RI20-126_OMBSupportingStmt_2025

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

RI 20-126 – Certification of Qualifying District of Columbia Service Under Section 1905 of Public Law 111-84

1. Justification

1. Explain the circumstances of this collection, why this collection is necessary, and the legal statues that allow it.

Section 1905 of Public Law 111-84 pertains to Retirement Credit for Service of Certain Employees Transferred from District of Columbia Service to Federal Service. In general, any individual who is treated as an employee of the Federal Government for purposes of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5, U. S. Code, on or after October 28, 2009, or who performed qualifying District of Columbia service shall be entitled to have such service included in calculating creditable service under section 8332 or 8411 of title 5, United States Code, but only for purposes of meeting retirement eligibility.

2. Describe how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, describe how the agency has made use of the information received from the current collection.

RI 20-126 is available to employees covered under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System on or after October 28, 2009. Those eligible to apply include an applicant employed with the District of Columbia Courts; or an employee who performed service in an entity of the DC government whose functions were transferred to the Pretrial Services, Parole, Adult Supervision, and Offender Supervision Trustee; an employee of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia; and an employee of the DC Department of Corrections who was separated from service as a result of the closing of the Lorton Correctional Complex.

When responses are received, an agency official must certify that certain service performed qualifies to meet retirement eligibility. However, the service cannot be used in the computation of annuity.

3. How are the respondents expected to complete the collection? Can this collection be completed electronically.

This form is mailed to the respondent with a return envelope when additional information is required. The adjudicator, whether in DC or Boyers, will instruct the recipient as to where they should return the form.

4. Does this collection duplicate any other collection of information. Describe why the agency doesn’t already have this information within their systems.

While OPM must give the annuitant the opportunity to initiate a change in their election, OPM is continuing its momentum from FY 2023 investments to pilot a fully digital retirement case processing method. Additionally, OPM will continue building pilot initiatives to improve the annuitant experience like the online retirement guide and chatbot. Retirement Services will use data-driven evaluations of these pilots to inform additional ways to better answer annuitant questions and reduce their burden.

5. Describe any impacts on small business. If applicable, describe any methods used to minimize those impacts.

This information collection request has no impact on small businesses and organizations.

1. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection of information is not conducted, or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

The collection of this information is performed as needed to determine the correct amount to pay annuitants and survivor annuitants. If this information is not collected, OPM may make incorrect payments to the affected persons.

7. Do any of the following special circumstances apply?

• requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

•requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

•requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

• requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records, for more than three years;

• in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;

• requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

• requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

There are no special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be collected in the above-mentioned manner. This information collection is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6.

8. Cite the Federal Register publication for a request for public comments and address any comments received.

On June 2, 2025, a 60 Day Federal Register Notice was published at 90 FR 23383 requesting comment. No comments were received.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

No payment or gift is provided to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

This information collection is protected by the Privacy Act of 1974 and OPM regulations (5 CFR 831.106). The routine uses for disclosure appear in the Federal Register for OPM/Central-1 (87 FR 5874, et seq., effective February 2, 2022).

11. Are any questions of a sensitive nature asked, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private? If yes, provide justification. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

This information collection does not include questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

12. Describe the hour time burden and the hour cost burden on the respondent needed to complete this collection. Please specify hourly salary for your respondent audience by referencing Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates or other alternative wage site, when applicable

Approximately 1,000 will be processed annually. RI 20-126 requires approximately 30 minutes to complete the form. The annual burden is expected to decrease in the future because the pool of persons affected is finite and they will only use this form once.

Type of Respondent	Form Name	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Average Burden per Response (in hours)	Hourly Wage Rate	Total Respondent Cost
Certain Employees Transferred from District of Columbia Service to Federal Service	Certification of Qualifying DC Service Under Section 1905 of PL 111-84	1,000	1	.5 hours	$36.02	$18,010

The total Annual Respondent Cost is $18,010.

13. Describe the non-hourly monetary burden to respondents needed to complete this collection. This is defined as out-of-pocket costs such as application fees for the collection, document fees (birth/death certificates, school transcripts), mailing costs (printing, postage, and/or mileage), or anything else respondents may need to pay to complete and/or implement the collection

Form Name	No. of Respondents	Mileage at $0.70 a mile	Total Mileage Cost	Total Non-Hourly Cost
Certification of Qualifying DC Service Under Section 1905 of PL 111-84	1,000	9	$6,300.00	$6,300.00

The Total Annual Respondent Cost is $6,300.00. There is no change in the respondent

burden.

14. Describe the cost incurred by the Federal Government to complete this collection.

The annualized cost to the Federal government is $5,550. This cost includes employee salary hours devoted to the program, forms publishing and overhead.

15. Explain any changes/adjustments to this collection since the previous submission, if

applicable. Describe whether these changes impact the hour or cost burden. If yes,

describe if the impact is the result of deliberate Federal government action (“program

change”) or something else (“adjustment”).

There are no adjustments or change in the hour burden. The change in the cost burden is an adjustment that reflects an increased hourly wage rate since the last update.

16. Specify if the data gathered by this collection will be published. This could include

Congressional reporting, using respondent numbers in budget justification, or other broad

reporting.

The results of this information collection are not published.

17. If applicable, explain the reason(s) for seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date.

We seek approval to not display the OMB clearance expiration date on the forms and
to communicate version changes to the public via the revision date. OPM has modified our Paperwork Reduction Act notice to ensure respondents can verify the validity of the OMB control number and collection.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 “Certification for
Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions,” of OMB Form 83-I.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.