USDA provides notice of a consolidated Department-wide matching program involving five USDA systems of records and the Department of the Treasury Do Not Pay (DNP) Working System...
USDA provides notice of a consolidated Department-wide matching program involving five USDA systems of records and the Department of the Treasury Do Not Pay (DNP) Working System. The program supports identifying, preventing, and recouping improper payments through pre-payment and pre-award eligibility verification. Treasury, in consultation with OMB, has issued a waiver of the matching agreement requirement.
DATES:
This notice will be open for a 30-day notice and comment period following its publication in the
Federal Register
, during which time written comments may be submitted.
Submit comments on or before October 5, 2026. The matching program will not become effective until the applicable public notice period has expired, and it will remain in effect through September 10, 2029.
ADDRESSES:
You may submit comments on this notice, identified by Docket Number SBA-2025-0069 by any of the following methods:
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments for Docket Number SBA-2025-0069.
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier:
Submit written comments to Chief Privacy Officer Director, Privacy Division, Cybersecurity & Privacy Operations Center (CPOC) 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20250
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chief Privacy Officer, Director, Privacy Division, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20250 or via email,
SM.OCIO.CIO.UsdaPrivacy@usda.gov,
telephone (202) 853-4378.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-503) amended the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) by establishing procedural safeguards related to agencies' use of records when performing certain types of computerized matching. Section 7201 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-508) further amended the Privacy Act regarding protections for individuals when agencies perform these functions. The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (31 U.S.C. 3351et seq.) provides the head of the agency operating the DNP Working System with authority, in consultation with OMB, to waive the requirements in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o) in any case or class of cases for matching activities conducted under the DNP Initiative (31 U.S.C. 3354). Pursuant to this authority, the Secretary of the Treasury, after consulting with the OMB Director, authorized a four-year waiver of the requirement for entering into a matching agreement under 5 U.S.C. 552a(o) for the class of matching programs meeting all criteria in OMB Memorandum M-25-32, Preventing Improper Payments and Protecting Privacy Through Do Not Pay.
USDA has determined that the DNP matching programs described in this notice is eligible for the waiver, which is effective from September 10, 2025, through September 10, 2029. For purposes of this notice, matching activities conducted between the USDA programs listed in the appendix and the DNP Working System constitute a single agency-wide matching program implementing DNP for USDA.[1]
Participating Agencies
USDA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
Authority for Conducting the Matching Program
The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (31 U.S.C. 3351et seq.); Executive Order 14249, Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (90 FR 14011); and OMB Memorandum M-25-32, Preventing Improper Payments and Protecting Privacy Through Do Not Pay. Additional statutory authorities for collection and maintenance of information by each USDA program are identified in the applicable systems of records notices listed in the appendix.
Purpose(s)
The purposes of this matching program are to identify and prevent improper payments and to conduct related recoupment and recovery activities by verifying pre-payment or pre-award eligibility through the DNP Working System. USDA will disclose the minimum data elements necessary for an authorized comparison. When the DNP Working System identifies a potentially matching record, it will notify USDA and identify the DNP source database containing the potentially matching record. USDA will independently verify the information and determine whether follow-up or other action is appropriate under applicable law and program procedures. A potential match is an indicator requiring verification and is not, standing alone, a determination of ineligibility or a basis for adverse action.
Categories of Individuals
Records may relate to individual applicants for, or recipients of, USDA-administered Federal funds, including sole proprietors, who are beneficiaries; borrowers; grantees; vendors; contractors; producers; landowners; persons doing business with the Food and Nutrition Administration, and other individuals whose payment or award eligibility is reviewed through the DNP Working System. Records concerning an organization or other non-individual entity are included only to the extent the records identify or pertain to an individual.
