3220-0055

OMB No. 3220-0055

Justification

Application for Benefits Due but Unpaid at Death

RRB Form UI-63

1. Circumstances of the collection - Under Section 2(g) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) (45 U.S.C. 352), benefits that accrued but were not paid because of the death of the employee shall be paid to the same individual(s) to whom benefits are payable under Section 6(a)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act. The provisions relating to the payment of such benefits are prescribed in 20 CFR 325.5 and 20 CFR 335.5.

2. Purposes of collecting/consequences of not collecting the information - The collection obtains the information needed by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) to properly and fully pay all unemployment and sickness benefits accrued but unpaid because of the death of the employee.

Form UI-63, Application for Benefits Due but Unpaid at Death, is provided by the RRB for use in applying for accrued sickness or unemployment benefits unpaid at the employee’s death, and obtaining the information needed by the RRB to identify the proper payee(s). Following the order for payment of beneficiaries under the Railroad Retirement Act, accrued RUIA benefits are distributed to 1) the surviving spouse; if there is no surviving spouse, then 2) the person who paid the funeral and burial expenses (to the extent the expenses were not reimbursed under the RRA); and if there are still unpaid benefits remaining, then 3) the children, grandchildren, parents, and brothers and sisters, in order of survivorship.

Form UI-63 is not requested if unpaid benefits under the RRA were applied for, since whoever is identified as being the proper beneficiary under the RRA is also the proper payee under the RUIA. When required, Form UI-63 must be filed within two years of the death of the employee, otherwise any unpaid RUIA benefits will revert to the RUIA account.

Form UI-63 can be completed during an RRB office visit or an RRB office can mail the form to the applicant along with a transmittal letter containing instructions for completing and filing the form. The completed form is mailed back to the RRB office in a pre-addressed envelope provided for that purpose. The name and social security number of the deceased employee are pre-filled on the form prior to being released to the applicant for completion.

The RRB proposes no changes to Form UI-63.

3. Planned use of improved information technology or technical/legal impediments to further burden reduction - Not cost effective due to low volume. Due to agency technology limitations, this information collection does not allow for electronic submission as described in the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA). However, we will reevaluate electronic signatures after the completion of our IT Modernization project.

4. Efforts to identify duplication - To our knowledge, no other agency uses a form similar to Form UI-63 and this information collection does not duplicate any other RRB information collection.

5. Small business respondents - N.A.

6. Consequences of less frequent collection - Not applicable since the information is solicited only once.

7. Special circumstances - None.

8. Public comments/consultations outside the agency - In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d), comments were invited from the public regarding this information collection. The notice to the public was published on page 21361 of the April 22, 2021, Federal Register. No comments or requests for additional information were received from the public.

9. Payments or gifts to respondents - N.A.

10. Confidentiality - Privacy Act System of Records, RRB 21, Railroad Unemployment and Sickness Insurance Benefit System. In accordance with OMB Circular M-03-22, a Privacy Impact Assessment for this information collection was completed and can be found at https://www.rrb.gov/sites/default/files/2017-06/PIA-BPO.pdf.

11. Sensitive questions - N.A.

12. Estimate of respondent burden - The current estimated annual burden for the information collection is as follows:

Current Burden

Form Number	Annual Responses	Time (Minutes)	Burden (Hours)
UI-63	15	7	2
Total	15		2

Proposed Burden

Form Number	Annual Responses	Time (Minutes)1/	Burden (Hours)
UI-63	24	7	3
Total	24		3

1/The RRB has been collecting the information on these forms since OMB approved the information collection. Based on a sampling done when the form was originally created, the office calculated the estimated time, which includes time for getting the needed data and reviewing the completed form.

Responses Hours

Total Burden Change +9 +1

Adjustment +9 + 1

13. Estimated annual cost to respondents or record keepers - N.A.

14. Estimate of cost to Federal Government - N.A.

15. Explanation for change in burden – The increase in responses by 9, from 15 to 24 and the increase of the burden by 1, from 2 to 3, reflects the actual number of annual responses collected during the last 3 year cycle. We are showing this increase as an adjustment.

16. Time schedule for data collection and publication - The results of this collection will not be published.

17. Request not to display OMB expiration date - The RRB started an extensive multi-year IT Modernization Initiative at the beginning of Fiscal Year 2019 to transform our operations into the 21^st Century using multiple contractor services to improve mission performance, expand service capabilities, and strengthen cybersecurity. In addition, we received a new Chief Information Officer (CIO) on September 2, 2019 who is reviewing our estimated project timeline milestone dates. We provided OMB with a consolidated project timeline.

Given that the forms in this collection are seldom revised; the costs associated with redrafting, reprinting, and distributing forms in order to keep the appropriate OMB expiration date in place; and our desire to reevaluate after the completion of the modernization project, the RRB requests the authority to not display the expiration date on the forms.

18. Exceptions to Certification Statement - None

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