Non-Substantive Change Request for 0960-0277

Justification for Non-Substantive Changes for Form HA-520

Request for Review of Hearing Decision/Order

20 CFR 404.956 and 416.1456

OMB No. 0960-0277

Background

On November 16, 2020, SSA published the Final Rule, Hearings Held by Administrative

Appeals Judges of the Appeals Council, (RIN 0960‑AI25; https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-11-16/pdf/2020-23856.pdf). This Final Rule clarifies when and how administrative appeals judges (AAJ) on our Appeals Council may hold hearings and issue decisions. Because this Final Rule allows for both Administrative Appeals Judges and Administrative Law Judges to hold hearings and issue decisions, we are updating the content of this form to reflect the new language stating that ‘‘Judges’’ will review the cases, hold hearings, and issue decisions; however, we will not change the title of this form.

Therefore, SSA is updating its procedures for processing requests for hearing by an administrative law judge (ALJ). The Appeals Council may assume responsibility for holding a hearing by providing notice to parties at their last known address notifying them that the Appeals Council has assumed responsibility for the case(s). Since the Appeals Council may exercise this authority in certain cases, we are updating the language on the HA-520.

SSA will implement the following changes to the HA-520 upon OMB approval:

Revisions to the Information Collection

• Change #1: Change “administrative law judge” and “ALJ” to “judge” throughout the form.

Justification #1: Because our regulations authorize the Appeals Council to assume responsibility for holding a hearing, we are changing “administrative law judge” to the more general “judge” to include both administrative law judges and the administrative appeals judges of the Appeals Council.

• Change #2: In the box immediately below box 10, we changed “Office of Disability Adjudication and Review” to “Office of Appellate Operations.”

Justification #2: Due to the agency’s organizational realignment effective October 1, 2017, the “Office of Disability Adjudication and Review” ceased to exist and was reorganized under the Office of Hearings Operations and the Office of Analytics, Review and Oversight (OARO). The Appeals Council is under the “Office of Appellate Operations,” which was reorganized under OARO. We are requesting this change to reflect the correct office name and location of the Appeals Council. We did not request this change within one year of the realignment, because we did not realize the HA-520 contains reference to the outdated office name. We are correcting this oversight now.

This action does not affect the public reporting burden.