[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8519]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 11, 1994]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

 

Request for a Collection of Information Under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act; Customer Satisfaction Focus Groups

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') has 
requested that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approve a 
new collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The 
purpose of this information collection, which will be conducted through 
focus group meetings, is to help the agency assess the efficiency and 
effectiveness with which it serves participants and beneficiaries and 
design actions to address identified problems. The effect of this 
notice is to advise the public of the PBGC's request for OMB approval 
of, and to solicit public comment on, this collection of information.

ADDRESSES: All written comments (at least three copies) should be 
addressed to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, 
Attention: Desk Officer for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 
725 17th Street, NW., room 3208, Washington, DC 20503. The request for 
approval will be available for public inspection at the PBGC 
Communications and Public Affairs Department, suite 240, 1200 K Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20005, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Renae R. Hubbard, Special Counsel, or Holli Beckerman Jaffe, Attorney, 
Office of the General Counsel, Suite 340, 1200 K Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20005, 202-326-4024 (202-326-4179 for TTY and TDD). 
(These are not toll-free numbers.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35) establishes policies and procedures for controlling 
the paperwork burdens imposed by Federal agencies on the public. The 
Act vests the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with regulatory 
responsibility over these burdens, and OMB has promulgated rules on the 
clearance of collections of information by Federal agencies.
    Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, states 
that, in order to carry out the principles of the National Performance 
Review, the Federal Government must be customer-driven. It directs all 
executive departments and agencies that provide significant services 
directly to the public to provide those services in a manner that seeks 
to meet the customer service standards established in the Executive 
Order.
    In 1992, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') began 
establishing formal customer service standards through a voluntary 
Customer Satisfaction Survey. The ultimate goal of the PBGC's Customer 
Satisfaction Survey data is to assist its program managers in assessing 
the efficiency and effectiveness of their programs serving participants 
and in designing actions to address identified problems. PBGC's initial 
survey program was part of PBGC's effort to address the requirements of 
the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFOs Act), 31 U.S.C. 501 et 
seq., which requires the CFO of each agency covered by the Act to 
develop an integrated agency accounting and financial measurement 
system providing for the ``systematic measurement of performance.'' 
That survey also conformed to the OMB-established Task Force agreement 
that customer satisfaction can be measured by a survey of a 
statistically valid sample of people receiving the agencies' services.
    The OMB-approved methodology for PBGC's survey program was an 
initial pilot survey involving 200 customers followed by annual large 
scale telephone (and, if necessary, follow-up mail) surveys involving 
approximately 4,000 customers. The pilot was conducted in 1992. PBGC 
has determined, however, that the planned telephone surveys will be 
unnecessarily costly (compared to mail surveys) and that the use of 
information learned from focus groups will enhance the value of any 
larger survey. The PBGC, therefore, has decided to comply with 
Executive Order 12862 through a two-step methodology that it believes 
will be more cost-effective and produce more accurate results, i.e., 
focus groups followed by mail surveys.
    Because the mail survey questions will depend, in part, on the 
customer expectations identified in the focus group meetings, the PBGC 
is requesting, at this time, approval of the focus group information 
collection only. The PBGC will publish an additional notice, with 
request for comments, on the second step of the proposed methodology, 
i.e., the mail survey, at a later date.
    This voluntary collection of information will put a slight burden 
on a very small percentage of the public. Three focus group meetings of 
10 to 12 customers will be held. The 36 customers will be selected from 
the 325,000 participants and beneficiaries in PBGC-trusteed pension 
plans. The PBGC estimates that the total burden hours for each 
respondent will be 3 hours, consisting of a focus group meeting lasting 
2 hours and round-trip transportation time of 1 hour, for a total of 
108 burden hours (36 respondents at an estimated 3 hours each).

    Issued at Washington, DC, this 5th day of April, 1994.
Martin Slate,
Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 94-8519 Filed 4-8-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-M