters of coverage)

requirements, as described in subpart B

of this part, for each type of social

security benefit when we prepare the
3790 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 1995 / Proposed Rules

benefit estimates, and also whether you

are eligible for medicare hospital

insurance coverage;

(5) Estimates of the monthly

retirement (old-age), disability,

dependents’ and survivors’ insurance

benefits potentially payable on your

record if you meet the credits (quarters

of coverage) requirements. If you are age

50 or older, the estimates will include

the retirement (old-age) insurance

benefits you could receive at age 62 (or

your current age if you are already over

age 62), at full retirement age (currently

age 65 to 67, depending on your year of

birth) or at your current age if you are

already over full retirement age, and at

age 70. If you are under age 50, instead

of estimates, we may provide a general

description of the benefits (including

auxiliary benefits) that are available

upon retirement.

(6) A description of the coverage

provided under the medicare program;

(7) A reminder of your right to request

a correction of your earnings record; and

(8) A remark that an annually updated

statement is available on request.

PART 422—ORGANIZATION AND

PROCEDURES

1. The authority citation for Subpart

B of Part 422 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: Secs. 205, 1102, and 1143 of the

Social Security Act; 42 U.S.C. 405, 1302, and

1320b–13.

2. Section 422.125 is amended by

revising paragraphs (a) and (b) to read

as follows:

§ 422.125 Statement of earnings; resolving

earnings discrepancies.

(a) Obtaining a statement of earnings

and estimated benefits. An individual

may obtain a statement of the earnings

on his earnings record and an estimate

of social security benefits potentially

payable on his record either by writing,

calling, or visiting any social security

office, or by waiting until we send him

one under the procedure described in

§ 404.812. An individual may request

this statement by completing the proper

form or by otherwise providing the

information the Social Security

Administration requires, as explained in

§ 404.810(b).

(b) Statement of earnings and

estimated benefits. Upon receipt of such

a request or as required by section

1143(c) of the Social Security Act, the

Social Security Administration will

provide the individual, without charge,

a statement of earnings and benefit

estimate or an earnings statement. See

§§ 404.810ff concerning the information

contained in these statements.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 95–1309 Filed 1–18–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4190–29–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 934

North Dakota Regulatory Program

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening and

extension of public comment period on

proposed amendment.

SUMMARY: OSM is announcing receipt of

revisions and additional explanatory

information pertaining to a previously

proposed amendment to the North

Dakota regulatory program (hereinafter,

the ‘‘North Dakota program’’) under the

Surface Mining Control and

Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The

revisions and additional explanatory

information pertain to North Dakota’s

‘‘Standards for Evaluation of

Revegetation Success and

Recommended Procedures for Pre- and

Postmining Vegetation Assessments.’’

The amendment is intended to revise

this document to be consistent with the

Federal regulations and to improve

operational efficiency.

DATES: Written comments must be

received by 4:00 p.m., m.s.t., February 3,

1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be mailed or hand delivered to Guy

Padgett at the address listed below.

Copies of the North Dakota program,

the proposed amendment, and all

written comments received in response

to this document will be available for

public review at the addresses listed

below during normal business hours,

Monday through Friday, excluding

holidays. Each requester may receive

one free copy of the proposed

amendment by contacting OSM’s Casper

Field Office.

Guy Padgett, Director, Casper Field

Office, Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement, 100

East B Street, Room 2128, Casper, WY

82601–1918, Telephone: (307) 261–

5776.

Edward J. Englerth, Director,

Reclamation Division, North Dakota

Public Service Commission, Capitol

Building, Bismarck, ND 58505–

0165, Telephone: (701) 224–4092.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Guy Padgett, Telephone: (307) 261–

5776.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the North Dakota

Program

On December 15, 1980, the Secretary

of the Interior conditionally approved

the North Dakota program. General

background information on the North

Dakota program, including the

Secretary’s findings, the disposition of

comments, and the conditions of

approval of the North Dakota program

can be found in the December 15, 1980,

Federal Register (45 FR 82214).

Subsequent actions concerning North

Dakota’s program and program

amendments can be found at 30 CFR

934.12, 934.13, 934.15, 934.16, and

934.30.

II. Proposed Amendment

By letter dated February 17, 1994,

North Dakota submitted a proposed

amendment to its program pursuant to

SMCRA (administrative record No. ND–

U–01). North Dakota submitted the

proposed revisions to its ‘‘Standards for

Evaluation of Revegetation Success and

Recommended Procedures for Pre- and

Postmining Vegetation Assessments’’

(hereinafter, the ‘‘revegetation success

document’’) in response to required

program amendments at 30 CFR 934.16

(b) through (i), (w), and (x), and at its

own initiative.

OSM announced receipt of the

proposed amendment in the March 14,

1994, Federal Register (49 FR 11744),

provided an opportunity for a public

hearing or meeting on its substantive

adequacy, and invited public comment

on its adequacy (administrative record

No. ND–U–05). Because no one

requested a public hearing or meeting,

none was held. The public comment

period ended on April 13, 1994.

During its review of the amendment,

OSM identified concerns relating to (1)

Revegetation success standards for

recreation, residential, or industrial and

commercial postmining land uses; (2)

revegetation success standards for prime

farmlands; (3) use of sampling

procedures not included in an approved

State program; (4) revegetation success

standards for tame pastureland; (5)

consultation with the appropriate State

agencies for stocking and planting

arrangements for woodland and

shelterbelt postmining land uses; (6)

revegetation success standards for nonreplacement shelterbelt postmining land

use; (7) designation of fish and wildlife

habitat and the premining assessment

for fish and wildlife habitat; (8)

revegetation success standards for

wetlands and annual grain crops used

for fish and wildlife habitat; (9) the

establishment of a maximum sample