12964 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 46 / Thursday, March 9, 1995 / Notices

Services Administration, the Director, Bureau

of Health Professions, the Director, Division

of Nursing, and staff reports. The council will

also meet in breakout groups to discuss

current issues related to nurse education and

practice.

The meeting will be closed to the public

on April 28, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for

review of grant applications for Nursing

Education Opportunities for Individuals from

Disadvantaged Backgrounds. The closing is

in accordance with the provisions set forth in

section 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., and the

Determination by the Associate

Administrator for Policy Coordination,

Health Resources and Services

Administration, pursuant to Public Law 92–

463.

Anyone wishing to obtain a roster of

members, minutes of meetings, or other

relevant information should write or contact

R. Margaret Truax, Executive Secretary,

National Advisory Council on Nurse

Education and Practice, Parklawn Building,

Room 9–35, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville,

Maryland 20857, Telephone (301) 443–5786.

Agenda Items are subject to change as

priorities dictate.

Dated: March 3, 1995.

Jackie E. Baum,

Advisory Committee Management Officer,

HRSA.

[FR Doc. 95–5693 Filed 3–8–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–15–P

Social Security Administration

Privacy Act of 1974; Report of New

Routine Use

AGENCY: Social Security Administration

(SSA), Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: New Routine Use.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and

(11)), we are issuing public notice of our

intent to establish a new routine use

applicable to the system of records

entitled Master Files of Social Security

Number (SSN) Holders and SSN

Applications, HHS/SSA/OSR, 09–60–

0058. Under agreement with

participating States, the proposed

routine use will allow SSA to disclose

Social Security numbers assigned to

newborn children to the State in which

the births are registered.

We invite public comment on this

publication.

DATES: We filed a report of a new

routine use with the Chairman,

Committee on Government Reform and

Oversight of the House of

Representatives, the Chairman,

Committee on Governmental Affairs of

the Senate, and the Administrator,

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget on February 28, 1995. The

routine use will become effective as

proposed, without further notice, on

April 18, 1995, unless we receive

comments on or before that date which

would warrant preventing the routine

use from taking effect.

ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may

comment on this publication by writing

to the SSA Privacy Officer, Social

Security Administration, Room 3–A–6

Operations Building, 6401 Security

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235.

(FAX number: 410/966–0869). All

comments received will be available for

public inspection at that address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas E. Price, Social Insurance

Specialist, Confidentiality and

Disclosure Branch, Office of Disclosure

Policy, Social Security Administration,

3–A–6 Operations Building, 6401

Security Boulevard, Baltimore,

Maryland 21235, telephone 410–965–

6011.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion of Proposed Routine Use

More than four million children are

born each year in the United States. The

Social Security Administration (SSA)

has encouraged application for, and

assignment of, Social Security account

numbers (SSN) to children at birth since

1989. To that end, SSA’s Enumeration at

Birth (EAB) program allows parents of

newborn infants in most States to

request an SSN as part of the State’s

birth registration process. When the

EAB program is not used, parents can

apply for a child’s SSN for income tax

purposes at a local SSA field office.

State bureaus of vital statistics (BVS)

accumulate the birth registration

information received from hospitals and

periodically send SSA an electronic file

with the data needed to assign SSNs to

the individuals in the file. SSA

processes the file, assigns the SSNs, and

sends an SSN card for each newborn to

the child’s parents.

Under the EAB program, SSA does

not send the child’s SSN to the State

BVS unless the parents have agreed.

Seven States now ask for parental

consent to allow the child’s SSN to

become part of the birth record.

The proposed routine use would

permit SSA to send the SSNs of

newborns, and as a one time disclosure,

the SSNs of children born since

December 31, 1990, to the State BVS in

which a birth is recorded without

having to secure parental consent. The

SSN would become part of the

confidential portion of the birth record.

Parents would also be given the option

of requesting that their child’s SSN not

be included in the birth record.

States could use these SSNs as the

primary identifying numbers in

administering public health and income

maintenance programs and in statistical

research and evaluation projects. Public

health program uses of the SSNs would

include, but are not limited to,

establishing public immunization

registries, ensuring complete birth

record registration by matching vital

records with neonatal test results,

conducting studies of factors

contributing to infant mortality by

linking birth and death records, and

evaluating the efficacy of intervention

programs such as the Women, Infants

and Children (WIC) nutrition program,

‘‘Healthy Start’’ or other health

maintenance programs. Income

maintenance program purposes for

which the States could use the SSNs

include verifying the identity of

applicants for services to families and

children.

In all research and statistical studies

involving record linkages with other

data bases, the SSNs provided under

this routine use would serve as the

primary matching key, but would not be

released for public use. Once the

records are linked and a data set

created, the personal identifying

information (including SSNs) is usually

removed. The resulting data set is used

for aggregate analysis. Personal

identifiers are retained in the data set

only when they are determined to be

necessary to the outcome of the study by

an Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Internal IRBs review all proposals for

health research on human subjects in

institutions conducting such research.

IRBs also examine proposed protocols of

investigations to determine if any

unwarranted harm to individuals would

result from the use of identifying data.

One benefit of the proposed new

routine use is the potential value of the

SSN to statewide Childhood

Immunization Registries. Ensuring that

all children complete the recommended

series of immunizations (14 to 15 doses

of vaccines by the second birthday) is

the main goal of immunization

programs. Although approximately 95%

of all children in the United States begin

the recommended series of

immunizations, only about half

complete the series by two years of age,

a critical period for childhood disease

prevention.

Statewide immunization information

systems are a partial response to the

problem of incomplete immunizations.

