Office of Personnel Management July 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has completed its annual determination of the States that qualify as Medically Underserved Areas under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program for calendar year 2006. This is necessary to comply with a provision of the FEHB law that mandates special consideration for enrollees of certain FEHB plans who receive covered health services in States with critical shortages of primary care physicians. Accordingly, for calendar year 2006, OPM's calculations show that the following states are Medically Underserved Areas under the FEHB Program: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming. For the 2006 contract year Arizona and West Virginia are being added to the list and Texas is being removed.

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 reclearance of a revised information collection. RI 34-1, Financial Resources Questionnaire, collects detailed financial information for use by OPM to determine whether to agree to a waiver, compromise, or adjustment of the collection of erroneous payments from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. RI 34-3, Notice of Amount Due Because of Annuity Overpayment, informs the annuitant about the overpayment and collects information. Approximately 520 RI 34-1 and 1, 561 RI 34-3 forms are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 60 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 520 hours and 1,561 hours respectively. The total amount estimated burden is 2,081 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 498-3251 or via e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

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.

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. RI 20-80, Alternative Annuity Election, is used for individuals who are eligible to elect whether to receive a reduced annuity and a lump-sum payment equal to their retirement contributions (alternative form of annuity) or an unreduced annuity and no lump sum. Approximately 200 annuitants and survivors request reconsideration annually. We estimate it takes approximately 20 minutes to apply. The annual burden is 67 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 418-3251 or via e-mail to mbtoomey@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 intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for clearance of an expiring information collection. OPM Form 1647, Combined Federal Campaign Eligibility Application, is used to review the eligibility of national, international, and local charitable organizations that wish to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign. We estimate 2,000 Form 1647's will be completed annually. Each form takes approximately three hours to complete. The annual estimated burden is 6,000 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.

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. RI 38-117, Rollover Election, is used to collect information from each payee affected by a change in the tax code (Public Law 102-318) so that OPM can make payment in accordance with the wishes of the payee. RI 38-118, Rollover Information, explains the election. RI 37-22, Special Tax Notice Regarding Rollovers, provides more detailed information. 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 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 the appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Approximately 1,500 RI 38-117 forms will be completed annually. We estimated it takes approximately 30 minutes to complete the form. The annual burden is 750 hours. For copies of this proposal, contact Mary Beth Smith-Toomey on (202) 606-8358, FAX (202) 418-3251 or via e-mail to mbtoomey@opm.gov. Please include a mailing address with your request.

OPM is re-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 to establish the conditions for disclosure of Social Security benefit information to OPM via direct computer link for the administration of programs by the Retirement Services Programs. OPM is legally required to offset specific benefits by a percentage of benefits payable under Title II of the Social Security Act. The matching will enable OPM to compute benefits at the correct rate and determine eligibility for benefits. This is a re-publication of the June 1, 2005, Federal Register notice announcing this matching program, providing several technical corrections to the notice previously published on the above date.