82 FR 51672 - Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 214 (November 7, 2017)

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a current 12 month computer matching agreement (CMA) re-establishment agreement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) regarding Veterans who are in Federal prison and are also in receipt of compensation and pension benefits. The purpose of this CMA is to renew the agreement between VA, Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), BOP. BOP will disclose information about individuals who are in federal prison. VBA will use this information as a match for recipients of Compensation and Pension benefits for adjustments of awards.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51672-51673]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24168]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice of Modified Matching Program.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a current 12 month 
computer matching agreement (CMA) re-establishment agreement with the 
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) regarding Veterans who are in Federal 
prison and are also in receipt of compensation and pension benefits. 
The purpose of this CMA is to renew the agreement between VA, Veterans 
Benefits Administration (VBA) and the United States Department of 
Justice (DOJ), BOP. BOP will disclose information about individuals who 
are in federal prison. VBA will use this information as a match for 
recipients of Compensation and Pension benefits for adjustments of 
awards.

DATES: Comments on this new system of records must be received no later 
than 30 days after date of publication in the Federal Register. If no 
public comment is received during the period allowed for comment or 
unless otherwise published in the Federal Register by VA, the new 
system will become effective 30 days after date of publication in the 
Federal Register. This matching program will be valid for 18 months 
from the effective date of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through 
www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to Director, Regulation 
Policy and Management (00REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Ave. NW., Room 1064, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 
273-9026 (not a toll-free number). Comments should indicate that they 
are submitted in response to CMA re-establishment agreement with the 
Federal BOP. Copies of comments received will be available for public 
inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 
1063B, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an 
appointment. (This is not a toll-free number.) In addition, comments 
may be viewed online at www.Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Robinson (VBA), 202-443-6016 
(this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This agreement continues an arrangement for 
a periodic computer-matching program between VA (VBA as the matching 
recipient agency) and DOJ (BOP as the matching source agency). This 
agreement sets forth the responsibilities of VBA and BOP with respect 
to information disclosed pursuant to this agreement and takes into 
account both agencies' responsibilities under the Privacy Act of 1974, 
5 U.S.C. 552a, as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy 
Protection Act of 1988, as amended, and the regulations promulgated 
thereunder, including computer matching portions of a revision of OMB 
Circular No. A-130, 65 FR 77677 dated December 12, 2000.
    Participating Agencies: VA (VBA as the matching recipient agency) 
and DOJ (BOP as the matching source agency).

    Authority for Conducting the Matching Program:  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 61st 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 
benefit, during the period of that person's incarceration as the 
result of conviction of a felony, beginning on the 61st day of 
incarceration.

