[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 236 (Friday, December 7, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 63568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30382]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


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

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') is 
requesting 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 on 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 
request for OMB approval and solicits public comment on the collection 
of information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by January 7, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: 
Desk Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Washington, DC 
20503. The request for extension (including the collection of 
information) will be available for public inspection at the 
Communications and Public Affairs Department of the Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation, suite 240, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20005-4026, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on business days.
    Copies of the request for extension (including 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 Web site at www.pbgc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General 
Counsel, or Deborah C. Murphy, Staff 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 section 
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 is requesting 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 2,540 hours and $9,657,780.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 4th day of December, 2001.
Stuart A. Sirkin,
Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 01-30382 Filed 12-6-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P