Administration and General ProvisionsAdministration

61 FR 66948Federal Register, Volume 61 Issue 245 (Thursday, December 19, 1996) [Federal Register Volume 61, Number 245 (Thursday, December 19, 1996)] [Proposed Rules] [Pages 66948-66949] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] [FR Doc No: 96-32135] ======================================================================== Proposed Rules Federal Register ________________________________________________________________________ This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules. ======================================================================== Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 245 / Thursday, December 19, 1996 / Proposed Rules [[Page 66948]] OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 5 CFR Part 831 RIN 3206-AH66 Administration and General Provisions--Administration AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management. ACTION: Proposed rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to amend its regulations concerning the adjudication of claims arising under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). This amendment would provide that OPM may initially issue decisions that provide the opportunity to appeal directly to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) without having to request OPM to review its initial decision. The amendment will streamline processing of claims under the CSRS and bring OPM's CSRS regulations into conformity with its Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) regulations.

61 FR 66948DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 18, 1997. ADDRESSES: Send comments to John E. Landers, Chief, Retirement Policy Division; Retirement and Insurance Service; Office of Personnel Management; P.O. Box 57; Washington, DC 20044; or deliver to OPM, Room 4351, 1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth R. Brown, (202) 606-0299.

61 FR 66948SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently, section 839.109 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations establishes a procedure under which individuals whose rights or interests under CSRS are affected by an initial decision of OPM generally must request that OPM reconsider its decision if they think OPM's initial decision is wrong, before they may seek review outside OPM. After receiving a reconsideration request, OPM renders a final decision that contains notice of the right of the individual to file an appeal with MSPB. Only if a decision is rendered at the highest level of review available in OPM may the individual seek MSPB review without first obtaining an OPM reconsideration decision. The reconsideration process sometimes imposes a needless administrative burden on both the individual and OPM, particularly when the facts of the case are not in dispute. When all relevant evidence and facts have already been considered by OPM in its initial decision, reconsideration is redundant, increases OPM's administrative and processing costs and needlessly delays the claimant's opportunity to appeal OPM's decision to MSPB. To streamline our processing of disputed cases under CSRS, these proposed regulations would bring CSRS regulations into conformity with FERS regulations at 5 CFR 841.307. Under the FERS process, whenever OPM determines that issuance of both an initial and reconsideration decision would be redundant, OPM issues a final decision without the reconsideration process. The final decision fully sets forth OPM's findings and conclusions and contains notice of the right to file an appeal with MSPB. MSPB regulations require de novo review of the OPM decision and provide claimants with a right to a hearing before an administrative judge. Our processing under the proposed regulations may be illustrated with the following example. If official records show that a person claiming an annuity has less than the 5 years of service required by law, and the person does not dispute the accuracy of the records, OPM will disallow the claim without a reconsideration right at OPM, but rather with a notice of MSPB appeal rights. On the other hand, if the person believes that the official record of his or her service is incomplete and wishes to submit secondary evidence to prove that he or she actually performed the necessary 5 years of service, OPM would issue an initial decision with a statement of reconsideration rights at OPM before issuing a final decision.

61 FR 66948Regulatory Flexibility Act I certify that this regulation will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because the regulation will only affect Federal agencies and retirement payments to retired Government employees, spouses, and former spouses. List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 831 Administrative practice and procedure, Alimony, Claims, Disability benefits, Firefighters, Government employees, Income taxes, Intergovernmental relations, Law enforcement officers, Pensions, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Retirement. Office of Personnel Management. James B. King, Director. Accordingly, OPM proposes to amend title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows: PART 831--RETIREMENT 1. The authority citation for part 831 continues to read as follows:

61 FR 66948Authority: 5 U.S.C. 8347; Sec. 831.102 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8334; Sec. 831.106 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552a; Sec. 831.108 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8336(d)(2); Sec. 831.201(b)(6) also issued under 5 U.S.C. 7701(b)(2); Sec. 831.204 also issued under section 7202(m)(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub. L. 105-508, 104 Stat. 1388- 339; Sec. 831.303 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8334(d)(2); Sec. 831.502 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8337; Sec. 831.502 also issued under section 1(3), E.O. 11228, 3 CFR 1964-1965 Comp.; Sec. 831.621 also issued under section 201(d) of the Federal Employees Benefits Improvement Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99-251, 100 Stat. 23; subpart S also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8345(k); subpart V also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8343a and section 6001 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330- 275; Sec. 831.2203 also issued under section 7001(a)(4) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-508; 104 Stat. 1388-328. Subpart A--Administration and General Provisions 2. In Sec. 831.109, paragraph (c) the last sentence is removed, the text in paragraph (f) after the heading ``Final decision.'', is redesignated as paragraph (f)(1) and paragraph (f)(2) is added to read as follows: Sec. 831.109 Initial decision and reconsideration. * * * * * (f) * * * (2) OPM may issue a final decision providing the opportunity to appeal [[Page 66949]] under Sec. 831.110 rather than an opportunity to request reconsideration under paragraph (c) of this section. Such a decision must be in writing and state the right to appeal under Sec. 831.110. * * * * * [FR Doc. 96-32135 Filed 12-18-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6325-01-M