[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 236 (Thursday, December 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76771-76772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31417]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Information Collections for OMB Review; 
Comment Request; Reportable Events; Notice of Failure To Make Required 
Contributions

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of intention to request extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) intends to 
request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extend approval, 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of two collections of information 
under PBGC's regulation on Reportable Events and Certain Other 
Notification Requirements (OMB control numbers 1212-0013 and 1212-0041, 
expiring March 31, 2012). This notice informs the public of PBGC's 
intent and solicits public comment on the collections of information.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by February 6, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the Web site instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: (202) 326-4224.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Legislative and Regulatory 
Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20005-4026.
    Comments received, including personal information provided, will be 
posted to www.pbgc.gov.
    Copies of the collections of information and comments may be 
obtained without charge by writing to Disclosure Division, Office of 
the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K 
Street NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026; visiting the Disclosure 
Division; faxing a request to (202) 326-4042; or calling (202) 326-4040 
during normal business hours. (TTY/TDD users may call the Federal relay 
service toll-free at 1-(800) 877-8339 and ask to be connected to (202) 
326-4040.) The reportable events regulation, forms, and instructions 
are available at www.pbgc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Bloch, Program Analyst, 
Legislative and Policy Division, or Catherine B. Klion, Manager, 
Regulatory and Policy Division, Legislative and Regulatory Department, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC 
20005-4026; (202) 326-4024. (TTY/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: On November 23, 2009, PBGC published (at 74 
FR 61248) a proposed rule to amend the reportable events regulation to 
accommodate changes to the variable-rate premium (VRP) rules made 
pursuant to the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA 2006). The rule 
also proposed to eliminate most automatic waivers and filing 
extensions, create two new reportable events based on provisions in PPA 
2006, and make other changes to the reportable events regulation as 
well as conforming changes. Public comment on the proposed rule was 
directed primarily at the proposed elimination of the waivers and 
extensions and was generally negative. In response to the comments and 
in the spirit of Executive Order 13563 on Improving Regulation and 
Regulatory Review, PBGC plans to issue a new proposal that will more 
effectively target troubled plans and sponsors while reducing burden 
for those that are financially sound. PBGC is requesting OMB to extend 
approval of the existing information collections since current approval 
will expire in March 2012.
    Section 4043 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA) requires plan administrators and plan sponsors to report 
certain plan and employer events to PBGC. The reporting requirements 
give PBGC notice of events that indicate plan or employer financial 
problems. PBGC uses the information provided in determining what, if 
any, action it needs to take. For example, PBGC might need to institute 
proceedings to terminate a plan (placing it in trusteeship) under 
section 4042 of ERISA to ensure the continued payment of benefits to 
plan participants and their beneficiaries or to prevent unreasonable 
increases in PBGC's losses.
    Section 303(k) of ERISA and section 430(k) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (Code) impose a lien in favor of an underfunded single-
employer plan that is covered by the termination insurance program 
under title IV of ERISA if (1) Any person fails to make a contribution 
payment when due, and (2) the unpaid balance of that payment (including 
interest), when added to the aggregate unpaid balance of all preceding 
payments for which payment was not made when due (including interest), 
exceeds $1 million. (For this purpose, a plan is underfunded if its 
funding target attainment percentage is less than 100 percent.) The 
lien is upon all property and rights to property belonging to the 
person or persons that are liable for required contributions (i.e., a 
contributing sponsor and each member of the controlled group of which 
that contributing sponsor is a member).
    Only PBGC (or, at its direction, the plan's contributing sponsor or 
a member of the same controlled group) may perfect and enforce this 
lien. ERISA and the Code require persons committing payment failures to 
notify PBGC within 10 days of the due date whenever there is a failure 
to make a required payment and the total of the unpaid balances 
(including interest) exceeds $1 million.
    The provisions of section 4043 of ERISA and of sections 303(k) of 
ERISA and 430(k) of the Code have been

[[Page 76772]]

implemented in PBGC's regulation on Reportable Events and Certain Other 
Notification Requirements (29 CFR part 4043). Subparts B and C of the 
regulation deal with reportable events, and subpart D deals with 
failures to make required contributions.
    PBGC has issued Forms 10 and 10-Advance and related instructions 
under subparts B and C (approved under OMB control number 1212-0013) 
and Form 200 and related instructions under subpart D (approved under 
OMB control number 1212-0041). OMB approval of both of these 
collections of information expires March 31, 2012. PBGC intends to 
request that OMB extend its approval for three years, with minor 
changes. 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 estimates that it will receive 1,020 reportable event notices 
per year under subparts B and C of the reportable events regulation 
using Forms 10 and 10-Advance and that the average annual burden of 
this collection of information is 5,370 hours and $816,000. PBGC 
estimates that it will receive 110 notices of failure to make required 
contributions per year under subpart D of the reportable events 
regulation using Form 200 and that the average annual burden of this 
collection of information is 660 hours and $101,000.
    PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
     Evaluate whether the proposed collections of information 
are 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 collections of information, including the 
validity of the methodologies and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collections 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.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 1st day of December, 2011.
John H. Hanley,
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2011-31417 Filed 12-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-01-P