Administration and General ProvisionsAdministration

Proposed Rules

Federal Register

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Proposed Rules

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 831

RIN 3206-AH66

Administration and General Provisions--Administration

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to amend

its regulations concerning the adjudication of claims arising under the

Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). This amendment would provide

that OPM may initially issue decisions that provide the opportunity to

appeal directly to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) without

having to request OPM to review its initial decision. The amendment

will streamline processing of claims under the CSRS and bring OPM's

CSRS regulations into conformity with its Federal Employees Retirement

System (FERS) regulations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 18, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to John E. Landers, Chief, Retirement Policy

Division; Retirement and Insurance Service; Office of Personnel

Management; P.O. Box 57; Washington, DC 20044; or deliver to OPM, Room

4351, 1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenneth R. Brown, (202) 606-0299.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently, section 839.109 of Title 5, Code

of Federal Regulations establishes a procedure under which individuals

whose rights or interests under CSRS are affected by an initial

decision of OPM generally must request that OPM reconsider its decision

if they think OPM's initial decision is wrong, before they may seek

review outside OPM. After receiving a reconsideration request, OPM

renders a final decision that contains notice of the right of the

individual to file an appeal with MSPB. Only if a decision is rendered

at the highest level of review available in OPM may the individual seek

MSPB review without first obtaining an OPM reconsideration decision.

The reconsideration process sometimes imposes a needless

administrative burden on both the individual and OPM, particularly when

the facts of the case are not in dispute. When all relevant evidence

and facts have already been considered by OPM in its initial decision,

reconsideration is redundant, increases OPM's administrative and

processing costs and needlessly delays the claimant's opportunity to

appeal OPM's decision to MSPB.

To streamline our processing of disputed cases under CSRS, these

proposed regulations would bring CSRS regulations into conformity with

FERS regulations at 5 CFR 841.307. Under the FERS process, whenever OPM

determines that issuance of both an initial and reconsideration

decision would be redundant, OPM issues a final decision without the

reconsideration process. The final decision fully sets forth OPM's

findings and conclusions and contains notice of the right to file an

appeal with MSPB. MSPB regulations require de novo review of the OPM

decision and provide claimants with a right to a hearing before an

administrative judge. Our processing under the proposed regulations may

be illustrated with the following example. If official records show

that a person claiming an annuity has less than the 5 years of service

required by law, and the person does not dispute the accuracy of the

records, OPM will disallow the claim without a reconsideration right at

OPM, but rather with a notice of MSPB appeal rights. On the other hand,

if the person believes that the official record of his or her service

is incomplete and wishes to submit secondary evidence to prove that he

or she actually performed the necessary 5 years of service, OPM would

issue an initial decision with a statement of reconsideration rights at

OPM before issuing a final decision.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that this regulation will not have a significant economic

impact on a substantial number of small entities because the regulation

will only affect Federal agencies and retirement payments to retired

Government employees, spouses, and former spouses.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 831

Administrative practice and procedure, Alimony, Claims, Disability

benefits, Firefighters, Government employees, Income taxes,

Intergovernmental relations, Law enforcement officers, Pensions,

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Retirement.

Office of Personnel Management.

James B. King,

Director.

Accordingly, OPM proposes to amend title 5, Code of Federal

Regulations, as follows:

PART 831--RETIREMENT

1. The authority citation for part 831 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 8347; Sec. 831.102 also issued under 5

U.S.C. 8334; Sec. 831.106 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552a;

Sec. 831.108 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8336(d)(2);

Sec. 831.201(b)(6) also issued under 5 U.S.C. 7701(b)(2);

Sec. 831.204 also issued under section 7202(m)(2) of the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub. L. 105-508, 104 Stat. 1388-

339; Sec. 831.303 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8334(d)(2);

Sec. 831.502 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8337; Sec. 831.502 also

issued under section 1(3), E.O. 11228, 3 CFR 1964-1965 Comp.;

Sec. 831.621 also issued under section 201(d) of the Federal

Employees Benefits Improvement Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99-251, 100

Stat. 23; subpart S also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8345(k); subpart V

also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8343a and section 6001 of the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-

275; Sec. 831.2203 also issued under section 7001(a)(4) of the

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-508; 104

Stat. 1388-328.

Subpart A--Administration and General Provisions

2. In Sec. 831.109, paragraph (c) the last sentence is removed, the

text in paragraph (f) after the heading ``Final decision.'', is

redesignated as paragraph (f)(1) and paragraph (f)(2) is added to read

as follows:

Sec. 831.109 Initial decision and reconsideration.

* * * * *

(f) * * *

(2) OPM may issue a final decision providing the opportunity to

appeal

under Sec. 831.110 rather than an opportunity to request

reconsideration under paragraph (c) of this section. Such a decision

must be in writing and state the right to appeal under Sec. 831.110.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 96-32135 Filed 12-18-96; 8:45 am]

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