[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 171 (Friday, September 1, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53238-53240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22462]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

[[Page 53239]]

respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

Title and Purpose of Information Collection

RUIA Applications; OMB 3220-0339
    Under Section 2 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA), 
sickness benefits are payable to qualified railroad employees who are 
unable to work because of illness or injury. In addition, sickness 
benefits are payable to qualified female employees if they are unable 
to work, or if working would be injurious, because of pregnancy, 
miscarriage or childbirth. Under Section 1(k) of the RUIA, a statement 
of sickness with respect to days of sickness of an employee is to be 
filed with the RRB within a 10-day period from the first day claimed as 
a day of sickness. The RRB's authority for requesting supplemental 
medical information is Section 12(I) and 12(n) of the RUIA. The 
procedures for claiming sickness benefits and for the RRB to obtain 
supplemental medical information needed to determine a claimant's 
eligibility for such benefits is prescribed in 20 CFR part 335.
    The forms currently used by the RRB to obtain information needed to 
determine eligibility for and the amount of sickness benefits due a 
claimant follows: Form SI-1a, Application for Sickness Benefits; Form 
SI-1b, Statement of Sickness; Form SI-3, Claim for Sickness Benefits; 
Form SI-7, Supplemental Doctor's Statement; Form SI-8, Verification of 
Medical Information; Form ID-7h, Non-Entitlement to Sickness Benefits 
and Information on Unemployment Benefits; and Form ID-11a, Requesting 
Reason for Late Filing of Sickness Benefits.
    The RRB proposes to revise Form SI-1a to add an item to identify 
claimants receiving military reserve pay. In order to streamline the 
payment process, another proposed item will request an explanation from 
claimants who took more than 30 days to submit their initial 
application. Non-burden impacting editorial and formatting changes are 
also proposed to Form SI-1a. Revisions to Form SI-3 are being proposed 
to add an item to identify claimants receiving military reserve pay and 
to make minor non-burden impacting editorial and formatting changes. In 
addition, the RRB proposes the insertion of new Form ID-11b, Notice of 
Insufficient Medical and Late Filing, into the collection. This form 
would be sent to a claimant whose sickness application does not contain 
sufficient medical information to make a filing determination and is 
received after the 10-day time limit as prescribed under the RUIA. 
Minor non-burden impacting editorial and formatting changes are being 
proposed to Form(s) SI-1b, SI-7, SI-8, ID-7h, and ID-11a. Completion of 
all of the forms is required to obtain or retain a benefit. The number 
of responses required of each respondent varies depending on the period 
of sickness.

Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden

    The estimated respondent burden is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Annual                    Burden
           Form numbers             responses    Time (min)     (hrs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SI-1a/1b (claimant)..............       27,700           10        4,617
SI-1a/1b (Dr.)...................       27,700            8        3,693
SI-3.............................      181,000            5       15,083
SI-7.............................       33,600            8        4,480
SI-8.............................           50            5            4
ID-7h............................           50            5            4
ID-11a...........................          800            3           40
ID-11b...........................        1,000            3           50
                                  -------------             ------------
    Total........................      271,900  ...........       27,971
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 also proposes that this 
collection (OMB 3220-0039), Application and Claim for Sickness 
Benefits, be renamed RUIA Applications. Upon approval by OMB, the RRB 
intends to merge the following OMB approved-related collections into 
this collection by the expected expiration date(s).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                     Expected
    OMB collection number                          Title                          RRB forms         expiration
                                                                                                       date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3220-0022....................  Application and Claim for Unemployment        UI-1, UI-3.........       6/30/2003
                                Benefits and Employment Service.
3220-0034....................  Statement of Authority to Act for Employees.  SI-10..............      11/30/2002
3220-0036....................  Supplemental Information on Accident........  SI-1, SI-1c, SI-5,        1/31/2002
                                                                              ID-3s, ID-3s-1, ID-
                                                                              3u, ID-30k, ID-30k-
                                                                              1.
3220-0055....................  Application and Claim for RUIA Benefits Due   UI-63..............       2/28/2003
                                at Death.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 Form UI-1, 
Application for Unemployment Benefits and Employment Service at 10 
minutes, Form UI-3, Claim for Unemployment Benefits at 6 minutes, Form 
SI-10, Statement of Authority to Act for Employee at 6 minutes, Form 
SI-1c,

[[Page 53240]]

Supplemental Information on Accident and Insurance at 5 minutes, Form 
SI-5, Report of Payments to Employee Claiming Sickness Benefits Under 
the RUIA at 5 minutes, Form ID-3s, Request for Lien Information at 3 
minutes, Form ID-3s-1, Request for Lien Information, Report of 
Settlement of Third Party Liability Cases, at 3 minutes, Form ID-3u, 
Request for 2(f) Information at 3 minutes, Form ID-30k, Supplemental 
Information on Injury or Illness at 5 minutes, Form ID-30k-1, Request 
for Supplemental Information on Injury or Illness, at 5 minutes and UI-
63, Application for Benefits Due But Unpaid at Death, at 7 minutes. 
After the last information collection is merged and other necessary 
adjustments are made, the resultant information collection is expected 
to total approximately 38,500 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,
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-22462 Filed 8-31-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-M