[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 138 (Friday, July 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42786-42787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-18330]


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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 of 
revised collection of information.

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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) (OMB control number 1212-0009; expires January 31, 2005). The 
collection of information also includes a certification of compliance 
with requirements to provide certain notices to participants under the 
PBGC's regulation on Disclosure to Participants (29 CFR part 4011). The 
PBGC is revising the collection of information to provide for 
electronic filing of premium information and payments. The PBGC intends 
to create an electronic facility, ``My Plan Administration Account'' 
(``MyPAA''), on its Web site at www.pbgc.gov, through which plan 
administrators and other plan professionals will be able to prepare and 
submit premium filings. 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 September 16, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20005-4026, or delivered to Suite 340 at that address during normal 
business hours. Comments also may be submitted electronically through 
the PBGC's Web site at www.pbgc.gov/paperwork, or by fax to 202-326-
4112. The PBGC will make all comments available on its Web site at 
www.pbgc.gov.
    Copies of the collection of information may be obtained without 
charge by writing to the PBGC's Communications and Public Affairs 
Department at Suite 240 at the above address or by visiting that office 
or calling 202-326-4040 during normal business hours. (TTY and TDD 
users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 
and ask to be connected to 202-326-4040.) The premium payment and 
participant notice regulations and the premium forms and instructions 
for 2003 and prior years can be accessed on the PBGC's Web site at 
www.pbgc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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. (TTY and 
TDD users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-
8339 and ask to be connected 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 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 PBGC has prescribed a series of premium forms: 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

[[Page 42787]]

Package. Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A are issued, with 
instructions, in the PBGC's Annual Premium Payment Package.
    Premium forms are needed to report the computation, determine the 
amount, and record the payment of PBGC premiums. 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 
premium forms each year. The PBGC uses the information on the premium 
forms to identify the plans paying premiums; to verify whether plans 
are paying the correct amounts; and to help the PBGC determine the 
magnitude of its exposure in the event of plan termination. 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. In general, the participant 
notice requirement applies (subject to certain exemptions) to plans 
that must pay a variable-rate premium. In order to monitor compliance 
with part 4011, single-employer plan administrators must indicate on 
their premium filings whether 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. The 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 collection of information to provide for 
electronic filing of premium information and payments. As part of the 
PBGC's ongoing implementation of the Government Paperwork Elimination 
Act (GPEA), the PBGC is creating an application, ``My Plan 
Administration Account'' (``MyPAA'') on its Web site at www.pbgc.gov, 
through which plan administrators and other plan professionals will be 
able to prepare and submit premium filings. Initially, MyPAA will be 
available for a limited number of plans. As the PBGC gains experience, 
it intends to make MyPAA available for all plans.
    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. 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 will receive responses annually from 
about 31,162 plan administrators and that the total annual burden of 
the collection of information will be about 2,140 hours and $8,135,400. 
(These estimates include paper and electronic filings.)
    The PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
    [sbull] 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;
    [sbull] 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;
    [sbull] Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    [sbull] 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 15th day of July, 2003.
Stuart A. Sirkin,
Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-18330 Filed 7-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P