    Purpose(s): The purpose of this matching program between VBA and 
BOP is to identify those Veterans and VA beneficiaries who are in 
receipt of certain VA benefit payments and who are confined (see 
Article II.G.) for a period exceeding 60 days due to a conviction for a 
felony or a misdemeanor. VBA has the obligation to reduce or suspend 
compensation, pension, and dependency and indemnity compensation 
benefit payments to Veterans and VA beneficiaries on the 61st day 
following conviction and incarceration in a Federal, State, or Local 
institution for a felony or a misdemeanor. VBA will use the BOP records 
provided in the match to update the master records of Veterans and VA 
beneficiaries receiving benefits and to adjust their VA benefits, 
accordingly, if needed.
    Categories of Individuals: Veterans who have applied for 
compensation for service-connected disability under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 
11; Veterans who have applied for nonservice-connected disability under 
38 U.S.C. Chapter 15; Veterans entitled to burial benefits under 38 
U.S.C. Chapter 23; Surviving spouses and children who have claimed 
pensions based on nonservice-connected death of a Veteran under 38 
U.S.C. Chapter 15; Surviving spouses and children who have claimed 
death compensation based on service-connected death of a Veteran under 
38 U.S.C. Chapter 11; Surviving spouses and children who have claimed 
dependency and indemnity compensation for service connected death of a 
Veteran under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 13; Parents who have applied for death 
compensation based on service connected death of a Veteran under 38 
U.S.C. Chapter 11; Parents who have applied for dependency and 
indemnity compensation for service-connected death of a Veteran under 
38 U.S.C. Chapter 13; Individuals who applied for educational 
assistance benefits administered by VA under title 38 of the U.S. Code; 
Individuals who applied for educational assistance benefits maintained 
by the Department of Defense under title 10 of the U.S. Code that are 
administered by VA; Veterans who apply for training and employers who 
apply for approval of their programs under the provisions of the 
Emergency Veterans' Job Training Act of 1983, Public Law 98-77; Any VA 
employee who generates or finalizes adjudicative actions using the 
Benefits Delivery Network (BDN) or the Veterans Service Network 
(VETSNET) computer processing systems; Veterans who apply for training 
and employers who apply for approval of their programs under the 
provisions of the Service Members Occupational Conversion and Training 
Act of 1992, Public Law 102-484; Representatives of individuals covered 
by the system.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS:
    The record, or information contained in the record, may include 
identifying information (e.g., name, address, social security number); 
military service and active duty separation information (e.g., name, 
service number, date of birth, rank, sex, total amount of active 
service, branch of service, character of service, pay grade, assigned 
separation reason,

[[Page 51673]]

service period, whether Veteran was discharged with a disability, 
reenlisted, received a Purple Heart or other military decoration); 
payment information (e.g., Veteran payee name, address, dollar amount 
of readjustment service pay, amount of disability or pension payments, 
number of non-pay days, any amount of indebtedness (accounts 
receivable) arising from title 38 U.S.C. benefits and which are owed to 
the VA); medical information (e.g., medical and dental treatment in the 
Armed Forces including type of service-connected disability, medical 
facilities, or medical or dental treatment by VA health care personnel 
or received from private hospitals and health care personnel relating 
to a claim for VA disability benefits or medical or dental treatment); 
personal information (e.g., marital status, name and address of 
dependents, occupation, amount of education of a Veteran or a 
dependent, dependent's relationship to Veteran); education benefit 
information (e.g., information arising from utilization of training 
benefits such as a Veteran trainee's induction, reentrance or dismissal 
from a program or progress and attendance in an education or training 
program): Applications for compensation, pension, education, and 
vocational rehabilitation benefits and training which may contain 
identifying information, military service and active duty separation 
information, payment information, medical and dental information, 
personal and education benefit information relating to a Veteran or 
beneficiary's incarceration in a penal institution (e.g., name of 
incarcerated Veteran or beneficiary, claims folder number, name and 
address of penal institution, date of commitment, type of offense, 
scheduled release date, Veteran's date of birth, beneficiary 
relationship to Veteran and whether Veteran or beneficiary is in a work 
release or half-way house program, on parole or has been released from 
incarceration); the VA employee's BDN or VETSNET identification 
numbers, the number and kind of actions generated and/or finalized by 
each such employee, the compilation of cases returned for each 
employee.

SYSTEM(S) 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), last amended at 77 FR 42593 on July 19, 2012. Justice/
BOP-005,'' published on June 7, 1984 (48 FR 2371 1), republished on May 
9, 2002 (67 FR 31371), January 25, 2007 (72 FR 3410) and April 26, 2012 
(77 FR 24982) and last modified on April 18, 2016 (81 FR 22639), 
routine use (i).

Signing Authority

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this 
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document 
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as 
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Gina S. 
Farrisee, Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, 
approved this document on June 12, 2017 for publication.

    Dated: November 2, 2017.
Kathleen M. Manwell,
Program Analyst, VA Privacy Service, Office of Privacy Information and 
Identity Protection, Office of Quality, Privacy and Risk, Office of 
Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2017-24168 Filed 11-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8320-01-P