[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 2689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-1003]



[[Page 2689]]

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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Collection of Information for OMB Review 
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Comment Request; Customer 
Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of intention to request extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation intends to request 
that the Office of Management and Budget extend its approval of a 
collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The 
purpose of the information collection, which will be conducted through 
focus groups and surveys over a three-year period, is to help the PBGC 
assess the efficiency and effectiveness with which it serves its 
customers and to design actions to address identified problems. The 
effect of this notice is to advise the public of, and to solicit public 
comment on, this proposed collection of information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by March 16, 1999.

ADDRESSES: All written comments should be addressed to: Office of 
General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Suite 340, 1200 
K St. NW., Washington, D.C. 20005. The comments 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: Marc L. Jordan, Attorney, Office of 
the General Counsel, Suite 340, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20005, 202-326-4026. (This not a toll-free number.) (For TTY/TDD users, 
call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and ask to 
be connected to 202-326-4024).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 is requesting that OMB extend its approval, for a three-
year period, of a generic collection of information consisting of 
customer satisfaction focus groups and surveys (OMB control number 
1212-0053; expires April 30, 1999). The collection is in furtherance of 
the goals described in Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service 
Standards, which states that, in order to carry out the principles of 
the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (formerly, the 
National Performance Review), the Federal Government must be customer-
driven. The Executive Order 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 transforming itself into a customer-driven agency, the PBGC has 
made use of a variety of tools for listening to customers, including 
focus groups and customer satisfaction surveys. Feedback from these 
contacts keeps the PBGC informed about customer service needs and 
expectations, and gauges how well customers think the PBGC is meeting 
those needs. The PBGC will keep these avenues of customer 
communications open, and add to and refine what has been learned to 
date. In this way service to customers can be continually improved.
    This collection of information enables the PBGC to explore issues 
of mutual concern (e.g., kind and quality of desired services) with its 
major outside client groups, i.e., participants and beneficiaries, plan 
sponsors and their affiliates, plan administrators, pension 
practitioners and others involved in the establishment, operation and 
termination of plans covered by the PBGC's insurance program. The areas 
of concern to the PBGC and its client groups change over time, and it 
is important that the PBGC have the ability to evaluate customer 
concerns quickly.
    Participation in the focus groups and surveys will be voluntary. 
The PBGC will consult with OMB regarding each specific information 
collection during the approval period.
    This voluntary collection of information will put a slight burden 
on a very small percentage of the public. The PBGC expects to conduct 
focus groups involving a total of approximately 225 persons each year, 
with a total annual burden of approximately 675 hours, including travel 
time. (Some portion of this time may be spent completing surveys at 
focus group meetings.) In addition, the PBGC expects to distribute 
written surveys to approximately 1,600 persons each year (in most cases 
as an adjunct to a focus group), with a total annual burden of 
approximately 200 hours.
    The PBGC is specifically seeking public comments to:
    (1) 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;
    (2) evaluate the accuracy of the estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) 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.

    Issued at Washington, DC, this 12th day of January, 1999.
Stuart Sirkin,
Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 99-1003 Filed 1-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P