[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 59 (Thursday, March 27, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15008-15009]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7307]


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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)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
                                                                 -----------------
    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