[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 145 (Friday, July 28, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42887-42888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12073]


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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.

[[Page 42888]]

    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 
Employee Annuity Under the Railroad Retirement Act; OMB 3220-0002.
    Section 2 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) provides for 
payments of age and service, disability, and supplemental annuities to 
qualified employees. An annuity cannot be paid until the employee stops 
working for a railroad employer. In addition, the age and service 
employee must relinquish any rights held to such jobs. A disabled 
employee does not need to relinquish employee rights until attaining 
Full Retirement Age, or if earlier, their spouse files for a spouse 
annuity. Benefits become payable after the employee meets certain other 
requirements, which depend on the type of annuity payable. The 
requirements for obtaining 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, 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 on-line 
information system. Upon completion of the interview, the applicant 
receives Form AA-1cert, Application Summary and Certification, which 
summarizes the information that was 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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Estimated
                      Form No.                         Estimated annual     completion time    Estimated annual
                                                           responses        (per response)      burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AA-1cert (interview)................................              13,000                  30               6,500
AA-1 manual (without assistance)....................                  65                  62                  67
AA-1d (manual without assistance)...................                   5                  60                   5
AA-1d (manual) (interview)..........................               5,000                  35               2,916
G-204...............................................                  40                  15                  10
                                                     -----------------------------------------------------------
    Total...........................................              18,110  ..................               9,498
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The RRB proposes changes to the certification statements of Form(s) 
AA-1 and AA-1(cert) that are intended to provide additional specificity 
regarding post-application events that require an applicant to contact 
the RRB. Other non-burden impacting editorial and formatting changes to 
Form AA-1cert and Form AA-1 are also proposed.
    The RRB proposes the addition of an item to Form AA-1d to ask a 
disability applicant if any additional medical procedures are scheduled 
after the filing of the form, and if so, what those procedures are, as 
well as minor non-burden impacting, editorial and formatting changes. 
The RRB proposes no changes to Form G-204.
    Completion of the forms 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 or send an e-mail request to [email protected]. 
Comments regarding the information collection should be addressed to 
Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 N. Rush Street, 
Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092 or send an e-mail to 
[email protected]. Written comments should be received within 60 
days of this notice.

Charles Mierzwa,
RRB Clearance Officer.
 [FR Doc. E6-12073 Filed 7-27-06; 8:45 am]
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