[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4839-4841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2096]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; 
Comment Request; Payment of Premiums

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of intention to request OMB approval of revised 
collection of information.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is modifying 
the collection of information under its regulation on Payment of 
Premiums (OMB control number 1212-0007; expires December 31, 2013) and 
intends to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
approve the revised collection of information under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act for three years. This notice informs the public of PBGC's 
intent and solicits public comment on the collection of information.

[[Page 4840]]


DATES: Comments must be submitted by April 2, 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 collection of information and comments may be 
obtained without charge by writing to the Disclosure Division, Office 
of 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 premium payment regulation and the premium instructions (including 
illustrative forms) for 2012 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: Section 4007 of Title IV of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires pension plans 
covered under Title IV pension insurance programs to pay premiums to 
PBGC. Pursuant to section 4007, PBGC has issued its regulation on 
Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part 4007). Under Sec.  4007.3 of the 
premium payment regulation, plan administrators are required to file 
premium payments and information prescribed by PBGC. Premium 
information must be filed electronically using ``My Plan Administration 
Account'' (``My PAA'') through PBGC's Web site except to the extent 
PBGC grants an exemption for good cause in appropriate circumstances, 
in which case the information must be filed using an approved PBGC 
form. The plan administrator of each pension plan covered by Title IV 
of ERISA is required to submit one or more premium filings for each 
premium payment year. Under Sec.  4007.10 of the premium payment 
regulation, plan administrators are required to retain records about 
premiums and information submitted in premium filings.
    PBGC needs information from premium filings to identify the plans 
for which premiums are paid, to verify whether the amounts paid are 
correct, to help PBGC determine the magnitude of its exposure in the 
event of plan termination, to help track the creation of new plans and 
transfer of participants and plan assets and liabilities among plans, 
and to keep PBGC's insured-plan inventory up to date. That information 
and the retained records are also needed for audit purposes.
    All plans covered by Title IV of ERISA pay a flat-rate per-
participant premium. An underfunded single-employer plan also pays a 
variable-rate premium based on the value of the plan's unfunded vested 
benefits.
    Large-plan filers (i.e., plans that were required to pay premiums 
for 500 or more participants for the prior plan year) are required to 
pay PBGC's flat-rate premium early in the premium payment year. Because 
the participant count often is not available until later in the premium 
payment year, PBGC permits filers to make an ``Estimated flat-rate 
premium filing.''
    All plans are required to make a ``Comprehensive premium filing.'' 
Comprehensive filings are used to report (i) the flat-rate premium and 
related data (all plans), (ii) the variable-rate premium and related 
data (single-employer plans), and (iii) additional data such as 
identifying information and miscellaneous plan-related or filing-
related data (all plans). For large plans, the Comprehensive filing 
also serves to reconcile an estimated flat-rate premium paid earlier in 
the year.
    PBGC intends to revise the 2013 filing procedures and instructions 
to:
     Provide for revoking a prior election to use the 
Alternative Premium Funding Target (APFT) to determine unfunded vested 
benefits (UVBs). (Under PBGC regulations, an election to use the APFT 
is irrevocable for 5 years; 2008 was the first year that plans were 
permitted to elect the APFT, so 2013 is the first year for which it is 
necessary to collect this information.)
     Require plan administrators using the APFT to report the 
``effective interest rate'' (defined in section 430(h) of the Internal 
Revenue Code). PBGC will use this information to update its annual 
contingency list and financial statements more accurately.
     Require that the plan effective date be reported for all 
plans rather than just new and newly covered plans. This date helps 
PBGC trace plans that change Employer Identification Number or Plan 
Number.
     Require plan administrators to provide a breakdown of the 
total premium funding into the same categories of participants used for 
Schedule SB reporting, i.e., active participants, terminated vested 
participants, and retirees and beneficiaries receiving payment. PBGC 
uses the premium funding target to estimate termination liability, 
e.g., for the annual contingency list, and a breakdown will enable PBGC 
to make a much better estimate than simply using only the total premium 
funding target.
     Allow a plan administrator to list a second person whom 
PBGC could contact with questions about a filing.
     Reorder and renumber some items on the illustrative form 
that accompanies and is part of the instructions, and make other minor 
changes.
    The collection of information under the regulation has been 
approved through December 31, 2013, by OMB under control number 1212-
0007. PBGC intends to request that OMB approve the revised collection 
of information for three years. 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 29,800 premium filings per year 
from 24,500 plan administrators under this collection of information. 
PBGC further estimates that the average annual burden of this 
collection of information is 8,200 hours and $54,140,000.
    PBGC is soliciting public comments to --
     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 methodologies 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

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use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 26th day of January, 2012.
John H. Hanley,
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2012-2096 Filed 1-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-01-P