• 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 the lump-sum death benefit and any other related benefit. The RRB needs this information in determining whether you are eligible to receive such benefits and, if so, the amount you are entitled to receive.

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 without your approval.

• An attorney, the Office of the President, a Congressional office, a labor union or to 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.
• People or organizations who are working for the RRB.
• The U.S. Treasury Department or U.S. Postal Service to issue checks and to investigate lost, forged or stolen checks.
• The Internal Revenue Service or to state and local taxing authorities for figuring your taxes and for use in audits.
• The General Accounting Office for audits and for collecting overpayments owed to the RRB or Social Security Administration.
• 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 person from whom any portion of the overpayment is being recovered.

We estimate the application process takes an average 20 to 40 minutes per response to complete, including the time for reviewing the instructions, getting the 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 aspects of this process, including suggestions for reducing completion time, to the Chief of Information 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, without 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 eligibility for Federally funded or administered benefit programs and for repayment of payments or delinquent debts under these programs.