This notice is given under the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 and the Privacy Act of 1974. The Privacy Act requires
that the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) tell you the following
whenever we ask you for information.
- The law which allows us
to ask for the information;
- whether that law requires
you to give us that information and what, if anything, might
happen to you if you do not give it to us;
- the reason why the information
is requested; and
- the persons, organizations,
and agencies to which we may release the information without
your permission.
The RRB’s authority for requesting this information is Section
7(b) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974. Providing us
with this information is voluntary on your part. However,
if you fail to provide us with the requested information
we may be unable to pay you any benefits. The RRB needs
this information to determine whether you are eligible
to receive such benefits and, if so, the amount you are entitled
to receive. If your annuity application is approved and we
begin to pay you benefits, information that we may request
from you in the future will be used to determine whether
you are entitled to continue to receive such benefits.
Although the information we request is almost never used
for any purpose other than the payment of benefits under the
Railroad Retirement Act, the RRB does have the authority to
release information to the indicated individuals, organizations,
and/or agencies listed below without your approval:
- An attorney, the Office
of the President, a Congressional office, a labor union
or the Department of State’s embassy or consular offices
if they allege to be representing you at your request.
- Other people who are receiving
benefits based on the same railroad retirement account as
you are if the information affects their payments from the
RRB.
- A person who will receive
benefits on your behalf if the RRB decided that some medical
condition keeps you from receiving your own benefits; such
information may also be released in determining whether
such a medical condition exists and who is suitable to receive
such benefits for you.
- To people or organizations
who are working for the RRB; such information may include
medical records.
- The U.S. Treasury Department
or U.S. Postal Service to issue payments and to investigate
lost, forged, or stolen checks.
- Your last employer to make
sure that you are eligible to receive railroad retirement
benefits and you continue to receive any available medical
benefits, and to any railroad industry employer (or to its
insurance company) to make sure that you can receive any
private retirement or insur-ance benefits which may be offered
by the employer.
- The Social Security Administration,
Health Care Financing Administration, Pension Benefit Guarantee
Corporation, Office of Personnel Management, Department
of Veterans Affairs, or Federal, state, or local welfare
or public aid agencies to determine if you can receive benefits
from these organizations and if any previous benefits were
paid incorrectly.
- The Internal Revenue Service
or to state and local taxing authorities for figuring your
taxes and for use in audits.
- Your last address and the
name of your last employer may be released to the Department
of Health and Human Services to be used in the Parent Locator
Service.
- The General Accounting
Office for audits and for collecting overpayments owed to
the RRB or the Social Security Administration.
- The U.S. Department of
Labor as required by the Federal Coal Mine and Safety Act.
- 1 In certain cases for
law enforcement purposes and for court proceedings.
- Information about the determination
and recovery of an overpayment made to you may be released
to any other per-son from whom any portion of the overpayment
is being recovered.
- Your name and address may
be released to a Member of Congress to inform you about
current or proposed legisla-tion which could affect the
railroad retirement system.
- Professional Standard Review
Organizations and State Licensing Boards when services provided
by physicians or practitioners suggest unethical or unprofessional
conduct.
We estimate the application process takes an average of
20 to 47 minutes per response to complete, including the
time for reviewing the instructions, getting the needed
data, and reviewing the completed application. Federal agencies
may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays
a valid OMB number. If you wish, send comments regarding
the accuracy of our estimate or any other aspect of this
process, including suggestions for reducing completion time,
to the Chief of Information Resource Management, Railroad
Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois
60611-2092.
Computer Matching and
Privacy Protection Act Notice
The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988
requires the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) to advise
you that information you have provided may be used,
with-out your consent, in automated matching programs.
These matching programs are a computer comparison
of RRB records with records kept by other Federal,
state, or local governmental agencies. Information
from these matching programs can be used to establish
or verify a person’s eligi-bility for Federally funded
or administered benefit pro-grams and for repayment
of payments or delinquent debts under these programs.
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