Proposed Data Collection Available for Public Comment and Recommendations

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

Proposed Data Collection Available for Public Comment and

Recommendations

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 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: RUIA Claims

Notification and Verification System. Section 5(b) of the Railroad

Unemployment Insurance Act, as amended by the Railroad Unemployment

Insurance and Retirement Improvement Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-647),

requires that ``when a claim for benefits is filed with the Railroad

Retirement Board (RRB), the RRB shall provide notice of such claim to

the claimant's base year employer or employers and afford such employer

or employers an opportunity to submit information relevant to the claim

before making an initial determination on the claim.'' The purpose of

the claims notification system is to provide to each unemployment and

sickness claimant's base year employer or current employer, notice of

each application and claim for benefits under the RUIA and to provide

an opportunity for employers to convey information relevant to the

proper adjudication of the claim. Railroad employers receive notice of

applications and claims by one of two options. The first option, Form

Letter ID-4K is a computer generated form letter notice of all

unemployment applications, unemployment claims and sickness claims

received from employees of a railroad company on a particular day. Form

Letters ID-4K are mailed on a daily basis to officials designated by

railroad employers. The second option is an Electronic Data Interchange

(EDI) version of the Form Letter ID-4K notice. EDI notices of

application are transmitted to participating railroads on a daily

basis, generally on the same day that applications are received.

Railroad employers can respond to RRB notices of applications and

claims manually by mailing a completed ID-4K back to the RRB or

electronically via EDI. Minor non-burden impacting changes are being

proposed to Form ID-4K.

Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden

The estimated annual respondent burden is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annual Burden

RRB messages responses Time (Min) (Hrs)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

ID-4K (EDI version).............. 176,400 (\1\) 377

ID-4K (manual)................... 75,600 2 2,520

--------------------------------------

Total........................ 252,000 ........... 2,897

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ The burden for the 9 participating employers who transmit EDI

responses is calculated at 10 minutes each per day, 251 workdays a

year or 377 total hours of burden.

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. 99-1491 Filed 1-21-99; 8:45 am]

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