Evaluating the immunization status of

individuals is difficult because roughly

40% of children receive their

immunizations from two or more

providers and many parents do not
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 46 / Thursday, March 9, 1995 / Notices 12965

maintain accurate records. In a joint

effort, State and Federal agencies are

working together to create, in each State,

a statewide childhood immunization

registry which contains, for each

individual, not the details of the

immunization history, but the location

of the immunization information system

that contains the history.

In such a system, immunization

details would be maintained locally by

providers themselves in their own data

systems. Subject to applicable privacy

safeguards and requirements, including

the consent of parents or guardians

when legally required, a statewide

record system would provide a means

for exchanging immunization

information between providers when

(and only when) necessary, transferring

immunization histories when

individuals move from one State to

another, and assessing the

immunization status of the State and

nation. Using the SSN as the primary

identifying record number would

facilitate the process and lower the cost

of creating and operating a national

network of coordinated statewide

immunization registries. To ensure that

the registries contain a complete census

of preschool children for the purposes

described in the routine use proposal,

SSA will, on a one time, retroactive

basis, provide the participating States’

BVSs with the SSNs of children born

after December 31, 1990.

SSA discloses information from its

systems of records to certain entities

that use the information for a purpose

that is compatible with the purpose for

which SSA collects it. Such disclosures

may include providing an individual’s

correct SSN to an entity which has

either no record of the individual’s SSN

or an incorrect one, or verifying only the

fact that an entity has an individual’s

correct SSN. In the case of State BVSs,

SSA would provide the correct SSN or

verify correct SSNs under the proposed

routine use.

The proposed routine use will read as

follows:

To State vital records and statistics

agencies, the SSNs of newborn children

for administering public health and

income maintenance programs,

including conducting statistical studies

and evaluation projects.

We are not publishing in its entirety

the notice of the system of records to

which we are adding the new routine

use statement. A notice of that system,

the Master Files of Social Security

Number (SSN) Holders and SSN

Applications, HHS/SSA/OSR, 09–60–

0058, was last published in the Federal

Register at 60 FR 2144, January 6, 1995.

II. Compatibility of Proposed Routine

Use

We are proposing the changes

discussed above in accordance with the

Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(7),

(b)(3), and (e)(11)) and our disclosure

regulation (20 CFR 401.310).

As discussed above, the Privacy Act

permits us to disclose information about

individuals without their consent for a

routine use, i.e., for a purpose that is

compatible with the purpose for which

we collected the information. Consistent

with the Privacy Act, under 20 CFR

401.310 we may disclose information

under a routine use for administering

our programs, for income or health

maintenance programs of other

agencies, and for epidemiological and

similar research. SSA assigns SSNs to

children as personal identifiers for

efficient administration of the Social

Security Act (Act), based in part on

section 205(c)(2)(B)(i)(IV) of the Act,

which authorizes SSA to take

affirmative measures to assure that SSNs

are assigned to below school age

children at the request of their parents

or guardians, and for helping detect and

deter the illegal conduct described in

section 208(a)(7) of the Act. States have

authority under their own laws to create

and maintain State registries of births.

They have a compelling interest in

protecting the integrity of their birth

registries and in preventing birth

certificate fraud. The internal use by

States of SSNs for identification

purposes, efficient administration of

health and income maintenance

programs, and statistical studies is

compatible with the purposes for which

SSA assigns and maintains SSNs and,

thus, meets the criteria for the

establishment of a routine use under the

Privacy Act and the regulation.

III. Effect of the Proposal on Individual

Rights

As discussed above, the proposed

new routine use will permit SSA to

send the SSNs of newborns to State

BVSs in which the births are recorded.

The SSN would thus become part of the

confidential portion of the birth record

and would be available only for State

use in health and income maintenance

administration and research. It would

not appear on the public portion of the

record, the birth certificate. Strict

protection of the confidentiality of the

SSN by the State is required by Federal

law. SSA will follow all statutory and

regulatory requirements for disclosure.

Agreements between SSA and the States

will govern access to the SSNs and will

incorporate the required statutory and

regulatory safeguards. In addition, the

agreements will include a provision that

requires States to notify parents that

they may request that their child’s SSN

be removed from the birth record. Thus,

we do not anticipate that the proposed

disclosure to the States will have any

adverse effect on the privacy or other

rights of individuals.

Dated: February 28, 1995.

Shirley S. Chater,

Commissioner of Social Security.

[FR Doc. 95–5632 Filed 3–8–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4190–29–P

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Office of Administration

[Docket No. N–95–3897]

Notice of Submission of Proposed

Information Collection to OMB

AGENCY: Office of Administration, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The proposed information

collection requirement described below

has been submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) for

review, as required by the Paperwork

Reduction Act. The Department is

soliciting public comments on the

subject proposal.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit comments regarding

this proposal. Comments must be

received on or before April 10, 1995.

Comments should refer to the proposal

by name and should be sent to: Joseph

F. Lackey, Jr., OMB Desk Officer, Office

of Management and Budget, New

Executive Office Building, Washington,

DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kay F. Weaver, Reports Management

Officer, Department of Housing and

Urban Development, 451 7th Street,

Southwest, Washington, DC 20410,

telephone (202) 708–0050. This is not a

toll-free number. Copies of the proposed

forms and other available documents

submitted to OMB may be obtained

from Ms. Weaver.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Department has submitted the proposal

for the collection of information, as

described below, to OMB for review, as

required by the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

The Notice lists the following

information: (1) the title of the

information collection proposal; (2) the

office of the agency to collect the

information; (3) the description of the

need for the information and its