14440 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / Notices 

Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act 

(No FEAR Act or Act), as implemented 

by Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) regulations 5 CFR part 724. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Dure, General Counsel, by mail 

at Recovery Accountability and 

Transparency Board, 1717 Pennsylvania 

Avenue, NW., Suite 700, Washington, 

DC 20006, or by telephone at (202) 254– 

7900. Additional information can be 

found at the Board’s Web site at 

http://www.recovery.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

15, 2002, Congress enacted the 

‘‘Notification and Federal Employee 

Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act 

of 2002,’’ which is now known as the No 

FEAR Act. See Public Law 107–174, 

codified at 5 U.S.C. 2301 note. One 

purpose of the Act is to ‘‘require that 

Federal agencies be accountable for 

violations of antidiscrimination and 

whistleblower protection laws.’’ Public 

Law 107–174, Summary. In support of 

this purpose, Congress found that 

‘‘agencies cannot be run effectively if 

those agencies practice or tolerate 

discrimination.’’ Public Law 107–174, 

Title I, General Provisions, section 

101(1). 

The Act also requires this agency to 

provide this notice to its employees, 

former employees and applicants for 

Board employment to inform you of the 

rights and protections available to you 

under Federal antidiscrimination and 

whistleblower protection laws. 

Antidiscrimination Laws 

A Federal agency cannot discriminate 

against an employee or applicant with 

respect to the terms, conditions or 

privileges of employment on the basis of 

race, color, religion, sex, national origin, 

age, disability, marital status or political 

affiliation. Discrimination on these 

bases is prohibited by one or more of the 

following statutes: 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(1), 

29 U.S.C. 206(d), 29 U.S.C. 631, 29 

U.S.C. 633a, 2 U.S.C. 791 and 42 U.S.C. 

2000e-16. 

If you believe that you have been the 

victim of unlawful discrimination on 

the basis of race, color, religion, sex, 

national origin or disability, you must 

contact an Equal Employment 

Opportunity (EEO) counselor within 45 

calendar days of the alleged 

discriminatory action, or, in the case of 

personnel action, within 45 calendar 

days of the effective date of the action, 

before you can file a formal complaint 

of discrimination with your agency. See, 

e.g. 29 CFR 1614. If you believe that you 

have been the victim of unlawful 

discrimination on the basis of age, you 

must either contact an EEO counselor as 

noted above or give notice of intent to 

sue to the Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 

180 calendar days of the alleged 

discriminatory action. If you are alleging 

discrimination based on marital status 

or political affiliation, you may file a 

written complaint with the U.S. Office 

of Special Counsel (OSC) (see contact 

information below). In the alternative 

(or in some cases, in addition), you may 

pursue a discrimination complaint by 

filing a grievance through your agency’s 

administrative or negotiated grievance 

procedures, if such procedures apply 

and are available. 

Whistleblower Protection Laws 

A Federal employee with authority to 

take, direct others to take, recommend 

or approve any personnel action must 

not use that authority to take or fail to 

take, or threaten to take or fail to take, 

a personnel action against an employee 

or applicant because of disclosures of 

information by that individual that is 

reasonably believed to evidence 

violations of law, rule or regulation; 

gross mismanagement; gross waste of 

funds; an abuse of authority; or a 

substantial and specific danger to public 

health or safety, unless disclosures of 

such information is specifically 

prohibited by law and such information 

is specifically required by Executive 

order to be kept secret in the interest of 

national defense or the conduct of 

foreign affairs. 

Retaliation against an employee or 

applicant for making a protected 

disclosure is prohibited by 5 U.S.C. 

2302(b)(8). If you believe that you have 

been the victim of whistleblower 

retaliation, you may file a written 

complaint (Form OSC–11) with the U.S. 

Office of Special Counsel at 1730 M 

Street, NW., Suite 218, Washington, DC 

20036–4505 or online through the OSC 

Web site, http://www.osc.gov. 

