Personnel Management Office 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for extension, without change, of a currently approved information collection. RI 38-47, Information and Instructions on Your Reconsideration Rights outlines the procedures required to request reconsideration of an initial OPM decision about Civil Service or Federal Employees retirement, Federal or Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits requests to enroll or change enrollment, or Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance coverage. This form lists the procedures and time periods required for requesting reconsideration. Comments are particularly invited on: whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Office of Personnel Management, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, Fax (202) 418-3251 or via e-mail to MaryBeth.Smith- Toomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for extension, without change, of a currently approved information collection. RI 20-64, Letter Reply to Request for Information, is used by the Civil Service Retirement System to provide information about the amount of annuity payable after a survivor reduction, to explain the annuity reductions required to pay for the survivor benefit, and to give the beginning rate of survivor annuity. RI 20-64A, Former Spouse Survivor Annuity Election, is used by the Civil Service Retirement System to obtain a survivor benefits election from annuitants who are eligible to elect to provide survivor benefits for a former spouse. RI 20-64B, Information on Electing a Survivor Annuity for Your Former Spouse, is a pamphlet that provides important information to retirees under the Civil Service Retirement System who want to provide a survivor annuity for a former spouse. Comments are particularly invited on: whether this information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of OPM, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or others forms of information technology. We estimate that 30 survivor elections on RI 20-64A will be processed per year and that of these eight will use RI 20-64 to ask for information about electing a smaller survivor benefit. Form RI 20-64A requires 45 minutes to complete for a burden of 23 hours. Form RI 20-64 requires eight minutes to complete for a burden of one hour. The total burden is 24 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, Fax (202) 418-3251 or via E-mail to MaryBeth.Smith- Toomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to define the municipality of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, as an area of application to the Guaynabo-San Juan, PR, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area. This change is necessary because there are NAF FWS employees working in the municipality of Bayamon and the municipality is not currently defined to an NAF wage area.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is making technical amendments to the final regulations concerning the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). These technical amendments correct the final rule issued on November 20, 2006, as revised on February 9, 2007, by making a change to the eligibility criteria and making several administrative changes brought to OPM's attention to other sections.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for clearance of a revised information collection. OPM Online Form 1417, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Information System form, collects information from the 277 local CFC campaigns to verify campaign results and collect contact information. Revisions to the form include clarifying edits to items numbered 2-6, 9 and 10 of the Campaign Results Total Page, the elimination of questions numbered 13-15 of the Campaign Results Total Page and the return of one question edited to collect pledge amounts designated specifically for federal emergency or disaster relief, if any, on the Campaign Results Total Page. We estimate 277 Online OPM Forms 1417 are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 101 hours. Comments are particularly invited on: Whether this information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Office of Personnel Management, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the appropriate use of technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 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.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing final regulations governing Federal adverse actions. The final regulations conform the adverse action rules regarding employee coverage to binding judicial decisions interpreting the underlying statute.

This gives notice of OPM decisions granting authority to make appointments under Schedules A, B, and C in the excepted service as required by 5 CFR 6.6 and 213.103.

The Office of Personnel Management is issuing proposed regulations to achieve a consistent and effective policy for the use of Social Security Numbers by Federal agencies to combat fraud and identity theft. Federal agencies must reduce the threat of identity theft by eliminating the unnecessary use and collection of Social Security Numbers. This proposed regulation imposes significant restrictions on the use of Social Security Numbers throughout the Federal Government and is consistent with the recommendations made by the President's Identity Theft Task Force.

On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the Office of Personnel Management is issuing final regulations on the locality pay program for General Schedule and certain other employees. Originally published on June 22, 2007 as an interim rule with a request for comments, the regulations added Whatcom County, WA, to the Seattle locality pay area effective with the first pay period that began on or after July 23, 2007, removed the reference to a January effective date for changes made by the President's Pay Agent in locality pay area boundaries, made a number of changes in the official names of locality pay areas to correspond to revised names of Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Combined Statistical Areas as established by the Office of Management and Budget, and provided notice and documentation of a number of changes in locality pay area boundaries that resulted from revisions in Metropolitan and Combined Statistical Areas. We received no comments on the interim rule and adopt the final rule without change.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to change the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Alaska. The proposed rate changes are the result of living-cost surveys conducted by OPM in 2006 and interim adjustments OPM calculated based on relative Consumer Price Index differences between the cost-of-living allowance areas and the Washington, DC, area. The proposed rate changes would reduce the COLA rates in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau from 24 percent to 23 percent. OPM is also proposing a minor clarification to the Alaska COLA area boundaries to make clear the 50-mile radius is by the shortest route using paved roads.