[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 132 (Friday, July 10, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37418-37419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-18430]
[[Page 37418]]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request Submitted
for Public Comment and Recommendations; Delinquent Filer Voluntary
Compliance Program
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). This
program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the
desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is
minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the
impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly
assessed. Currently, the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration is
soliciting comments concerning the proposed extension of a currently
approved collection of information, the Delinquent Filer Voluntary
Compliance Program. A copy of the proposed information collection
request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual listed below
in the addresses section of the notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addresses section below on or before September 8, 1998. The Department
of Labor is particularly interested in comments which:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
ADDRESSES: Gerald B. Lindrew, Office of Policy and Research, U.S.
Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, 200
Constitution Avenue, Room N-5647, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: 202-
219-4782 (this is not a toll-free number). Fax: 202-219-4745.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Secretary of Labor has the authority, under section 502(c)(2)
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), to
assess civil penalties of up to $1,000 a day against plan
administrators who fail or refuse to file complete and timely annual
reports (Form 5500 Series Annual Return/Reports) as required under
section 101(b)(4) of ERISA and the Secretary's regulations codified in
29 CFR part 2520. Pursuant to 29 CFR 2560.502c-2 and 2570.60 et seq.,
PWBA has maintained a program for the assessment of civil penalties for
noncompliance with the annual reporting requirements. Under this
program, plan administrators filing annual reports after the date on
which the report was required to be filed may be assessed $50 per day
for each day an annual report is filed after the date on which the
report(s) was required to be filed, without regard to any extensions
for filing. Plan administrators who fail to file an annual report may
be assessed a penalty of $300 per day, up to $30,000 per year, until a
complete annual report is filed. Penalties are applicable to each
annual report required to be filed under Title I of ERISA. The
Department may, in its discretion, waive all or part of a civil penalty
assessed under section 502(c)(2) upon a showing by the administrator
that there was reasonable cause for the failure to file a complete and
timely annual report.
The Department has determined that the possible assessment of the
above described civil penalties may deter certain delinquent filers
from voluntarily complying with the annual reporting requirements under
Title I of ERISA. In an effort to encourage annual reporting
compliance, therefore, the Department implemented the Delinquent Filer
Voluntary Compliance (DFVC) Program (the Program) on April 27, 1995 (60
FR 20873). Under the Program, administrators otherwise subject to the
assessment of higher civil penalties are permitted to pay reduced civil
penalties for voluntarily complying with the annual reporting
requirements under Title I of ERISA.
This ICR covers the requirement of providing data necessary to
identify the plan along with the penalty payment. This data is the only
means by which each penalty payment is associated with the relevant
plan. With respect to most pension plans and welfare plans, the
requirement is satisfied by sending, along with the penalty payment, a
copy of the first page of the delinquent annual report, which under
current procedures is sent to the IRS.
Under current procedures, certain pension plans for highly
compensated employees, commonly called ``top hat'' plans, and
apprenticeship plans may file a one-time statement in lieu of annual
reports. With respect to such plans for information collection
requirements of the Program are satisfied by sending a completed first
page of an annual report form along with the penalty payment. The one-
time statements are required to be sent to a different address within
the Department. The Program is designed to allow the processing of all
penalty payments at a single location within the Department.
II. Current Actions
The Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration proposes to extend
the currently approved ICR included in the Delinquent Filer Voluntary
Compliance Program. This Program is intended to encourage, through the
use of reduced civil penalties, delinquent plan administrators to
comply with their annual reporting obligations under Title I of the
ERISA. The only ICR included in the Program is the requirement of
providing data necessary to identify the plan along with the penalty
payment. The identifying data allows the penalty to be associated with
the relevant plan. Participation of the Program has ranged from
approximately 3,400 to 3,000 plans in each year since the Program was
implemented.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Agency: U.S. Department of labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration.
Title: Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program.
OMB Number: 1210-0089.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Frequency: On occasion.
Average Burden Hours/Minutes Per Response: 21 minutes.
Number of Respondents: 3,100.
Total Annual Responses: 3,100.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,085.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB
[[Page 37419]]
approval of the information collection request; they will also become a
matter of public record.
Dated: July 7, 1998.
Gerald B. Lindrew,
Deputy Director, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Office of
Policy and Research.
[FR Doc. 98-18430 Filed 7-9-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-M