[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17040-17041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8586]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Request for Extension of Approval of a Collection of Information 
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Customer Service Focus Groups and 
Surveys

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is requesting 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.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted to OMB at the address below 
within 30 days after April 7, 1999.

ADDRESSES: All written comments should be addressed to: Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the

[[Page 17041]]

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 725 17th Street, NW., Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503. The request for approval and copies of the 
proposed collection of information 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, 202-326-4024. (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.
    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.
    On January 15, 1999, the PBGC published in the Federal Register a 
notice of intention to request extension of OMB approval of this 
collection. No comments were received in response to the notice.

    Issued at Washington, D.C., this 31st day of March, 1999.
Stuart Sirkin,
Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 99-8586 Filed 4-6-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P