[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 60 (Thursday, March 28, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19017-19018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07236]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Annual Funding Notice for Defined Benefit 
Pension Plans

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) has submitted the Employee 
Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sponsored information 
collection request (ICR) revision titled, ``Annual Funding Notice for 
Defined Benefit Pension Plans,'' to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval utilizing emergency review procedures, in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, 
44 U.S.C. chapter 35 (PRA) and 5 CFR 1320.13.

DATES: OMB approval of the revised ICR has been requested by April 29, 
2013. Submit comments on or before April 26, 2013.

ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR, with applicable supporting 
documentation; including a description of the likely respondents, 
proposed frequency of response, and estimated total burden may be 
obtained from the RegInfo.gov Web site, http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, or by contacting G. Christopher Cosby at, Department of 
Labor-EBSA, Room N-5718, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20210, telephone, (202) 693-8410; FAX, (202) 219-4745 (these are not 
toll-free numbers); email, [email protected].
    Submit comments about this request to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Department of Labor-
EBSA, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20503, Fax: 202-395-6881 (these are not toll-free 
numbers), email: [email protected]; and G. Christopher Cosby 
Department of Labor-EBSA, Room N-5718, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20210, telephone, (202) 693-8410; FAX, (202) 219-4745 
(these are not toll-free numbers); email, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 6, 2012, President Barrack Obama 
signed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). 
The new law provides funding interest-rate stabilization for single 
employer defined benefit (DB) plans, effective for plan years beginning 
on and after January 1,

[[Page 19018]]

2012. To counter the current low interest rates that are triggering 
significantly larger pension contributions for many plan sponsors, the 
MAP-21 sets a floor (or ceiling) for the interest rates that single 
employer DB plan administrators generally are required to use to 
calculate contributions. Under the new rules, the generally required 
interest rates are limited to rates that are within a specified range, 
or corridor, above or below a 25-year average for the rates.
    Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) section 
101(f) sets forth the requirements for plan administrators of most 
single-employer DB plans to furnish annual funding notices to the PBGC, 
plan participants and beneficiaries, and each labor organization 
representing such participants or beneficiaries. MAP-21 section 
40211(b)(2)(A) has amended ERISA section 101(f)(2), by adding a new 
subparagraph (D), to require single-employer DB plan administrators to 
disclose additional information in the annual funding notice for a plan 
year beginning after December 31, 2011, and before January 1, 2015, 
regarding the effect of the MAP-21 segment rate stabilization rules on 
plan liabilities and the plan sponsor's minimum required contributions 
to the plan. MAP-21 section 40211(b)(2)(B) requires the DOL to modify 
the model annual funding notice required under Pension Protection Act 
of 2006 (PPA) section 501(c) to include, prominently, the supplemental 
information required under new ERISA section 101(f)(2)(D).
    On March 8, 2013, the DOL released EBSA Field Assistance Bulletin 
(FAB) 2013-01 concerning the new disclosure requirements mandated the 
MAP-21. The FAB addresses a need for interim guidance pending the 
adoption of regulations or other guidance under ERISA section 101(f), 
as amended by the MAP-21. The FAB sets forth technical questions and 
answers and provides a model supplement that plan administrators may 
use to discharge their MAP-21 disclosure obligations and provides that, 
pending further guidance and as a matter of enforcement policy, the DOL 
will treat a single employer DB plan administrator as satisfying MAP-21 
requirements if the plan administrator complies with the guidance in 
the memorandum and otherwise acts in accordance with a good faith and 
reasonable interpretation of those requirements.
    The DOL is requesting emergency processing, because guidance 
provided in the FAB is necessary for plan administrators to satisfy the 
annual funding notice requirements. The first annual funding notices 
reflecting the MAP-21 revisions for large calendar year plans must be 
sent out no later than April 30, 2013 (120 days after the close of the 
2012 plan year). Therefore, use of the normal PRA clearance procedures 
is likely to cause public harm, because the statutory deadline would be 
missed and beneficiaries would not have access to information to which 
they are entitled by law.
    This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency 
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and 
the public is generally not required to respond to an information 
collection, unless it is approved by the OMB under the PRA and displays 
a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any 
other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to 
penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if the 
collection of information does not display a valid OMB Control Number. 
See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6. The DOL obtains OMB approval for this 
information collection under OMB Control Number 1210-0126, and the FAB 
revises the ICR.
    Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the OMB, 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the DOL at the 
addresses shown in the ADDRESSES section by April 26, 2013. In order to 
help ensure appropriate consideration, comments should reference OMB 
Control Number 1210-0126. The OMB and DOL are 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., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Agency: DOL-EBSA.
    Title of Collection: Annual Funding Notice for Defined Benefit 
Pension Plans.
    OMB Control Number: 1210-0126.
    Requested Duration of Authorization: Six months.
    Affected Public: Private Sector--businesses or other for-profits 
and not-for-profit institutions.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 27,534.
    Frequency of Collection: Annual.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 77,989,123.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 977,000.
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $26,845,755.

    Dated: March 21, 2013.
Michel Smyth,
Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-07236 Filed 3-27-13; 8:45 am]
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