[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 139 (Thursday, July 18, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37499-37500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18225]


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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 collections, 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 of information collection: Application for 
Survivor Death Benefits: OMB 3220-0031 Under Section 6 of the Railroad 
Retirement Act (RRA), lump-sum death benefits are payable to surviving 
widow and widowers, children and certain other dependents. Lump-sum 
death benefits are payable after the death of a railroad employee only 
if there are no qualified survivors of the employee immediately 
eligible for annuities. With the exception of the residual death 
benefit, eligibility for survivor benefits depend on whether the 
employee was ``insured'' under the RRA at the time of death. If a 
deceased employee was not so insured, jurisdiction of any survivor 
benefits payable is transferred to the Social Security Administration 
and survivor benefits are paid by that agency instead of the RRB. The 
collection obtains the information required by the RRB to determine 
entitlement to and amount of the survivor death benefits applied for.
    The RRB currently utilizes Form(s) AA-11a (Designation for Change 
of Beneficiary for Residual Lump-Sum), AA-21 (Application for Lump-Sum 
Death Payment and Annuities Unpaid at Death), G-131 (Authorization of 
Payment and Release of All Claims to a Death Benefit or Accrued Annuity 
Payment), and G-273a (Funeral Director's Statement of Burial Charges), 
to obtain the necessary information. One response is requested of each 
respondent. Completion is required to obtain benefits.
    In order to implement a presumed Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) 
policy, a new section that requests information about an applicant's 
financial institution is being proposed to Form AA-21. A similar 
section is being proposed to Form G-273a in order to allow for EFT 
payments directly to the funeral director's financial institution. 
Additional changes being proposed to the G-273a include the addition of 
a clarification question related to billing by the responsible funeral 
home, the deletion of two questions deemed to be no longer necessary, 
and some reformatting of questions remaining from the current approved 
version. In addition, minor editorial changes are being proposed to all 
of the forms in order to incorporate language required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden

    The estimated annual respondent burden is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Annual        Time        Burden  
            Form Nos.               responses    (minutes)     (hours)  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
AA-11a...........................          400           10           67
AA-21 (with assistance)..........        6,000           32        3,200
AA-21 (without assistance).......        6,000           42        4,200
G-131............................          600            5           50
G-273a...........................        9,600           12        1,920
                                  --------------------------------------
      Total......................       22,600  ...........        9,437
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[[Page 37500]]


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. 96-18225 Filed 7-17-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-M