Railroad Retirement Board October 23, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is forwarding the following Information Collection Requests (ICR's) to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Our ICR's describe the information we seek to collect from the public. Review and approval by OIRA ensures that we impose appropriate paperwork burdens. The RRB invites comments on the proposed collections of information to determine (1) the practical utility of the collection; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden of the collection; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information that is the subject of collection; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of collections on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments to RRB or OIRA must contain the OMB control number of the particular ICR. For proper consideration of your comments, it is best if RRB and OIRA receive them within 30 days of publication date. 1. Title and Purpose of Information Collection Request; Railroad Service and Compensation Reports/System Access Application/Report Certification; OMB 3220-0008. Under section 9 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) and section 6 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA), the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) maintains for each railroad employee, a record of compensation paid to that employee by all railroad employers for whom the employee worked after 1936. This record, which is used by the RRB to determine eligibility for, and amount of, benefits due under the laws it administers, is conclusive as to the amount of compensation paid to an employee during such period(s) covered by the report(s) of the compensation by the employee's railroad employer(s), except in cases when an employee files a protest pertaining to his or her reported compensation within the statute of limitations cited in section 9 of the RRA and section 6 of the RUIA. To enable the RRB to establish and maintain the record of compensation, employers are required to file with the RRB, in such manner and form and at such times as the RRB prescribes, reports of compensation of employees. Railroad Employers' Reports and Responsibilities are prescribed in 20 CFR 209. The RRB currently utilizes Form BA-3a, Annual Report of Compensation and Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments, to secure required information from railroad employers. Form BA-3a provides the RRB with information regarding annual creditable service and compensation for each individual who worked for a railroad employer covered by the RRA and RUIA in a given year. Form BA-4 provides for the adjustment of any previously submitted reports and also the opportunity to provide any service and compensation that had been previously omitted. Requirements specific to Forms BA-3a and BA-4 are prescribed in 20 CFR 209.8 and 209.9. Employers currently have the option of submitting the reports on the aforementioned forms, electronically via the Internet utilizing the RRB's Employer Reporting System (ERS) (for Form BA-4 (Internet)), or in like format on magnetic tape cartridges, CD-ROM's and PC diskettes. The RRB proposes major changes to the information collection. They are intended to streamline the employer reporting process, ensuring more accurate and timely reporting, while eliminating or reducing the employer reporting burden associated with several other RRB information collections. Form BA-3a will be significantly revised and renamed Form BA-3, Annual Report of Compensation. Revisions to proposed Form BA-3 include the expansion of existing data fields to allow for: The reporting of amounts for Tier I and Tier II compensation greater than $99,999.99 (the annual creditable maximum for Tier I will exceed that amount within the next two years), RUIA daily pay rate amounts of more than $99.99, 4-digit year fields and expansion of the employee's name field. New Items requesting information regarding sick pay and miscellaneous compensation, the employee's current address, maximum benefit RUIA compensation, and employment relationship status for months not worked will be added. Data fields for proposed Form BA-4 and BA-4 (Internet) will be revised to allow for: The reporting of Tier I and Tier II compensation greater than $99,999.99 (the annual creditable maximum for Tier I will exceed that amount within the next two years), RUIA daily pay rate amounts of more than $99.99, 4-digit year fields and expansion of the employee's name field. New Items providing for the reporting of adjustments to the originally reported Tier I and Tier II amounts, sick pay, miscellaneous compensation, RUIA maximum benefit amounts, and an employee's daily pay rate will be added. The RRB also proposes the implementation of two additional electronic equivalent methods of submission for Form BA-3 and Form BA-4 information: File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and secure e-mail. The information collection includes RRB Form BA-12, Application for Employer Reporting Internet Access. Form BA-12 is completed by railroad employers to obtain system access to the RRB's Employer Reporting System (ERS). Once access is obtained, authorized employees may submit reporting forms to the RRB via the Internet. The form determines what degree of access (view/only, data entry/modification or approval/ submission) is appropriate for that employee. It is also used to terminate an employee's access to ERS. No changes are being proposed to Form BA-12. Lastly, the RRB proposes the addition of new Form G-440, Report Specifications Sheet, to the collection. Form G-440 will act as a certification document for various RRB employer reporting forms (Forms BA-3, BA-4, Form BA-6a, BA-6, Address Report (OMB 3220-0005), BA-9, Report of Separation Allowance or Severance Pay (OMB 3220-0173) and BA- 11, Report of Gross Earnings (OMB 3220-0132)). It will also be used to record the type of medium the report was submitted on, and as a summary recapitulation sheet for reports filed on paper. The estimated completion times for Form(s) BA-3, BA-4 and G-440 vary, depending on circumstances and the method of submission. The completion time for Form BA-3 is estimated at 46 hours and 15 minutes per response for electronic submissions to 116 hours and 51 minutes for manual responses. The completion time for Form BA-4 is estimated at 20 minutes for an ERS Internet-based response (BA-4 (Internet)), 60 minutes for an electronic submission (magnetic tape cartridge, CD-ROM, diskette, secure E-mail, FTP) and 75 minutes for a manual response. The completion time for form BA-12 is estimated at 10 minutes when used to terminate system access and 20 minutes when used to obtain system access. The completion time for proposed Form G-440 is estimated at 15 minutes when submitted with a paper form and/or used to file a ``zero'' or ``no employees'' certification, 30 minutes when used as an electronic medium reporting/certification form, and 1 hour and 15 minutes when used as a certification and recapitulation form. Submission of Form BA-3, BA-4, BA-4 (Internet) and G-440 is mandatory. Completion of Form BA-12 is voluntary. It is completed only if an employer wants to submit reports via the Internet. One response is requested of each respondent for all of the forms in the collection. Depending on circumstances and method of submission chosen, multiple responses may be received from a respondent for Form BA-4 and G-440. The annual respondent burden for the information collection is estimated at 7,348 responses and 43,756 hours. Previous Requests for Comments: The RRB has already published the initial 60-day notice (72 FR 46251-46253 on August 17, 2007) required by 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2). The RRB received comments from the Department of Commerce's, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), strongly supporting the RRB's continued collection of the data on Forms BA-3(a) and BA-4 stating ``these forms are our main data source for key components of BEA's economic statistics''. No other comments were received.