[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 167 (Thursday, August 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 51808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22017]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment 
Request; Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is requesting that 
the Office of Management and Budget extend its approval of a collection 
of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of the 
information collection, which will be conducted through focus groups 
and surveys over a three-year period, is to help the PBGC assess the 
efficiency and effectiveness with which it serves its customers and to 
design actions to address identified problems.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before September 29, 2003.

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.
    Copies of the request for extension (including the collection of 
information) may be obtained by writing to the PBGC's Communications 
and Public Affairs Department, suite 240, 1200 K Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20005-4026, 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: Thomas H. Gabriel, Attorney, Office of 
the General Counsel, Suite 340, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC 
20005, (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: 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 is requesting that OMB extend its approval, for a three-
year period, of a generic collection of information consisting of 
customer satisfaction focus groups and surveys (OMB No. 1212-0053; 
expires September 30, 2003). The information collection will further 
the goals of Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, 
which states the Federal Government must seek to provide ``the highest 
quality of service delivered to customers by private organizations 
providing a comparable or analogous service.''
    The PBGC uses customer satisfaction focus groups and surveys to 
find out about the needs and expectations of its customers and assess 
how well it is meeting those needs and expectations. By keeping these 
avenues of communication open, the PBGC can continually improve service 
to its customers, including plan participants and beneficiaries, plan 
sponsors and their affiliates, plan administrators, pension 
practitioners, and others involved in the establishment, operation and 
termination of plans covered by the PBGC's insurance program. Because 
the areas of concern to the PBGC and its customers vary and may quickly 
change, it is important that the PBGC have the ability to evaluate 
customer concerns quickly by developing new vehicles for gathering 
information under this generic approval. The focus groups and surveys 
will provide important information on customer attitudes about the 
delivery and quality of agency services and will be used as part of an 
ongoing process to improve PBGC programs.
    Participation in the focus groups and surveys will be voluntary. 
The PBGC estimates that the average annual burden will total 2,500 
burden hours for 9,500 respondents (an average of about one-quarter 
hour per respondent). The PBGC will consult with OMB regarding each 
specific information collection during the approval period.
    On March 7, 2003, the PBGC published in the Federal Register a 
notice of intention to request extension of OMB approval of this 
collection. No comments were received in response to the notice.

    Issued at Washington, DC this 22nd day of August 2003.
Gail Sevin,
Acting Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-22017 Filed 8-27-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P