[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 132 (Friday, July 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39806-39807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-16929]


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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 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 its 
approval, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of the information 
collection related to PBGC's booklet, Qualified Domestic Relations 
Orders & PBGC. The booklet provides guidance on how to submit a 
qualified domestic relations order to PBGC. This notice informs the 
public of PBGC's intent and solicits public comment on the collection 
of information.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by September 8, 2015.

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: Office of General Counsel, 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-

[[Page 39807]]

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, Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC 
20005-4026, 202-326-4223. (For TTY and TDD, call 800-877-8339 and ask 
to be connected to 202-326-4223.)

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 
(QDRO).
    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 October 31, 2015. PBGC intends to request that OMB extend 
approval of the 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 is not proposing any substantive changes to the booklet.
    PBGC estimates that over the next three years it will receive 
approximately 1,200 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 approximately 2,100 hours and $350,000.
    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 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 6th day of July 2015.
Judith Starr,
General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2015-16929 Filed 7-9-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7709-02-P