General Administration

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

20 CFR Part 200

RIN 3220-AB12

General Administration

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Railroad Retirement Board (Board) amends its regulations

to explain when the Board will provide custom tailored information to a

member of the public and to set forth the charges for such special

services. In addition, the Board amends its regulations to explain when

custom tailored information will be provided without charging for that

service.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 7, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Secretary to the Board, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 Rush

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael C. Litt, Bureau of Law,

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611,

(312) 751-4929, TDD (312) 751-4701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB Circular A-25 establishes Federal policy

regarding fees to be assessed for special benefits. In the case of the

Railroad Retirement Board those benefits would be the provision of

custom tailored or non-routine information services. The regulation

requires payment of the Board's actual costs, as defined in the

regulation, for the provision of such services. Consistent with OMB

Circular A-25, the regulation provides that if it is determined that

the identity of the specific beneficiary is obscure and that provision

of the information can be considered primarily as benefiting broadly

the general public, then the Board may determine in a particular case

not to charge for the service. However, consistent with the authority

contained in section 12(d) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act

(which is incorporated into the Railroad Retirement Act by section

7(b)(3) of that Act), the regulation provides that charges may be

assessed in any specific case. This regulation does not cover

information which is required to be disclosed by statute or regulation

such as information required to be disclosed under the Freedom of

Information Act.

On March 2, 1995, the Board published this rule as a proposed rule

(60 FR 11639), inviting comments on or before May 1, 1995. One comment

was received. The commentor suggested three amendments to the proposed

regulation: (1) Railroad employers should be allowed to seek custom-

tailored information without charge as such services are paid by

railroad employers through employer taxes which pay for the

administrative expenses of the Board; (2) if fees are charged, the

Board should be required to provide the estimated cost within a

specified period; and (3) the limit of $1,000.00 for waiver of fees

without approval of the three-member Board is too low. In response

thereto: (1) The Board believes that, although the costs of

administration of the agency as a whole are borne by the railroad

industry, it is more equitable to shift the costs for providing

information to those elements of that industry which use the service in

question than to have the entire industry pay for those services

indirectly through employment taxes; [[Page 29984]] (2) while the Board

believes that an estimate should be provided within a reasonable period

of time the Board does not believe that the regulation should contain a

specific time limit in view of the wide ranging types of requests that

could be made; and (3) the cap of $1,000.00 for waiver of fees without

approval of the three-member Board reflects the desire of the Board

itself to maintain close control over expenditures by the agency.

Accordingly, the Board has not amended the text of the proposed rule.

The Board, in conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget,

has determined that this is not a significant regulatory action for

purposes of Executive Order 12866. Therefore, no regulatory impact

analysis is required. There are no information collections associated

with this rule.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 200

Railroad employees, Railroad retirement, Railroad unemployment

insurance.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, title 20, chapter II, part

200 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 200--GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

1. The authority citation for part 200 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 45 U.S.C. 231f(b)(5) and 45 U.S.C. 362; Sec. 200.4

also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552; Sec. 200.5 also issued under 5

U.S.C. 552a; Sec. 200.6 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552b; and

Sec. 200.7 also issued under 31 U.S.C. 3717.

2. Section 200.4 is amended by adding paragraphs (o) and (p) to

read as follows:

Sec. 200.4 Availability of information to public.

* * * * *

(o) Custom tailored information services; Fees charged. This

paragraph and paragraph (p) of this section set forth the policy of the

Railroad Retirement Board with respect to the assessment of a fee for

providing custom tailored information where requested. Except as

provided in paragraphs (o)(4)(vii) and (p) of this section, a fee shall

be charged for providing custom tailored information.

(1) Definition: Custom tailored information. Custom tailored

information is information not otherwise required to be disclosed under

this part but which can be created or extracted and manipulated,

reformatted, or otherwise prepared to the specifications of the

requester from existing records. For example, the Board needs to

program computers to provide data in a particular format or to compile

selected items from records, provide statistical data, ratios,

proportions, percentages, etc. If this data is not already compiled and

available, the end product would be the result of custom tailored

information services.

(2) Providing custom tailored information. The Board is not

required to provide custom tailored information. It will do so only

when the appropriate fees have been paid as provided in paragraph

(o)(4) of this section and when the request for such information will

not divert staff and equipment from the Board's primary

responsibilities.

(3) Requesting custom tailored information. Information may be

requested in person, by telephone, or by mail. Any request should

reasonably describe the information wanted and may be sent to the

Director of Administration, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092.

(4) Fee schedule. Requests for custom tailored information are

chargeable according to the following schedule:

(i) Manual searching for records. Full cost of the time of the

employees who perform the service, even if records cannot be found,

management and supervisory costs, plus the full costs of any machine

time and materials the employee uses. Consulting and other indirect

costs will be assessed as appropriate.

(ii) Photocopying or reproducing records on magnetic tapes or

computer diskettes. The charge for making photocopies of any size

document shall be $.10 per copy per page. The charge for reproducing

records on magnetic tapes or computer diskettes is the full cost of the

operator's time plus the full cost of the machine time and the

materials used.

(iii) Use of electronic data processing equipment to obtain

records. Full cost for the service, including computer search time and

computer runs and printouts, and the time of computer programmers and

operators and of other employees.

(iv) Certification or authentication. Full cost of certification

and authentication.

(v) Providing other special services. Full cost of the time of the

employee who performs the service, management and supervisory costs,

plus the full costs of any machine time and materials the employee

uses. Consulting and other indirect costs will be assessed as

appropriate.

(vi) Special forwarding arrangements. Full cost of special

arrangements for forwarding material requested.

(vii) Statutory supersession. Where a Federal statute prohibits the

assessment of a charge for a service or addresses an aspect of that

charge, the statute shall take precedence over this paragraph (o).

(p) Assessment of a fee with respect to the provision of custom

tailored information where the identification of the beneficiary is

obscure and where provision of the information can be seen as

benefiting the public generally. When the identification of a specific

beneficiary with respect to the provision of custom tailored

information is obscure, the service can be considered primarily as

benefiting broadly the general public, and the estimated cost of

providing the information is less than $1,000.00, the Director of

Administration shall determine whether or not a fee is to be charged.

In any such case where the cost is $1,000.00 or more, the request shall

be referred by the Director of Administration to the three-member Board

for a determination whether or not a fee is to be assessed.

Dated: May 30, 1995.

By Authority of the Board.

For the Board.

Beatrice Ezerski,

Secretary to the Board.

[FR Doc. 95-13845 Filed 6-6-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905-01-P