Office of Personnel Management October 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposes to amend its regulations, to reflect changes in the retirement benefits available to customs and border protection officers under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). These proposed rules incorporate amendments to CSRS and FERS retirement law pursuant to section 535 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2008. The Act provides early retirement and enhanced annuity benefits for customs and border protection officers employed by the United States Department of Homeland Security under CSRS and FERS; requires an increase in the percentage rate of withholdings from the basic pay of customs and border protection officers; and establishes mandatory retirement of customs and border protection officers at age 57.