[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4223-4225]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01316]


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RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

    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 to Act 
as Representative Payee; OMB 3220-0052.
    Under section 12 of the Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. 231k), 
the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) may pay benefits to a 
representative payee when an employee, spouse or survivor annuitant is 
incompetent or is a minor. A representative payee may be a court-
appointed guardian, a statutory conservator or an individual selected 
by the RRB. The procedures pertaining to the appointment and 
responsibilities of a representative payee are prescribed in 20 CFR 
266.
    The forms furnished by the RRB to apply for representative payee 
status, and for securing the information needed to support the 
application follow. RRB Form AA-5, Application for Substitution of 
Payee, obtains information needed to determine the selection of a 
representative payee who will serve in the best interest of the 
beneficiary. RRB Form G-478, Statement Regarding Patient's Capability 
to Manage Benefits, obtains information about an annuitant's capability 
to manage their own benefits. The form is completed by the annuitant's 
personal physician or by a medical officer, if the annuitant is in an 
institution. It is not required when a court has appointed an 
individual or institution to manage the annuitant's funds or, in the 
absence of such appointment, when the annuitant is a minor. The RRB 
also provides representative payees with a booklet at the time of their 
appointment. The booklet, RRB Form RB-5, Your Duties as Representative 
Payee-Representative Payee's Record, advises representative payees of 
their responsibilities under 20 CFR 266.9 and provides a means for the 
representative payee to maintain records pertaining to the receipt and 
use of RRB benefits. The booklet is provided for the representative 
payee's convenience. The RRB also accepts records that are kept by 
representative payee's as part of a common business practice. 
Completion is voluntary. One response is requested of each respondent.
    The RRB proposes the following changes to Form AA-5:
    Page 1:
     Above Question 1: Inserted the words ``and signed'' in the 
second sentence.
     Questions 3 and 5: Added the following Note: ``Does not 
include Power of Attorney.''
     Question 7: Revised No options to include more clarifying 
information to make appropriate selection.
     Question 8: Revised second sentence to ``If the 
beneficiary lives alone or independently (no caregiver), show their 
address and telephone number.''
    Page 2:
     Question 11b: At the end of the sentence, changed to ``go 
to item 18.''
    Page 3:
     Question 16c: Added new question ``Will you charge a fee 
for your services?'' along with Yes and No optional responses.
    Page 4:

[[Page 4224]]

     Question 17: Removed ``Remarks'' and replaced with new 
question 17 a-d and optional Yes and No responses.
     Question 18: Renumbered ``Remarks'' from 17 to 18.
     Instructions for Obtaining Form G478 section: Revised last 
sentence to read ``Return Form AA-5, and when required, Form G-478 
to:''
    Page 5:
     Certification Section Questions 18 and 19: Renumbered from 
18 to 19 and 19 to 20 respectively and in question 19, renumbered 
reference ``Item 18'' to ``Item 19''.
    Page 6:
     This Space Is For RRB Use Only section: Revised to remove 
all information for internal use only except for the last bullet ``I 
select the applicant as a representative payee for the beneficiary.''
    Page 7:
     Receipt For Your Claim section: Changed Field Office hours 
of operation, corrected grammar syntax for the Legal Status bullet, 
added a bullet for reporting changes to bank account information, and 
replaced Office of Programs--Operations with ATTN: Field Service--9th 
Floor.
    Page 8:
     Important Notices section 4 (1): Removed the dash to 
connect the word ``offices''
    The RRB proposes the following changes to Form G-478:
     Section below Form Title: Defined the address block 
entries for the Physician/Medical Officer entries.
     Patient Name and Address Header above Question 1: Added 
``Please Print'' at the end of the header.
     Question 9: Added ``- Must Be Completed'' at the end of 
Certification.
    The RRB proposes the following changes to Form RB-5:
     Pages 1 and 8: Changed the field office hours

