[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 7, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54400-54401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-22222]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


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

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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[[Page 54401]]

SUMMARY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is requesting that 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extend approval, under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act, of the collection of information for the 
termination premium under its regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR 
Part 4007) (OMB control number 1212-0064; expires October 31, 2010), 
without change. This notice informs the public of PBGC's request and 
solicits public comment on the collection of information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by October 7, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, via electronic mail 
at [email protected] or by fax to 202-395-6974.
    The collection of information (Form T and instructions) and PBGC's 
premium payment regulation may be accessed on PBGC's Web site at http://www.pbgc.gov. Copies of the collection of information and PBGC's 
request may also be obtained without charge by writing to the 
Disclosure Division of the Office of the General Counsel of PBGC, 1200 
K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005, or by visiting the Disclosure 
Division 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: Deborah C. Murphy, Staff Attorney, 
Legislative and 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: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) 
administers the pension plan termination insurance program under title 
IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). 
Section 4006(a)(7) of ERISA provides for a ``termination premium'' (in 
addition to the flat-rate and variable-rate premiums under section 
4006(a)(3)(A) and (E) of ERISA) that is payable for three years 
following certain distress and involuntary plan terminations. PBGC's 
regulations on Premium Rates (29 CFR part 4006) and Payment of Premiums 
(29 CFR part 4007) implement the termination premium. Sections 4007.3 
and 4007.13(b) of the premium payment regulation require the filing of 
termination premium information and payments with PBGC. PBGC has 
promulgated Form T and instructions for paying the termination premium.
    In general, the termination premium applies where a single-employer 
plan terminates in a distress termination under ERISA section 4041(c) 
(unless contributing sponsors and controlled group members meet the 
bankruptcy liquidation requirements of ERISA section 4041(c)(2)(B)(i)) 
or in an involuntary termination under ERISA section 4042, and the 
termination date under section 4048 of ERISA is after 2005. The 
termination premium does not apply in certain cases where termination 
occurs during a bankruptcy proceeding filed before October 18, 2005.
    The termination premium is payable for three years. The same amount 
is payable each year. The amount of each payment is based on the number 
of participants in the plan as of the day before the termination date. 
In general, the amount of each payment is equal to $1,250 times the 
number of participants. However, the rate is increased from $1,250 to 
$2,500 in certain cases involving commercial airline or airline 
catering service plans. The termination premium is due on the 30th day 
of each of three consecutive 12-month periods. The first 12-month 
period generally begins shortly after the termination date or after the 
conclusion of bankruptcy proceedings in certain cases.
    Sections 4007.3 and 4007.13(b) of the premium payment regulation 
require the filing of termination premiums and related information. A 
filing must be made by a person liable for the termination premium. The 
persons liable for the termination premium are contributing sponsors 
and members of their controlled groups, determined on the day before 
the plan termination date. Interest on late termination premiums is 
charged at the rate imposed under section 6601(a) of the Internal 
Revenue Code, compounded daily, from the due date to the payment date. 
Penalties based on facts and circumstances may be assessed both for 
failure to timely pay the termination premium and for failure to timely 
file required related information and may be waived in appropriate 
circumstances. A penalty for late payment will not exceed the amount of 
termination premium paid late. Section 4007.10 of the premium payment 
regulation requires the retention of records supporting or validating 
the computation of premiums paid and requires that the records be made 
available to PBGC.
    OMB has approved the termination premium collection of information 
(Form T and instructions) under control number 1212-0064 through 
October 31, 2010. PBGC is requesting that OMB extend approval of this 
collection of information for three years, without change. (In 
connection with this request for extension of OMB approval, Form T has 
been reformatted without substantive change, and current burden data 
and instructions for the hearing impaired have been added to the Form T 
instructions.) 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.
    PBGC assumes that termination premium filings will be made with 
respect to one termination per year. Accordingly, PBGC assumes that it 
will receive each year an average of about one first-year, one second-
year, and one third-year termination premium filing from an average of 
about three plan sponsor groups. Thus, PBGC estimates that the total 
annual burden of the collection of information will be about two-and-a-
half hours and $16,625.

    Issued in Washington, DC, August 30, 2010.
John H. Hanley,
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2010-22222 Filed 9-3-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-01-P