7728 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 27 / Thursday, February 9, 1995 / Proposed Rules

motions must be filed at least 60 days

before the five-year period expires.

(vi) Except as provided in paragraph

(e)(1)(viii) of this section, all attorney

work product containing confidential

information may be retained

indefinitely. Notwithstanding such

retention, the Commission shall not be

responsible for enforcing the governing

protective order with respect to the

work product for more than five years

after the exhaustion of all appeals or the

expiration of all remedial orders,

whichever is later. If information that

may be contained in the work product

will still be confidential after the fiveyear period has expired, the supplier of

the information may file a motion to

have the Commission extend its

enforcement of the protective order with

respect to the work product beyond the

prescribed five-year period. Such

motions must be filed at least 60 days

before the five-year period expires.

(vii) All confidential information

supplied by third parties may be

retained until all appeals are exhausted

or all remedial orders have expired,

whichever is later. If the third party’s

information appears in a document

other than a pleading, a document

issued by an administrative law judge or

the Commission, or a document

constituting attorney work product, the

document shall be returned to the

supplier or destroyed, and written

certification of such return or

destruction shall be provided to each

supplier and the Commission within 30

days after all appeals are exhausted or

all remedial orders have expired,

whichever is later. If the third party’s

information appears in a pleading, a

document issued by an administrative

law judge or the Commission, or a

document constituting attorney work

product, the document may be retained

indefinitely in accordance with

paragraph (e)(1)(iv), (e)(1)(v), or

(e)(1)(vi) of this section. However, the

third party may request that its

information be expurgated from the

document pursuant to paragraph

(e)(1)(viii).

(viii) If the third-party supplier so

requests at the time that its confidential

information is supplied and if the thirdparty supplier’s confidential

information is contained in pleadings,

documents issued by an administrative

law judge or the Commission, or

attorney work product, within 30 days

after all appeals are exhausted or all

remedial orders have expired,

whichever is later, any law firm in

possession of such pleadings,

documents, or work product shall

expurgate the third-party supplier’s

confidential information from the

pleadings, documents, or work product

and provide written certification of the

expurgation to the third-party supplier

and the Commission.

(2) Except as required by law or as

provided in a written agreement with

the supplier, the confidential

information contained in the materials

enumerated in paragraph (e)(1) of this

section shall not be used during the

retention periods specified in paragraph

(e)(1) of this section for any purposes

other than those relating to the subject

investigation or a related proceeding

under this part.

(3) On or before the commencement of

the retention periods specified in

paragraph (e)(1) of this section, each law

firm whose attorneys are signatories to

a protective order in an investigation or

a related proceeding under this part

shall designate one attorney signatory

from the firm as the custodian of the

information and the person responsible

for ensuring that the requirements of

paragraphs (e)(1)–(e)(2) of this section

are satisfied. Notice of the designation

shall be served on the parties, the

appropriate third-party suppliers (if

any) and the Secretary.

(4) Parties and suppliers may agree to

retention time limits, uses, custodial

arrangements, or other conditions that

differ from those set forth in paragraphs

(e)(1)–(e)(3) of this section. When such

an agreement is reached, a copy must be

filed with the Commission or the

presiding administrative law judge (as

the case may be). Neither the

Commission nor the administrative law

judge shall be responsible, however, for

policing the retention, uses, custodial

arrangements, and other conditions

relating to the subject confidential

information in accordance with the

agreement.

Issued: February 3, 1995.

By Order of the Commission.

Donna R. Koehnke,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–3140 Filed 2–8–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7020–02–P

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

20 CFR Part 217

RIN 3220–AB08

Application for Annuity or Lump Sum

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Railroad Retirement

Board (Board) proposes to amend its

regulations to enable the Board to pay

the following benefits without requiring

additional applications therefor: (1) An

accrued annuity due at the death of a

spouse or former spouse to a railroad

employee receiving an annuity based on

the same earnings record; and (2) a fulltime student’s annuity if the student

was entitled to a child’s annuity in the

month before the month the child

attained age 18.

DATES: Comment shall be submitted on

or before March 13, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Secretary to the Board,

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 Rush

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael C. Litt, Bureau of Law, Railroad

Retirement Board, 844 Rush Street,

Chicago, Illinois 60611, (312) 751–4929,

TDD (312) 751–4701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

217.8 of the Board’s regulations

specifies a list of benefits paid by the

Board which may be paid based on a

previously-filed application (i.e., where

a new application is not required). The

proposed rule would add to that list the

cases where an accrued annuity is due

at the death of a spouse or former

spouse to a railroad employee receiving

an annuity based on the same earnings

record as the spouse or former spouse

and where a full-time student’s annuity

is payable if the student was entitled to

a child’s annuity in the month before

the month the child attained age 18. In

those cases there is no additional

information contained in the

applications and there is no utility to

the Board in requiring additional

applications. Using the earlier

application reduces paperwork and the

burden on persons claiming benefits.

The Board, in conjunction with the

Office of Management and Budget, has

determined that this is not a significant

regulatory action for purposes of

Executive Order 12866. Therefore, no

regulatory impact analysis is required.

There are no information collections

associated with this rule.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 217

Railroad employees, Railroad

retirement.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, title 20, chapter II, part 217 of

the Code of Federal Regulations is

proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 217—APPLICATION FOR

ANNUITY OR LUMP SUM

1. The authority citation for part 217

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 45 U.S.C. 231d and 45 U.S.C.

231f.
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 27 / Thursday, February 9, 1995 / Proposed Rules 7729

2. Section 217.8 is amended by

adding paragraphs (t) and (u) to read as

follows:

§ 217.8 When one application satisfies the

filing requirement for other benefits.