                                      Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Annual
                            Form No.                                 responses    Time (minutes)  Burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AA-5............................................................           3,000                           900.0
    Individuals.................................................           2,250              18           675.0
    Institutions................................................             750                           225.0
G-478...........................................................           2,000               6           200.0
RB-5............................................................          15,300              60          15,300
    Individuals.................................................          11,475                          11,475
    Institutions................................................           3,825                           3,825
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Total...................................................          20,300  ..............          16,350
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Title and purpose of information collection: Public Service 
Pension Questionnaires; OMB 3220-0136.
    Public Law 95-216 amended the Social Security Act of 1977 by 
providing, in part, that spouse or survivor benefits may be reduced 
when the beneficiary is in receipt of a pension based on employment 
with a Federal, State, or local governmental unit. Initially, the 
reduction was equal to the full amount of the government pension. 
Public Law 98-21 changed the reduction to two-thirds of the amount of 
the government pension.
    Public Law 108-203 amended the Social Security Act by changing the 
requirement for exemption to a public service offset, so that Federal 
Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes are deducted from the public 
service wages for the last 60 months of public service employment, 
rather than just the last day of public service employment.
    Sections 4(a)(1) and 4(f)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) 
(45 U.S.C. 231) provides that a spouse or survivor annuity should be 
equal in amount to what the annuitant would receive if entitled to a 
like benefit from the Social Security Administration. Therefore, the 
public service pension (PSP) provisions apply to RRA annuities. RRB 
regulations pertaining to the collection of evidence relating to public 
service pensions or worker's compensation paid to spouse or survivor 
applicants or annuitants are prescribed in 20 CFR 219.64c.
    The RRB utilizes Form G-208, Public Service Pension Questionnaire, 
and Form G-212, Public Service Monitoring Questionnaire, to obtain 
information used to determine whether an annuity reduction is in order. 
Completion of the forms is voluntary. However, failure to complete the 
forms could result in the nonpayment of benefits. One response is 
requested of each respondent.
    The RRB proposes no changes to the forms in the collection.

                                      Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Annual
                            Form No.                                 responses    Time (minutes)  Burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-208...........................................................              70              16              19
G-212...........................................................           1,100              15             275
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................           1,170  ..............             294
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    3. Title and purpose of information collection: Supplement to Claim 
of Person Outside the United States; OMB 3220-0155.
    Under the Social Security Amendments of 1983 (Pub. L. 98-21), which 
amends section 202(t) of the Social Security Act, effective January 1, 
1985, the Tier I or the overall minimum (O/M) portion of an annuity, 
and Medicare benefits payable under the Railroad Retirement Act to 
certain beneficiaries living outside the U.S., may be withheld. The 
benefit withholding provision of Public Law 98-21 applies to divorced 
spouses, spouses, minor or disabled children, students, and survivors 
of railroad employees who (1) initially became eligible for Tier I 
amounts, O/M shares, and Medicare benefits after December

[[Page 4225]]

31, 1984; (2) are not U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals; and (3) have 
resided outside the U.S. for more than six consecutive months starting 
with the annuity beginning date. The benefit withholding provision does 
not apply, however to a beneficiary who is exempt under either a treaty 
obligation of the U.S., in effect on August 1, 1956, or a totalization 
agreement between the U.S. and the country in which the beneficiary 
resides, or to an individual who is exempt under other criteria 
specified in Public Law 98-21.
    RRB Form G-45, Supplement to Claim of Person Outside the United 
States, is currently used by the RRB to determine applicability of the 
withholding provision of Public Law 98-21. Completion of the form is 
required to obtain or retain a benefit. One response is requested of 
each respondent. The RRB proposes minor non-burden impacting changes to 
Form G-45.

                                      Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    Annual
                           Form No.                               responses      Time (minutes)   Burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-45.........................................................              50               10                8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    4. Title and purpose of information collection: Repayment of Debt; 
OMB 3220-0169.
    Section 2 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) (45 U.S.C. 231a) 
provides for payment of annuities to railroad employees who are retired 
due to age or disability and annuities or benefits to their eligible 
spouses, divorced spouses, and survivors. Section 2 of the Railroad 
Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) (45 U.S.C. 352) provides for the 
payment of benefits to qualified railroad employees who are unemployed, 
but willing and able to work, and railroad employees who are unable to 
work due to sickness or injury. When an overpayment of RRA or RUIA 
benefits has occurred, prompt action is initiated to notify the 
annuitant or beneficiary of the overpayment and the method by which the 
debt may be liquidated. The overpayment recovery methods available are 
cash refund by check, money order, debit card and withholding of 
annuities or benefits due. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) procedures 
pertaining to RRA annuity and benefit overpayment determinations and 
recovery are prescribed in 20 CFR part 255. RUIA procedures pertaining 
to benefit overpayment determinations are prescribed in 20 CFR part 
340.
    When a debt is owed on an RRA or RUIA-related debt, the RRB mails 
Form DRL-145, Debt Notice, to the debtor; a Form G-421, Repayment 
Method Form, for the debtor to indicate how they will repay the debt; a 
Form G-66 or G-66B, Your Rights to Review and/or Waiver, which explains 
what they can do if they disagree with the amount of the debt; and a 
Form G-66A or G-66BA, Rights Request Form, to request their right to 
have us review and/or waiver the debt. Completion of Form G-421F is 
voluntary. The RRB proposes no changes to Form G-421F.

                                      Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Annual
                            Form No.                                 responses    Time (minutes)  Burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form G-421F (RRA) activity......................................             360               5              30
Form G-421F (RUIA) activity.....................................             175               5              15
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................             535  ..............              45
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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. 2023-01316 Filed 1-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-P