Personnel Management Office 2010 – 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) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review of a revised information collection. This information collection, ``Designation of Beneficiary: Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)'' (OMB Control No. 3206-0142; Standard Form 2808), is used by persons covered by CSRS to designate a beneficiary to receive the lump sum payment due from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund in the event of their death. Approximately 2,000 forms will be completed annually. The form takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. The annual burden is estimated at 500 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Cyrus S. Benson on (202) 606- 4808, FAX (202) 606-0910 or via e-mail to Cyrus.Benson@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) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for comments on a revised information collection. This information collection, ``Application for Deferred Retirement (For persons separated on or after October 1, 1956)'' (OMB Control No. 3206-0121; OPM Form 1496A), is used by eligible former Federal employees to apply for a deferred Civil Service annuity. Approximately 2,800 OPM Form 1496A will be completed annually. We estimate it takes approximately 1 hour to complete this form. The annual burden is 2,800 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Cyrus S. Benson on (202) 606- 4808, FAX (202) 606-0910 or via e-mail to Cyrus.Benson@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

The Executive Secretariat and Ombudsman, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a new information collection request (ICR) 3206-NEW, Ombudsman Request for Assistance. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35) as amended by the Clinger-Cohen Act (Pub. L. 104-106), OPM is soliciting comments for this collection. The information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on August 10, 2010 at 75 FR 48383 allowing for a 60-day public comment period. No comments were received for this information collection. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in comments that: 1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; 2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; 3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

Based on the comments it has received in response to its October 5, 2010 and November 15, 2010 notices for this new system of records, OPM/Central-15, Health Claims Data Warehouse, OPM has determined that it will publish a revised systems notice. The revised notice will provide more detailed information regarding OPM authorities for maintaining the system, systems security measures that will be taken to protect the records, and the circumstances under which records will be released from the system. OPM plans to publish the revised notice by January 31, 2011. Although the comment period for the initial systems notice is closed as of December 15, 2010, the public will be provided an opportunity to comment on the revised notice before the system becomes operational.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final regulation to provide for continuation of Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage for certain former Senate Restaurant employees who transferred to employment with a private contractor; to add a new opportunity for eligible employees to enroll in the FEHB, or to change FEHB enrollment status, under provisions of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009; and to allow eligible FEHB plans to offer three options, without the requirement that one of the options be a high deductible health plan.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing final regulations on the use of sick leave and advanced sick leave for serious communicable diseases, including pandemic influenza when appropriate. We are also permitting employees to substitute up to 26 weeks of accrued or accumulated sick leave for unpaid Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to care for a seriously injured or ill covered servicemember, as authorized under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, including up to 30 days of advanced sick leave for this purpose. Finally, we are reorganizing the existing sick leave regulations to enhance reader understanding and administration of the program.

This provides the consolidated notice of all agency specific excepted authorities, approved by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), under Schedule A, B, or C, as of June 30, 2010, as required by Civil Service Rule VI, Exceptions from the Competitive Service.

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) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for extension of a currently approved information collection. ``We Need Important Information About Your Eligibility for Social Security Disability Benefits'' (OMB Control No. 3206-0216; Form RI 98-7), is used by OPM to verify receipt of Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits, to lessen or avoid overpayment to Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) disability retirees. It notifies the annuitant of the responsibility to notify OPM if SSA benefits begin and the overpayment that will occur with the receipt of both benefits. Approximately 4,300 RI 98-7 forms will be completed annually. The form takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. The annual burden is 358 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Cyrus S. Benson on (202) 606- 4808, FAX (202) 606-0910 or via e-mail to Cyrus.Benson@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) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for comments on a revised information collection. This information collection, ``Death Benefit Payment Rollover Election'' (OMB Control No. 3206-0218; Form RI 94-7), provides Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) surviving spouses and former spouses with the means to elect payment of FERS rollover-eligible benefits directly or to an Individual Retirement Arrangement. Approximately 3,444 RI 94-7 forms will be completed annually. The form takes approximately 60 minutes to complete. The annual burden is 3,444 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Cyrus S. Benson on (202) 606- 4808, FAX (202) 606-0910 or via E-mail to Cyrus.Benson@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

OPM is extending the comment period for a new system of records, OPM/Central-15, Health Claims Data Warehouse, until December 15, 2010. The initial notice for this system was published on October 5, 2010, and provided a comment period deadline of November 15, 2010. Based on the comments we have received since we published the initial notice, OPM is considering revisions to the systems notice to, among other things, provide greater specificity regarding the authorities for maintaining the system, clarify its intent to significantly limit the circumstances under which personally identifiable records may be released, and provide a more detailed explanation of how the records in this system will be protected and secured. If OPM publishes a revised systems notice, the public will have the opportunity to comment on the revised notice before OPM begins operating the system. In the meantime, OPM is extending the opportunity for interested persons, organizations, and agencies to review and provide comments pursuant to the October 5, 2010 system notice.