Retaliation for Engaging in Protected 

Activity 

A Federal agency cannot retaliate 

against an employee or applicant 

because that individual exercises his or 

her rights under any of the Federal 

antidiscrimination or whistleblower 

protection laws listed above. If you 

believe that you are the victim of 

retaliation for engaging in protected 

activity, you must follow, as 

appropriate, the procedures described in 

the Antidiscrimination Laws and 

Whistleblower Protection Laws sections 

or, if applicable, the administrative or 

negotiated grievance procedures in 

order to pursue any legal remedy. 

Disciplinary Actions 

Under the existing laws, each agency 

retains the right, where appropriate, to 

discipline a Federal employee for 

conduct that is inconsistent with 

Federal Antidiscrimination and 

Whistleblower Protection Laws up to 

and including removal. If OSC has 

initiated an investigation under 5 U.S.C. 

1214, however, agencies must seek 

approval from OSC to discipline 

employees for, among other activities, 

engaging in prohibited retaliation. 

Nothing in the No FEAR Act alters 

existing laws or permits an agency to 

take unfounded disciplinary action 

against a Federal employee or to violate 

the procedural rights of a Federal 

employee who has been accused of 

discrimination. 

Additional Information 

For Further information regarding the 

No FEAR Act regulations, refer to 5 CFR 

part 724, as well as the appropriate 

offices within your agency (e.g., human 

resources office or legal office). 

Additional information regarding 

Federal antidiscrimination laws can be 

found at the EEOC Web site, http:// 

www.eeoc.gov, and the OSC Web site, 

http://www.osc.gov. 

Existing Rights Unchanged 

Pursuant to section 205 of the No 

FEAR Act, neither the Act nor this 

notice creates, expands or reduces any 

rights otherwise available to any 

employee, former employee or applicant 

under the laws of the United States, 

including the provisions of law 

specified in 5 U.S.C. 2302(d). 

Ivan J. Flores, 

Paralegal Specialist, Recovery Accountability 

and Transparency Board. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6076 Filed 3–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6821–15–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Investor 

Education and Advocacy, 

Washington, DC 20549–0213. 

Extension: 

Form 40–F; OMB Control No. 3235– 

0381; SEC File No. 270–335. 

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / Notices 14441 

on the collection of information 

summarized below. The Commission 

plans to submit this existing collection 

of information to the Office of 

Management and Budget for extension 

and approval. 

Form 40–F (17 CFR 249.240f) is used 

by certain Canadian issuers to register a 

class of securities under to Section 12 of 

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Exchange Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 78l) or as an 

annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) 

or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. 

78m(a) or 78o(d)). The information 

required in the Form 40–F is used by 

investors in making investment 

decisions with respect to the securities 

of such Canadian companies. We 

estimate that Form 40–F takes 

approximately 427 hours per response 

and is filed by approximately 205 

respondents. We estimate that 25% of 

the 427 hours per response (106.75 

hours) is prepared by the issuer for a 

total reporting burden of 21,884 (106.75 

hours per response x 205 responses). 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden imposed by the collection 

of information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; and (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on respondents, including 

through the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. Consideration will be given 

to comments and suggestions submitted 

in writing within 60 days of this 

publication. 

Please direct your written comments 

to Thomas Bayer, Chief Information 

Officer, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, C/O Remi Pavlik-Simon, 

6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, 

Virginia 22312; or send an e-mail to: 

PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: March 10, 2011. 

Cathy H. Ahn, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6074 Filed 3–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Request and 

Comment Request 

The Social Security Administration 

(SSA) publishes a list of information 

collection packages requiring clearance 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) in compliance with 

Public Law 104–13, the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 

1, 1995. This notice includes extensions 

of and a revision to OMB-approved 

information collections. 