Categories of Records
Records involved in the computerized comparison include identifying and payment- or award-related data submitted by USDA and records maintained in databases included in the DNP Working System. USDA submitted data may include name; Social Security number; Federal or State Taxpayer Identification Number, including Employer Identification Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, as applicable; Unique Entity Identifier; date of birth; home, mailing, or business address; business identifier; payment or payee identifier; award identifier; and other identifying information necessary to conduct the authorized comparison.
DNP responses may include a potential-match or no-match indicator, identification of the DNP source database containing the potentially matching record, and information authorized and necessary for USDA to verify the potential match. The underlying DNP source records are maintained in Treasury/Fiscal Service .017 Do Not Pay Payment Verification Records.
USDA follow-up records may include identity-verification results, supporting documentation, correspondence and notices, contest or correction information, eligibility or payment determinations, and records
( printed page 56614)
documenting prevention, recoupment, recovery, referral, or other disposition.
System(s) of Records
Records in the DNP Working System are maintained in Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service .017 Do Not Pay Payment Verification Records (85 FR 11776, February 27, 2020). That system includes databases designated for inclusion in the DNP Working System under the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 and other databases designated by the Director of OMB, or the Director's designee, in consultation with executive agencies. USDA records involved in the matching program are maintained in the systems of records listed in the appendix.
Appendix
The following USDA programs and activities are included in this matching program as supported by the applicable systems of records.
System of records
Federal Register
citation
Programs
USDA/RD-1—Current or Prospective Producers or Landowners, Applicants, Borrowers, Grantees, Tenants, and Other Participants in RD Programs
Technical Assistance to Cooperatives; Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS) Grant Programs and Cooperative Agreement Programs; Rural Business and Cooperative Services (RBCS) Biobased Market Development and Access Grant Program (BDAP); Direct Housing Natural Disaster Loans and Grants; Rural Business Investment Program; Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS) Grant Programs and Cooperative Agreement Programs; Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS) Guaranteed Loan Programs; Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS) Payment Assistance; Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS) Relending Programs; Rural Development Cooperative Agreement Program; Rural Housing Service (RHS) Community Facilities Community Program Grants; Rural Housing Service (RHS) Farm Labor Housing Loans (Section 514) and Grants (Section 516); Rural Housing Service (RHS) Housing Loans and Grants—Other; Rural Housing Service (RHS) Multi-Family Housing Preservation and Revitalization Demo Program; Rural Housing Service (RHS) Multi-Family Housing Rental Assistance Program; Rural Housing Service (RHS) Multi-Family Housing Rural Rental Housing Direct Loans (Section 515); Rural Housing Service (RHS) Multi-Family Housing Rural Rental Housing Direct Loans (Section 515) (HIM Disasters); Rural Housing Service (RHS) Single Family Housing Direct Loans; Rural Housing Service (RHS) Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loans; Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Congressional Earmarked Funds; Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Grants—Other—Electric; Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) Program; Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Rural Telecommunications—Distance Learning and Telemedicine; Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Rural Telecommunications—ReConnect Program; Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants Section 306C; Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities Grants; Self Help Housing Land Development Loans; Technical Assistance to Cooperatives.
USDA/FNS-10—Persons Doing Business with the Food and Nutrition Service
Child and Adult Care Food Program; CNMI Nutrition Assistance; Commodity Supplemental Food Program; Emergency Food Assistance Program (Food Commodities); Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations; Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program; National School Lunch Program; Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico; School Breakfast Program; Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Special Milk Program for Children; Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children; Summer Food Service Program for Children; WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP); WIC Grants to States (WGS).
Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Acer Access Development Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Bison Production and Marketing Grant Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Funding to Alleviate Emergency Supply Chain Disruption in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP); Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Funding to Alleviate Emergency Supply Chain Disruption in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservation; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Local Food Purchase Agreements with States, Tribes, and Local Governments; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Local Meat Capacity Grants; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grants—Supplemental Funding; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Micro-Grants for Food Security Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Organic Market Development Grant (OMDG) Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Pandemic Relief Activities: Farm and Food Worker Relief Grant Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Pandemic Relief Activities: Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity—Technical Assistance Grants; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Regional Food Business Centers; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Regional Food System Partnerships; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Resilient Food System Infrastructure Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program; Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—Specialty Crop Block Grant Program—Farm Bill; Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) Agreements; Bipartisan Infrastructure Act Nursery Vegetation; Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Removal and Production of Flammable Vegetation to Produce Biochar and Innovative Wood Products; Bipartisan Infrastructure Law State, Private & Tribal Agreements; Collaborative Forest Restoration; Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (CFP); Community Project Funds—Congressionally Directed Spending; Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Program; Cooperative Fire Protection Agreement; Cooperative Forest Road Agreements; Cooperative Forestry Assistance; Emergency Relief Program Outreach Education and Technical Assistance; Farm Service Agency (FSA) 220 Block Grant; Farm Service Agency (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program Transition Incentive Program: Outreach, Technical Assistance, and Research Agreements; Farm Service Agency (FSA) Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Grant Program; Farm Service Agency (FSA) Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program; Farm Service Agency (FSA) Outreach Education and Technical Assistance; Farm Service Agency (FSA) Outreach Education and Technical Assistance for Disaster Assistance Programs; Farm Service Agency (FSA) Testing, Mitigation, and Relief for Agricultural Contamination by Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances; Farm Service Agency (FSA) Texas 1944 Water Treaty Grant; Farm Service Agency (FSA) Urban Agriculture and Urban County Committee Outreach, Technical Assistance, and Education; Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program; Forest Legacy Program; Forest Health Protection; Forest Service 638 Authority for Tribes; Forest Stewardship Program; Good Neighbor Authority; Great American Outdoors Act Deferred Maintenance Program; Grey Towers Cooperative Authorities; Inflation Reduction Act—Forest Legacy Program; Inflation Reduction Act—National Forest System; Inflation Reduction Act Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance; Inflation Reduction Act Landscape Scale Restoration; Inflation Reduction Act Urban & Community Forestry Program; Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act Financial Assistance to Facilities that Purchase and Process Byproducts for Ecosystem Restoration; Infrastructure Investment and Job Act Joint Fire Science Program (Research & Development); Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Capital Maintenance and Improvement; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Community Wildfire Defense Grants; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Firewood Bank Program; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Prescribed Fire/Fire Recovery; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Restoration/Revegetation; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Temporary Bridge Program; International Forestry Programs; Lake Tahoe Erosion Control Grant Program; Law Enforcement Agreements; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; National Forest Foundation; Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreement Program; Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production; Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) People's Garden Initiative Cooperative Agreements Program; Opal Creek Wilderness Economic Grant Program; Partnership Agreements; Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities; Research & Education Activities; Research Joint Venture and Cost Reimbursable Agreements; Schools and Roads—Grants to States; Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention; State & Private Forestry Cooperative Fire Assistance; State & Private Forestry Hazardous Fuel Reduction Program; Stewardship Agreements; State Mediation Grants; Sugar Processor Block Grants; Supplemental Disaster Block Grants with State; Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops Program; Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Grants Program (UAIP); Urban and Community Forestry Program; Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program; Water Bank Program; Water-Saving Commodities Grant; Watershed Restoration and Enhancement Agreement Authority; Wetland Mitigation Banking Program; Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscapes; Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC); Wood Utilization Assistance.
Levi S. Harrell,
Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Agriculture.
Footnotes
1.
The statutory definition of the term “matching program” means “any computerized comparison of—(i) two
or more
automated systems of records or a system of records with non-Federal records” for certain enumerated purposes. 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(8) (emphasis added). There is a separate statutory definition for “Federal benefit program.” See OMB Memorandum M-25-32 at Appendix II, page 2, sec. a.3.iii.1 (recognizing that a single agency matching program may consist of multiple systems of records). Thus, this notice applies to the Do Not Pay matching program for multiple Federal benefits programs and associated systems of records within USDA.
www.regulations.gov
5 U.S.C. 552a