Supporting Statement (Req for OMB Approval - 1105-0086) 1.22.2020

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR REQUEST FOR 0MB
APPROVAL UNDER THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT AND 5 CFR 1320

A.
1.

Justification
Circumstances of the Information Collection: The Department of Justice Attorney

Student Loan Repayment Program (ASLRP) is an agency recruitment and retention
incentive program based on 5 U.S. C. § 5379, as amended, and 5 CFR Part 537. The
Department selects participants during an annual open season each spring. Any
Department of Justice employee serving in or hired to serve in an attorney position may
request consideration for the ASLRP. The number of requests varies from year to year.
The vast majority of submissions are from current DOJ employees; however, we estimate
that we also receive about 10 requests annually from incoming hires. Initial acceptance
of ASLRP funding triggers a three-year service obligation to the Department. Each year,
subject to availability of funds, the Department selects attorneys for participation on a
competitive basis and renews current beneficiaries (all of whom are DOJ employees) in
the second and third year of their service obligations. ASLRP benefits are paid directly to
the loan holder, not to the individual attorney. To receive ASLRP benefits, the attorney
must qualify, the attorney's student loans must qualify, and all statutory and regulatory
requirements must be met. Attorneys who do not complete their service obligation must
repay the Department for all funds received through the ASLRP, unless a waiver of
indebtedness is approved .
2.

Purpose and Use of the Information: The main purpose for collecting the information

is to establish the terms under which a DOJ attorney or incoming DOJ attorney hire
receives a student loan repayment benefit under the Attorney Student Loan Repayment
Program. The information collected is used to determine eligibility, as a basis for payroll
actions and to identify and validate qualifying Federal student loans. The Office of
Attorney Recruitment and Management, which manages the Attorney Student Loan
Repayment Program, has the authority to ask for this information pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
§301, and 28 C.F.R. Part 0.15(b)(2). This information can be shared in accordance with
routine uses as published in system of record notice JMD-024, Attorney Student Loan
Repayment Program Applicant Files, 71 FR 64740 (11-03-2006), as modified by 82 FR
24147 (5-25-2017) (See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-0525/pdf/2017-10780.pdf).

3.

Use of Automated, Electronic, Mechanical or Other Technological Collection
Techniques: All ASLRP application forms are available on the Office of Attorney

Recruitment and Management (OARM) website in form-fillable PDF format, which may
be digitally signed and submitted electronically. Applicants are able to complete and
forward the necessary documentation directly from their computers. One hundred
percent of the applicants for the benefits available under this Program will complete
their applications electronically. Federal law and regulations require DOJ to validate
student loans to ensure they qualify for this program: individuals requesting
participation must submit relevant supporting documents (e.g., loan payment history,
evidence of good standing, the type of loan, the loan balance, and other relevant
information) for each existing federal student loan.

4.

Efforts to Identify Duplication: OARM is the only office within DOJ that collects this
data. There is no evidence of duplication from available sources. Similar information is
not available.

5.

Impact on Small Business and Small Entities: There is no impact on small business or
entities.

6.

Consequences if Information is Collected Less Frequently: The ASLRP selection process
is conducted once a year. Current ASLRP recipients (employees entering the second or
third year of an existing service agreement) who seek renewal of benefits must submit
their documentation by March 31st. Current employees and incoming hires seeking to
participate in the ASLRP must submit their paperwork to their hiring components in April.
This is the manner in which the Department determines eligibility for the receipt of ASLRP
benefits and selects recipients .

7.

Special Circumstances: The initial ASLRP request consists of administrative eligibility
information for the requesting individual; relevant student loan documentation; and the
individual's justification for selection. The first two sections are retained by OARM and
are reviewed to establish eligibility. The third section is reviewed by five separate senior
career officials ("the ASLRP Panel") who are not co-located. There is insufficient funding
to award benefits to all eligible requesters; accordingly, the five-member Panel selects
recipients each year. Selectees may renew their benefits for an additional two years
without further Panel review by submitting an annual renewal request . Due to other
duties, this group cannot meet for joint review, which takes between 20-30 hours
annually to complete. Electronic submission facilitates the distribution of the
Justification portion to the selecting officials for review via a secure shared drive (Share
Point).

8.

Outside Consultation: In addition to the 30-day and 60-day Federal Register notices and
the comment process, the agency consulted with the Department of State, which had a
similar program, in 2002 to identify best practices and take advantage of lessons
learned regarding availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions
and record keeping, disclosure, or reporting format, and on the data elements to be
recorded, disclosed, or reported. After analyzing the statutory and regulatory ·
requirements, several Program options were developed and briefed to Department
leaders along with recommended courses of action . A final version was discussed with
representatives from OPM prior to implementation. The agency is part of an
interagency working group that regularly assesses government-wide issues associated
with federal student loan repayment programs. The Program is reviewed and updated
annually for compliance with all regulatory provisions implemented by OPM.

9.

Payment or Gift: If selected to participate in the ASLRP, an individual may receive up to
$6000 a year for up to three years in loan repayment incentives paid directly to the loan
holder.

10.

