[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61658-61659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24619]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


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.

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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. This notice informs the 
public of PBGC's request and solicits public comment on the collection.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by December 13, 2019.

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, 202 229-3559. TTY users may call the Federal Relay Service 
toll-free at 800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-229-3559.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Annual reporting to the Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS), the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), 
and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is required by law 
for most employee benefit plans. For example, section 4065 of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires annual 
reporting to PBGC for pension plans covered by title IV of ERISA. To 
accommodate these filing requirements, IRS, EBSA and PBGC have jointly 
promulgated the Form 5500 Series, which includes the Form 5500 Annual 
Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and the Form 5500-SF Short Form 
Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan.
    PBGC is proposing modifications to the 2020 Schedule R (Retirement 
Plan Information) and its related instructions. Schedule R is part of 
the Form 5500 Series. The proposed modifications to Schedule R affect 
multiemployer defined benefit plans covered by title IV of ERISA. PBGC 
also is proposing minor modifications to the Form 5500 Series to 
improve the accuracy of reported information. 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.
    Section 103(f)(2)(C) of ERISA requires that a multiemployer defined 
benefit plan include in its annual report, ``[t]he number of 
participants under the plan on whose behalf no contributions were made 
by an employer as an employer of the participant for such plan year and 
for each of the 2 preceding plan years.'' Line 14a of Schedule R 
requires the plan to report the inactive participant counts for the 
current plan year's filing. Lines 14b and 14c require the plan to 
report the inactive participant counts for the previous two respective 
plan years. PBGC has found a majority of plans that are required to 
report do not provide accurate information on line 14 of Schedule R.
    The current instructions for line 14 require multiemployer plans to 
count inactive participants using the last contributing employer 
counting method. Under the last contributing employer method, a plan 
counts only those inactive participants whose last contributing 
employer withdrew from the plan by the beginning of the relevant plan 
year for which the Form 5500 relates. The plan does not count any 
inactive participants whose employers had not withdrawn from the plan.
    PBGC is proposing to modify Schedule R to provide multiemployer 
plans with a choice of the last

[[Page 61659]]

contributing employer counting method and two other proposed counting 
methods: The alternative method and the reasonable approximation 
method. PBGC anticipates that providing plans with three available 
counting methods will allow each plan to choose the counting method 
that will be most accurate and least burdensome for the plan to count 
its inactive participants.
    Under the alternative method, a plan would count only those 
inactive participants whose last contributing employer and all prior 
contributing employers had withdrawn from the plan by the beginning of 
the relevant plan year. Under this method, the plan would review the 
list of all contributing employers (employers that had not withdrawn 
from the plan by the beginning of the relevant plan year), and include 
on Line 14 only those inactive participants who had no covered service 
with any of these employers.
    Under the reasonable approximation method, a plan that is unable to 
use the other two counting methods must make a reasonable, good faith 
effort to count inactive participants to satisfy the requirements of 
section 103(f)(2)(C) of ERISA. The plan would also be required to 
provide an attachment that explains the plan's approximation method, 
including a description of the data and a breakdown describing the 
number of clearly identified inactive participants and the number of 
estimated inactive participants.
    PBGC is also proposing that when a plan reports a number on line 
14b or 14c that differs from the number it reported for the plan year 
immediately preceding the current plan year, it would be required to 
submit an attachment with an explanation of the reason for the change.
    Both attachments will provide PBGC with data to be used in its 
Pension Insurance Modeling System (PIMS). PBGC's evaluation of the data 
submitted in the attachments will allow PBGC to review the integrity of 
the data. PBGC estimates that the proposed changes would have an 
offsetting effect and would not change the hour or cost burden for the 
Schedule R.
    The existing collection of information was approved under OMB 
control number 1212-0057 (expires January 31, 2022). On August 20, 
2019, PBGC published in the Federal Register (at 84 FR 43189) a notice 
informing the public of its intent to request an extension of this 
collection of information, as modified. PBGC received one comment in 
support of the collection of information. PBGC is requesting that OMB 
extend approval of the collection, with modifications, 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 estimates that it will receive approximately 24,800 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 1,200 hours and $1,664,000.

    Issued in Washington, DC, by
Hilary Duke,
Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2019-24619 Filed 11-12-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P