[Federal Register: December 21, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 245)]
[Notices]
[Page 72761-72762]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21de07-117]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request Submitted
for Public Comment and Recommendations; Delinquent Filer Voluntary
Compliance Program
AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). This
program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the
desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is
minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the
impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly
assessed. Currently, the Employee Benefits Security Administration is
soliciting comments concerning the proposed extension of a currently
approved collection of information included in the Delinquent Filer
Voluntary Compliance Program.
A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be
obtained by contacting the individual listed in the ADDRESSES section
of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section below on or before February 19, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Gerald B. Lindrew, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-5718,
Washington, DC 20210, (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 693-4745 (these are not
toll-free numbers).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Secretary of Labor has the authority, under section 502(c)(2)
of the
[[Page 72762]]
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), to assess
civil penalties of up to $1,000 a day \1\ against plan administrators
who fail or refuse to file complete and timely annual reports (Form
5500 Series Annual Return/Reports) as required under section 101(b)(4)
of ERISA related regulations. Pursuant to 29 CFR 2560.502c-2 and
2570.60 et seq., EBSA has maintained a program for the assessment of
civil penalties for noncompliance with the annual reporting
requirements. Under this program, plan administrators filing annual
reports after the date on which the report was required to be filed may
be assessed $50 per day for each day an annual report is filed after
the date on which the annual report(s) was required to be filed,
without regard to any extensions for filing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Adjusted to $1,100 per day pursuant to the Federal Civil
Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 and the Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996. See 62 FR 40696, July 29, 1997.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plan administrators who fail to file an annual report may be
assessed a penalty of $300 per day, up to $30,000 per year, until a
complete annual report is filed. Penalties are applicable to each
annual report required to be filed under Title I of ERISA. The
Department may, in its discretion, waive all or part of a civil penalty
assessed under section 502(c)(2) upon a showing by the administrator
that there was reasonable cause for the failure to file a complete and
timely annual report.
The Department has determined that the possible assessment of these
civil penalties may deter certain delinquent filers from voluntarily
complying with the annual reporting requirements under Title I of
ERISA. In an effort to encourage annual reporting compliance,
therefore, the Department implemented the Delinquent Filer Voluntary
Compliance (DFVC) Program (the Program) on April 27, 1995 (60 FR
20873). Under the Program, administrators otherwise subject to the
assessment of higher civil penalties are permitted to pay reduced civil
penalties for voluntarily complying with the annual reporting
requirements under Title I of ERISA.
This ICR covers the requirement of providing data necessary to
identify the plan along with the penalty payment. This data is the
means by which each penalty payment is associated with the appropriate
plan. With respect to most pension plans and welfare plans, the
requirement is satisfied by sending a photocopy of the delinquent Form
5500 annual report \2\ that has been filed, along with the penalty
payment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ DFVC information collection provisions originally required
submission of the first page of the Form 5500 annual report. Because
of the recent revisions to the Form 5500, the information needed to
process the DFVC filing is no longer confined to the first page of
the Form 5500. DFVC filers using a 1999 or later Form 5500 must
submit a copy of all pages of the Form 5500 (generally 4), dated
with original signature but without any schedules or attachments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under current regulations, apprenticeship and training plans may be
exempted from the reporting and disclosure requirements of Part 1 of
Title I, and certain pension plans maintained for highly compensated
employees, commonly called ``top hat'' plans may comply with these
reporting and disclosure requirements by using an alternate method by
filing a one-time identifying statement with the Department. The DFVC
Program provides that apprenticeship and training plans and top hat
plans may, in lieu of filing any past due annual reports and paying
otherwise applicable civil penalties, complete and file specific
portions of a Form 5500, file the identifying statements that were
required to be filed, and pay a one-time penalty.
II. Review Focus
The Department of Labor is particularly interested in comments
that:
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 methodology 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 submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions
The Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of this ICR
will expire on April 30, 2008. After considering comments received in
response to this notice, the Department intends to submit the ICR to
OMB for continuing approval. No change to the existing ICR is proposed
or made at this time. Comments submitted in response to this notice
will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
Title: Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program.
OMB Number: 1210-0089.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Frequency: On occasion.
Average Burden Hours/Minutes Per Response: 21 minutes.
Number of Respondents: 4,100.
Total Annual Responses: 4,100.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 145.
Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $107,300.
Dated: December 7, 2007.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-24802 Filed 12-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P