[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54433-54434]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19267]



[[Page 54433]]

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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; 
Comment Request; Missing Participants

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of intent to request extension of OMB approval of 
information collection, with modifications.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) intends to 
request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extend approval, 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of a collection of information under 
PBGC's regulation on Missing Participants, with modifications. PBGC 
needs the information submitted by plans under this collection to 
search for missing participants and beneficiaries and pay their 
benefits. This notice informs the public of PBGC's intent and solicits 
public comment on the collection of information.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before November 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Refer to ``Missing 
Participants'' and/or OMB Control No. 1212-0069 in the subject line.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Regulatory Affairs Division, Office 
of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20005-4026.
    All submissions received must include the agency's name (Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC) and refer to Missing 
Participants and/or OMB Control No. 1212-0069. All comments received 
will be posted without change to PBGC's website, http://www.pbgc.gov, 
including any personal information provided.
    Copies of the collection of information may be obtained by writing 
to Disclosure Division, Office of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005-4026, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Cibinic, Deputy Assistant 
General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW, Washington DC 
20005-4026; 202-229-6352. (TTY users may call the Federal Relay Service 
toll-free at 800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-229-6352.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The process of closing out a terminated 
retirement plan involves the disposition of plan assets to satisfy the 
benefits of plan participants and beneficiaries. One difficulty faced 
by plan administrators in closing out terminated plans is how to 
provide for the benefits of missing persons. Title IV of ERISA includes 
a provision (section 4050 of ERISA) under which the Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) holds retirement benefits for missing 
participants and beneficiaries in terminated pension plans and seeks to 
reunite those participants and beneficiaries with the benefits being 
held for them.
    The missing participants program was limited to single-employer DB 
plans covered by the title IV insurance program. The Pension Protection 
Act of 2006 authorized expansion of the missing participants program, 
and PBGC by final rule published on December 22, 2017 (82 FR 60800), 
extended the program to--
     defined contribution (DC) plans (not covered by title IV 
\1\),
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    \1\ Eligibility for the missing participants program under ERISA 
section 4050 is not by itself considered coverage by title IV or 
ERISA.
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     small professional service DB plans (not covered by title 
IV), and
     multiemployer DB plans (covered by title IV).
    All four programs follow the same basic design. The most prominent 
difference among them lies in the mandatory or voluntary nature of the 
programs. For plans covered by the title IV insurance program, 
participation in the program is mandatory. For plans not covered by 
title IV, PBGC's regulation permits, but does not require, such plans 
to participate in PBGC's missing participants program.
    PBGC needs information from plans that participate in the missing 
participants program to identify the plans and the missing participants 
and beneficiaries, to search for missing participants and 
beneficiaries, to determine the persons entitled to benefits that the 
plans transfer to PBGC and the form and amount of benefits payable, and 
to refer claimants of benefits being held elsewhere to the institutions 
holding the benefits.
    PBGC intends to modify its information collection to require 
additional information about missing participants in two categories in 
order to properly withhold taxes when such participants are located and 
their benefits claimed and paid. For DC plans that permit Roth 
accounts, PBGC intends to require a breakdown of qualified and non-
qualified Roth amounts transferred to PBGC (if any), and if non-
qualified Roth amounts are being transferred, the date the first Roth 
contribution was made. Where relevant for DB and DC plans, PBGC intends 
to require identification of the portion of a participant's benefit 
transfer amount treated as foreign-source income, and if so, for DB 
plans how that determination was made. PBGC as administrator of the 
Missing Participants Program relies on information provided and 
certified to by the plan administrator or plan sponsor as applicable.
    PBGC estimates that it will receive a total of 226 filings from 
plans each year under this collection of information. PBGC further 
estimates that the annual burden of this collection of information is 
646 hours and $115,650.
    The existing collection of information was approved under OMB 
control number 1212-0069 (expires January 31, 2021). PBGC intends to 
request that OMB extend its approval of this 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 soliciting public comments to--
     Evaluate whether the proposed 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 collection 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 collection 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.


[[Page 54434]]


    Issued in Washington, DC, by:
Stephanie Cibinic,
Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2020-19267 Filed 8-31-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P