[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 103 (Friday, May 26, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34235-34236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-13215]


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DEPARTMENT OF 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) publishes 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

    Lag Service Reports; OMB 3220-0005.
    Under Section 9 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) and Section 6 
of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA), railroad employers 
are required to submit reports of employee service and compensation to 
the RRB as needed for administering the RRA and RUIA. To pay benefits 
due on a deceased employee's earnings records or determine entitlement 
to, and amount of annuity applied for, it is necessary at time to 
obtain from railroad employers current (lag) service and compensation 
net yet reported to the RRB through the annual reporting process.
    The reporting requirements are specified in 20 CFR 209.4 and 209.5. 
The RRB currently utilizes Form G-88, Employer's Supplemental Report of 
Service and Compensation, and Form AA-22, Notice of Death and 
Compensation, to obtain the required lag service and related 
information from railroad employers. The RRB proposes to obsolete Form 
G-88a. Form G-88a will be replaced by two forms, Form G-88a.1, Notice 
of Retirement of Verification of Date Last Worked, and Form G-88a.2, 
Notice of Retirement and Request for Service Needed for Eligibility. 
Form G-88a.1 will be sent by the RRB to railroad employers and used for 
the specific purpose of verifying information previously provided to 
the RRB regarding the date last worked by the employee. If the 
information is correct, the employer need not reply. If the information 
is incorrect, the employer is asked to provide corrected information. 
Form G-88a.2 will be used by the RRB to secure lag service and 
compensation information when it is needed to determine benefit 
eligibility. Both proposed forms will direct the railroad employers to 
fax the information directly to the RRB. It is expected that the 
proposed new forms will be easier for railroad employers to complete 
and will encourage a speedier reply, allowing the RRB to pay applicants 
in a more timely and accurate manner. A minor editorial change is 
proposed to Form AA-12.
    The completion time for proposed forms G-88a.1 and G-88a.2 is 
estimated at 5 minutes per response. The estimated completion time for 
Form AA-22 remains at 6\1/2\ minutes per response. Completion is 
mandatory. The RRB estimates that approximately 800 Form AA-12's 2,300 
Form G-88a.1's, and 1,200 G-88a.2's will be completed annually.
    The renewal of this information collection will continue the RRB's 
initiative to consolidate information collections by major functional 
areas. The purpose of the initiative is to bring related collection 
instruments together in one collection, better manage the instruments, 
and prepare for the electronic collection of this information (A 
collection instrument can be an individual form, electronic collection, 
interview, or any other method that collects specific information from 
the public.)
    As part of the OMB renewal process, the RRB proposes that this 
collection (OMB 3220-0005), Lag Service Reports, will be renamed 
Employer Reporting. Upon approval by OMB, and RRB intends to merge the 
following OMB approved collections into the collection by the Expected 
Expiration Date.

 
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                                                                                                     Expected
       OMB collection No.                Collection title                    RRB forms              expiration
                                                                                                       date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3220-0008......................  Railroad Service and             BA 3a, BA-4...................       9/30/2001
                                  Compensation Reports.
3220-0012......................  Employers Quarterly Report of    DC-1..........................       2/28/2003
                                  Contributions Under the RUIA.
3220-0014......................  Employer Representatives'        DC-2, DC-2a...................       6/30/2003
                                  Status and Compensation
                                  Reports.
3220-0070......................  Employer Service and             UI-41, UI-41a.................       9/30/2001
                                  Compensation Reports.
3220-0089......................  Pension Plan Reports...........  G-88p, G-88r, G-88r.1.........      11/30/2002
3220-0097......................  Pay Rate Report................  UI-1e.........................       9/30/2001
3220-0132......................  Gross Earnings Report..........  BA-11.........................       1/31/2003
3220-0156......................  Employers Deemed Service Month   GL-99.........................       6/30/2003
                                  Questionnaire.
3220-0173......................  Railroad Separation Allowance    BA-9..........................       4/30/2002
                                  or Severance Pay Report.
3220-0175......................  Sick Pay and Miscellaneous       BA-10.........................       9/30/2001
                                  Payments Report.
3220-0194......................  Employee Home Address Report...  BA-6a.........................       3/31/2001
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    Revisions to existing collection instruments and, occasionally, a 
new instrument related to this program function may be required during 
the three-year cycle of this information collection.
    The RRB currently estimates the completion time for manual Form BA-
3a, Annual Report of Creditable

[[Page 34236]]

Compensation at 85 hours, the electronic version of Form BA-3a at 33.3 
hours, Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments at 1 
hour, Form DC-1, Employer's Quarterly Report of Contributions Under the 
RUIA at 25 minutes, Form DC-2a, Employee Representative's Report of 
Compensation at 15 minutes, Form UI-41, Supplemental Report of Service 
and Compensation at 8 minutes, Form UI-41a, Supplemental Report of 
Compensation at 8 minutes, Form G-88p, Employer's Supplemental Pension 
Report, at 8 minutes, G-88r, Request for Information About New or 
Revised Employer Pension Plan at 10 minutes, G-88r.1, Request for 
Additional Information About Employer Pension Plan in Case of Change of 
Employer Status or Termination of Plan at 10 minutes, Form UI-1E, Pay 
Report Information at 5 minutes, Manual Form BA-11, Report of Gross 
Earnings at 15 to 30 minutes, the electronic version of Form BA-11 at 5 
hours, Form GL-99, Employer's Deemed Service Months Questionnaire at 2 
minutes, Form BA-9, Report of Separation Allowance or Severance Pay at 
75 minutes, Form BA-10, Report of Miscellaneous Compensation and Sick 
Pay at 55 minutes, and Form BA-6a, Employer Home Address Report at 30 
minutes. Completion of each of the above forms is mandatory.
    After the last information collection is merged and other necessary 
adjustments are made, the resultant information collection is expected 
to total approximately 55,400 annual burden hours. A justification for 
each action described above (merge collection, revised collection 
instrument, new collection instrument) will be provided to OMB with a 
correction Change Worksheet (OMB Form 83-C) at the time the action 
occurs. With the next renewal of this collection, the RRB will update 
the information collection package to account for the consolidation and 
other interim adjustments.

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 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 
60611-2092. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this 
notice.

Chuck Mierzwa,
Clearnace Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-13215 Filed 5-25-00; 8:45am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-M