Personnel Management Office February 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

OPM is publishing notice of its computer matching program with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to meet the reporting requirements of Pub. L. 100-503. The purpose of this match is for SSA to establish the conditions under which the SSA agrees to disclose tax return and/or Social Security benefit information to OPM. The SSA records will be used in redetermining and recomputing the benefits of certain annuitants and survivors whose computations are based, in part, on military service performed after December 1956 under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and certain annuitants and survivors whose annuity computation under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) have a CSRS component.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for revision of an expiring information collection (Fingerprint Charts SF-87 and SF-87A; OMB No. 3206-0150). The Fingerprint Charts are used in processing fingerprint checks submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist in determining whether an applicant is suitable for Federal employment or should be granted a security clearance. The SF-87 and SF-87A are completed by applicants to, or incumbents of, Government positions, positions for the Government under contract, or by military personnel as a basis of any criminal history check to establish that such persons are suitable for employment or retention in employment, or employment or retention as a contractor. It is estimated that 363,500 SF-87 or SF-87A inquiries are sent to individuals annually. Each form takes approximately five minutes to complete. The estimated annual burden is approximately 28,630 hours. The Privacy Act and Public Burden language was updated to reference the applicable executive order and reflect the correct title of the forms officer for OPM, respectively. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, Fax (202) 418-3251 or e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please be sure to include a mailing address with your request.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) seeks comments on its intention to request an extension of two currently approved information collections. OPM uses the two collections, a Price Survey and a Background Survey, to gather data it uses to determine cost-of-living allowances the Government provides to certain Federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. OPM conducts Price Surveys in the Washington, DC, area on an annual basis and once every 3 years in each allowance area on a rotating basis. Prior to these surveys, OPM conducts Background Surveys that are similar to the Price Survey, but much more limited in scope. OPM uses the results of the Background Surveys to prepare for the Price Surveys.