Section 2 of the Railroad Retirement
Act provides for the payment of disability annuities to qualified
employees and widower(s). In order to determine the effect of a
disability on an applicant's ability to work, the RRB needs the
applicants work history. The collection obtains the information
needed to determine their ability to work.
The Railroad Retirement
Board is a small Federal agency with limited staff. Since the
retirement of our Management Analyst on January 3, 2019, the
Information Collections Officer had to fill-in to administer the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Program as well as perform
management, Records Officer, and project officer related duties.
Although we hired a new Management Analyst on June 24, 2019 who is
new to the PRA process, the new Analyst helped the Information
Collections Officer work with internal staff to identify proposed
changes to ICR 3220-0141. We routed the proposed changes through
OIG, OGC, and new Board Members. The internal review process
experienced delays due to questions about some of the proposed
changes. Also, Information Collection Officer Staff needing to take
off work for personal family matters. In the end, the Board did not
approve the proposed changes to Form G-251. We also informed OMB of
the issues with coordinating issue via email and in an official
memo request for an Extension of the Expiration Date. However, due
to a miscommunication regarding the process, we did not submit a
proper request in ROCIS prior to the ICR expiration date. In
addition, the Management Analyst performed the following PRA
activities: (1) worked with OMB and internal staff to finalized 4
Information Collection Request (ICRs) that were in the ROCIS cue to
facilitate approval, (2) worked with internal staff to finalize and
publish 6 Initial and Secondary Notices in the Federal Register,
and (3) helped the Information Collection Officer finalize and
submit 6 Information Collections to OMB for approval set to expire
on December 31, 2019 to avoid a PRA violation.
US Code:
45
USC 231a Name of Law: Railroad Retirement Act
US Code: 45
USC 231f Name of Law: Railroad Retirement Act
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.