[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 193 (Monday, October 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62775-62777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21906]


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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.
    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.
    1. Title and purpose of information collection: Application for 
Employee Annuity Under the Railroad Retirement Act; OMB 3220-0002.
    Section 2(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) (45 U.S.C. 231a) 
provides for payments of age and service, disability, and supplemental 
annuities to qualified employees. An

[[Page 62776]]

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, when their spouse is awarded 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.
    To collect the information needed to help determine an applicant's 
entitlement to, and the amount of, an employee retirement annuity the 
RRB uses Forms AA-1, Application for Employee Annuity; AA-1d, 
Application for Determination of Employee Disability; G-204, 
Verification of Workers Compensation/Public Disability Benefit 
Information, and electronic Forms AA-1cert, Application Summary and 
Certification, AA-1sum, Application Summary, and AA-1 (internet), 
Application for Employee Annuity.
    The AA-1 application process obtains information from an applicant 
about their marital history, work history, military service, benefits 
from other governmental agencies, railroad pensions and Medicare 
entitlement for either an age and service or disability annuity. An RRB 
representative interviews the applicant either at a field office, an 
itinerant point, or by telephone. During the interview, the RRB 
representative enters the information obtained into an on-line 
information system. Upon completion of the interview, the on-line 
information system generates Form AA-1cert, Application Summary and 
Certification, or Form AA-1sum, Application Summary, a summary of the 
information that was provided for the applicant to review and approve. 
Form AA-1cert documents approval using the traditional pen and ink 
``wet'' signature, and Form AA-1sum documents approval using the 
alternative signature method called Attestation. When the RRB 
representative is unable to contact the applicant in person or by 
telephone, for example, the applicant lives in another country, a 
manual version of Form AA-1 is used.
    Form AA-1d, Application for Determination of Employee's 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 
Worker's Compensation/Public Disability Benefit Information, is used to 
obtain and verify information concerning a worker's compensation or a 
public disability benefit that is or will be paid by a public agency to 
a disabled railroad employee. Form AA-1 (internet) can be completed by 
the applicant and submitted through the RRB's website at www.rrb.gov. 
One response is requested of each respondent. Completion of the forms 
is required to obtain/retain a benefit. The RRB proposes no changes to 
Form AA-1 and Form AA-1 (internet). The RRB propose a minor editorial 
change to Form AA-1d to change the date under Section 1 ``General 
Instructions''. The RRB propose the following change to Form G-204: 
update the title in the Paperwork Reduction Act and Privacy Act Notices 
to Associate Chief Information Officer for Policy and Compliance.

                                      Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Annual           Time           Burden
                            Form No.                                 responses       (minutes)        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AA-1 (without assistance).......................................              35              62              36
AA-1cert (with assistance)......................................           7,050              30           3,525
AA-1sum (with assistance).......................................           2,415              29           1,166
AA-1 (Internet) (without assistance)............................           3,220              45           2,415
AA-1d (with assistance).........................................           2,600              60           2,600
AA-1d (without assistance)......................................               5              85               7
G-204...........................................................              20              15               5
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................          15,345  ..............           9,754
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Title and purpose of information collection: Certification of 
Termination of Service and Relinquishment of Rights; OMB 3220-0016.
    Under Section 2(e)(2) of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) (45 
U.S.C. 231a), an age and service annuity, spouse annuity, or divorced 
spouse annuity cannot be paid unless the Railroad Retirement Board 
(RRB) has evidence that the applicant has ceased railroad employment 
and relinquished rights to return to the service of a railroad 
employer. Under Section 2(f)(6) of the RRA, earnings deductions are 
required for each month an annuitant works in certain non-railroad 
employment termed Last Pre-Retirement Non-Railroad Employment.
    Normally, the employee, spouse, or divorced spouse relinquishes 
rights and certifies that employment has ended as part of the annuity 
application process. However, this is not always the case. In limited 
circumstances, the RRB utilizes Form G-88, Certification of Termination 
of Service and Relinquishment of Rights, to obtain an applicant's 
report of termination of employment and relinquishment of rights. One 
response is required of each respondent. Completion is required to 
obtain or retain benefits. The RRB proposes no changes to Form G-88.