Notice is hereby given of the appointment of members of the OPM Performance Review Board.

The Federal Salary Council will meet on November 19, 2010, at the time and location shown below. The Council is an advisory body composed of representatives of Federal employee organizations and experts in the fields of labor relations and pay policy. The Council makes recommendations to the President's Pay Agent (the Secretary of Labor and the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management) about the locality pay program for General Schedule employees under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code. The Council's recommendations cover the establishment or modification of locality pay areas, the coverage of salary surveys, the process of comparing Federal and non-Federal rates of pay, and the level of comparability payments that should be paid. The November meeting will be devoted to reviewing the results of pay comparisons and formulating its recommendations to the President's Pay Agent on pay comparison methods, locality pay rates, and locality pay areas and boundaries for 2012. The meeting is open to the public. Please contact the Office of Personnel Management at the address shown below if you wish to submit testimony or present material to the Council at the meeting.

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 213.103.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a revised information collection request (ICR) 3206-0236, Customer Satisfaction Surveys. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35), as amended by the Clinger- Cohen Act (Pub. L. 104-106), OPM is soliciting comments for this collection. The information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2010 at 75 FR 35093 allowing for a 60-day public comment period. One comment was received for this information collection. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in comments that: 1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; 2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; 3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a new information collection request (ICR) 3206-NEW, Program Services Evaluation Surveys. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35) as amended by the Clinger-Cohen Act (Pub. L. 104-106), OPM is soliciting comments for this collection. The information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2010 at 75 FR 35092 allowing for a 60-day public comment period. No comments were received for this information collection. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in comments that: 1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; 2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; 3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

The Federal Salary Council will meet on October 29, 2010, at the time and location shown below. The Council is an advisory body composed of representatives of Federal employee organizations and experts in the fields of labor relations and pay policy. The Council makes recommendations to the President's Pay Agent (the Secretary of Labor and the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management) about the locality pay program for General Schedule employees under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code. The Council's recommendations cover the establishment or modification of locality pay areas, the coverage of salary surveys, the process of comparing Federal and non-Federal rates of pay, and the level of comparability payments that should be paid. The October meeting will be devoted to reviewing the results of pay comparisons and formulating its recommendations to the President's Pay Agent on pay comparison methods, locality pay rates, and locality pay areas and boundaries for 2012. The meeting is open to the public. Please contact the Office of Personnel Management at the address shown below if you wish to submit testimony or present material to the Council at the meeting.

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 review of a revised information collection. This information collection, ``Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season Express Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System'' (OMB Control No. 3206-0201), and the Open Season Web site, Open Season Online, are used by retirees and survivors. They collect information for changing FEHB enrollments, collecting dependent and other insurance information for self and family enrollments, requesting plan brochures, requesting a change of address, requesting cancellation or suspension of FEHB benefits, asking to make payment to the Office of Personnel Management when the FEHB payment is greater than the monthly annuity amount, or for requesting FEHB plan accreditation and Customer Satisfaction Survey information. 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 use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. We receive approximately 215,000 responses per year to the IVR system and the online web. Each response takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The annual burden is 35,833 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Cyrus S. Benson on (202) 606- 4808, FAX (202) 606-0910 or via e-mail to Cyrus.Benson@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 review of a revised information collection. This information collection, ``Request for Information About Your Missing Payment'' (OMB Control No. 3206-0187; Form RI 38-31), is sent in response to a notification by an individual of the loss or non-receipt of a payment from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. This form requests the information needed to enable OPM to trace and/or reissue payment. Missing payments may also be reported to OPM by a telephone call. 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. Approximately 8,000 reports of missing payments are processed each year. Of these, we estimate that 7,800 are reports of missing checks. Approximately 200 reports of missing checks are reported using RI 38-31 and 7,600 are reported by telephone. A response time of ten minutes per form reporting a missing check is estimated; the same amount of time is needed to report the missing checks or electronic funds transfer (EFT) payments using the telephone. The annual burden for reporting missing checks is 1,300 hours. The remaining 200 reports relate to EFT payments. No missing EFT payments are reported using RI 38-31. The annual burden for reporting missing EFT payments is 33 hours. The total burden is 1,333 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Cyrus S. Benson on (202) 606- 4808, FAX (202) 606-0910 or via e-mail to Cyrus.Benson@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 10413, May 22, 1995), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review of a new information collection. ``Request for Case Review for Enhanced Disability Annuity Benefit'' (OMB Control No. 3206-XXXX). Due to recent court orders, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must compute, or re-compute as applicable, the disability annuities for individuals who performed service as law enforcement officers, firefighters, nuclear materials carriers, Customs and Border Patrol officers, members of the Capitol and the Supreme Court police, Congressional employees, members of Congress, and air traffic controllers. Because these court orders were handed down long after some of the affected individuals retired and/or died and they are not identified in the OPM computer systems, it is necessary for these individuals to self-identify. Form RI 20-123 is needed on the OPM website so these individuals and their survivors can make the request. We estimate that we will receive 720 responses a year and the time it takes to respond is estimated to be 5 minutes. The annual burden is estimated to be 60 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Cyrus S. Benson on (202) 606- 4808, FAX (202) 606-0910 or via E-mail to Cyrus.Benson@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 and 5 CFR 1320), this notice announces that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for comments on a revised information collection. This information collection, ``Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) Survivor Annuitant Express Pay Application for Death Benefits'' (OMB Control No. 3206-0233; Form RI 25-51), will be used by the Civil Service Retirement System solely to pay benefits to the widow(er) of an annuitant. This application is intended for use in immediately authorizing payments to an annuitant's widow or widower, based on the report of death, when our records show the decedent elected to provide benefits for the applicant. Approximately 34,800 RI 25-51 forms are completed annually. The form takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 17,400 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Cyrus S. Benson on (202) 606- 4808, FAX (202) 606-0910 or e-mail to Cyrus.Benson@opm.gov. Please include your mailing address with your request.

