[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16513-16514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6888]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 61 / Tuesday, March 30, 2004 /
Notices
[[Page 16513]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of the Secretary
Privacy Act: Revision of an Existing System of Records
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of revision of an existing system of records.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving notice of a
revision to its Privacy Act System of Records entitled Claims Against
Food Stamp Recipients--USDA/FNS-3.
DATES: This revision will become effective on May 14, 2004, unless
modified by a subsequent notice to incorporate comments received from
the public. To be assured of consideration, comments must be received
by the contact person listed below on or before April 29, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Barbara Hallman, Chief,
State Administration Branch, Program Accountability Division, Food
Stamp Program, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 820, Alexandria, Virginia
22302.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sara Bradshaw, Food and Nutrition
Service (FNS) Privacy Act Officer, Room 322, 3101 Park Center Drive,
Alexandria, Virginia 22302. Telephone (703) 305-2244.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Privacy Act requires FNS to publish this
Privacy Act systems of records of notice to inform the public that
certain changes are being made to a system of records containing
information on individuals against whom fiscal claims have been
established under the Food Stamp Program and to request public comment.
Monetary claims are established against food stamp recipients and
former recipients who owe debts due to certain errors or infractions of
Food Stamp Program rules. State and Federal government offices seek
collections for these debts through recoupment of benefits for
recipients still receiving benefits, direct billing to non-recipients,
offset of eligible Federal payments, and other means. Debt collection
and tracking systems were established to accomplish these collections,
and the establishment of and certain changes to such systems require
notification to the public under the Privacy Act.
The Treasury Offset Program (TOP) is a mandatory governmentwide
delinquent debt matching and payment offset system, centralized in the
Department of the Treasury. The Debt Collection Act of 1982, as amended
(Pub. L. 97-365), provides statutory authority for Federal agencies to
collect debts through administrative offset.
The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-134)
expands the statutory authority for TOP by requiring agencies to
transfer delinquent non-tax debt to Treasury for the purpose of
offsetting Federal payments to collect delinquent debts owed to the
Federal Government. TOP operates in accordance with statutory and
regulatory authorities, including those contained in 31 U.S.C. 3716,
3720A, 3701, and 26 U.S.C. 6402(d).
This Notice modifies the system of records entitled Claims Against
Food Stamp Recipients--USDA/FNS--3 so that FNS can fully comply with
Treasury requirements for various debt collection actions. This notice
modifies the systems of records as follows:
Changes to the current use consist of:
Deleting the referral to Treasury designated
collection centers as Food Stamp Program recipient claims are exempt
from cross servicing;
Expanding the use of Federal payroll servicing
agencies as match sources in the area of salary offset; and
No longer submitting debt directly to the United
States Postal Service (USPS) for salary offset.
New uses included in this notice are:
Using the Federal payroll servicing agencies to
identify Federal employees and collect debts;
Referring debtor information to information
brokers for locating debtors; and
Collecting data from Social Security
Administration death records.
Data will continue to be shared with the following entities; the
Department of the Treasury for the purpose of complying with Treasury
requirements for various debt collection actions; State agencies for
such purpose as updating claims files, collecting claims, and fiscal
reporting; and Congressional offices in response to an inquiry from the
Congressional office made at the request of the individual against whom
the claim has been established.
FNS has included some technical changes that do not affect the
operation of the system. The notice is modified to reflect a change in
room number for FNS Grants Management Division. In addition the system
of records is modified to retain records for a longer period, 5 years,
as required by the Department of the Treasury. Records will now be
retrievable by case number or debt number now that the format for
submission to TOP requires that data.
Dated: March 23, 2004.
Ann M. Veneman,
Secretary of Agriculture.
SYSTEM NAME:
Claims Against Food Stamp Recipients--USDA/FNS-3
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
Grants Management Division, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS),
United States Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room
744, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, and FNS Regional Offices located in:
Atlanta, Georgia, which covers the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee;
Boston, Massachusetts, which covers the States of Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and
Vermont; Chicago, Illinois, which covers the States of Illinois,
Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin; Dallas Texas, which covers
the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas;
Denver, Colorado, which covers the States of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and
Wyoming; Trenton, New Jersey, which covers the States of Delaware,
District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico,
Virginia, Virgin Islands, and West Virginia; and San Francisco,
California, which covers the States of Alaska, Arizona, California,
Guam,
[[Page 16514]]
Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, American Samoa, Trust Territories of the
Pacific, and Washington. The address of each regional office is listed
in the telephone directory of the respective cities listed above under
the heading of ``United States Government, Department of Agriculture,
Food and Nutrition Service.''
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
Individuals who have received food stamp benefits to which they are
not entitled.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
The information in the system consists of individuals' names,
addresses, social security numbers and amounts of claims and amounts of
any collections. The information in the system also includes
identification of individuals' as Federal employees and Federal
payments offset. The system includes limited information about claims
such as age, reasons for the overissuance of benefits, and State agency
collection efforts. The system may also include information from the
Social Security Administration death records.
Authority for Maintenance of the System:
7 U.S.C. 2011-2031.
Purpose:
The purpose of this system of records is to facilitate the
collection of delinquent food stamp recipient debts.
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
(1) Referral to the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) for debt
collection actions. (2) Referral to the Federal payroll servicing
agencies for identification and collection of overpayments. (3)
Referral may be made to State agencies for such purposes as updating
claims files, collecting claims, and for fiscal reporting. (4)
Disclosure may be made to a Congressional office from the record of an
individual in response to an inquiry from the Congressional office made
at the written request of the individual. (5) Referral to private
information brokers to obtain current addresses for due process
notification purposes and deceased records.
Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining,
and Disposing of Records in the System
Storage:
Records are maintained by automated data storage methods such as
CD-ROM, magnetic tape and disk. Some records may also be maintained on
paper.
Retrievability:
Records are retrievable by name and social security number. In
addition, records may be retrieved by a State assigned case number or
debt number.
Safeguards:
Access to records is limited to those persons who process the
records for the specific routine uses stated above. Records in such
forms as magnetic tape or CD-ROM are kept in physically secured rooms
and/or cabinets. Various methods of computer security limit access to
records in automated databases. Paper records that contain taxpayer
information will be segregated and physically secured in locked
cabinets.
Retention and Disposal:
The FNS retains for no longer than 5 years. All records are either
returned to State agencies or destroyed.
System Manager(S) and ADDRESS:
The system manager is the Director of the Grants Management
Division, Food and Nutrition Service, United States Department of
Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 744, Alexandria, Virginia
22302.
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
Individuals may request from the system manager identified in the
preceding paragraph information regarding this system of records or
whether the system contains records pertaining to them. Individuals
requesting such information must provide their name, address and social
security number.
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
Individuals may obtain information about records in the system that
pertain to them by written or oral requests to the system manager. To
assure confidentiality and prompt routing, written requests should be
marked ``Privacy Act Request.''
CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
Individuals desiring to contest or amend information maintained in
the system should direct requests to the system manager, state the
reasons for contesting the information and provide any available
documentation to support the requested action.
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
Information in this system comes from State agency files concerning
food stamp recipient claims, and Internal Revenue Service files of
addresses of individuals who have filed income tax returns. Address
information and Social Security Administration death records come from
a private information broker. Information in the system also comes from
the Federal payroll servicing agencies files of individuals who are
currently employed by or who are receiving salaries, pensions and other
payments from Federal agencies and the USPS, and from all other sources
of Federal payments.
EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.
[FR Doc. 04-6888 Filed 3-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-M