Assurance of Confidentiality: There are no assurances to the respondent since
submission of this information is entirely voluntary. However, personal identifiers are
collected only to issue benefit payments. The information collected is used within the

agency by employees with a need to know to determine program eligibility, to process
payroll actions, and to identify and validate qualifying Federal student loans. Disclosure
of identifiable information, including truncated Social Security Numbers, may be made
to the DOJ Office of the Inspector General and the DOJ Office of Professional
Responsibility to determine eligibility for awards, the Internal Revenue Service for tax
withholding purposes, the National Finance Center for payroll action, and lending or
educational institutions to identify and validate qualifying Federal student loans. ASLRP .
records are maintained pursuant to approved records retention schedules. Since 2017,
ASLRP requests have been stored in a Department of Justice, Office of Attorney
Recruitment and Management (OARM} computer file. Hard copy records from preceding
years are maintained in secured files pursuant to applicable DOJ records retention policy
containers in a secured workspace not accessible to the public or DOJ employees
without the need to access the information in the course of official duty. This
information may also be used by the Department of Justice for other lawful purposes,
including law enforcement and litigation pursuant to system of record notice JMD-024,
Attorney Student Loan Repayment Program Applicant Files, 71 FR 64740 (11-03-2006},
as modified by 82 FR 24147 (5-25-2017} (See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR2017-05-25/pdf/2017-10780.pdf}. In addition, these records, or information therein,
may also be used within the Department of Justice for study purposes, such as
projection of staffing needs, and/or creation of non-identifiable statistical data for
reports to other Federal agencies and Congress .
11.

Justification for Sensitive Questions: Documentation of the individual's qualifying federal
student.loans is required to determine statutory and regulatory el igibility. Disclosure of
the individual's truncated SSN is mandatory since it is the identifier used by the DOJ's
Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility when reviewing
candidates for award approval. The use of the truncated SSN is necessary because of the
large number of present and former employees and applicants who have identical names
and birth dates, and whose identities can be distinguished only by the SSN. It is used
primarily to identify an employee's personnel, leave, and pay records and to relate one to
the other. It also may be used by the Department of Justice to identify and validate
qualifying Federal student loans. Disclosure of the truncated SSN is required to ensure
that servicing Human Resources Offices can identify the proper recipient in order to effect
a pay transaction. Student loan repayments are a form of incentive award : gross awards
are subject to federal and state taxes and withholdings and are considered income to the
employee. Although NFC and IRS regulations require use of the complete SSN to identify
the taxpayer, that information is independently available to recipients' finance staffs and
is not collected by OARM in managing the ASLRP. The application does not pose any other
questions of a sensitive nature( except to request that the applicant voluntarily identify
personal characteristics, i.e., gender, race/national origin} . Applicants are advised that the
provision of this information is entirely voluntary, is not provided to the selecting Panel,
is used only by OARM to compile Program statistical data, and that failure to respond has
no effect on their request for consideration.

12.

Estimates of Hour Burden:
The Department anticipates that on a yearly basis, about 275 respondents will complete
the initial ASL RP application (new request) . Of those, we estimate approximately 10
respondents are incoming hires (individuals who have accepted an offer of employment)

seeking benefits effect ive upon employment. The remaining 265 respondents are
current DOJ employees . It is estimated that each new application will take two (2) hours
to complete . In addition, each year the Department expects to receive approximately
110 applicat ions from current employees (attorneys and law clerks) requesting renewal
of the benefits they received in the preceding year . We estimate that each renewal
application will take approximately 20 minutes to complete .
We calculate the estimated public burden associated with this collection, based solely
on initial requests submitted by individuals who have accepted an offer of employment
but not yet entered on duty, as 20 hours. The burden hours for collecting respondent
data, 20 hours, is calculated as follows: 10 new respondents x 2 hours= 20 hours.
When we include current employees as well as incoming hires, the estimated burden
associated with this collection is 586 hours, 40 minutes . The burden hours for collecting
respondent data, 586 hours, 40 minutes, are calculated as follows: 275 new respondents
x 2 hours= 550 hours, plus 110 renewing respondents x 20 minutes= 36 hours, 40
minutes .

ICR Summary of Burden: (Excluding current employees - Including only incoming hires)

·1ri.r· Program
!r •Change Due

to New
Statute

Annu al
Number of
Res ponses

Program
Change Due
to Agency
:t Discretion

Change due
to Potential
Violation of
PRA

Previously
Approved

10

0

0

0

0

20

20

0

0

0

0

20

0

0

0

0

0

0

An n ual Tim e
Burd en (Hr)

Annual Cost
Burden($)

13.

Estimates of the Total Cost Burden: $0.0

14.

Estimate of Annualized Cost to the Federal Government: $0 .0

15.

Program Changes or Adjustments: We adjusted the cost estimates to zero. Cost
estimates are based on the number of public respondents . In this case, the vast
majority of requests are from current Department of Justice employees, who fall

outside the definition of a public respondent. Given that there are so few members of
the public requesting consideration, any costs associated with operating or maintaining
systems, or recordkeeping, is de minimis.
16.

Publishing Information: This information is used internally for selecting recipients of
the Department's attorney student loan repayments and will not be published.

17.

Display of Expiration Date for 0MB Approval: OARM will display the 0MB number and
expiration date on the forms for the electronic application.

18.

Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission: OARM is not seeking any
exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 of the Form 83-1.

19.

Collections for Information Employing Statistical Methods: This information collection
does not employ statistical methods.

Eleanor A. Carpenter
Acting Director, Office of Attorney Recruitment and
Management
Authorizing Official