[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13004-13005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04133]
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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
[Docket No. SSA-2023-0009]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed 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 one new information collection for OMB-approval.
SSA is soliciting comments 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. 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
comments online referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-2023-0009].
(SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance
Director, 3100 West High Rise, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD
21235, Fax: 833-410-1631, Email address: [email protected].
Or you may submit your comments online through https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-
2023-0009].
The information collection below is pending at SSA. SSA will submit
it to OMB within 60 days from the date of this notice. To be sure we
consider your comments, we must receive them no later than May 1, 2023.
Individuals can obtain copies of the collection instrument by writing
to the above email address.
eSubmit--20 CFR 404.704; 404.1512, 416.912, and 422.505--0960-NEW
Background
From March 17, 2020, through April 7, 2022, because of the
Coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency, SSA encouraged the
public to use our online and automated telephone services while we
offered limited in-person services in field offices. The increased
volume of documents sent to our field offices presented an enormous
challenge to SSA, as we had limited staff on site to process the mail
at that time. This limited the time the field office staff had to
review and process those submissions or work directly with the public.
To lessen the burden on front-line employees and managers, allow staff
more time to work with the public and process the information we
receive, and to modernize form submission and document intake, we are
creating a new service called eSubmit.
eSubmit
SSA is introducing eSubmit, a new way individuals can submit
evidence and forms to SSA online. In the digital age, individuals
expect to complete transactions online, including submission of
documents and forms to government agencies. The agency already offers
several self-service specific options for individuals to submit forms
and other documents online, including the Electronic Protective Filing
Tool, ePFT (OMB No. 0960-0826), internet Social Security Benefits
Application, iClaim (OMB No. 0960-0618), and iAppeals (OMB No. 0960-
0269 & 0960-0622).
eSubmit is a secure upload portal which respondents will use to
submit documents and forms to SSA. To ensure the success of eSubmit, we
will roll out the new application in several phases. The first phase
will allow respondents to provide select documents (evidence that does
not need to be certified or evidence which the agency does not require
to be an original, also known collectively as ``non original
documentation,'' and first-party forms that do not require a signature)
to SSA electronically. Individuals must provide this information
themselves since they will have to authenticate with their own
information through one of several authentication methods (i.e.,
Login.gov, ID.me, or SSA's Public Credentialing and Authentication
Process).
During this initial phase for eSubmit, we will ask the individual
to be in contact, via a telephone or face-to-face interview, with SSA
for a business matter (e.g., filing a claim, performing a
[[Page 13005]]
redetermination, or updating their personal information). During the
interaction, the SSA technician will inform the individual verbally
that SSA requires additional information to support their request and
will offer the opportunity to provide the information electronically
via the eSubmit application. After the individual grants consent to
receive an email from SSA, the technician will send an email with the
link to eSubmit along with instructions on how to access eSubmit. The
system will only make the electronic submission process available for
up to 30 days from the date of the email. Concurrently, the system will
generate a paper notice containing more details about the request, and
the SSA technician will send it through postal mail to the respondent.
Once the respondent authenticates and arrives at the eSubmit dashboard,
the system will present the respondent with information regarding the
items SSA requested for submission (examples of the documentation SSA
may request includes forms or non-standardized evidence to support the
request [e.g., pay stubs, bank statements, pension award letters, tax
documents, child support payment history, etc.]). From this screen, the
individual will be able to upload the corresponding files from an
electronic device. Once they finish uploading the documents, the
respondents must select the Submit button to complete the action and
the system will present them with an indicator of success or failure.
The system will also notify the technician who requested the document
that the document is available for review and consideration.
Respondents are first-party individuals who choose to use the internet
to conduct business with us.
Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.
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Average Average wait
Average burden Estimated total theoretical time for Total annual
Modality of completion Number of Frequency of per response annual burden hourly cost teleservice opportunity cost
respondents response (minutes) (hours) amount center (dollars) ***
(dollars) * (minutes) **
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Internet version.............. 1,107,658 1 7 129,227 * $28.01 ** 19 *** $13,444,380
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* We based these figures on average U.S. worker's hourly wages (based on BLS.gov data, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm).
** We based this figure on average FY 2023 wait times for teleservice centers (approximately 19 minutes per respondent), 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: February 23, 2023.
Naomi Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-04133 Filed 2-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P