[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 240 (Friday, December 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59666-59667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27050]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; 
Comment Request; Annual Reporting (Form 5500 Series)

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval, with 
modifications.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is requesting 
that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extend approval, with 
modifications, under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, of its 
collection of information for Annual Reporting (OMB control number 
1212-0057, which expires on August 31, 2020). This notice informs the 
public of PBGC's request and solicits public comment on the collection 
of information.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by January 16, 2018 to be assured of 
consideration.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, via electronic mail 
at [email protected] or by fax to (202) 395-6974. A copy of the 
request is posted at https://www.pbgc.gov/prac/pg/other/guidance/paperwork-notices. It may also be obtained without charge by writing to 
the Disclosure Division of the Office of the General Counsel of PBGC at 
1200 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, faxing a request to 202-326-
4042, 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 Disclosure Division will 
email, fax, or mail the request to you, at your request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jo Amato Burns 
([email protected]), Regulatory Affairs Division, Office of the 
General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street 
NW, Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202 326-4400, extension 3072, or Daniel 
S. Liebman ([email protected]), Acting Assistant General Counsel, 
same address and phone number, extension 6510. TTY and TDD users may 
call the Federal relay service toll-free at 800-877-8339 and ask to be 
connected to 202-326-4400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 (ERISA) contains three separate sets of provisions--in Title I 
(Labor provisions), Title II (Internal Revenue Code provisions), and 
Title IV (PBGC provisions)--requiring administrators of employee 
pension and welfare benefit plans (collectively referred to as employee 
benefit plans) to file returns or reports annually with the federal 
government.
    PBGC, the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS) work together to produce the Form 5500 Annual Return/
Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-

[[Page 59667]]

SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan (Form 
5500 Series), through which the regulated public can satisfy the 
combined annual reporting/filing requirements applicable to employee 
benefit plans.
    PBGC is requesting that OMB extend its approval of this collection 
of information with the following changes proposed by PBGC to the 2018 
Schedule MB (Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial Information) 
and the 2018 Schedule SB (Single Employer Defined Benefit Plan 
Actuarial Information), and related instructions, as described below. 
The two schedules are part of the Form 5500 series.
    PBGC is proposing three modifications to the 2018 Schedule MB 
instructions, one modification to the Schedule SB instructions, and one 
modification to the Schedule SB form. These modifications affect some, 
but not all, multiemployer defined benefit plans and relatively few 
single-employers defined benefit plans covered by Title IV of ERISA. 
The modifications are described in greater detail in the supporting 
statement submitted to OMB with this information collection, along with 
PBGC's rationale for each modification.

Changes Proposed to Schedule MB Instructions

    PBGC is proposing to change the instructions to require new 
attachments in two situations:
    1. Where contributions are reported as being made to a 
multiemployer plan, PBGC is proposing that for each reported 
contribution, the aggregate amount of withdrawal liability payments 
included in the contribution be reported.
    2. For multiemployer plans in critical status or critical and 
declining status (i.e., where Code C or Code D is entered on Line 4b), 
plans currently report the year the plan is projected to become 
insolvent or emerge from troubled status on Line 4f. However, they are 
not required to provide supporting documentation for these projections. 
PBGC is proposing that basic supporting documentation be included as an 
attachment to Line 4f unless the plan is projected to emerge from 
critical status within 30 years.
    3. The current instructions are unclear about which year should be 
entered in line 4f if the plan is neither projected to emerge from 
critical status nor become insolvent within 30 years. PBGC proposes 
that such a plan should enter ``9999'' in line 4f in this event.

Changes Proposed to Schedule SB Instructions and Form

    With regard to the Schedule SB instructions and form, PBGC is 
proposing to change the instructions related to an attachment that is 
currently required of plans for which the IRS has granted permission to 
use a substitute mortality table. The current instructions for Schedule 
SB, item 23, reflect IRS regulations on the use of substitute mortality 
tables (26 CFR 1.430(h)(3)-2) as they pertain to plan years beginning 
before January 1, 2018. Those rules have changed with respect to plan 
years beginning on or after January 1, 2018. In its 60-day notice, PBGC 
proposed requiring plans to report additional information, consistent 
with IRS' proposal to amend its regulation, as part of the item 23 
attachment.
    After PBGC's 60-day notice, the IRS finalized its mortality table 
regulation, which set forth the prescribed mortality tables for plan 
years beginning in or after 2018. Unlike the proposed rule, the final 
rule provides an option to delay use of the new mortality tables until 
2019 if the plan sponsor determines that using the new tables for 2018 
would be ``administratively impracticable or would result in an adverse 
business impact that is greater than de minimis. . . .'' As a result of 
this change, PBGC is proposing an additional change to Schedule SB, 
item 23 (one that was not included in the 60-day notice), as well as to 
the related instructions as explained below.
    Currently, plans check one of three boxes on Schedule SB to 
indicate whether they used one of two versions of the prescribed 
mortality table or a substitute table. Instead of having three choices 
as to which mortality table is used for 2018, plans will have six 
choices: Three options if they delay the use of the new tables and 
three options if they do not delay. For this reason, PBGC is proposing 
that six checkboxes appear on the 2018 Schedule SB instead of three.
    On September 19, 2017 (82 FR 43798), PBGC published a notice 
informing the public that it intended to request OMB approval of the 
modifications and solicited public comment. PBGC received three 
comments. The comments and PBGC's responses are described in the 
supporting statement submitted to OMB for this information collection.
    This collection of information has been approved by OMB under 
control number 1212-0057 through August 31, 2020. PBGC is requesting 
that OMB extend its approval for three years with 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 approximately 23,900 Form 5500 
and Form 5500-SF filings per year under this collection of information. 
PBGC further estimates that the total annual burden of this collection 
of information for PBGC will be 1,300 hours and $1,613,000.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Daniel S. Liebman,
Acting Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2017-27050 Filed 12-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7709-02-P