On behalf of the President's Pay Agent, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing interim regulations on the locality pay program for General Schedule employees. The interim regulations establish separate locality pay areas for the States of Alaska and Hawaii and extend coverage of the Rest of U.S. locality pay area to include American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Territory of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and all other U.S. possessions listed in 5 CFR 591.205, applicable on the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2011.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Affordable Care Act), Public Law 111-148, was enacted on March 23, 2010; the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (the Reconciliation Act), Public Law 111-152, was enacted on March 30, 2010. The Affordable Care Act and implementing regulations (codified in HHS interim final rules (IFR) at 45 CFR Part 147) require that non-grandfathered health insurance plans and issuers offering group and individual coverage have effective internal claims and appeals and external review processes. The effective date for these requirements is plan or policy years beginning on or after September 23, 2010. Regarding external review, the statute requires that health plans and issuers must comply with either a state external review process or a process meeting standards issued by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) that is ``similar to'' a state process meeting requirements in section 2719 (a ``federal external review process''). The IFR includes a transition period prior to July 1, 2011, during which time HHS will work with states to assist in making any necessary changes so that the state process will meet the minimum consumer protections identified in 45 CFR 147.136 that must be met in order for the state process to apply. During this interim period, health insurance issuers in states with external review laws in effect prior to September 23, 2010 will follow that state's external review law to the extent applicable. In states that have not passed an external review law that is in effect on September 23, 2010, a health insurance issuer must follow an interim federal external review process that will be administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The system of records will be created as OPM assists HHS by providing external reviews of adverse benefit determinations and final internal adverse benefit determinations as requested by eligible claimants and their authorized representatives (``claimants''). The system of records will include any data relevant to these external reviews, and OPM proposes to add this new system of records to its inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended. This action is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act to publish in the Federal Register notice of the existence and character of records maintained by the agency (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)).

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on an extension of an already existing information collection request (ICR) 3206-0001, Application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35), as amended by the Clinger-Cohen Act (Pub. L. 104-106), OPM is soliciting comments for this collection on behalf of the Office of Management and Budget. The information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on June 14, 2010, at 75 FR 33657 allowing for a 60-day public comment period. One agency provided suggested changes to the form which are outside the scope of this notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in comments that:

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to correct several minor formatting, spelling, and typographical errors in appendix D to subpart B of part 532Nonappropriated Fund (NAF) Wage and Survey Areas. This document also corrects editorial or printing errors, inconsistencies, and omissions made in previously published rules. The purpose of this rule is not to make policy changes for Federal Wage System (FWS) NAF employees but rather to ensure Appendix D accurately reflects the correct wage area definitions for NAF employees as recommended by the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC). FWS NAF employees will not be affected by the corrections in this final rule because the lead agency for FWS NAF surveys has followed FPRAC recommended wage area definitions when conducting wage surveys and publishing wage schedules. For the convenience of the reader, Appendix D is being reprinted in its entirety.

As required by section 3132(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code, this gives notice of all positions in the Senior Executive Service (SES) that were career reserved during calendar year 2009.