[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 28 (Friday, February 9, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5816-5817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02606]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment 
Request; Termination of Single-Employer Plans, Missing Participants

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

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

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SUMMARY: PBGC is requesting that OMB approve, with modifications, under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act a collection of information in PBGC's 
regulations on Termination of Single Employer Plans and Missing 
Participants and implementing forms and instructions (OMB control 
number 1212-0036). This notice informs the public of PBGC's request and 
solicits public comment on the collection of information.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by March 12, 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 will be posted at https://www.pbgc.gov/prac/laws-and-regulations/information-collections-under-omb-review. It may 
also be obtained without charge by writing to the Disclosure Division 
of the Office of the General Counsel of PBGC, 1200 K Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20005-4026, faxing a request to 202-326-4042, or calling 
202-326-4040 during normal business hours. TTY/ASCII 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, as you 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 
Stephanie Cibinic ([email protected]), Deputy Assistant General 
Counsel, same address and phone number, extension 6352. TTY/ASCII users 
may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 800-877-8339 and ask to 
be connected to 202-326-4400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 4041 of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,

[[Page 5817]]

as amended (ERISA), a single-employer pension plan may terminate 
voluntarily only if it satisfies the requirements for either a standard 
or a distress termination. Pursuant to ERISA section 4041(b), for 
standard terminations, and section 4041(c), for distress terminations, 
and PBGC's termination regulation (29 CFR part 4041), a plan 
administrator wishing to terminate a plan is required to submit 
specified information to PBGC in support of the proposed termination 
and to provide specified information regarding the proposed termination 
to third parties (participants, beneficiaries, alternate payees, and 
employee organizations). In the case of such plans with participants or 
beneficiaries who cannot be located when their benefits are to be 
distributed, the plan administrator is subject to the requirements of 
ERISA section 4050 and PBGC's missing participants regulation (29 CFR 
part 4050).
    The missing participant forms and instructions under this 
information collection are applicable only to plans that terminated on 
or before December 31, 2017. There is a new control number for the 
collection of information under the expanded missing participants 
program, effective on January 22, 2018, and applicable to plans that 
terminate on or after January 1, 2018 (OMB Control No.1212-0069; 
expires January 31, 2021). The expanded program includes not only 
missing participants from single-employer plans covered by title IV, 
but also defined contribution and other plans not covered by title IV.
    The collection of information under these regulations and the 
implementing forms and instructions had been approved by OMB under 
control number 1212-0036 (expired November 30, 2017). PBGC is 
requesting that OMB reinstate its approval and extend it for three 
years from date of approval, with modifications. An agency may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a 
collection of information unless it displays a current OMB control 
number.
    On October 2, 2017 (82 FR 45912), PBGC published a notice informing 
the public that it intended to request OMB approval and soliciting 
public comments. No comments were received.
    PBGC is proposing to provide that the plan administrator of a plan 
terminating in a standard termination, or a distress termination that 
closes out in the private sector, may submit termination forms 
electronically (scanned and emailed or faxed), rather than by mail or 
personal delivery only. PBGC is proposing these new options to increase 
the ease of submission for plan administrators.
    In addition, for distress termination filings, PBGC is proposing to 
include an invitation for plan sponsors to contact PBGC for a pre-
filing consultation to discuss the filing process and ensure the filing 
of a distress termination is appropriate given the sponsor's specific 
circumstances. This consultation will assist PBGC and the plan sponsor 
in exploring whether a waiver of one or more filing obligations is 
appropriate, identifying potential issues preventing a distress 
termination of a particular plan, and may indicate that commencement of 
an agency-initiated termination of the pension plan is warranted. This 
consultation will be voluntary and will result in little or no added 
burden on the plan sponsor.
    PBGC estimates that 1,426 plan administrators will be subject to 
this collection of information each year, and that the total annual 
burden of complying with these requirements will be 29,890 hours and 
$5,963,400.

Stephanie Cibinic,
Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2018-02606 Filed 2-8-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P