98-4397. Proposed Collection; Comment Request

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 9025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4397]


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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

    Representative Payee Monitoring; OMB 3220-0151.
    Under Section 12 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA), the RRB may 
pay annuity benefits to a representative payee when an employee, spouse 
or survivor annuitant is incompetent or a minor. The RRB is responsible 
for determining if direct payment to an annuitant or a representative 
payee would best serve the annuitant's best interest. The 
accountability requirements authorizing the RRB to conduct periodic 
monitoring of representative payees, including a written accounting of 
benefit payments received, are prescribed in 20 CFR 266.7.
    The RRB utilizes the following forms to conduct its representative 
payee monitoring program.
    Form G-99a, Representative Payee Report, is used to obtain 
information needed to determine whether the benefit payments certified 
to the representative payee have been used for the annuitant's current 
maintenance and personal needs and whether the representative payee 
continues to be concerned with the annuitant's welfare. The RRB also 
includes RRB Form G-99a (Enc), Representative Payee Duties, which 
includes the Paperwork Reduction Act notice and a list of 
representative payee duties with each RRB Form G-99a released. RRB Form 
G-99c, Representative Payee Evaluation Report, is used to obtain more 
detailed information from a representative payee who fails to complete 
and return Form G-99a, or in situations when the returned Form G-99a 
indicates the possible misuse of funds by the representative payee. 
Form G-99c contains specific questions concerning the representative 
payee's performance and is used by the RRB to determine whether or not 
the representative payee should continue in that capacity. Completion 
of the forms in this collection is required to retain benefits.
    The RRB proposes minor editorial changes to Form G-99a (enc) and to 
Form G-99c to incorporate language required by the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995. The addition of the annuitant's social security number is 
being proposed to Form G-99a. The completion time for Form G-99a is 
estimated at 18 minutes per response. The completion time for Form G-
99c is estimated at between 24 and 31 minutes per response. The RRB 
estimates that approximately 6,000 Form G-99a's and 535 G-99c's are 
completed annually.
    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 
[phone]. Comments regarding the information collection should be 
addressed to Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North 
Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092. Written comments should be 
received within 60 days of this notice.
Chuck Mierzwa,
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 98-4397 Filed 2-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-M