Office of Personnel Management 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Retirement Services, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a revised information collection request (ICR) 3206-0033, Marital Status Certification Survey, RI 25-7. 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 July 7, 2011 at Volume 76 FR 39927 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 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 Retirement Services, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a revised information collection request (ICR) 3206-0156, Application for Death Benefits Under the Civil Service Retirement System and Documentation and Elections in Support of Application for Death Benefits When Deceased Was an Employee at the Time of Death. 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 July 7, 2011 at Volume 76 FR 39926 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 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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on an extension without change of a currently approved collection, information collection request (ICR) 3206-0250, Certificate of Medical Examination.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on an existing information collection request (ICR) 3206-0036, Establishment Information Form (DD 1918), Wage Data Collection Form (DD 1919), and Wage Data Collection Continuation Form (DD 1919C). 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 16, 2011, at Volume 76 FR 50771 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.

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 Retirement Services, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a revised information collection request (ICR) 3206-0121, Application for Deferred Retirement (For persons separated on or after October 1, 1956). 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 September 2, 2011 at Volume 76 FR 54811 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 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.

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 CFC-50 Advisory Commission will hold its second meeting on December 6, 2011, at the time and location shown below. The Commission shall advise the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on strengthening the integrity, the operation and effectiveness of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) to ensure its continued growth and success. The Commission is an advisory committee composed of Federal employees, private campaign administrators, charitable organizations and ``watchdog'' groups. The Commission is co-chaired by Thomas Davis and Beverly Byron. The meeting is open to the public. Please contact the Office of Personnel Management at the address shown below if you wish to present material to the Commission at the meeting. The manner and time prescribed for presentations may be limited, depending upon the number of parties that express interest in presenting information.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to abolish the Cumberland, Maine, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and redefine Cumberland, Kennebec, and Penobscot Counties, ME, to the York, ME, NAF wage area. Aroostook, Hancock, Knox, Sagadahoc, and Washington Counties, ME, will no longer be defined. These changes are necessary because the closure of the Naval Air Station Brunswick left the Cumberland wage area without an activity having the capability to conduct a local wage survey.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, was enacted on March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (the Reconciliation Act), Public Law 111- 152, was enacted on March 30, 2010 (jointly referred to as ``the Affordable Care Act''). The Affordable Care Act and implementing regulations (codified in Department of Heath and Human Services (HHS) amended 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 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 (of what?) (a ``federal external review process''). The IFR now includes a transition period prior to January 1, 2012, during which time HHS will work with states to assist in making any necessary changes so that the state process will meet either the minimum consumer protections identified in 45 CFR 147.136 or, until January 1, 2014, the temporary standards listed in Technical Release 2011-02 that must be met in order for the state process to apply. Currently, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is administering an interim federal external review process for states that have not passed an external review law that was in effect on September 23, 2010. Beginning January 1, 2012, OPM will administer a federal external review process for all states that do not meet the required minimum consumer protections identified in the interim final regulations. On September 16, 2010, OPM published a system of records that includes data relevant to external reviews entitled OPM Central 16, Health Claims Disputes External Review Services. OPM now proposes three changes to the system of records. First, OPM proposes expanding the categories of individuals covered by the system of records to include individuals covered by plans and issuers in all states that fail to comply with the minimum standards promulgated by HHS. In addition, the category of individuals that may utilize the external review process provided by OPM and covered by this system of records is further qualifiedthey must now be covered by a plan that has elected to participate in the external review process operated by OPM and the individual's claim must involve a rescission of coverage or medical judgment. The second change to the system of records reflects OPM's requirement that claimants provide additional information necessary to determine whether the claimant is eligible for review. In some cases, much of this additional information may have already have been included under the original system of records notice because the information may be derived from documents provided by insurers. However, we have added three additional categories of information: The claimant's county name, an indication from the claimant of whether the external review request is for an urgent care claim, and an indication from the claimant of whether the external review request is related to a rescission of coverage or medical judgment. Third, the routine uses have been expanded to include disclosure to a contractor for adjudication of the entire appeal. After October 1, 2011, the external review process may be administered by one or more Independent Review Organization(s) (IRO) under contract with OPM and under OPM's direction. This systems notice has also been modified to account for the possible involvement of IROs in this process. In accordance with specific contract provisions, the IRO(s) must comply with the requirements of The Privacy Act.

The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee is issuing this notice to cancel the November 17, 2011, public meeting scheduled to be held in Room 5A06A, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Building, 1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC. The original Federal Register notice announcing this meeting was published Monday, December 6, 2010, at 75 FR 75706.

