Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 4, 2017 / Notices 46339 

Jeffrey Wilcke, Ethereum Foundation); Mark T. 

Williams, Finance Professor, Boston University 

(Mar. 13, 2017); Clark Haley (Apr. 15, 2017); Daniel 

Warsh, Managing Member, Warberg Asset 

Management (Jun. 8, 2017); Murray Stahl, 

Chairman, CEO, CIO, and Hugh Ross, COO, Horizon 

Kinetics LLC (Jun. 12, 2017); Tim Lewkow, 

Founder, Wealth Manager (Jun. 14, 2017); Jerry 

Brito, Executive Director, Coin Center (Jun. 20, 

2017); Sheri Kaiserman, Managing Director, 

Wedbush Securities (Jun. 20, 2017); Douglas M. 

Yones, Head of Exchange Traded Products, New 

York Stock Exchange, and Elizabeth King, General 

Counsel, New York Stock Exchange (Jun. 28, 2017); 

Arthur Levitt (Jul. 5, 2017); Jeffrey McCarthy, CEO, 

Exchange Traded Funds, The Bank of New York 

Mellon (Jul. 7, 2017); Ari Paul, CIO and Managing 

Partner, Block Tower Capital (Jul. 9, 2017); Dr. 

James Smith, CEO, Elliptic (Jul. 18, 2017); Prof. 

Campbell R. Harvey, Fuqua School of Business, 

Duke University, et al. (Aug. 28, 2017); James J. 

Angel, Associate Professor of Finance, McDonough 

School of Business, Georgetown University (Sept. 

11, 2017); Matt Corallo (Sept. 11, 2017); Joseph A. 

Hall, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. All comments on 

the proposed rule change, as well as a copy of the 

presentation submitted in a meeting with the 

Commission’s staff on July 7, 2017, are available on 

the Commission’s Web site at: https://www.sec.gov/ 

comments/sr-nysearca-2017-06/ 

nysearca201706.htm. 

10 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1Sections 223(d)(5)(A) and 1614(a)(3)(H)(i) of the 

Act, 42 USC 423(d)(5)(A) and 1382c(a)(3)(H)(i). 

2 20 CFR 404.1512(a) and 416.912(a). 

3 20 CFR 404.935(a) and 416.1435(a). 

4 81 FR 90987. 

5 81 FR 45079, 45080 (2016). 

6 20 CFR 404.1710(a) and 416.1510(a). 

7 20 CFR 404.1740 and 416.1540. 

8 20 CFR 404.1740(b)(1) and 416.1540(b)(1). 

9 20 CFR 404.1740(b)(2) and 416.1540(b)(2). 

On September 27, 2017, the Exchange 

withdrew the proposed rule change 

(SR–NYSEArca–2017–06), as modified 

by Amendment No. 2. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.10

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2017–21275 Filed 10–3–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

[Docket No. SSA–2017–0048] 

Social Security Ruling, SSR 17–4p; 

Titles II and XVI: Responsibility for 

Developing Written Evidence 

AGENCY: Social Security Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of Social Security Ruling 

(SSR). 

SUMMARY: We are providing notice of 

SSR 17–4p. This SSR clarifies our 

responsibilities and the responsibilities 

of a claimant and a claimant’s 

representative to develop evidence and 

other information in disability and 

blindness claims. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patrick McGuire, Office of Appellate 

Operations, Social Security 

Administration, 5107 Leesburg Pike, 

Falls Church, VA 22041, (703) 605– 

7100. For information on eligibility or 

filing for benefits, call our national tollfree number, 1–800–772–1213 or TTY 

1–800–325–0778, or visit our Internet 

site, Social Security Online, at http://

www.socialsecurity.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Although 

5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1) and (a)(2) do not 

require us to publish this SSR, we are 

doing so in accordance with 20 CFR 

402.35(b)(1). 

Through SSRs, we make available to 

the public precedential decisions 

relating to the Federal old-age, 

survivors, disability, supplemental 

security income, and special veterans’ 

benefits programs. We may base SSRs 

on determinations or decisions made at 

all levels of administrative adjudication, 

Federal court decisions, Commissioner’s 

decisions, opinions of the Office of the 

General Counsel, or other 

interpretations of the law and 

regulations. 

Although SSRs do not have the same 

force and effect as statutes or 

regulations, they are binding on all 

components of the Social Security 

Administration. 20 CFR 402.35(b)(1). 

