In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, and Office of Management and Budget guidance on computer matching, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is providing...
In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, and Office of Management and Budget guidance on computer matching, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is providing notice of the establishment of a new matching program. The matching program will enable the 20 DOI programs listed in the appendix to compare records maintained in applicable DOI systems of records, including INTERIOR/DOI-85, Payroll, Attendance, Retirement, and Leave Records; INTERIOR/DOI-86, Accounts Receivable: FBMS; INTERIOR/DOI-87, Acquisition of Goods and Services: FBMS; and INTERIOR/DOI-89, Grants and Cooperative Agreements: FBMS, with records maintained in the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Do Not Pay Working System. DOI will use the matching program to verify prepayment or pre-award eligibility, identify and prevent improper payments, and conduct related recovery activities.
DATES:
Submit comments on or before November 2, 2026. This matching program will be effective November 2, 2026 through September 10, 2029.
ADDRESSES:
You may send comments identified by docket number DOI-2026-0199 by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal:www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for sending comments.
Email:DOI_Privacy@ios.doi.gov.
Include docket number DOI-2026-0199 in the subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail or Hand Delivery:
Walter Clay, Departmental Privacy Officer (Acting), U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Room 7112, Washington, DC 20240.
All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number DOI-2026-0199. All comments received will be posted without change to
www.regulations.gov,
including any personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Walter Clay, Departmental Privacy Officer (Acting), U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Room 7112, Washington, DC 20240,
DOI_Privacy@ios.doi.gov
or (202) 208-1605.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 amended the Privacy Act to establish procedural protections for certain computerized comparisons. The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 established the Do Not Pay Initiative.
Pursuant to the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, authorized a four-year waiver of the matching-agreement requirement under 5 U.S.C. 552a(o) for the class of Do Not Pay matching programs that meet the criteria established in OMB Memorandum M-25-32. The waiver is effective from September 10, 2025, through September 10, 2029.
DOI, in consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, determined that the Do Not Pay matching program described in this notice is eligible for the waiver described in OMB Memorandum M-25-32. For purposes of this notice, the matching activities conducted between the Federal benefit programs listed in the appendix to this document and the Do Not Pay Working System constitute a single agency-wide DOI matching program implementing Do Not Pay for DOI's listed programs.[1]
II. Participating Agencies
The U.S. Department of the Interior programs listed in the appendix, administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will compare records with the Do Not Pay Working System, which is administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
III. Authority for Conducting the Matching Program
The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, 31 U.S.C. 3351et seq.;Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments (74 FR 62201); 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 information regarding the authorities for the collection and maintenance of information for each of the DOI programs that will conduct matches with the Do Not Pay Working System are contained within the systems of records notices listed in the appendix below.
IV. Purpose(s)
The purpose of the matching program is to identify and prevent improper payments and support related recovery activities by verifying prepayment or pre-award eligibility through the Do Not Pay Working System. Data elements that are necessary for eligibility determinations for a relevant DOI program that are contained in records from DOI systems of records will be compared with records in Do Not Pay Working System.
When the Do Not Pay Working System identifies a potential match, it will notify the submitting DOI program and identify the database or data source containing the potential match. The DOI program will independently verify the information before taking any action that could affect an individual, applicant, awardee, recipient, vendor, or payee. If the Do Not Pay Working System identifies no match, it will return a no-match response.
V. Categories of Individuals
Applicants for or recipients of Federal funds administered through the DOI programs listed in the appendix, including individual awardees, vendors, payees, and sole proprietors whose records are submitted to the Do Not Pay
( printed page 62743)
Working System for prepayment or pre-award eligibility verification.
VI. Categories of Records
The categories of records involved in the matching program include identifying, contact, award, payment, and financial information maintained by DOI, and identifying, eligibility, payment, financial, and other payment-verification information maintained in the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Do Not Pay Working System. DOI data elements disclosed for the computerized comparison include Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), which may include Social Security number (SSN), Employer Identification Number (EIN), or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN); awardee/payee name; awardee/payee physical address, including city, state, and ZIP Code; and awardee/payee bank account information, including account number and financial institution routing and transit number. Records returned by the Do Not Pay Working System may include information identifying a potential match and the database or data source in which the potential match was identified.
Records involved in the matching program may also include information returned by the Do Not Pay Working System concerning a potential match and records used or generated by DOI to independently verify the match and conduct any necessary follow-up before taking an action affecting an individual, applicant, awardee, recipient, vendor, or payee. DOI will independently verify information resulting from a potential match before taking such action.
VII. System(s) of Records
DOI records used in the matching program are maintained, as applicable to each participating program identified in the appendix, in the following systems of records:
INTERIOR/DOI-85, Payroll, Attendance, Retirement, and Leave Records,83 FR 34156 (July 19, 2018), modified at 91 FR 10622 (March 4, 2026);
INTERIOR/DOI-87, Acquisition of Goods and Services: FBMS,73 FR 43766 (July 28, 2008), modified at 86 FR 50156 (September 7, 2021) and 91 FR 10622 (March 4, 2026); and
INTERIOR/DOI-89, Grants and Cooperative Agreements: FBMS,73 FR 43755 (July 28, 2008), modified at 86 FR 50156 (September 7, 2021) and 91 FR 10622 (March 4, 2026).
Records in the Do Not Pay 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), including databases designated for inclusion under applicable law and OMB designation authority.
Appendix
Below is the list of DOI programs that will match records with the Do Not Pay Working System. For purposes of this notice, matching activities between the programs listed below and the Do Not Pay Working System constitute one agency-wide matching program implementing Do Not Pay for DOI. The applicable DOI systems of records for each program are identified below.
Bureau/office
Department program name
System of records notice(s)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Operation and Maintenance, Indian Irrigation Systems, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Departmental Privacy Officer (Acting), U.S. Department of the Interior.
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). 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 DNP matching program for multiple Federal benefits programs and associated systems of records within DOI.
www.regulations.gov
5 U.S.C. 552a(o)