[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 17, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66247-66248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-31972]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

29 CFR Part 4007

RIN 1212-AA66


Disclosure of Premium-Related Information

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation proposes to amend its 
premium payment regulation to provide for the submission to the PBGC of 
information contained in records relating to premium filings.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 18, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20005-4026, or delivered to Suite 340 at the above address. Comments 
also may be sent by Internet e-mail to [email protected]. Comments 
will be available for inspection at the PBGC's Communications and 
Public Affairs Department in Suite 240 at the above address during 
normal business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General 
Counsel, or Deborah C. Murphy, Attorney, Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation, Office of the General Counsel, Suite 340, 1200 K Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024 (202-326-4179 for TTY and 
TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PBGC's premium payment regulation (29 
CFR Part 4007) requires plan administrators to make available to the 
PBGC for audit those plan records that are necessary to support premium 
filings, but does not explicitly require that the records be submitted 
to the PBGC on request. The PBGC proposes to amend the regulation to 
provide for such submission within a specified time period.
    This change will allow PBGC auditors to review plan documents at 
their desks in their own offices. In some cases, this will eliminate 
the need for ``on-site'' audits at plans' offices. These ``desk'' 
audits will be an efficient way to assure premium payment requirements 
are met. Desk audits will help to ensure the integrity of the premium 
collection program and be less disruptive of pension plan operations 
than on-site audits.
    The rule requires respondents to provide the information within 30 
days of receipt of the PBGC's request, or by a different time specified 
therein. The PBGC will require compliance within less than 30 days only 
if it determines that the payment of premiums (or any associated 
interest or penalties) would otherwise be jeopardized, e.g., because a 
statutory limitations period is about to expire.
    The PBGC welcomes public comment on the impact and burden on plans 
of desk audits versus on-site audits, and on the time allowed for 
responding to the PBGC's requests for information.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule modifies the PBGC's collection of information 
requirements relating to premiums (29 CFR Part 4007). The premium 
requirements, which have been approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget under control number 1212-0009, relate primarily to the 
obligation to file annual premium forms with the PBGC. The same 
approval also covers certifications of compliance (and related 
correspondence) with participant notice requirements (29 CFR Part 
4011). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.
    The PBGC has submitted the premium and participant notice 
collection of information, as amended by this proposed rule, to the 
Office of Management and Budget for review under section 3507(d) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and has requested extension of OMB's 
existing approval for a 3-year period. The PBGC needs the information 
plan administrators submit under the premium and participant notice 
collection of information in order to enforce compliance with the 
premium payment and participant notice requirements.
    The PBGC expects to receive approximately 60,500 PBGC Form 1 or 
Form 1-ES filings each year. In addition, the PBGC expects to receive, 
during the requested 3-year approval period, an average of 400 
responses per year to surveys relating to the participant notice 
requirements of Part 4011. The estimated annual reporting and 
recordkeeping burden is 3,804 hours and $10,553,550.
    Comments on the paperwork provisions of the premium and participant 
notice collection of information should be mailed to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
Attention: Desk Officer for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 
Washington, DC 20503. Comments may address (among other things)--
     whether the collection of information is needed for the 
proper performance of the PBGC's functions and will have practical 
utility;
     the accuracy of the PBGC's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used;
     enhancement of the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     minimizing the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents through the use of automated collection techniques (or 
other forms of information technology) or in other ways.

E.O. 12866 and the Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The PBGC has determined that this proposed rule is not a 
``significant

[[Page 66248]]

regulatory action'' under the criteria set forth in Executive Order 
12866.
    Because this proposed rule would merely amend the procedures for 
ensuring compliance with premium requirements, the PBGC certifies that, 
if adopted, the amendment will not have a significant economic effect 
on a substantial number of small entities. Accordingly, as provided in 
section 605(b) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, sections 603 and 604 
do not apply.

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 4007

    Penalties, Pension insurance, Pensions, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth above, the PBGC proposes to amend 29 CFR 
Part 4007 as follows:

PART 4007--PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS

    1. The authority citation for part 4007 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1302(b)(3), 1303(a), 1306, 1307.

    2. In Sec. 4007.10, the section heading is revised; paragraph (a) 
is amended by removing the last sentence; and new paragraphs (c) and 
(d) are added, to read as follows:


Sec. 4007.10  Recordkeeping; audits; disclosure of information.

* * * * *
    (c) Providing record information. The plan administrator shall make 
the records retained pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section 
available to the PBGC upon request for inspection and photocopying at 
the location where they are kept (or another, mutually agreeable, 
location) and shall submit information in such records to the PBGC 
within 30 days of the date of the PBGC's written request therefor, or 
by a different time specified therein. The PBGC may in its discretion 
shorten the time period where it determines that collection of unpaid 
premiums (or any associated interest or penalties) would otherwise be 
jeopardized.
    (d) Address and timeliness. Information required to be submitted 
under paragraph (c) of this section shall be submitted to the address 
specified in the PBGC's request. The timeliness of a submission shall 
be determined in accordance with Secs. 4007.5 and 4007.6.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. this 11th day of December 1996.
Martin Slate,
Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 96-31972 Filed 12-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P