[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43401-43402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-18623]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; 
Comment Request; Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Submitted to the 
PBGC

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 an information 
collection (OMB control number 1212-0054; expires November 30, 2003) 
relating to model forms contained in the PBGC booklet, Divorce Orders & 
PBGC. The booklet provides guidance on how to submit a proper qualified 
domestic relations order (a ``QDRO'') to the PBGC. 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 22, 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 http://www.pbgc.gov/paperwork, or by fax to 202-
326-4112. The PBGC will make all comments available on its Web site, 
http://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.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James L. Beller, Attorney, Office of 
the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4020. (TTY and TDD 
users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 
and ask to be connected to 202-326-4020.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PBGC intends to request a three-year 
extension of the paperwork approval relating to model forms contained 
in the PBGC booklet, Divorce Orders & PBGC. The collection of 
information has been approved through November 30, 2003, by OMB under 
control number 1212-0054. 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.
    A defined benefit pension plan that does not have enough money to 
pay benefits may be terminated if the employer responsible for the plan 
faces severe financial difficulty, such as bankruptcy, and is unable to 
maintain the plan. In such an event, the PBGC becomes trustee of the 
plan and pays benefits, subject to legal limits, to plan participants 
and beneficiaries.
    The benefits of a pension plan participant generally may not be 
assigned or alienated. Title I of ERISA provides an exception for 
domestic relations orders that relate to child support, alimony 
payments, or marital property rights of an alternate payee (a spouse, 
former spouse, child, or other dependent of a plan participant). The 
exception applies only if the domestic relations order meets specific 
legal requirements that make it a qualified domestic relations order.
    When the PBGC is trustee of a plan, it reviews submitted domestic 
relations orders to determine whether the order is qualified before 
paying benefits to an alternate payee. The requirements for submitting 
a QDRO are established by statute. The models and the guidance assist 
parties by making it easier to comply with ERISA's QDRO requirements in 
plans trusteed by the PBGC; they do not create any additional 
requirements and result in a reduction of the statutory burden.
    The PBGC estimates that it will receive 664 QDROs each year from 
prospective alternate payees; that the average burden of preparing a 
QDRO with the assistance of the guidance and

[[Page 43402]]

model QDROs in PBGC's booklet will be 1/4 hour of the alternate payee's 
time and $533 in professional fees if the alternate payee hires an 
attorney or other professional to prepare the QDRO, or 10 hours of the 
alternate payee's time if the alternate payee prepares the QDRO without 
hiring an attorney or other professional; and that the total annual 
burden will be 234 hours and $350,800.
    The PBGC is updating the model QDROs and accompanying guidance. In 
particular, the revised booklet will reflect that, since the last 
approval, the PBGC has amended its regulations to make changes in how 
it pays benefits, including giving participants more choices of annuity 
benefit forms.
    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 16th day of July, 2003.
Stuart Sirkin,
Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-18623 Filed 7-21-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P