This SSR will remain in effect until 

we publish a notice in the Federal 

Register that rescinds it, or until we 

publish a new SSR that replaces or 

modifies it. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, 

Programs Nos. 96.001, Social Security— 

Disability Insurance; 96.002, Social 

Security—Retirement Insurance; 96.004, 

Social Security—Survivors Insurance; 

96.006—Supplemental Security Income.) 

Nancy A. Berryhill, 

Acting Commissioner of Social Security. 

POLICY INTERPRETATION RULING 

SSR 17–4p: Titles II and XVI: 

Responsibility for Developing Written 

Evidence 

Purpose 

This Ruling clarifies our 

responsibilities and those of the 

claimant and the claimant’s 

representative to develop evidence and 

other information in disability and 

blindness claims under titles II and XVI 

of the Social Security Act (Act). This 

Ruling applies at all levels of our 

administrative review process, as 

described below. 

Citations (Authority) 

Sections 206(a), 223(d), and 1614(a) of 

the Social Security Act, as amended; 20 

CFR 404.935, 404.970, 404.1512, 

404.1513, 404.1593, 404.1594, 404.1614, 

404.1740, 404.1745, 416.912, 416.913, 

416.993, 416.994, 416.1014, 416.1435, 

416.1470, 416.1540, and 416.1545. 

Introduction 

We need complete evidentiary records 

to make accurate, consistent disability 

determinations and decisions at each 

level of our administrative review 

process. Although we take a role in 

developing the evidentiary record in 

disability claims, claimants and their 

appointed representatives have the 

primary responsibility under the Act to 

provide evidence in support of their 

disability or blindness claims. 

Consequently, we expect claimants and 

their representatives to make good faith 

efforts to ensure that we receive 

complete evidence. 

Under the Act, we cannot find that an 

individual is disabled ‘‘unless [he or 

she] furnishes such medical and other 

evidence of the existence thereof as the 

Commissioner of Social Security may 

require.’’ 1 This statutory provision 

places primary responsibility for the 

development of evidence on the 

claimant. Consistent with the claimant’s 

statutory obligation to provide us with 

evidence regarding his or her disability 

or blindness claim, our regulations 

require a claimant to submit or inform 

us about all evidence known to him or 

her that relates to whether or not he or 

she is disabled or blind.2 At the hearings 

level, a claimant generally must submit 

or inform us about written evidence at 

least 5 business days before the date of 

his or her scheduled hearing.3 We 

adopted this 5-day requirement in 

December 2016 and implemented it in 

May 2017, to address unprecedented 

workload challenges.4 As we explained 

in the preamble to our notice of 

proposed rulemaking, ‘‘[w]e cannot 

afford to continue postponing hearing 

proceedings because the record is not 

complete at the time of the hearing.’’ 5

A representative’s duty to submit 

evidence is derivative of the 

claimant’s; 6 however, representatives 

must also follow our rules of conduct 

and standards of responsibility for 

representatives.7 Those rules impose an 

affirmative duty on a representative to 

act with reasonable promptness to help 

obtain the information or evidence that 

the claimant must submit and forward 

the information or evidence to us as 

soon as practicable.8 A representative 

also has an affirmative duty to assist a 

claimant in complying, as soon as 

practicable, with our requests for 

information or evidence.9

This Ruling explains the requirement 

to submit or inform us about evidence 

and clarifies who has the final 


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46340 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 4, 2017 / Notices 

10See sections 223(d)(5)(A) and 1614(a)(3)(H)(i) 

of the Act, 42 USC 423(d)(5)(A) and 

1382c(a)(3)(H)(i); 20 CFR 404.1512(a)(1) and 

416.912(a)(1). 

11Sections 223(d)(5)(B) and 1614(a)(3)(H)(i) of the 

Act, 42 USC 423(d)(5)(B) and 1382c(a)(3)(H)(i). 

12 Id. 

13 20 CFR 404.1512(a)(1) and 416.912(a)(1). 

14 20 CFR 404.1512(a)(1) and 416.912(a)(1). 

15 20 CFR 404.935 and 416.1435. 

