[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 202 (Friday, October 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72540-72541]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23248]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


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

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval of an 
information collection.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is requesting 
that the Office of Management and Budget extend approval under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of a collection of information under PBGC's 
regulation on Missing Participants. 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 request and solicits public comment on the 
collection of information.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 20, 2023 to be 
assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. All 
comments received will be posted without change to PBGC's website, 
http://www.pbgc.gov, including any personal information provided. Do 
not submit comments that include any personally identifiable 
information or confidential business information.
    A copy of the request will be posted on PBGC's website at https://www.pbgc.gov/prac/laws-and-regulation/federal-register-notices-open-for-comment. It may also be obtained without charge by writing to the 
Disclosure Division ([email protected]), Office of the General 
Counsel of PBGC, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101; or, 
calling 202-229-4040 during normal business hours. If you are deaf or 
hard of hearing or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to 
access telecommunications relay services.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Cibinic, Deputy Assistant 
General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20024-2101; 202-229-6352; [email protected]. If you are 
deaf or hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 
to access telecommunications relay services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The process of closing out a terminated 
pension plan or other 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. Section 
4050 of ERISA and 29 CFR part 4050 establishes a program under which 
the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) holds the retirement 
benefits for missing participants and beneficiaries in terminated plans 
and seeks to reunite those participants and beneficiaries with the 
benefits being held for them. The program is applicable to certain 
defined benefit (DB) pension plans covered by PBGC's single-employer or 
multiemployer insurance programs, and to defined contribution (DC) 
plans and small professional service DB plans not covered by PBGC's 
insurance programs.
    The Missing Participant Program (MPP) for each of the four types of 
plans follows the same basic design. The most prominent difference 
among them lies in the mandatory or voluntary nature of the program. 
For plans covered by the title IV insurance programs, participation in 
the MPP is mandatory. For plans not covered by the title IV insurance 
programs, PBGC's regulation permits, but does not require, such plans 
to participate in the MPP.
    PBGC needs information from plans that participate in the MPP, to 
identify the plans and their missing participants

[[Page 72541]]

and beneficiaries, to search for missing participants and 
beneficiaries, to determine the persons entitled to benefits that the 
plans transfer to PBGC and the forms and amounts of benefits payable, 
and to refer claimants of benefits being held elsewhere to the 
institutions holding the benefits.
    PBGC intends to make the following modifications to the information 
collection in this renewal:
     PBGC is proposing a requirement for plans that are filing 
information about more than five missing individuals (participants or 
beneficiaries) to provide that information in a spreadsheet file. PBGC 
provides a user-friendly template that may be used for this purpose.
     PBGC is adding a question to the DB plan forms (MP-100, 
300, and 400) asking if the plan has a default beneficiary provision, 
and, if yes, requiring an attachment of it. (This question is already 
on the DC plan form (MP-200)).
     PBGC is updating references on the DB plan forms and 
instructions that relate to de minimis benefit amounts of $5,000 or 
less to reflect the change under section 304 of the SECURE 2.0 Act 
increasing that amount to $7,000 as of January 1, 2024.\1\
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    \1\ SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, Division T of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328 (Dec. 29, 2022).
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     PBGC is adding a box to the DC plan form for the person 
certifying the form to check whether they are the plan's plan 
administrator or the plan's qualified termination administrator.
    Finally, PBGC intends to make other clarifying and editorial 
changes to the forms and instructions, including listing common filing 
errors.
    PBGC estimates that it will receive over the next 3 years an annual 
average of 345 filings from plans under this collection of information. 
PBGC further estimates that the average annual burden of this 
collection of information is 70 hours and $498,000. The actual hour 
burden and cost burden per plan will vary depending on plan size and 
other factors.
    The existing collection of information was approved under OMB 
control number 1212-0069 (expires January 31, 2024). On July 3, 2023, 
PBGC published in the Federal Register a notice at 88 FR 42758 
informing the public of its intent to request an extension of this 
collection of information and solicited public comment. No comments 
were received. 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.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Stephanie Cibinic,
Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2023-23248 Filed 10-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P