[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 189 (Thursday, September 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67015-67016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23526]
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RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
Agency Forms Submitted for OMB Review, Request for Comments
Summary: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is forwarding
an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Our ICR describes the information we seek to collect from the public.
Review and approval by OIRA ensures that we impose appropriate
paperwork burdens.
The RRB invites comments on the proposed collection of information
to determine (1) the practical utility of the collection; (2) the
accuracy of the estimated burden of the collection; (3) ways to enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information that is the
subject of collection; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of
collections on respondents, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments to the
RRB or OIRA must contain the OMB control number of the ICR. For proper
consideration of your comments, it is best if the RRB and OIRA receive
them within 30 days of the publication date.
Title and purpose of information collection: Application for
Employee Annuity Under the Railroad Retirement Act; OMB 3220-0002.
Section 2a of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) provides for
payments of age and service, disability, and supplemental annuities to
qualified employees. An annuity cannot be paid until the employee stops
working for a railroad employer. In addition, the age and service
employee must relinquish any rights held to such jobs. A disabled
employee does not need to relinquish employee rights until attaining
Full Retirement Age, or if earlier, when their spouse is awarded a
spouse annuity. Benefits become payable after the employee meets
certain other
[[Page 67016]]
requirements, which depend on the type of annuity payable. The
requirements for obtaining the annuities are prescribed in 20 CFR 216
and 220.
To collect the information needed to help determine an applicant's
entitlement to, and the amount of, an employee retirement annuity the
RRB uses Forms AA-1, Application for Employee Annuity; AA-1d,
Application for Determination of Employee Disability; G-204,
Verification of Workers Compensation/Public Disability Benefit
Information, and electronic Forms AA-1cert, Application Summary and
Certification, and AA-1sum, Application Summary.
The AA-1 application process obtains information from an applicant
about their marital history, work history, military service, benefits
from other governmental agencies, railroad pensions and Medicare
entitlement for either an age and service or disability annuity. An RRB
representative interviews the applicant either at a field office, an
itinerant point, or by telephone. During the interview, the RRB
representative enters the information obtained into an on-line
information system. Upon completion of the interview, the on-line
information system generates Form AA-1cert, Application Summary and
Certification, or Form AA-1sum, Application Summary, a summary of the
information that was provided for the applicant to review and approve.
Form AA-1cert documents approval using the traditional pen and ink
``wet'' signature, and Form AA-1sum documents approval using the
alternative signature method called Attestation. When the RRB
representative is unable to contact the applicant in person or by
telephone, for example, the applicant lives in another country, a
manual version of Form AA-1 is used.
Form AA-1d, Application for Determination of Employee's Disability,
is completed by an employee who is filing for a disability annuity
under the RRA, or a disability freeze under the Social Security Act for
early Medicare based on a disability. Form G-204, Verification of
Worker's Compensation/Public Disability Benefit Information, is used to
obtain and verify information concerning a worker's compensation or a
public disability benefit that is or will be paid by a public agency to
a disabled railroad employee.
One response is requested of each respondent. Completion of the
forms is required to obtain/retain a benefit.
Previous Requests for Comments: The RRB has already published the
initial 60-day notice (81 FR 47183 on July 20, 2016) required by 44
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2). That request elicited no comments.
Title: Application for Employee Annuity Under the Railroad
Retirement Act.
OMB Control Number: 3220-0002.
Form(s) submitted: AA-1, AA-1cert, AA-1d, AA-1sum and G-204.
Type of request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected public: Individuals or Households.
Abstract: The Railroad Retirement Act provides for payment of age,
disability and supplemental annuities to qualified employees. The
application and related forms obtain information about the applicant's
family work history, military service, disability benefits from other
government agencies and public or private pensions. The information is
used to determine entitlement to and the amount of the annuity applied
for.
Changes proposed: The RRB proposes the following changes to Forms
AA-1 and AA-1d:
Deletion of Item 35a-d from Form AA-1, regarding the
relinquishment of seniority rights;
the relocation of current Items 52-53 from Form AA-1d to
proposed Items 48a-b on Form AA-1, regarding whether an applicant had
filed or expected to file a lawsuit or claim against a person or
company for a personal injury that resulted in the payment of sickness
benefits by the RRB, as the potential for uncollected sickness benefits
can apply to both a disability applicant as well as an applicant
qualified for an age and service annuity.
Comparable revisions to electronic equivalent forms (AA-
1cert and AA-1sum) are also being proposed.
No other changes are proposed.
The burden estimate for the ICR is as follows:
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Annual
Form No. responses Time (minutes) Burden (hours)
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AA-1 (without assistance)....................................... 100 62 103
AA-1cert (with assistance)...................................... 4,620 30 2,310
AA-1sum (with assistance)....................................... 8,000 29 3,867
AA-1d (with assistance)......................................... 2,600 60 2,600
AA-1d (without assistance)...................................... 5 85 7
G-204........................................................... 20 15 5
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Total....................................................... 15,345 .............. 8,892
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Additional Information or Comments: Copies of the forms and
supporting documents can be obtained from Dana Hickman at (312) 751-
4981 or [email protected].
Comments regarding the information collection should be addressed
to Charles Mierzwa, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street,
Chicago, Illinois, 60611-1275 or [email protected] and to the OMB
Desk Officer for the RRB, Fax: 202-395-6974, Email address:
[email protected].
Charles Mierzwa,
Associate Chief Information Officer for Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2016-23526 Filed 9-28-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-P