16 20 CFR 404.935(b) and 416.1425(b). However, 

for age-18 redetermination and continuingdisability review cases under title XVI of the Act, 

the requirement to submit or inform us about 

evidence no later than 5 business days before a 

scheduled hearing does not apply if our other rules 

allow the claimant to submit evidence after the date 

of an ALJ decision. See 20 CFR 416.1435(c) and 

416.1470(b). 

17 80 FR 14828, 14829 (March 20, 2015). 

18 20 CFR 404.1513(a) and 416.913(a). However, 

evidence generally does not include confidential 

communications between the individual and his or 

her representative about providing or obtaining 

legal advice, and it does not include a 

representative’s written analyses of the claim. 20 

CFR 404.1513(b) and 416.913(b). 

19See 20 CFR 404.1740(b)(1), (b)(2) and 

416.1540(b)(1), (b)(2). 20See 20 CFR 404.1740(b)(3) and 416.1540(b)(3). 21 20 CFR 404.1740(b)(1), (b)(2) and 

416.1540(b)(1), (b)(2). 22 20 CFR 404.1740(c)(4) and 416.1540(c)(4). 23 20 CFR 404.1740(c)(7) and 416.1540(c)(7). 

responsibility to obtain written 

evidence. 

Policy Interpretation 

1. Statutory Provisions 

In general, an individual has a 

statutory obligation to provide us with 

evidence to prove to us that he or she 

is disabled or blind. The Act also 

precludes us from finding that an 

individual is disabled or blind unless he 

or she submits such evidence to us.10

The Act also provides that we ‘‘shall 

consider all evidence available in [an] 

individual’s case record, and shall 

develop a complete medical history of at 

least the preceding twelve months for 

any case in which a determination is 

made that the individual is not under a 

disability.’’ 11 In addition, when we 

make any determination, the Act 

requires us to ‘‘make every reasonable 

effort to obtain from the individual’s 

treating physician (or other treating 

health care provider) all medical 

evidence, including diagnostic tests, 

necessary in order to properly make 

such determination, prior to evaluating 

medical evidence obtained from any 

other source on a consultative basis.’’ 12

Thus, although a claimant has the 

primary responsibility to submit 

evidence related to his or her disability 

or blindness claim, the Act also gives us 

a role in developing evidence. Our 

statutory responsibilities to ensure that 

we develop a complete 12-month 

medical history when we make a 

determination about whether an 

individual is under a disability, and to 

make every reasonable effort to obtain 

from a claimant’s treating source all 

medical evidence that we need to make 

a determination before we evaluate 

medical evidence from a consultative 

examiner, does not, however, reduce the 

claimant’s responsibilities in any way. 

2. An Individual’s Affirmative Duty To 

Provide Written Evidence 

Our regulations require an individual 

to submit or inform us about all 

evidence known to him or her that 

relates to whether or not he or she is 

disabled or blind.13 This duty is ongoing 

and requires an individual to disclose 

any additional evidence about which he 

or she becomes aware. This duty applies 

at each level of the administrative 

review process, including the Appeals 

Council level if the evidence relates to 

the period on or before the date of the 

administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing 

decision.14

Generally, individuals must submit or 

inform us about any written evidence no 

later than 5 business days prior to the 

date of the scheduled hearing before an 

ALJ.15 The ALJ may decline to consider 

or obtain any evidence if disclosure 

takes place after this date, unless certain 

circumstances outlined in the 

regulations apply.16

We expect individuals to exercise 

their reasonable good faith judgment 

about what evidence ‘‘relates’’ to their 

disability claims.17 Evidence that may 

relate to whether or not a claimant is 

blind or disabled includes objective 

medical evidence, medical opinion 

evidence, other medical evidence, and 

evidence from nonmedical sources.18

To satisfy the claimant’s obligation 

under the regulations to ‘‘inform’’ us 

about written evidence, he or she must 

provide information specific enough to 

identify the evidence (source, location, 

and dates of treatment) and show that 

the evidence relates to the individual’s 

medical condition, work activity, job 

history, medical treatment, or other 

issues relevant to whether or not the 

individual is disabled or blind. If the 

individual does not provide us with 

information specific enough to allow us 

to identify the written evidence and 

understand how it relates to whether or 

not the individual is disabled or blind, 

the individual has not informed us 

about evidence within the meaning of 

20 CFR 404.935, 404.1512, 416.912 or 

416.1435, and we will not request that 

evidence. 

