[Federal Register: March 27, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 59)]
[Notices]
[Page 15008-15009]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27mr03-74]
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RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which provides opportunity for
public comment on new or revised data collection, the Railroad
Retirement Board (RRB) will publish periodic summaries of proposed data
collections.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed information
collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information has practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the RRB's estimate of the burden of the collection
of the information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize
the burden related to the collection of information on respondents,
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Title and Purpose Information Collection
Application for Employee Annuity Under the Railroad Retirement Act;
OMB 3220-0002 section 2 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA), provides
for payment of age and service, disability and supplemental annuities
to qualified employees. The basic requirement for a regular employee
annuity retirement annuity under the RRA is 120 months (10 years) of
creditable railroad service. Benefits then become payable after the
employee meets certain other requirements, which depend, in turn, on
the type of annuity payable. The requirements relating to the annuities
are prescribed in 20 CFR 216, and 220.
The RRB currently uses the electronic AA-1cert, Application Summary
and Certification process and the following forms to collect the
information needed for determining entitlement to and the amount of, an
employee retirement annuity: Form AA-1, Application for Employee
annuity Under the Railroad Retirement Act, Form AA-1d, Application for
Determination of Employee Disability, and Form G-204,
[[Page 15009]]
Verification of Workers Compensation/Public Disability Benefit
Information.
The AA-1cert process obtains information from an applicant for
either an age and service, or disability annuity by means of an
interview with an RRB field-office representative. It obtains
information about an applicant's marital history, work history,
military service, benefits from other governmental agencies and
railroad pensions. During the interview, the field-office
representative enters the information obtained into an online
information system. Upon completion of the interview, the applicant
receives Form AA-1cert, Application Summary and Certification, which
summarizes the information that war provided by/or verified by the
applicant, for review and signature. The RRB also uses a manual
version, RRB Form AA-1, in instances where the RRB representative is
unable to contact the applicant in-person or by telephone i.e., the
applicant lives in another country.
Form AA-1d, Application for Determination of Employee 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
Workers Compensation/Public Disability Benefit Information, is used to
obtain and verify information concerning worker's compensation or
public disability benefits that are or will be paid by a public agency
to a disabled railroad employee.
The RRB estimates the burden for the collection as follows:
Estimated burden
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Estimated
Estimated completion Estimated
Form annual time (per annual burden
responses response) hours (hours)
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AA-1cert (with assistance)...................................... 13,300 30 6,650
AA-1 manual (without assistance)................................ 100 62 103
AA-1d (manual without assistance)............................... 50 60 50
AA-1d (manual) (with assistance)................................ 5,600 35 3,296
G-204........................................................... 50 15 13
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Total....................................................... 19,100 .............. 10,112
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The RRB proposes no changes to Form AA-1cert, AA-1 and G-204. Minor
non-burden impacting, editorial and formatting changes are proposed to
Form AA-1d. Completion of an application is required to obtain a
benefit. One response is requested of each respondent.
Additional Information or Comments: To request more information or
to obtain a copy of the information collection justification, forms,.
and/or supporting material, please call the RRB Clearance Officer at
(312) 751-3363. Comments regarding the information collection should be
addressed to Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 N. Rush
Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092. Written comments should be
received within 60 days of this notice.
Chuck Mierzwa,
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-7307 Filed 3-26-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-M