[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 189 (Thursday, September 29, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60372-60373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25108]


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RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

20 CFR Part 217

RIN 3220-AB64


Application for Annuity or Lump Sum

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Railroad Retirement Board (Board) amends its regulations 
to allow alternative signature methods in addition to the traditional 
pen-and-ink or ``wet'' signature in order to implement an electronic 
application process which will eventually eliminate the need to retain 
paper applications and make the application process more convenient for 
the individuals filing applications.

DATES: This rule will be effective September 29, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Martha P. Rico, Secretary to the Board, Railroad Retirement 
Board, 844 N. Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marguerite P. Dadabo, Assistant 
General Counsel, (312) 751-4945, TTD (312) 751-4701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 5(b) of the Railroad Retirement Act 
(RRA) [45 U.S.C. 231d(b)] provides that an application for any payment 
under the Act ``shall be made and filed in such manner and form as the 
Board may prescribe * * *'' Currently, Part 217 of the Board's 
regulations, which sets out the rules governing applications made under 
the RRA, anticipates that an application will include a signature on 
paper, even where the application itself may be completed 
electronically.
    In order to provide better service to our customers, the Board 
amends Sec.  217.17 of its regulations in order to allow signature 
alternatives to the traditional pen-and-ink (``wet'') signature. The 
Board changes the current title of Sec.  217.17, ``Who may sign an 
application'' to ``What is an acceptable signature'' and adds a new 
subsection (f) to describe what may be considered to be an acceptable 
signature. The amendment adds two different types of acceptable 
signatures.
    The first alternate method of signature that the amendment to Sec.  
217.17 allows is the use of a personal identification number (PIN) 
assigned by the agency. The second alternate method is referred to as 
an ``alternative signature'' or ``signature proxy.'' The purpose of 
this amendment is to allow signature by attestation. Attestation refers 
to an action taken by an employee of the Railroad Retirement Board 
(RRB) to confirm and annotate the RRB records of (1) An applicant's 
intent to file or complete an application or related form, (2) the 
applicant's affirmation under penalty of perjury that the information 
is correct, and (3) the applicant's agreement to sign the application 
or related form. The Board expects that use of attestation to take RRA 
applications over the telephone will increase efficiency and be more 
convenient for RRB customers.
    Before deciding to propose this amendment, the Board's Office of 
Programs obtained information about alternative signature methods used 
by the Social Security Administration (SSA), since it administers a 
retirement and disability program comparable to the Board's programs 
under the Railroad Retirement Act. The Office of Programs also compared 
the current RRB application taking process with a process using 
attestation to identify the differences and determine how those

[[Page 60373]]

differences affect the process. Based on the information obtained from 
the comparison and from the SSA, it was determined that attestation 
will reduce our paper flow and handling and will work well in our 
current environment where the Board's Field Service already completes 
most applications by telephone.
    Under both the current and amended systems, the RRB claims 
representative will identify a caller-applicant using our existing 
protocol and complete an application by interviewing the caller and 
entering the answers online into the Application Express (APPLE) 
system. APPLE is an online system that automates the filing of 
applications for retirement and survivor benefits and forwards the 
applications to the systems for payment. We now print out a copy of the 
completed application to send it to the applicant for signature and 
return. Under attestation, we will instead use defined scripts like SSA 
uses to confirm the applicant's intent to file; attest to the reply by 
entering the answer in APPLE; print the cover notice with penalty 
clause and summary, and review it with the applicant over the 
telephone; release the case in APPLE for processing after the telephone 
review of the cover notice is complete; and send the applicant a cover 
notice and summary to keep. We will advise the applicant to review the 
cover notice and summary upon receipt, and contact the RRB promptly if 
the applicant needs to make any corrections.
    Attestation will end the return of application documents to our 
offices, reducing the volume of paper to be sorted, assigned, reviewed, 
input, scanned and indexed by the RRB.
    The Board, with the concurrence of the Office of Management and 
Budget, has determined that this is not a significant regulatory action 
under Executive Order 12866, as amended. Therefore, no regulatory 
impact analysis is required. There are no changes to the information 
collections associated with Part 217.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 217

    Railroad employees, Railroad retirement.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Railroad Retirement 
Board amends title 20, chapter II, subchapter B, part 217 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 217--APPLICATION FOR ANNUITY OR LUMP SUM

0
1. The authority citation for part 217 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 45 U.S.C. 231d and 45 U.S.C. 231f.


0
2. Section 217.17 is amended by revising the section heading and 
paragraph (a) and adding paragraph (f) to read as follows:


Sec.  217.17  What is an acceptable signature.

* * * * *
    (a) A claimant who is 18 years old or older, competent (able to 
handle his or her own affairs), and physically able to sign the 
application, must sign in his or her own handwriting, except as 
provided in paragraph (e) or paragraph (f) of this section. A parent or 
a person standing in place of a parent must sign the application for a 
child who is not yet 18 years old, except as shown in paragraph (d) of 
this section.
* * * * *
    (f) An acceptable signature may include:
    (1) A handwritten signature that complies with the rules set out in 
paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of this section; or
    (2) In the case of an application being taken and processed in the 
Railroad Retirement Board's automated claims system, an electronic 
signature, which shall consist of a personal identification number 
(PIN) assigned by the Railroad Retirement Board as described in the 
application instructions; or
    (3) An alternative signature or signature proxy acceptable to the 
Railroad Retirement Board. An example of an alternative signature is 
attestation, which refers to the action taken by a Railroad Retirement 
Board (RRB) employee of confirming and annotating RRB records of the 
applicant's intent to file or complete an application or related form, 
the applicant's affirmation under penalty of perjury that the 
information provided is correct, and the applicant's agreement to sign 
the application or related form.

    Dated: September 23, 2011.

    By Authority of the Board.
Martha P. Rico,
Secretary to the Board.
[FR Doc. 2011-25108 Filed 9-28-11; 8:45 am]
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