[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 56 (Thursday, March 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15131-15132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5828]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


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

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for OMB approval of revision of collection of 
information.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') is 
requesting Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approval, under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act, of a revision of the collection of 
information under its regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part 
4007) (OMB control number 1212-0009; expires November 30, 2006). This 
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 an 
alternative means of electronic filing of premium information, in 
addition to the PBGC's existing e-filing method using ``My Plan 
Administration Account'' (``My PAA'') through the PBGC's Web site. The 
alternative e-filing method is being developed in connection with a 
PBGC proposal to require electronic premium filing in the near future. 
This notice informs the public of the PBGC's request to OMB and 
solicits public comment on the collection of information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by April 25, 2005.

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, 725 17th Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20503. Copies of the request for approval 
(including the collection of information) may be obtained without 
charge by writing to or visiting the PBGC's Communications and Public 
Affairs Department, suite 240, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20005-4026, or calling 202-326-4040. (TTY and TDD users may call 800-
877-8339 and request connection to 202-326-4040). The PBGC's 
regulations on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part 4007), Disclosure to 
Participants (29 CFR part 4011), and Filing, Issuance, Computation of 
Time, and Record Retention (29 CFR part 4000) and the paper premium 
forms and instructions can be accessed on the PBGC's Web site at http://www.pbgc.gov; the My PAA forms and instructions can also be accessed 
through the Web site by My PAA users.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah C. Murphy, Attorney, 
Legislative & Regulatory Department, 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 refers filers to 
subpart A of its regulation on Filing, Issuance, Computation of Time, 
and Record Retention (29 CFR part 4000) for rules on permissible filing 
methods. (Payments are treated as filings.) Section 4007.10 of the 
premium payment regulation 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 paper 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 Package. Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A 
are issued, with instructions, in the PBGC's Annual

[[Page 15132]]

Premium Payment Package. The PBGC issues these forms on paper and also 
makes them available on its Web site so that filers can print them out. 
In addition, a number of private-sector software developers have 
created software that prints out filers' premium information on PBGC-
approved forms; filers can use this private-sector computer software to 
prepare their premium declarations and can then file the paper forms 
generated by that software.
    In addition, the PBGC provides for premium filing through an 
electronic facility, ``My Plan Administration Account'' (``My PAA''), 
on its Web site at http://www.pbgc.gov. The forms that filers prepare 
using My PAA are not in the same format as the paper premium forms, but 
they solicit the same premium information.
    Premium forms are used to report the computation, determine the 
amount, and record the payment of PBGC premiums. The submission of 
premium information and retention and submission of premium 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 PBGC'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 for the PBGC to monitor compliance with part 4011, 
single-employer plan administrators must indicate in 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, corresponding My PAA electronic forms, and related instructions 
has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (``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 developing a new electronic filing method, in addition 
to the existing My PAA application, that will be tied to the private-
sector software that many filers currently use to print out pre-filled 
PBGC-approved forms that they then file. Under this new e-filing 
method, the PBGC will establish standards for the structure and 
submission of electronic files containing premium filing information 
and procedures for PBGC approval of files created with such software as 
meeting the established standards. Developers of private-sector premium 
filing preparation software will be invited to incorporate in their 
software packages the capacity to create electronic premium information 
files that meet these standards. Users of such software will then be 
able to submit their premium filings to the PBGC electronically as an 
alternative to both paper submissions and the use of My PAA. This 
alternative e-filing method is being developed in connection with a 
PBGC proposal to require electronic premium filing in the near future.
    In connection with and as part of the new filing standards, the 
PBGC is providing for a new method for certifying premium filings made 
using private-sector software. Currently, a plan's premium filing must 
be certified by the plan administrator and, in many cases, also by an 
enrolled actuary. My PAA, which uses interactive software on the PBGC's 
Web site, permits both a plan administrator and an enrolled actuary to 
certify the same filing, but the PBGC anticipates that private-sector 
software developers will find it difficult or impossible to implement 
such a feature, which requires both the plan administrator and the 
enrolled actuary to access the same filing electronically.
    Accordingly, the PBGC is introducing a new premium filing 
certification methodology for premium e-filings made with private-
sector software. The new methodology requires one responsible person 
(who may but need not be either the plan administrator or the enrolled 
actuary) to certify a private-sector software premium e-filing. If the 
responsible person is not the plan administrator, the certification 
will also state that the responsible person is authorized to act by the 
plan administrator and has a written representation from the plan 
administrator that the filing is proper. If the responsible person is 
not the enrolled actuary, the certification for a filing that includes 
actuarial items (variable-rate premium computations or certain 
variable-rate premium exemptions) will also state that the responsible 
person has a written representation from the enrolled actuary that the 
actuarial items in the filing are proper. The responsible person may be 
either the plan administrator or the enrolled actuary, and if not, must 
be at an appropriate level of authority.
    The PBGC is requesting that OMB approve this revision of the 
collection of 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 estimates that it will receive premium filings annually 
from about 28,900 plan administrators and that the total annual burden 
of the collection of information will be about 3,478 hours and 
$18,172,550. (These estimates include paper and electronic filings.)

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 18th day of March, 2005.
Richard W. Hartt,
Assistant Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 05-5828 Filed 3-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P