Federal Register #2026-21916

Commerce and Treasury records matching to verify eligibility and prevent improper payments

The Department of Commerce is establishing a records-matching program with Treasury’s Do Not Pay system to check eligibility and help prevent improper payments. - Government organizations - The Department of Commerce, through the Office of Privacy and Open Government in the Office of the Secretary, is the participating agency. - The Department of the Treasury’s Do Not Pay Working System is administered by the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service. - Identified Commerce program areas include NOAA’s Marine Sanctuary Program and Fisheries Finance Program, as well as NOAA scholarship, education, and recruitment activities covered by its records systems. - Purpose and data - Commerce will compare program records against Do Not Pay records to verify eligibility before payments or awards, detect and prevent improper payments, and support related recovery activities. - Records that may be matched include taxpayer identification numbers, payee names and addresses, bank routing and account numbers, and follow-up eligibility or payment information. - Commercial procurement - This is a government records-matching program, not a solicitation for commercial products or services. No OEMs, commercial vendors, part numbers, or purchase quantities are identified.

Description

The Department of Commerce gives notice of a new matching program under the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019. The program will compare records for certain Commerce federal benefit programs with records in the Department of the Treasury’s Do Not Pay Working System. The comparisons are intended to identify and prevent improper payments, support related recovery activities, and verify eligibility before payment or award. The notice invites comments by November 27, 2026, and states the program will be effective 30 days after publication through September 10, 2029.

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