[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 158 (Wednesday, August 15, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42899-42900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-20493]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; 
Comment Request; Payment of Premiums

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 (``PBGC'') intends to 
request that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') extend 
approval, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of the collection of 
information under its regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR Part 
4007), including Form 1-ES, Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A to Form 
1, and related instructions (OMB control number 1212-0009). The 
collection of information also includes a certification (on Form 1-EZ 
and Schedule A) of compliance with requirements to provide certain 
notices to participants under the PBGC's regulation on Disclosure to 
Participants (29 CFR Part 4011). This notice informs the public of the 
PBGC's intent and solicits public comment on the collection of 
information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by October 15, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Office of the General Counsel, 
suite 340, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20005-4026, or delivered to that address between 9 a.m. 
and 4 p.m. on business days. Written comments will be available for 
public inspection at the PBGC's Communications and Public Affairs

[[Page 42900]]

Department, suite 240 at the same address, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on 
business days.
    Copies of the collection of information may be obtained without 
charge by writing to the PBGC's Communications and Public Affairs 
Department at the address given above or calling 202-326-4040. (For TTY 
and TDD, call 800-877-8339 and request connection to 202-326-4040). The 
premium payment regulation can be accessed on the PBGC's home page at 
http://www.pbgc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General 
Counsel, or Deborah C. Murphy, Attorney, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024. (For TTY and TDD, call 800-877-8339 and 
request connection to 202-326-4024).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 4007 of Title IV of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (``ERISA'') requires the Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') to collect premiums from 
pension plans covered under Title IV pension insurance programs. 
Pursuant to ERISA section 4007, the PBGC has issued its regulation on 
Payment of Premiums (29 CFR Part 4007). Section 4007.3 of the premium 
payment regulation requires plans, in connection with the payment of 
premiums, to file certain forms prescribed by the PBGC, and 
Sec. 4007.10 requires plans to retain and make available to the PBGC 
records supporting or validating the computation of premiums paid.
    The forms prescribed are PBGC Form 1-ES, Form 1-EZ, and Form 1 and 
(for single-employer plans only) Schedule A to Form 1. Form 1-ES is 
issued, with instructions, in the PBGC's Estimated Premium Payment 
Package. Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A are issued, with 
instructions, in the PBGC's Annual Premium Payment Package.
    The premium forms are needed to determine the amount and record the 
payment of PBGC premiums, and the submission of forms and retention and 
submission of records are needed to enable the PBGC to perform premium 
audits. The plan administrator of each pension plan covered by Title IV 
of ERISA is required to file one or more of the premium payment forms 
each year. The PBGC uses the information on the premium payment forms 
to identify the plans paying premiums and to verify whether plans are 
paying the correct amounts. That information and the retained records 
are used for audit purposes.
    In addition, section 4011 of ERISA and the PBGC's regulation on 
Disclosure to Participants (29 CFR Part 4011) require plan 
administrators of certain underfunded single-employer pension plans to 
provide an annual notice to plan participants and beneficiaries of the 
plans' funding status and the limits on the Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation's guarantee of plan benefits. The participant notice 
requirement only applies (subject to certain exemptions) to plans that 
must pay a variable rate premium. In order to monitor compliance with 
Part 4011, plan administrators must indicate on Form 1-EZ or Schedule A 
to Form 1 that the participant notice requirements have been complied 
with.
    The collection of information under the regulation on Payment of 
Premiums, including Form 1-ES, Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A to 
Form 1, and related instructions has been approved by OMB under control 
number 1212-0009. This collection of information also includes the 
certification of compliance with the participant notice requirements 
(but not the participant notices themselves). The PBGC is revising the 
forms and instructions to clarify them and make them easier to use. The 
PBGC intends to request that OMB extend its approval of this collection 
of information, as revised, for three years from the date of approval. 
(The participant notices constitute a different collection of 
information that has been separately approved by OMB.) 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 estimates that it receives responses annually from about 
37,700 plan administrators and that the total annual burden of the 
collection of information is about 2,541 hours and $9,657,780.
    The PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
     Evaluate whether the 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 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 submission of responses.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 9th day of August, 2001.
Stuart Sirkin,
Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 01-20493 Filed 8-14-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P