3. A Representative’s Affirmative Duty 

To Assist in Developing Written 

Evidence 

Our regulations require appointed 

representatives to assist claimants in 

complying fully with their 

responsibilities under the Act and our 

regulations. All representatives must 

faithfully execute their duties as agents 

and fiduciaries of claimants. In that 

regard, representatives must assist 

claimants in satisfying the claimants’ 

duties regarding the submission of 

evidence and in complying with our 

requests for information or evidence as 

outlined in the prior section.19

In addition to these responsibilities, a 

representative has an affirmative duty to 

provide competent assistance to the 

claimant, including acting with 

reasonable promptness to help obtain 

information or evidence the claimant 

must submit.20 To fulfill his or her 

affirmative duties under our rules, the 

representative must forward this 

information or evidence to us and must 

assist the claimant in complying with 

our requests for information or evidence 

as soon as practicable.21 In addition, 

under our rules of conduct, the 

representative is prohibited from, 

through his or her own actions or 

omissions, unreasonably delaying or 

causing to be delayed, without good 

cause, the processing of a claim at any 

stage of the administrative 

decisionmaking process.22

Representatives are also prohibited from 

engaging in actions or behavior 

prejudicial to the fair and orderly 

conduct of administrative 

proceedings.23 A representative’s failure 

to comply with his or her affirmative 

duties (or his or her engagement in 

prohibited actions) could result in 

disciplinary action. 

While our regulations state that a 

claimant must submit or inform us of all 

written evidence at least 5 business days 

prior to a hearing, our rules of conduct 

place additional requirements on 

representatives. As discussed above, 

under the rules of conduct, 

representatives are: (1) Required to act 

with reasonable promptness to help 

obtain information or evidence the 

claimant must submit; (2) required to 

assist the claimant in complying with 

our requests for information or evidence 

as soon as practicable; (3) prohibited 

from unreasonably delaying or causing 

a delay of the processing of a claim 

without good cause; and (4) prohibited 

from actions or behavior prejudicial to 

the fair and orderly conduct of 

administrative proceedings. Therefore, 

we expect representatives to submit or 

inform us about written evidence as 

soon as they obtain or become aware of 

it. Representatives should not wait until 

5 business days before the hearing to 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 4, 2017 / Notices 46341 

24 42 USC 406(a)(1). See also 20 CFR 404.1745 

and 416.1545 (‘‘When we have evidence that a 

representative . . . has violated the rules governing 

dealings with us, we may begin proceedings to 

suspend or disqualify that individual from acting in 

a representational capacity before us.’’) 

25See 20 CFR 404.935 and 416.1435. 

26Sections 223(d)(5)(B) and 1614(a)(3)(H)(i) of the 

Act, 42 USC 423(d)(5)(B) and 1382c(a)(3)(H)(i); 20 

CFR 404.1512(b) and 416.912(b). 

27 20 CFR 404.1512(b)(1) and 416.912(b)(1). 

28 20 CFR 404.1512(b)(1)(i), 404.1593(b), 

416.912(b)(1)(i), and 416.993(b). 

submit or inform us about written 

evidence unless they have compelling 

reasons for the delay (e.g., it was 

impractical to submit the evidence 

earlier because it was difficult to obtain 

or the representative was not aware of 

the evidence at an earlier date). In 

addition, it is only acceptable for a 

representative to inform us about 

evidence without submitting it if the 

representative shows that, despite good 

faith efforts, he or she could not obtain 

the evidence. Simply informing us of 

the existence of evidence without 

providing it or waiting until 5 days 

before a hearing to inform us about or 

provide evidence when it was otherwise 

available, may cause unreasonable delay 

to the processing of the claim, without 

good cause, and may be prejudicial to 

the fair and orderly conduct of our 

administrative proceedings. As such, 

this behavior could be found to violate 

our rules of conduct and could lead to 

sanction proceedings against the 

representative. 

