[Federal Register: February 17, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 30)]
[Notices]
[Page 7478-7479]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17fe09-145]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Amendment to Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request
Submitted for Public Comment; Defined Benefit Plan Annual Funding
Notice
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA
95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), the Department of Labor (the Department)
conducts a preclearance consultation program so that the general public
and other federal agencies can comment on proposed and continuing
collections of information. This program helps to ensure that the data
the Department gathers arrive in the desired format, that the reporting
burden on the public (time and financial resources) is minimized, that
the public understands the collection instruments, and that the
Department can accurately assess the impact of collection requirements
on respondents.
On November 21, 2008, the Department published a Notice in the
[[Page 7479]]
Federal Register soliciting comments on its proposed extension of the
information collection provisions of regulations pertaining to section
101(f) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
As discussed more fully below, the Department is hereby amending the
notice to provide the public with an additional 30-day period to
comment on the revisions to the information collection contained in
Field Assistance Bulletin 2009-1, which was issued by the Department on
February 10, 2009.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the
addresses section on or before March 19, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments
regarding the information collection request and burden estimates to:
G. Christopher Cosby, Office of Policy and Research, U.S. Department of
Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Room N-5718, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-
8410; Fax: (202) 219-4745. These are not toll-free numbers. Comments
may also be submitted electronically to the following Internet e-mail
address: ebsa.opr@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 101(f) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974 (ERISA) sets forth requirements applicable to furnishing annual
funding notices. Before the enactment of the Pension Protection Act of
2006 (PPA), section 101(f) applied only to multiemployer defined
benefit plans. The Department issued a final implementing regulation
under this provision on January 11, 2006 (71 FR 1904), which is
codified at 29 CFR 2520.101-4. The Information Collection Request (ICR)
relating to the regulation was approved on March 17, 2005, under OMB
Control Number 1210-0126. The ICR is scheduled to expire on March 31,
2009. The Department published a 60-day public comment Notice (the
Notice) in the Federal Register on November 21, 2008,\1\ informing the
public of its intension to extend the ICR and requesting public
comments.
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\1\ 73 FR 70677.
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Section 501(a) of the PPA amended section 101(f) of ERISA and made
significant changes to the annual funding notice requirements. These
amendments require administrators of all defined benefit plans that are
subject to title IV of ERISA, not only multiemployer plans, to provide
an annual funding notice to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
(PBGC), to each plan participant and beneficiary, to each labor
organization representing such participants or beneficiaries, and, in
the case of a multiemployer plan, to each employer that has an
obligation to contribute to the plan. An annual funding notice must
include, among other things, the plan's funding percentage, a statement
of the value of the plan's assets and liabilities and a description of
how the plan's assets are invested as of specific dates, and a
description of the benefits under the plan that are eligible to be
guaranteed by the PBGC. The current ICR does not take these amendments
into account, and the Department had not issued regulations or other
guidance concerning compliance with ERISA section 101(f) as amended by
the PPA when the Notice was published.
On February 10, 2009, the Department issued Field Assistance
Bulletin (FAB) 2009-1, which provides guidance to the Employee Benefits
Security Administration's national and regional offices concerning good
faith compliance with the annual funding notice requirements as amended
by the PPA and model notices plan administrators may use to satisfy the
annual funding notice content requirements. The FAB provides that
pending further guidance, the Department will, as a matter of
enforcement policy, treat a plan administrator as satisfying the
requirements of section 101(f), if the administrator complies with the
guidance contained in the FAB and has acted in accordance with a good
faith, reasonable interpretation of those requirements with respect to
matters not specifically addressed in the FAB.
The FAB revises the ICR under OMB Control Number 1210-0126 to take
into account the PPA amendments; therefore, the Department is hereby
amending the Notice to provide the public with an additional 30 days to
comment on the ICR as revised by the FAB.
II. Desired Focus of Comments
The Department is particularly interested in comments that:
Evaluate whether the collection of information contained
in the FAB is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information will have practical
utility;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected;
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;
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.
III. Current Actions
The Department intends to request a revision of the currently
approved ICR for the Multiemployer Plan Annual Funding Notice \2\ under
ERISA section 101(f) and 29 CFR 2520.101-4. The ICR has been revised to
reflect amendments made by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and a
related FAB issued by the Department. The following provides the
current burden estimates of the revised ICR:
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\2\ Please note that the title of the ICR will be changed to
``Defined Benefit Plan Annual Funding Notice'' as part of the
revision.
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Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Defined Benefit Plan Annual Funding Notice.
OMB Number: 1210-0126.
Frequency: Annually.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit institutions; not-for-profit institutions.
Total Respondents: 30,300.
Total Responses: 44,447,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,025,000 (first year); 979,000
(subsequent years).
Estimated Annual Burden Cost: $32,812,000 (first year); $28,473,000
(subsequent years).
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the ICR. They also
will become a matter of public record.
Dated: February 11, 2009.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-3347 Filed 2-13-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P