[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 21, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58530-58531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29053]


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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 public 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

[[Page 58531]]

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 Spouse Annuity Under the Railroad Retirement Act; 
OMB 3220-0042 section 2(c) of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA), 
provides for the payment of annuities to spouses of railroad retirement 
annuitants who meet the requirements under the RRA. The age 
requirements for a spouse annuity depend on the employee's age and date 
of retirement and the employee's years of railroad service. The 
requirements relating to the annuities are prescribed in 20 CFR parts 
216, 218, 219, 232, 234, and 295.
    The RRB currently uses Form AA-3, Application for Spouse/Divorced 
Spouse Annuity, to obtain the information needed to determine an 
applicant's entitlement to an annuity and the amount of the annuity.
    The RRB is proposing the addition of an electronic equivalent of 
Form AA-3 of the collection. The information collected will include all 
information obtained on the current manual form AA-3. The electronic 
equivalent, which will be available for completion over the Internet, 
will also, depending on circumstances, incorporate information 
currently collected on RRB Form AA-6, Employee Application for 
Medicare, Form AA-7, Spouse/Divorce Spouse Application for Medicare, 
and Form AA-8, Widow/Widower Application for Medicare (OMB approved 
3220-0082), Form G-19L, Annual Earnings Questionnaire, Last Pre-
Retirement Non-Railroad Employment (OMB approved 3220-0179), and Form 
G-208, Public Service Pension Questionnaire (OMB approved 3220-0136). 
Future plans will include the incorporation of information currently 
collected on RRB Form AA-4, Self-Employment and Substantial Service 
Questionnaire (OMB approved 3220-0138).
    Upon completion of the electronic AA-3 process, the applicant will 
receive proposed Form AA-3cert, Application Summary and Certification 
for review and signature. The proposed AA-3cert will summarize 
information provided by/or verified by the applicant during the 
application process. Implementation of the AA-3cert will largely 
eliminate the need for the manual version of AA-3. However, the RRB 
will continue to use the manual version of the form 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 and/or does 
not wish to use the Internet.
    The RRB estimates the burden for the collection as follows:

                                                Estimated burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Estimated        Estimated        Estimated
                            Form #                                  annual      completion time   annual burden
                                                                  responses      (per response)      (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AA-3 manual (without assistance).............................              100               58               97
AA-3cert (Internet without assistance).......................              400               58              387
AA-3cert (with assistance)...................................            8,000               35            4,667
    Total....................................................            8,500  ...............            5,151
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    No changes are proposed to manual Form AA-3. Completion 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. 01-29053 Filed 11-20-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-M