Pursuant to the Act, we may, after due 

notice and opportunity for hearing, 

suspend or prohibit from further 

practice before the Commissioner a 

representative who refuses to comply 

with our rules and regulations or who 

violates any provision for which a 

penalty is prescribed.24

We will evaluate each circumstance 

on a case-by-case basis to determine 

whether to refer a possible violation of 

our rules to our Office of the General 

Counsel (OGC). For example, in 

accordance with the regulatory 

interpretation discussed above, we may 

refer a possible violation of rules to OGC 

when: 

• A representative informs us about 

written evidence but refuses, without 

good cause, to make good faith efforts to 

obtain and timely submit the evidence; 

• a representative informs us about 

evidence that relates to a claim instead 

of acting with reasonable promptness to 

help obtain and timely submit the 

evidence to us; 

• the representative waits until 5 days 

before a hearing to provide or inform us 

of evidence when the evidence was 

known to the representative or available 

to provide to us at an earlier date; 

• the clients of a particular 

representative have a pattern of 

informing us about written evidence 

instead of making good-faith efforts to 

obtain and timely submit the evidence; 

or 

• any other occasion when a 

representative’s actions with regard to 

the submission of evidence may violate 

our rules for representatives. 

When we refer a possible violation to 

OGC, it does not change our duties with 

respect to the development of the 

evidence.25

4. Our Duty To Assist Claimants in 

Developing Written Evidence 

Before we make a determination that 

an individual is not disabled, we must 

develop the individual’s complete 

medical history, generally for at least 12 

months preceding the month in which 

he or she applied for benefits.26 We will 

make every reasonable effort to help 

individuals obtain medical evidence 

from their own medical sources and 

entities that maintain medical evidence 

when the individual gives us 

permission to request the information.27

Every reasonable effort means that we 

will make an initial request for evidence 

from the medical source or entity that 

maintains the medical evidence, and, at 

any time between 10 and 20 calendar 

days after the initial request, if the 

evidence has not been received, we will 

make a follow-up request to obtain the 

medical evidence necessary to make a 

determination.28

We will assist with developing the 

record and may request existing 

evidence directly from a medical source 

or entity that maintains the evidence if: 

• We were informed about the 

evidence (in the manner explained 

above) no later than 5 business days 

before the date of the scheduled hearing; 

or 

• we were not informed about the 

evidence at least 5 business days before 

the date of the scheduled hearing, but 

one of the circumstances listed in 20 

CFR 404.935(b) or 416.1535(b) applies. 

We will first ask the individual or 

representative to submit the evidence. 

However, if the individual or 

representative shows that he or she is 

unable to obtain the evidence despite 

good faith efforts or for reasons beyond 

his or her control, we may request the 

evidence directly from the medical 

source or entity that maintains the 

evidence. 

At the Appeals Council level of 

review, development of evidence is 

more limited. The Appeals Council will 

not obtain or evaluate additional 

evidence when deciding whether to 

grant review unless: 

• One of the circumstances listed in 

20 CFR 404.970(b) or 416.1470(b) 

applies and the individual or his or her 

representative shows that the evidence 

is related to the period on or before the 

date of the hearing level decision; or 

• the claim is a title XVI claim that 

is not based on an application for 

benefits (e.g., an age-18 

redetermination). 

[FR Doc. 2017–21252 Filed 10–3–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 10152] 

Notice of Determinations; Culturally 

Significant Objects Imported for 

Exhibition Determinations: Exhibition 

of Paintings by Women Artists in Paris 

Between 1850 and 1900 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the 

following determinations: I hereby 

determine that certain objects to be 

included in the traveling exhibition 

identified under the titles below, 

imported from abroad for temporary 

exhibition within the United States, are 

of cultural significance. The objects are 

imported pursuant to loan agreements 

with the foreign owners or custodians. 

I also determine that the exhibition or 

display of the exhibit objects at the 

Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, 

under the title ‘‘Her Paris: Women 

Artists in the Age of Impressionism,’’ 

from on or about October 22, 2017, until 

on or about January 14, 2018; at the 

Speed Art Museum, Louisville, 

Kentucky, under the title ‘‘Women 

Artists in the Age of Impressionism,’’ 

from on or about February 17, 2018, 

until on or about May 13, 2018; at The 

Sterling and Francine Clark Art 

Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 

under the title ‘‘Women Artists in Paris 

1850–1900,’’ from on or about June 9, 

2018, until on or about September 3, 

2018; and at possible additional 

exhibitions or venues yet to be 

determined, is in the national interest. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information, including a list of 

the imported objects, contact Elliot Chiu 

in the Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. 

Department of State (telephone: 202– 

632–6471; email: section2459@

state.gov). The mailing address is U.S. 

Department of State, L/PD, SA–5, Suite 

5H03, Washington, DC 20522–0505. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

foregoing determinations were made 

pursuant to the authority vested in me 

by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES