[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 30, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34637-34639]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13774]


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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.

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 123 / Wednesday, June 30, 2021 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 34637]]



OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 843

RIN 3206-AO13


Federal Employees' Retirement System; Present Value Conversion 
Factors for Spouses of Deceased Separated Employees

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed 
rule to revise the table of reduction factors for early commencing 
dates of survivor annuities for spouses of separated employees who die 
before the date on which they would be eligible for unreduced deferred 
annuities, and to revise the annuity factor for spouses of deceased 
employees who die in service when those spouses elect to receive the 
basic employee death benefit in 36 installments under the Federal 
Employees' Retirement System (FERS) Act of 1986. These rules are 
necessary to ensure that the tables conform to the economic and 
demographic assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries and published 
in the Federal Register on March 29, 2021, as required by law.

DATES: Send comments on or before August 30, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number and/or 
Regulatory Information Number (RIN) and title, by the following method:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    All submissions received must include the agency name and docket 
number or RIN for this document. The general policy for comments and 
other submissions from members of the public is to make these 
submissions available for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov 
as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers 
or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karla Yeakle, (202) 606-0299.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 29, 2021, OPM published a notice at 
86 FR 16401 in the Federal Register to revise the normal cost 
percentages under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) Act 
of 1986, Public Law 99-335, 100 Stat. 514, as amended, based on 
economic assumptions and demographic factors adopted by the Board of 
Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System. By statute under 5 
U.S.C. 8461(i), the revisions to the actuarial assumptions require 
corresponding changes in factors used to produce actuarially equivalent 
benefits when required by the FERS Act.
    Section 843.309 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, regulates 
the payment of the basic employee death benefit. Under 5 U.S.C. 
8442(b), the basic employee death benefit may be paid to a surviving 
spouse as a lump sum or as an equivalent benefit in 36 installments. 
These rules amend 5 CFR 843.309(b)(2) to conform the factor used to 
convert the lump sum to 36-installment payments with the revised 
economic assumptions.
    Section 843.311 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, regulates 
the benefits for the survivors of separated employees under 5 U.S.C. 
8442(c). This section provides a choice of benefits for eligible 
current and former spouses. If the current or former spouse is the 
person entitled to the unexpended balance under the order of precedence 
under 5 U.S.C. 8424, he or she may elect to receive the unexpended 
balance instead of an annuity. If the separated employee died before 
having attained the minimum retirement age, the annuity commences on 
the day the deceased separated employee would have been eligible for an 
unreduced annuity as specified under this section. If the current or 
former spouse instead elects to receive an adjusted annuity beginning 
on the day after the death of the separated employee, the annuity is 
reduced using the factors in appendix A to subpart C of part 843 to 
make the annuity actuarially equivalent to the present value of the 
annuity that the spouse or former spouse otherwise would have received. 
These rules amend appendix A to subpart C of part 843 to conform the 
factors to the revised actuarial assumptions.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

    OPM has examined the impact of this rule as required by Executive 
Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563, which directs agencies to assess 
all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if 
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public, 
health, and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). A 
regulatory impact analysis must be prepared for major rules with 
economically significant effects of $100 million or more in any one 
year. This rule was not designated as a ``significant regulatory 
action,'' under Executive Order 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Office of Personnel Management certifies that this rule will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.

Federalism

    We have examined this rule in accordance with Executive Order 
13132, Federalism, and have determined that this rule will not have any 
negative impact on the rights, roles and responsibilities of State, 
local, or tribal governments.

Civil Justice Reform

    This regulation meets the applicable standard set forth in 
Executive Order 12988.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    This rule will not result in the expenditure by state, local, and 
tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 
million or more in any year and it will not significantly or uniquely 
affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were deemed necessary 
under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.

