Agency Information Collection Activities: New Emergency Request
| Published date | 03 December 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 68717 |
| Record Number | 2021-26376 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Social Security Administration |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 230 (Friday, December 3, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 230 (Friday, December 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68717-68718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26376]
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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
[Docket No: SSA-2021-0027]
Agency Information Collection Activities: New Emergency 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 a new, emergency information collection.
SSA is asking OMB for approval of this information collection seven
days after the date of publication of this Federal Register Notice,
independent of public comment, due to its emergency nature. However, we
still welcome comment 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. We will consider any comments if
we ultimately seek to extend this information collection beyond the
standard six-month emergency approval. 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.
Comments: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Submit your
[[Page 68718]]
comments online referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-2021-0027].
(SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Director, Office of
Regulations and Reports Clearance, 3100 West High Rise, 6401 Security
Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235, Fax: 410-966-2830, Email address:
[email protected]. Or you may submit your comments online
through https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, referencing Docket
ID Number [SSA-2021-0027]. We recommend submitting comments via this
link as the fastest way for them to reach us.
SSA is submitting the information collection below to OMB for
clearance. If you wish to submit comments, we recommend you do so no
later than January 3, 2022. However, please be aware that due to the
emergency nature of this collection, SSA will be seeking OMB clearance
in advance of this date. Individuals may obtain copies of this OMB
clearance package by writing to [email protected].
COVID-19 Symptoms Screener for In-Person Hearings--20 CFR 404.929,
404.933, 416.1429, 416.1433, 418.1350, and 422.203--0960-NEW. Following
a temporary pause on in-person service, such as in-person hearings due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, SSA will soon restart in-person hearings on a
limited basis. When SSA resumes these limited in-person hearings, we
will ask participating members of the public to complete a brief COVID-
19 symptoms screener questionnaire within 24 hours of their hearings.
Background
During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, SSA conducted its services
almost exclusively online or by telephone, to protect the health of
both the public and our employees. We took these measures in accordance
with relevant Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 pandemic guidance,
and to comply with existing Occupational Safety and Health Act
provisions regarding workplace safety.
While in-person hearings have not been available since March 2020,
claimants or their appointed representatives who wished to appeal a
redetermination could choose to participate in an online video hearing
or phone hearing instead. We would like to soon resume in-person
hearings on a limited-capacity basis. Initially, we plan to keep the
number of in-person hearings to an average of three separate hearings
per hearings office per day, to ensure the continued health and safety
of the public and SSA employees. The number of in-person hearings per
hearing office may be revised over the course of reentry.
Need for Information Collection; Collection Methodology; How
Information Will Be Used
Because of COVID-19 health and safety considerations, we plan to
require all members of the public entering an SSA hearing office to
participate in an in-person hearing to complete a brief screener
questionnaire designed to identify COVID-19 symptoms. A link to the
questionnaire will be provided in the mailed notice of scheduled
hearings. People participating in a hearing can complete and submit the
questionnaire online within 24 hours before the start of the hearing.
If hearings participants do not wish to use the internet, they can call
the hearings office where the hearing is scheduled and complete the
questionnaire over the phone.
The questionnaire will ask questions relating to personal
experience of any COVID symptoms; exposure to someone diagnosed with
COVID; or travel by means other than land travel, such as car, bus,
ferry, or train. SSA will use the screener responses to determine if
the in-person hearings participant is ``cleared'' or ``not cleared'' to
enter an SSA hearing office. If participants answer ``no'' to all
questions, they are ``cleared'' to participate. If they answer ``yes''
to any part of the screener, they will be ``not cleared.'' Persons who
are not cleared may seek to be rescheduled for the next in-person
hearing date that at least 14 days after the COVID-19 symptoms first
presented, or 14 days after they tested positive for COVID-19.
Alternatives to Completing the Information Collection
Although completion of the questionnaire will be required for an
in-person hearing, it is not required for other modalities of appeals
hearings. One may choose an online video hearing or telephone hearing
as an alternative to an in-person hearing. Claimants may obtain Social
Security payments regardless of the hearing method they choose.
Type of Request: New (temporary, emergency) information collection.
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Average
Average burden Estimated total theoretical Average wait Total annual
Modality of completion Number of Frequency of per response annual burden hourly cost time in opportunity cost
respondents response (minutes) (hours) amount hearing office (dollars) ***
(dollars) * (minutes) **
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COVID Screener Questionnaire... 179,580 (164 1 10 29,930 (179,580 $19.01* 10** $1,934,496***
hearing offices respondents x 10 (29,930 response
x 3 hearings per completion hours + 71,832
office per day x minutes/60 office wait time
2 persons per minutes per hours = 101,762
hearing x 182.5 burden hour). total hours.
days, which is Then multiply
the duration of 101,762 hours x
the emergency $19.01).
information
collection
request (ICR)).
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* We based this figure on averaging both the average disability insurance (DI) payments based on SSA's current fiscal year (FY) 2021 data (https://www.ssa.gov/legislation/2021FactSheet.pdf), and 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 2021 wait times for hearing 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: November 17, 2021.
Naomi Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Office of Legislation and Congressional
Affairs, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-26376 Filed 12-2-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P
