Proposed Collection; Comment Request

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.

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

payment of age and service, disability and supplemental annuities to

qualified employees. The basic requirements for a regular employee

annuity retirement annuity under the RRA is 120 months (10 years)

[[Page 60288]]

of creditable railroad service. Benefits then become payable after the

employee meets certain other requirements, which depend, in turn, on

the type of annuity payable.

The requirements relating to the annuities are prescribed in 20 CFR

216, and 220.

The forms used by the RRB to collect information needed for

determining entitlement to and the amount of an employee retirement

annuity follow: Form AA-1, Application for Employee Annuity Under the

Railroad Retirement Act is completed by an applicant for either an age

and service or disability annuity. It obtains information about the

applicants marital history, work history, military service, benefits

from other governmental agencies and railroad pensions. 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. Completion of the forms is required to

obtain a benefit. One response is requested of each respondent.

The RRB proposes to revise Form AA-1 to add items that secure

information pertaining to the direct deposit of benefits and Medicare

processing and delete items no longer required. Forms AA-1, AA-1d and

G-204 will be revised to add language required by the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995. Minor non-burden impacting cosmetic and

editorial changes will also be made to all three forms. The RRB

estimates that 13,400 Form AA-1's, 5,650 AA-1d's and 175 G-204's are

completed annually. The completion time for Form AA-1 is estimated to

37 to 62 minutes per response. The completion time for AA-1d is

estimated at 35 to 60 minutes per response. The completion time for

Form G-204 is estimated at 5 minutes per response.

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. Comments regarding the information collection should be

addressed to Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 N. Rush

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092. Written comments should be

received within 60 days of this notice.

Chuck Mierzwa,

Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 97-29476 Filed 11-6-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905-01-M