[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 169 (Thursday, August 31, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 45500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21686]



=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Request for Extension of Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act; Collection of Information Under 29 CFR Part 2643, Variances for 
Sale of Assets

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation has requested extension of approval by the Office 
of Management and Budget for a currently approved collection of 
information (OMB control number 1212-0021) contained in its regulation 
on Variances for Sale of Assets (29 CFR part 2643).

ADDRESSES: All written comments should be addressed to: Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
Attention: Desk Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 
Washington, DC 20503. The request for extension 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:
Deborah C. Murphy, Attorney, Office of the General Counsel, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005, 
202-326-4024 (202-326-4173 for TTY and TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This collection of information is contained 
in the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's regulation on Variances 
for Sale of Assets, 29 CFR part 2643.
    Under Part 1 of subtitle E of Title IV of the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (sections 4201-4225), if an 
employer's covered operations or obligation to contribute under a 
multiemployer plan ceases, the employer is generally liable to pay 
withdrawal liability to the plan. Section 4204 of ERISA provides an 
exception when the cessation results from a sale of assets if certain 
conditions are met. Among other things, the buyer must furnish a bond 
or escrow, and the sale contract must provide that the seller will be 
secondarily liable if the buyer withdraws within a specified period 
after the sale and fails to pay withdrawal liability (section 
4204(a)(1) (B) and (C)). Section 4204(c) authorizes the PBGC to vary 
the bond/escrow and sale-contract requirements by regulation if the 
variance would ``more effectively or equitably carry out the purposes 
of [Title IV]'' and to grant individual or class variances or 
exemptions from those requirements when warranted.
    Pursuant to this authority, the PBGC has issued its regulation on 
Variances for Sale of Assets (29 CFR part 2643). Subpart A of the 
regulation establishes procedures for requesting individual variances 
of the bond/escrow and sale-contract requirements from the PBGC. 
Subpart B of the regulation establishes general variances of those 
requirements and authorizes plans to determine whether the variances 
apply in particular cases. Section 2643.2 (d) and (e) and 
Sec. 2643.11(c) describe, respectively, the information that must be 
submitted with a request to the PBGC or to a plan. This collection of 
information is needed to give PBGC and plans adequate information to 
determine whether variance requests meet the applicable statutory and 
regulatory standards.
    Based on past experience, the PBGC estimates that employers submit 
5 variance requests per year to plans and 5 requests per year to the 
PBGC. The PBGC estimates that each request takes about two hours to 
complete, for an aggregate annual burden on the public of 20 hours.

    Issued at Washington, D.C., this 28th day of August, 1995.
Martin Slate,
Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 95-21686 Filed 8-30-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-M