[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 56886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24787]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


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

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is requesting 
that the Office of Management and Budget extend approval (with 
modifications), under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, of the 
information collection related to PBGC's booklet, Qualified Domestic 
Relations Orders & PBGC. This notice informs the public of PBGC's 
request and solicits public comment on the collection.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by December 14, 2018.

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 on PBGC's website 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 users 
may call the Federal Relay Service toll-free at 800-877-8339 and ask to 
be connected to 202-326-4040). The Disclosure Division will email, fax, 
or mail the information to you, as you request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Levin ([email protected]), 
Attorney, Regulatory Affairs Division, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW, Washington, DC 
20005-4026, 202-326-4400, extension 3559. (TTY users may call the 
Federal Relay Service toll-free at 800-877-8339 and ask to be connected 
to 202-326-4400, extension 3559.)

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.
    The existing collection of information was approved under OMB 
control number 1212-0054 (expires December 31, 2018). On August 31, 
2018, PBGC published in the Federal Register (at 83 FR 44681), a notice 
informing the public of its intent to request an extension of this 
collection of information, as modified. No comments were received. PBGC 
is requesting that OMB extend approval of the collection with 
modifications for three years. The modifications requested are not 
material. 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 630 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 473 
hours and $945,000 based on revised estimates since publication of the 
notice on August 31.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Stephanie Cibinic,
Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2018-24787 Filed 11-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7709-02-P