2010-23786. Privacy Act of 1974; Report of Matching Program

AGENCY:

Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION:

Notice of Computer Matching Program.

SUMMARY:

Notice is hereby given that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) intends to conduct a recurring computer matching program matching Department of Justice, Bureau of Prison (BOP), inmate records with VA pension, compensation, and dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) records. The goal of this match is to identify incarcerated veterans and beneficiaries who are receiving VA benefits, and to reduce or terminate benefits, if appropriate. The match will include records of current VA beneficiaries.

DATES:

Comments on the matching agreement must be received no later than October 25, 2010. If no public comment is received, the amended system will become effective October 25, 2010.

The match will start no sooner than 30 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register , or 40 days after copies of this notice and the agreement of the parties is submitted to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget, whichever is later, and end not more than 18 months after the agreement is properly implemented by the parties. The involved agencies' data integrity boards (DIBs) may extend this match for 12 months provided the agencies certify to their DIBs, within three months of the ending date of the original match, that the matching program will be conducted without change and that the matching program has been conducted in compliance with the original matching program.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments may be submitted through http://www.Regulations.gov;​ by mail or hand-delivery to the Director, Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to 202-273-9026. Copies of comments received will be available for public inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 1063B, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except holidays). Please call 202-461-4902 for an appointment. In addition, during the comment period, comments may be viewed online through the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at http://www.Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Pamela Burd (212B), 202-461-9149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

VA will use this information to verify incarceration and adjust VA benefit payments as prescribed by law. The proposed matching program will enable VA to accurately identify beneficiaries who are incarcerated for a felony or a misdemeanor in a Federal penal facility.

The legal authority to conduct this match is 38 U.S.C. 1505, 5106, and 5313. Section 5106 requires any Federal department or agency to provide VA such information as VA requests for the purposes of determining eligibility for, or the amount of VA benefits, or verifying other information with respect thereto. Section 1505 provides that no VA pension benefits shall be paid to or for any person eligible for such benefits, during the period of that person's incarceration as the result of conviction of a felony or misdemeanor, beginning on the sixty-first day of incarceration. Section 5313 provides that VA compensation or dependency and indemnity compensation above a specified amount shall not be paid to any person eligible for such benefits, during the period of that person's incarceration as the result of conviction of a felony, beginning on the sixty-first day of incarceration.

The VA records involved in the match are the VA system of records, Compensation, Pension, Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Records—VA (58 VA 21/22/28), published at 74 FR 29275, June 19, 2009. The BOP records consist of information from the system of records identified as Inmate Central Records System, BOP #005 published on June 7, 1984 (48 FR 23711), and last amended at 67 FR 31371 (May 9, 2002).

In accordance with Title 5 U.S.C., subsection 552a(o)(2) and (r), copies of the agreement are being sent to both Houses of Congress and to the Office of Management and Budget. This notice is provided in accordance with the provisions of Privacy Act of 1974 as amended by Public Law 100-503.

Approved: August 30, 2010.

John R. Gingrich,

Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs.