[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33497-33498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13635]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; 
Comment Request; Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Submitted to PBGC

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

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

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') intends to 
request that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approve, 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act, revisions to an information 
collection relating to PBGC's booklet, Qualified Domestic Relations 
Orders & PBGC (OMB control number 1212-0054; expires August 31, 2012). 
PBGC is requesting 3-year approval of the revised collection of 
information. The booklet provides guidance on how to submit a qualified 
domestic relations order (``QDRO'') to the PBGC. This notice informs 
the public of PBGC's intent and solicits

[[Page 33498]]

public comment on the collection of information, as modified.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by August 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.
    PBGC will make all comments available on its Web site at 
www.pbgc.gov.
    Copies of the collection of information may be obtained without 
charge by writing to the Disclosure Division of the Office of the 
General Counsel of PBGC at the above address or by visiting that office 
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.) The regulations relating to 
this collection of information are available on PBGC's Web site at 
www.pbgc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jo Amato Burns, Attorney, 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. (For TTY and TDD, 
call 800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A defined benefit pension plan that does not 
have enough money to pay benefits may be terminated if the employer 
responsible for the plan faces severe financial difficulty, such as 
bankruptcy, and is unable to maintain the plan. In such an event, PBGC 
becomes trustee of the plan and pays benefits, subject to legal limits, 
to plan participants and beneficiaries.
    The benefits of a pension plan participant generally may not be 
assigned or alienated. Title I of ERISA provides an exception for 
domestic relations orders that relate to child support, alimony 
payments, or marital property rights of an alternate payee (a spouse, 
former spouse, child, or other dependent of a plan participant). The 
exception applies only if the domestic relations order meets specific 
legal requirements that make it a qualified domestic relations order.
    When PBGC is trustee of a plan, it reviews submitted domestic 
relations orders to determine whether the order is qualified before 
paying benefits to an alternate payee. The requirements for submitting 
a domestic relations order and the contents of such orders are 
established by statute. The models and the guidance provided by PBGC 
assist parties by making it easier for them to comply with ERISA's QDRO 
requirements in plans trusteed by PBGC; they do not create any 
additional requirements and result in a reduction of the statutory 
burden.
    OMB has approved the collection of information in PBGC's booklet, 
Qualified Domestic Relations Orders & PBGC under control number 1212-
0054 through August 31, 2012. 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 intends to revise the booklet, Qualified Domestic Relations 
Orders & PBGC, to describe a proposed change in PBGC's procedures that 
would apply when a draft domestic relations order is submitted for 
informal review. Under PBGC's current procedures, PBGC delays the 
commencement of benefits (for participants not in pay status) or 
suspends payment of benefits (for participants in pay status) from the 
date of receipt of a draft domestic relations order to up to 60 days 
after the date PBGC notifies the parties of the results of the review. 
Under the proposed change, PBGC would suspend payments for participants 
in pay status only upon receipt of an original signed domestic 
relations order or a certified or authenticated copy.
    PBGC is also revising or eliminating certain model language which 
has often led to confusion as to how the language was to be 
interpreted. In addition, PBGC is making clarifying, simplifying, and 
editorial changes to model forms in the information collection.
    PBGC estimates that it will receive 1,361 domestic relations orders 
each year from prospective alternate payees and participants. PBGC 
further estimates that the total average annual burden of this 
collection of information will be 4,138 hours and $870,400.
    PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
     Evaluate whether the 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 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 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 31st day of May 2012.
John H. Hanley,
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2012-13635 Filed 6-5-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-01-P