[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35843-35844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15092]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration


Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request Submitted 
for Public Comment; Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit 
Plan

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 
provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to 
comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This 
helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection 
requirements and minimize the reporting burden on the public and helps 
the public understand the Department's information collection 
requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. 
Currently, the Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting 
comments on the proposed extension of the information collection 
provisions of Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan. 
A copy of the information collection request (ICR) may be obtained by 
contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the 
Addresses section on or before August 23, 2010.

ADDRESSES: G. Christopher Cosby, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits 
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20210, (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 693-4745 (these are not toll-free 
numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) 
contains three separate sets of provisions--in Title I (Labor 
provisions), Title II (Internal Revenue Code provisions), and Title IV 
(PBGC provisions)--requiring administrators of employee benefit

[[Page 35844]]

pension and welfare plans (collectively referred to as employee benefit 
plans) to file returns or reports annually with the federal government.
    Since enactment of ERISA, PBGC, the Department of Labor (DOL), and 
the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (collectively, the Agencies), have 
worked collaboratively to produce the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report 
(Form 5500), through which the regulated public can satisfy the 
combined reporting/filing requirements applicable to employee benefit 
plans.
    The Form 5500 is the primary source of information concerning the 
operation, funding, assets and investments of pension and other 
employee benefit plans. In addition to being an important disclosure 
document for plan participants and beneficiaries, the Form 5500 is a 
compliance and research tool for the Agencies, and a source of 
information for use by other federal agencies, Congress, and the 
private sector in assessing employee benefit, tax, and economic trends 
and policies.
    On November 16, 2007, the Agencies adopted revisions to the Form 
5500 in order to update and streamline the annual reporting process in 
conjunction with establishing a wholly electronic processing system for 
the receipt of the Form 5500 Annual Return/Reports and to conform the 
forms and instructions to the provisions of the Pension Protection Act 
of 2006 (PPA).
    The Form 5500 constitutes an information collection within the 
meaning of the PRA, for which the Department has obtained approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control No. 1210-
0110. The OMB approval is currently scheduled to expire on September 
30, 2010. 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.

II. Current Actions

    This notice requests public comment pertaining to the Department's 
request for extension of OMB approval of the information collection 
contained in the Form 5500. After considering comments received in 
response to this notice, the Department intends to submit an ICR to OMB 
for continuing approval. No change to the existing ICR is proposed or 
made at this time. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person 
is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it 
displays a valid OMB control number. A summary of the ICR and the 
current burden estimates follows:
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Annual Information Return/Report.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0110.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 780,000.
    Responses: 780,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 530,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$178,000,000.

III. Focus of Comments

    The Department of Labor (Department) is particularly interested in 
comments that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     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., by 
permitting electronic submissions of responses.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the ICR for OMB approval of the extension of the 
information collection; they will also become a matter of public 
record.

    Dated: June 16, 2010.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-15092 Filed 6-22-10; 8:45 am]
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