SSA is soliciting comments on the 

accuracy of the agency’s burden 

estimate; the need for the information; 

its practical utility; ways to enhance its 

quality, utility, and clarity; and ways to 

minimize burden on respondents, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. Mail, e-mail, or 

fax your comments and 

recommendations on the information 

collection(s) to the OMB Desk Officer 

and SSA Reports Clearance Officer at 

the following addresses or fax numbers. 

(OMB), Office of Management and 

Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, 

Fax: 202–395–6974, E-mail address: 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov. 

(SSA), Social Security Administration, 

DCBFM, Attn: Reports Clearance 

Officer, 1333 Annex Building, 6401 

Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235, 

Fax: 410–965–6400, E-mail address: 

OPLM.RCO@ssa.gov. 

I. The information collection listed 

below is pending at SSA. SSA will 

submit it to OMB within 60 days from 

the date of this notice. To be sure we 

consider your comments, we must 

receive them no later than May 16, 

2011. Individuals can obtain copies of 

the collection instrument by calling the 

SSA Reports Clearance Officer at 410– 

965–8783 or by writing to the above email address. 

Statement Regarding Contributions— 

20 CFR 404.360–404.366 and 404.736— 

0960–0020. SSA examines a child’s 

current sources of support when 

determining the child’s entitlement to 

Social Security benefits. To make this 

determination, SSA collects information 

on Form SSA–783. The respondents are 

individuals providing information about 

a child’s sources of support. 

Type of Request: Revision of an OMBapproved information collection. 

Number of Respondents: 30,000. 

Frequency of Response: 1. 

Average Burden per Response: 17 

minutes. 

Estimated Annual Burden: 8,500 

hours. 

II. SSA submitted the information 

collections listed below to OMB for 

clearance. Your comments on the 

information collections would be most 

useful if OMB and SSA receive them 

within 30 days from the date of this 

publication. To be sure we consider 

your comments, we must receive them 

no later than April 15, 2011. You can 

obtain copies of the OMB clearance 

packages by calling the SSA Reports 

Clearance Officer at 410–965–8783 or by 

writing to the above e-mail address. 

1. RSI/DI Quality Review Case 

Analysis—Sampled Number Holder; 

Auxiliaries/Survivors; Parent; 

Stewardship Annual Earnings Test— 

0960–0189. SSA collects information on 

Forms SSA–2930, SSA–2931, and SSA– 

2932 to establish a national payment 

accuracy rate for all cases in payment 

status, and to serve as a source of 

information regarding problem areas in 

the Retirement Survivors Insurance 

(RSI) and Disability Insurance (DI) 

programs. SSA also uses the information 

to measure the accuracy rate for newly 

adjudicated RSI/DI cases. SSA collects 

information on Form SSA–4659 to 

evaluate the effectiveness of the annual 

earnings test and uses the results in 

developing ongoing improvements in 

the process. 

About 25 percent of respondents will 

have in-person reviews and receive one 

of the following appointment letters: 

SSA–L8550–U3 (Appointment Letter— 

Sample Individual), SSA–L8551–U3 

(Appointment Letter—Sample Family), 

or the SSA–L8552–U3 (Appointment 

Letter—Rep Payee). Seventy-five 

percent of respondents will receive a 

notice for a telephone review using the 

SSA–L8553–U3 (Beneficiary Telephone 

Contact) or the SSA–L8554–U3 (Rep 

Payee Telephone Contact). 

To help the beneficiary prepare for 

the interview, we include three forms 

with each notice: 

(1) SSA–85 (Information Needed to 

Review Your Social Security Claim) lists 

the information the beneficiary will 

need to gather for the interview; 

(2) SSA–2935 (Authorization to the 

Social Security Administration to 

Obtain Personal Information) verifies 

the beneficiary’s correct payment 

amount, if necessary; and 

(3) SSA–8552 (Interview 

Confirmation) confirms or reschedules 

the interview if necessary. 

The respondents are a statistically 

valid sample of all RSI/DI beneficiaries 

in current pay status or their 

representative payees. 

Type of Request: Revision of an OMBapproved information collection. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES