[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 138 (Friday, July 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42786-42787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-18330]
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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review;
Comment Request; Payment of Premiums
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of intention to request extension of OMB approval of
revised collection of information.
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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 the collection of
information under its regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part
4007) (OMB control number 1212-0009; expires January 31, 2005). The
collection of information also includes a certification of compliance
with requirements to provide certain notices to participants under the
PBGC's regulation on Disclosure to Participants (29 CFR part 4011). The
PBGC is revising the collection of information to provide for
electronic filing of premium information and payments. The PBGC intends
to create an electronic facility, ``My Plan Administration Account''
(``MyPAA''), on its Web site at www.pbgc.gov, through which plan
administrators and other plan professionals will be able to prepare and
submit premium filings. This notice informs the public of the PBGC's
intent and solicits public comment on the collection of information.
DATES: Comments should be submitted by September 16, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Office of the General Counsel,
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington,
DC 20005-4026, or delivered to Suite 340 at that address during normal
business hours. Comments also may be submitted electronically through
the PBGC's Web site at www.pbgc.gov/paperwork, or by fax to 202-326-
4112. The PBGC will make all comments available on its Web site at
www.pbgc.gov.
Copies of the collection of information may be obtained without
charge by writing to the PBGC's Communications and Public Affairs
Department at Suite 240 at the above address or by visiting that office
or calling 202-326-4040 during normal business hours. (TTY and TDD
users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339
and ask to be connected to 202-326-4040.) The premium payment and
participant notice regulations and the premium forms and instructions
for 2003 and prior years can be accessed on the PBGC's Web site at
www.pbgc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah C. Murphy, Staff Attorney,
Office of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,
1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024. (TTY and
TDD users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-
8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 4007 of Title IV of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (``ERISA'') requires the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') to collect premiums from
pension plans covered under Title IV pension insurance programs.
Pursuant to ERISA section 4007, the PBGC has issued its regulation on
Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part 4007). Section 4007.3 of the premium
payment regulation requires plans, in connection with the payment of
premiums, to file forms prescribed by the PBGC, and Sec. 4007.10
requires plans to retain and make available to the PBGC records
supporting or validating the computation of premiums paid.
The PBGC has prescribed a series of premium forms: Form 1-ES, Form
1-EZ, and Form 1 and (for single-employer plans only) Schedule A to
Form 1. Form 1-ES is issued, with instructions, in the PBGC's Estimated
Premium Payment
[[Page 42787]]
Package. Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A are issued, with
instructions, in the PBGC's Annual Premium Payment Package.
Premium forms are needed to report the computation, determine the
amount, and record the payment of PBGC premiums. The submission of
forms and retention and submission of records are needed to enable the
PBGC to perform premium audits. The plan administrator of each pension
plan covered by Title IV of ERISA is required to file one or more
premium forms each year. The PBGC uses the information on the premium
forms to identify the plans paying premiums; to verify whether plans
are paying the correct amounts; and to help the PBGC determine the
magnitude of its exposure in the event of plan termination. That
information and the retained records are used for audit purposes.
In addition, section 4011 of ERISA and the PBGC's regulation on
Disclosure to Participants (29 CFR part 4011) require plan
administrators of certain underfunded single-employer pension plans to
provide an annual notice to plan participants and beneficiaries of the
plans' funding status and the limits on the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation's guarantee of plan benefits. In general, the participant
notice requirement applies (subject to certain exemptions) to plans
that must pay a variable-rate premium. In order to monitor compliance
with part 4011, single-employer plan administrators must indicate on
their premium filings whether the participant notice requirements have
been complied with.
The collection of information under the regulation on Payment of
Premiums, including Form 1-ES, Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A to
Form 1, and related instructions has been approved by OMB under control
number 1212-0009. The collection of information also includes the
certification of compliance with the participant notice requirements
(but not the participant notices themselves).
The PBGC is revising the collection of information to provide for
electronic filing of premium information and payments. As part of the
PBGC's ongoing implementation of the Government Paperwork Elimination
Act (GPEA), the PBGC is creating an application, ``My Plan
Administration Account'' (``MyPAA'') on its Web site at www.pbgc.gov,
through which plan administrators and other plan professionals will be
able to prepare and submit premium filings. Initially, MyPAA will be
available for a limited number of plans. As the PBGC gains experience,
it intends to make MyPAA available for all plans.
The PBGC intends to request that OMB extend its approval of this
collection of information, as revised, for three years from the date of
approval. 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.
The PBGC estimates that it will receive responses annually from
about 31,162 plan administrators and that the total annual burden of
the collection of information will be about 2,140 hours and $8,135,400.
(These estimates include paper and electronic filings.)
The PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
[sbull] Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
[sbull] Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
[sbull] Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
[sbull] 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.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 15th day of July, 2003.
Stuart A. Sirkin,
Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-18330 Filed 7-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P