* * * * *

(t) An accrued annuity due at the

death of a spouse or divorced spouse if

the claimant is entitled to an employee

annuity on the same claim number.

(u) A full-time student’s annuity if the

student was entitled to a child’s annuity

in the month before the month the child

attained age 18.

Dated: January 31, 1995.

By Authority of the Board.

Beatrice Ezerski,

Secretary to the Board.

[FR Doc. 95–3168 Filed 2–8–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905–01–P

20 CFR Parts 226 and 232

RIN 3220–AA58

Computing Employee, Spouse, and

Divorced Spouse Annuities

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Railroad Retirement

Board (Board) proposes to revise its

regulations dealing with the

computation of retirement annuities

under the Railroad Retirement Act of

1974 (Act). The Board’s current

regulations regarding the computation

of these annuities were promulgated

under the Railroad Retirement Act of

1937 and no longer reflect the

computational provisions contained in

the Act.

DATES: Comments must be received by

the Secretary to the Board on or before

March 13, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Secretary to the Board,

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North

Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas W. Sadler, Assistant General

Counsel, Railroad Retirement Board,

844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois

60611, telephone (312) 751–4513, TTD

(312) 751–4701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

proposed revision to Part 226 (formerly

‘‘Computation of Annuity’’) provides

the rules for computing the amount of

the employee, spouse and divorced

spouse annuity, under the Railroad

Retirement Act of 1974. In general, the

annuity consists of two components or

tiers. The first tier (tier I) is a social

security level benefit that is computed

under social security rules based on the

employee’s earnings under both the

railroad retirement and the social

security systems and is reduced by the

amount of any social security benefit

payable. The second tier (tier II) is based

solely on the employee’s railroad

earnings.

In limited circumstances the

employee annuity may be increased by

a ‘‘vested dual benefit’’. An employee

who has completed 25 years of railroad

service may also be eligible for a

supplemental annuity.

The proposed rule is divided into

seven (7) subparts:

Subpart A sets forth definitions and

lists other regulations related to this

part.

Subpart B describes the computation

of the employee annuity which includes

the social security level component (tier

I) (proposed § 226.10), the component

based solely on railroad service (tier II)

(proposed § 226.11); the vested dual

benefit (proposed § 226.12), and a

supplemental annuity (proposed

§ 226.16). Proposed § 226.13 describes

how cost-of-living increases apply to the

annuity.

Subpart C (proposed §§ 226.30–

226.35) parallels subpart B and

describes the computation of the spouse

and divorced spouse annuities.

However, the divorced spouse is not

entitled to a tier II benefit and no

supplemental annuity or vested dual

benefits are payable to spouses.

Proposed § 226.31 explains how the

spouse and divorced spouse annuity are

reduced due to receipt of a public

pension which was not based upon

employment covered by the Social

Security Act on the last day of

employment.

Subpart D (proposed §§ 226.50–

226.52) describes the Railroad

Retirement Family Maximum which is a

statutory ‘‘cap’’ placed upon the total

benefits payable under the RRA.

Proposed § 226.51 describes how the

maximum is determined (the higher of

$1,200 or an amount based upon the

employee’s final average monthly

compensation (FAMC)). Proposed

§ 226.52 describes how the ‘‘reduction

amount’’ is computed when the

maximum is exceeded and proposed

§ 226.50 describes how the spouse, then

the employee annuity is reduced until

the total employee and spouse annuity

equal the maximum. The railroad

retirement maximum is computed at the

employee’s annuity beginning date but

will be recomputed if the spouse later

divorces the employee or the employee

later becomes entitled to a vested dual

benefit or supplemental annuity. A

divorced spouse annuity is not counted

in determining whether the RRA

maximum is exceeded.

Subpart E (proposed §§ 226.60–

226.63) explains how years of service

and average monthly compensation

(AMC) are determined. The tier II of the

employee annuity is seven tenths of 1%

(.007) times the product of an

employee’s years of service times his or

her AMC. The spouse’s tier II is 45% of

the employee’s tier II. See proposed

§ 226.11 and 226.32.

Subpart F (proposed §§ 226.70–

226.74) describes the reduction required

due to receipt of workers’ compensation

benefits. The tier I of an employee,

spouse, or divorced spouse annuity is

reduced if the employee is under age 65

and is entitled to a disability annuity

and another periodic benefit based upon

disability pursuant to some other

Federal or state law or plan (proposed

§ 226.70). The reduction amount is first

applied to the tier I of any spouse or

divorced spouse annuity payable, then

to the employee tier I (§ 226.71). Certain

disability payments do not cause a

reduction. These are listed in proposed

§ 226.72.

The formula for the reduction amount

is found at proposed § 226.71. The

reduction provided for in this part

applies if the total tier I components

payable to the employee and spouse (or

divorced spouse) plus workers’

compensation or public disability

benefit exceed 80% of the employee’s

prior average current earnings. Proposed

§ 226.73 explains what events cause a

change in the reduction amount.

Proposed § 226.74 provides that

‘‘average current earnings’’ must be

recomputed periodically to take into

account inflation. The redetermined

average current earnings are used only

if it results in a lower reduction amount.

Subpart G of the proposed rule

(§§ 226.90–226.92) explains how and

when an annuity is recomputed to take

into account railroad service and social

security earnings after an annuitant

retires.

Part 232—Spouses’ Annuities is now

obsolete; it is proposed to be removed.

The Board has determined that this is

not a significant regulatory action under

Executive Order 12866; therefore, no

regulatory impact analysis is required.

There are no information collections

associated with this rule.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 226 and

Part 232

Pensions, Railroad employees,

Railroad retirement.

1. For the reasons set out in the

preamble, Part 226 of Title 20 of the

Code of Federal Regulations (formerly

‘‘Computation of Annuity’’) is proposed

to be revised as follows: