[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 47 (Thursday, March 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12577-12578]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5764]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Submission for OMB Emergency Review; Comment Request

March 1, 2000.
    The Department of Labor has submitted the following (see below) 
public information collection request (ICR), utilizing emergency review 
procedures, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and 
approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. 
L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). OMB approval has been requested March 
24, 2000. A copy of the ICR with applicable supporting documentation, 
may be obtained by contacting the Department of Labor, Departmental 
Clearance Officer, Ira Mills at (202) 219-5096, ext. 143, or by E-mail 
at Mills-I[email protected]. The proposed Application for EFAST Electronic 
Signature and Codes for EFAST Transmitters and Software Developers 
(Form EFAST-1), the subject of this ICR, is available for viewing and 
downloading through the Department of Labor's Internet site (http://
www.efast.dol.gov).
    Comments and questions about the ICR listed below should be sent to 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: Desk Officer 
for Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Office of Management 
and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503 ((202) 395-7316) within 10 
days of the date of this publication in Federal Register. After that 
date and through May 8, 2000, further comments may be submitted to 
Gerald B. Lindrew, Office of Policy and Research, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW, Room N-5647, Washington, DC 20210, in response to its 
separate Notice and request for comments also published in today's 
Federal Register.
    OMB is particularly interested in comments that:
     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:
     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 submission of responses.
    Agency: Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits 
Administration.
    Title: Application for EFAST Electronic Signature and Codes for 
EFAST Transmitters and Software Developers.
    OMB Number: 1210- 0NEW.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit; not-for-profit institutions.
    Total Respondents: 60,250.
    Total Responses: 60,250.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 20,100.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost: $22,900.
    Description: Under part 1 of Title 1 of the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), Title IV of ERISA, and the 
Internal Revenue

[[Page 12578]]

Code of 1986, as amended, administrators of pension and welfare benefit 
plans (collectively, employee benefit plans) subject to those 
provisions and employers sponsoring certain fringe benefit plans and 
other plans of deferred compensation are required to file returns/
reports annually concerning the financial condition and operations of 
the plans. These reporting requirements are satisfied generally by 
filing the Form 5500 Series in accordance with its instructions and the 
related regulations.
    In August of 1998, the Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare 
Benefits Administration, Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 
(collectively, the Agencies) received approval for the revised and 
streamlined Form 5500 Series, subject to the Agencies' solicitation of 
public comments on a computer scannable format for the Form 5500. A 
notice requesting comments from the public on computer scannable 
formats was published by the Agencies on June 28, 1999 (64 FR 34686). 
The final computer scannable ``hand print'' and ``machine-print'' 
formats for the Form 5500 were announced on February 2, 2000 in 
connection with the Agencies' Notice of Adoption of Revised Forms (65 
FR 5026).
    The computer scannable formats were developed to facilitate the 
implementation of the new computerized system to process the Form 5500 
and IRS Form 5500-EZ--the ERISA Filing and Acceptance System, or EFAST. 
EFAST is designed to simplify and expedite the receipt and processing 
of the new Form 5500 and Form 5500-EZ by relying on computer scannable 
forms and electronic filing technologies. The computer scannable forms 
are being implemented for 1999 plan year filings. The Form 5500 and 
Form 5500-EZ for 1999 plan years also may be filed electronically via 
modem, magnetic tape, floppy diskette, or CD-ROM.
    In order to participate in the electronic filing program, 
applicants will be required to submit an Application for EFAST 
Electronic Signature and Codes for EFAST Transmitters and Software 
Developers (Form EFAST-1), the subject of this ICR. The Internal 
Revenue Service currently uses forms for similar purposes. This new 
EFAST form was designed to meet the needs of the new processing system.
    Applicants who may file the Form EFAST-1 include: (1) Individuals 
applying for an electronic signature to sign a Form 5500 or 5500-EZ as, 
or on behalf of, plan administrators, employers/plan sponsors, or 
Direct Filing Entities (DFEs) using modem, magnetic tape, floppy 
diskette, or CD-ROM to file electronically; (2) transmitters (a 
company, trade, business, or other person) applying for codes to 
transmit Forms 5500 and/or Forms 5500-EZ for electronic filing using 
modem, magnetic tape, floppy diskette, or CD-ROM; and, (3) software 
developers (a company, trade, business, or other person that creates, 
programs, or otherwise modifies computer software) applying for codes 
required to develop EFAST-compliant computer software for 
electronically preparing and filing the Form 5500 and/or Form 5500-EZ. 
Applicants will provide some or all of the following information 
depending on applicant type: name and title of applicant, mailing 
address, Employer Identification Number (EIN), telephone number, 
facsimile number and e-mail address (optional), contact person if 
different than applicant, and a signed agreement concerning the terms 
and conditions of the electronic filing program. Applicants will 
receive, depending on applicant type, some or all of the following: 
electronic signature; filer identification number; personal 
identification number; encryption key; electronic filing identification 
number; password; and software developer ID. Applicants will use these 
codes, as applicable, in connection with electronic filing, electronic 
transmission, or developing EFAST software for the Form 5500 and 5500-
EZ.
    The information provided by the applicants on EFAST-1, combined 
with the codes supplied to the applicants by the program, will allow 
EFAST to verify a filer, transmitter or software developer's standing 
as a qualified participant in the EFAST electronic filing program for 
the Form 5500 and 5500-EZ. EFAST-1 information also will establish a 
means of contact between the EFAST program and filers, transmitters, 
and software developers for information exchange.

Maureen D. Hill,
Acting Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-5764 Filed 3-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-M