                                      Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Annual           Time           Burden
                            Form No.                                 responses       (minutes)        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-88............................................................           3,600               6             360
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 62777]]

    3. Title and purpose of information collection: Statement of 
Authority to Act for Employee; OMB 3220-0034.
    Under Section 5(a) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act 
(RUIA) (45 U.S.C. 355), claims for benefits are to be made in 
accordance with such regulations as the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) 
shall prescribe. The provisions for claiming sickness benefits as 
provided by Section 2 of the RUIA are prescribed in 20 CFR 335.2. 
Included in these provisions is the RRB's acceptance of forms executed 
by someone else on behalf of an employee if the RRB is satisfied that 
the employee is sick or injured to the extent of being unable to sign 
forms.
    The RRB utilizes Form SI-10, Statement of Authority to Act for 
Employee, to provide the means for an individual to apply for authority 
to act on behalf of an incapacitated employee and also to obtain the 
information necessary to determine that the delegation should be made. 
Part I of the form is completed by the applicant for the authority and 
Part II is completed by the employee's doctor. One response is 
requested of each respondent. Completion is required to obtain 
benefits. The RRB proposes no changes to Form SI-10.

                                      Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Annual           Time           Burden
                            Form No.                                 responses       (minutes)        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SI-10...........................................................              30               6               3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    4. Title and purpose of information collection: Employee Non-
Covered Service Pension Questionnaire; OMB 3220-0154.
    Section 215(a)(7) of the Social Security Act provides for a 
reduction in social security benefits based on employment not covered 
under the Social Security Act or the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA). 
This provision applies a different social security benefit formula to 
most workers who are first eligible after 1985 to both a pension based 
in whole or in part on non-covered employment and a social security 
retirement or disability benefit. There is a guarantee provision that 
limits the reduction in the social security benefit to one-half of the 
portion of the pension based on non-covered employment after 1956. 
Section 8011 of Public Law 100-647 changed the effective date of the 
onset from the first month of eligibility to the first month of 
concurrent entitlement to the non-covered service benefit and the RRA 
benefit.
    Section 3(a)(1) of the RRA (45 U.S.C. 231b) provides that the Tier 
I benefit of an employee annuity shall be equal to the amount (before 
any reduction for age or deduction for work) the employee would receive 
if entitled to a like benefit under the Social Security Act. The 
reduction for a non-covered service pension also applies to a Tier I 
portion of the employee annuity under the RRA when the annuity or non-
covered service pension begins after 1985. Since the amount of a 
spouse's Tier I benefit is one-half of the employee's Tier I, the 
spouse annuity is also affected.
    Form G-209, Employee Non-Covered Service Pension Questionnaire, is 
used by the RRB to obtain needed information (1) from a railroad 
employee who while completing Form AA-1, Application for Employee 
Annuity (OMB No. 3220-0002), indicates entitlement to or receipt of a 
pension based on employment not covered under the Railroad Retirement 
Act or the Social Security Act; or (2) from a railroad employee when an 
independently-entitled divorced spouse applicant believes the employee 
to be entitled to a non-covered service pension. However, this 
development is unnecessary if RRB records indicate the employee has 30 
or more years of coverage; or (3) from an employee annuitant who 
becomes entitled to a pension based on employment not covered under the 
Railroad Retirement Act or the Social Security Act. One response is 
requested of each respondent. Completion is required to obtain or 
retain benefits. The RRB proposes no changes to Form G-209.

                                      Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Annual           Time           Burden
                            Form No.                                 responses       (minutes)        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-209 (Partial Questionnaire)...................................              50               1               1
G-209 (Full Questionnaire)......................................             100               8              13
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................             150  ..............              14
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Additional Information or Comments: To request more information or 
to obtain a copy of the information collection justification, forms, 
and/or supporting material, contact Kennisha Tucker at (312) 469-2591 
or [email protected]. Comments regarding the information 
collection should be addressed to Brian Foster, Railroad Retirement 
Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-1275 or emailed 
to [email protected]. Written comments should be received within 60 
days of this notice.

Brian Foster,
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-21906 Filed 10-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-P