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

The Hispanic Council on Federal Employment will hold its fourth meeting on Friday, November 18, 2011, at the time and location shown below. The Council is an advisory committee composed of representatives from Hispanic organizations and senior government officials. Along with its other responsibilities, the Council shall advise the Director of the Office of Personnel Management on matters involving the recruitment, hiring, and advancement of Hispanics in the Federal workforce. The Council is co-chaired by the Chief of Staff of the Office of Personnel Management and the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The meeting is open to the public. Please contact the Office of Personnel Management at the address shown below if you wish to present material to the Council at the meeting. The manner and time prescribed for presentations may be limited, depending upon the number of parties that express interest in presenting information.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has revised Standard Form (SF) 1152, Unpaid Compensation of Deceased Civilian Employee, to update examples of beneficiary designations. The SF 1152 is used by a civilian employee to designate the beneficiary or beneficiaries to receive any unpaid compensation due and payable after the employee's death. The form relates solely to money due as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5581, 5582, and 5583, and has no effect on any benefits which may become payable under the Retirement or Group Life Insurance Acts applicable to the deceased employee's Government service. The revised form is PDF fillable and is located on OPM's Web site at http:/ /www.opm.gov/forms/html.sf.asp for agency use. This version supersedes all previous versions. Please destroy any versions you may have in stock.

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 to revise an information collection. OPM Online Form 1417, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Information System form, collects information from the 208 local CFC campaigns to verify campaign results and collect contact information. The proposed revisions remove data that is collected from other sources and incorporates new questions regarding the Federal employees who oversee the campaign at the local level. On February 7, 2011, we published a 60-day notice and request for comments. We received no comments. We estimate 208 Online OPM Forms 1417 are completed annually. Each form takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. The annual estimated burden is 104 hours. The change in the estimated burden is the result of a reduction in the number of campaigns and the elimination of questions on local charity participation. 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 Curtis Rumbaugh on (202) 606- 2564, Fax (202) 606-5056 or e-mail to curtis.rumbaugh@opm.gov. Please be sure to include a mailing address with your request.

The Federal Salary Council will meet on November 4, 2011, 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 Council will hear public testimony about the locality pay program, review the results of pay comparisons, and formulate its recommendations to the President's Pay Agent on pay comparison methods, locality pay rates, and locality pay areas and boundaries for 2013. 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.

The Office of Personnel Management published a final rule in the Federal Register on August 23, 2011, (76 FR 52539) revising the factor at 5 CFR 843.309(b)(2) used to convert a lump sum basic employee death benefit under 5 U.S.C. 8442(b) to 36 installment payments. That change inadvertently stated that the revised factor would apply to deaths occurring on or after October 1, 2004. The revised factor, however, applies to deaths occurring on or after October 1, 2011. Therefore, this document corrects the final regulation by revising this date. Additionally, this document corrects a misspelling in the heading to Appendix A to subpart C of part 843 that was included with the rule.

The Retirement Services, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a revised information collection request (ICR) 3206-0215, Verification of Full-Time School Attendance. 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 May 23, 2011 at Volume 76 FR 29805 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 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.

Merit System Audit and Compliance, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on an existing information collection request (ICR) 3206-0234, Standard Form 1153, Claim for Unpaid Compensation of Deceased Civilian Employee. 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 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.

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 CFC-50 Advisory Commission will hold its initial meeting on September 13, 2011, at the time and location shown below. The Commission shall advise the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on strengthening the integrity, the operation and effectiveness of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) to ensure its continued growth and success. The Commission is an advisory committee composed of Federal employees, private campaign administrators, charitable organizations and ``watchdog'' groups. The Commission is co- chaired by Thomas Davis and Beverly Byron. The meeting is open to the public. Please contact the Office of Personnel Management at the address shown below if you wish to present material to the Commission at the meeting. The manner and time prescribed for presentations may be limited, depending upon the number of parties that express interest in presenting information.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is issuing final regulations to implement the ruling in the case of Fathauer v. United States, 566 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 2009). In this decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that part-time employees are covered under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 5546(a), the statute governing the payment of Sunday premium pay for work performed on Sundays. The revised Sunday premium pay regulations eliminate references to ``full-time'' employees, which will permit Sunday premium payments to part-time employees, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 5546(a). Consistent with the reasoning in the Fathauer decision, OPM has determined that part-time prevailing rate employees are also entitled to payment of Sunday premium pay, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5544(a). Intermittent employees continue to be excluded from earning Sunday premium pay because of the nature of their appointment.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is amending the regulations governing disposition of Official Personnel Folders of Federal employees to clarify the roles and responsibilities of OPM and Federal agencies.

OPM proposes to amend its regulations at 5 CFR part 733 by granting Federal employees residing in King George County, Virginia, a partial exemption from the political activity restrictions specified in 5 U.S.C. 7323(a)(2) and (3), and adding King George County to its regulatory list of designated localities in 5 CFR 733.107(c). The proposed amendment reflects OPM's determination that King George County meets the criteria in 5 U.S.C. 7325 and 5 CFR 733.107(a) for a partial exemption to issue.