Congressional Review Act

    The Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) requires rules 
(as defined in 5 U.S.C. 804) to be submitted to Congress before taking 
effect. OPM will submit to Congress and the Comptroller General of the 
United

[[Page 34638]]

States a report regarding the issuance of this action before its 
effective date, as required by 5 U.S.C. 801. OMB's Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined that this is not a 
``major rule'' as defined by the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 
804(2)).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required 
to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure 
to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (PRA), 
unless that collection of information displays a currently valid Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number.
    This rule involves an OMB approved collection of information 
subject to the PRA Application for Death Benefits (FERS)/Documentation 
and Elections in Support of Application for Death Benefits when 
Deceased was an Employee at the Time of Death (FERS), 3206-0172. The 
public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to average 60 
minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, 
searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data 
needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The 
total burden hour estimate for this form is 16,751 hours. The systems 
of record notice for this collection is: OPM SORN CENTRAL-1-Civil 
Service Retirement and Insurance Records.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 843

    Air traffic controllers, Disability benefits, Firefighters, 
Government employees, Law enforcement officers, Pensions, Retirement.

Office of Personnel Management.
Alexys Stanley,
Regulatory Affairs Analyst.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Office of Personnel 
Management proposes to amend 5 CFR part 843 as follows:

PART 843--FEDERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM--DEATH BENEFITS AND 
EMPLOYEE REFUNDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 843 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 8461; 843.205, 843.208, and 843.209 also 
issued under 5 U.S.C. 8424; 843.309 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8442; 
843.406 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8441.

Subpart C--Current and Former Spouse Benefits

0
2. In Sec.  843.309, revise paragraph (b)(2) to read as follows:


Sec.  843.309  Basic employee death benefit.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (2) For deaths occurring on or after October 1, 2021, 36 equal 
monthly installments of 2.94259 percent of the amount of the basic 
employee death benefit.
* * * * *
0
3. Revise appendix A to subpart C of part 843 to read as follows:

Appendix A to Subpart C of Part 843--Present Value Conversion Factors 
for Earlier Commencing Date of Annuities of Current and Former Spouses 
of Deceased Separated Employees

    With at least 10 but less than 20 years of creditable service--

------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Age of separated employee at birthday before death       Multiplier
------------------------------------------------------------------------
26.........................................................        .1096
27.........................................................        .1162
28.........................................................        .1232
29.........................................................        .1305
30.........................................................        .1382
31.........................................................        .1464
32.........................................................        .1550
33.........................................................        .1643
34.........................................................        .1742
35.........................................................        .1845
36.........................................................        .1958
37.........................................................        .2074
38.........................................................        .2198
39.........................................................        .2327
40.........................................................        .2459
41.........................................................        .2609
42.........................................................        .2770
43.........................................................        .2936
44.........................................................        .3119
45.........................................................        .3308
46.........................................................        .3518
47.........................................................        .3735
48.........................................................        .3969
49.........................................................        .4220
50.........................................................        .4490
51.........................................................        .4781
52.........................................................        .5094
53.........................................................        .5430
54.........................................................        .5792
55.........................................................        .6178
56.........................................................        .6601
57.........................................................        .7059
58.........................................................        .7555
59.........................................................        .8092
60.........................................................        .8674
61.........................................................        .9308
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    With at least 20, but less than 30 years of creditable service--

------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Age of separated employee at birthday before death       Multiplier
------------------------------------------------------------------------
36.........................................................        .2254
37.........................................................        .2389
38.........................................................        .2532
39.........................................................        .2682
40.........................................................        .2836
41.........................................................        .3010
42.........................................................        .3195
43.........................................................        .3388
44.........................................................        .3599
45.........................................................        .3818
46.........................................................        .4059
47.........................................................        .4311
48.........................................................        .4581
49.........................................................        .4871
50.........................................................        .5182
51.........................................................        .5518
52.........................................................        .5878
53.........................................................        .6265
54.........................................................        .6682
55.........................................................        .7128
56.........................................................        .7615
57.........................................................        .8142
58.........................................................        .8712
59.........................................................        .9329
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    With at least 30 years of creditable service--

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Multiplier by separated
                                             employee's year of birth
  Age of separated employee at birthday  -------------------------------
              before death                                   From 1950
                                            After 1966     through 1966
------------------------------------------------------------------------
46......................................           .4988           .5332
47......................................           .5298           .5664
48......................................           .5631           .6019
49......................................           .5987           .6401
50......................................           .6370           .6810
51......................................           .6781           .7249
52......................................           .7224           .7722
53......................................           .7698           .8229
54......................................           .8209           .8775
55......................................           .8759           .9363

[[Page 34639]]

 
56......................................           .9355          1.0000
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[FR Doc. 2021-13774 Filed 6-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-38-P