[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7478-7479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3347]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration


Amendment to Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request 
Submitted for Public Comment; Defined Benefit Plan Annual Funding 
Notice

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 
95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), the Department of Labor (the Department) 
conducts a preclearance consultation program so that the general public 
and other federal agencies can comment on proposed and continuing 
collections of information. This program helps to ensure that the data 
the Department gathers arrive in the desired format, that the reporting 
burden on the public (time and financial resources) is minimized, that 
the public understands the collection instruments, and that the 
Department can accurately assess the impact of collection requirements 
on respondents.
    On November 21, 2008, the Department published a Notice in the

[[Page 7479]]

Federal Register soliciting comments on its proposed extension of the 
information collection provisions of regulations pertaining to section 
101(f) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). 
As discussed more fully below, the Department is hereby amending the 
notice to provide the public with an additional 30-day period to 
comment on the revisions to the information collection contained in 
Field Assistance Bulletin 2009-1, which was issued by the Department on 
February 10, 2009.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the 
addresses section on or before March 19, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments 
regarding the information collection request and burden estimates to: 
G. Christopher Cosby, Office of Policy and Research, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Room N-5718, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-
8410; Fax: (202) 219-4745. These are not toll-free numbers. Comments 
may also be submitted electronically to the following Internet e-mail 
address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 101(f) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974 (ERISA) sets forth requirements applicable to furnishing annual 
funding notices. Before the enactment of the Pension Protection Act of 
2006 (PPA), section 101(f) applied only to multiemployer defined 
benefit plans. The Department issued a final implementing regulation 
under this provision on January 11, 2006 (71 FR 1904), which is 
codified at 29 CFR 2520.101-4. The Information Collection Request (ICR) 
relating to the regulation was approved on March 17, 2005, under OMB 
Control Number 1210-0126. The ICR is scheduled to expire on March 31, 
2009. The Department published a 60-day public comment Notice (the 
Notice) in the Federal Register on November 21, 2008,\1\ informing the 
public of its intension to extend the ICR and requesting public 
comments.
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    \1\ 73 FR 70677.
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    Section 501(a) of the PPA amended section 101(f) of ERISA and made 
significant changes to the annual funding notice requirements. These 
amendments require administrators of all defined benefit plans that are 
subject to title IV of ERISA, not only multiemployer plans, to provide 
an annual funding notice to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 
(PBGC), to each plan participant and beneficiary, to each labor 
organization representing such participants or beneficiaries, and, in 
the case of a multiemployer plan, to each employer that has an 
obligation to contribute to the plan. An annual funding notice must 
include, among other things, the plan's funding percentage, a statement 
of the value of the plan's assets and liabilities and a description of 
how the plan's assets are invested as of specific dates, and a 
description of the benefits under the plan that are eligible to be 
guaranteed by the PBGC. The current ICR does not take these amendments 
into account, and the Department had not issued regulations or other 
guidance concerning compliance with ERISA section 101(f) as amended by 
the PPA when the Notice was published.
    On February 10, 2009, the Department issued Field Assistance 
Bulletin (FAB) 2009-1, which provides guidance to the Employee Benefits 
Security Administration's national and regional offices concerning good 
faith compliance with the annual funding notice requirements as amended 
by the PPA and model notices plan administrators may use to satisfy the 
annual funding notice content requirements. The FAB provides that 
pending further guidance, the Department will, as a matter of 
enforcement policy, treat a plan administrator as satisfying the 
requirements of section 101(f), if the administrator complies with the 
guidance contained in the FAB and has acted in accordance with a good 
faith, reasonable interpretation of those requirements with respect to 
matters not specifically addressed in the FAB.
    The FAB revises the ICR under OMB Control Number 1210-0126 to take 
into account the PPA amendments; therefore, the Department is hereby 
amending the Notice to provide the public with an additional 30 days to 
comment on the ICR as revised by the FAB.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Department is particularly interested in comments that:
     Evaluate whether the collection of information contained 
in the FAB is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
     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;
     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.

III. Current Actions

    The Department intends to request a revision of the currently 
approved ICR for the Multiemployer Plan Annual Funding Notice \2\ under 
ERISA section 101(f) and 29 CFR 2520.101-4. The ICR has been revised to 
reflect amendments made by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and a 
related FAB issued by the Department. The following provides the 
current burden estimates of the revised ICR:
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    \2\ Please note that the title of the ICR will be changed to 
``Defined Benefit Plan Annual Funding Notice'' as part of the 
revision.
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    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Defined Benefit Plan Annual Funding Notice.
    OMB Number: 1210-0126.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit institutions; not-for-profit institutions.
    Total Respondents: 30,300.
    Total Responses: 44,447,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,025,000 (first year); 979,000 
(subsequent years).
    Estimated Annual Burden Cost: $32,812,000 (first year); $28,473,000 
(subsequent years).
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the ICR. They also 
will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: February 11, 2009.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-3347 Filed 2-13-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P