Office of Personnel Management 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing final regulations to revise the Administrative Law Judge Program. The purpose of these revisions is to remove procedures that appear in other parts of this chapter, update outdated information, and remove the internal examining processes from the regulations. Additionally, these revisions describe OPM and agency responsibilities concerning the Administrative Law Judge Program. These regulations continue the basic intent of making administrative law judges independent in matters of appointment, tenure and compensation.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is adopting as a final rule, without changes, an interim rule that implemented amendments to veterans' preference as contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2006. These amendments expanded the definition of a veteran and clarified veterans' preference eligibility for individuals discharged or released from active duty under honorable conditions. The intended effect of the regulatory changes was to conform OPM's regulations to the changes in the veterans' preference laws, to ensure that job-seeking veterans received the preference to which they are entitled.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to make miscellaneous changes, corrections, and clarifications to the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) regulations.

Chapter 47 of title 5, United States Code, authorizes the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), directly or in agreement with one or more agencies, to conduct demonstration projects that experiment with new and different human resources management concepts to determine whether changes in human resources policy or procedures would result in improved Federal human resources management. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and OPM propose to test a pay banding system in which within-band pay progression is based on performance. Section 4703 of title 5 requires OPM to publish the proposed project plan in the Federal Register. This notice fulfills that requirement. The proposed project plan has been approved by NNSA, the Department of Energy, and OPM.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is making a technical amendment to the final regulations concerning the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). This technical amendment corrects the final rule issued on November 20, 2006 by re-inserting text that was erroneously 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) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review of a revised information collection. RI 20-7, Representative Payee Application, is used by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to collect information from persons applying to be fiduciaries for annuitants or survivor annuitants who appear to be incapable of handling their own funds or for minor children. RI 30-3, Information Necessary for a Competency Determination, collects medical information regarding the annuitant's competency for OPM's use in evaluating the annuitant's condition. 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. We estimate 12,480 RI 20-7 forms are completed annually. The form requires approximately 30 minutes for completion. The annual burden is 6,240 hours. Approximately 250 RI 30-3 forms will be completed annually. Each form requires approximately 1 hour for completion. The annual burden is 250 hours. The total annual burden is 6,490. 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 review of a revised information collection. RI 30-1, Request to Disability Annuitant for Information on Physical Condition and Employment, is used by persons who are not yet age 60 and who are receiving disability annuity and are subject to inquiry as to their medical condition as OPM deems reasonably necessary. RI 30-1 collects information as to whether the disabling condition has changed. Approximately 8,000 RI 30-1 forms will be completed annually. We estimate it takes approximately 60 minutes to complete the form. The annual burden is 8,000 hours. 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) plans to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for clearance of an expiring information collection, Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference. The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF 15) is used by agencies, OPM examining offices, and agency appointing officials to adjudicate individuals' claims for veterans' preference in accordance with the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944. Approximately 11,252 forms are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 1,875 hours. OPM invites comments on: whether this information is necessary for OPM to properly perform its functions; whether the information will have practical utility; whether OPM's estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate and based on valid assumptions and methodology; and ways in which OPM 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.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to amend the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) regulations regarding discontinuance of a health plan to include situations in which a health plan becomes incapacitated, either temporarily or permanently, as the result of a disaster.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing proposed regulations to revise the rules governing the authority to offer student loan repayment benefits to current Federal employees or candidates for Federal jobs when necessary to recruit or retain highly qualified personnel. These revisions include certain policy changes and clarifications to assist agencies in taking full advantage of the Federal student loan repayment program.