Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 1999 / Notices 2689

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION

Proposed Submission of Collection of

Information for OMB Review Under the

Paperwork Reduction Act; Comment

Request; Customer Satisfaction

Surveys and Focus Groups

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of intention to request

extension of OMB approval.

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation intends to request that the

Office of Management and Budget

extend its approval of a collection of

information under the Paperwork

Reduction Act. The purpose of the

information collection, which will be

conducted through focus groups and

surveys over a three-year period, is to

help the PBGC assess the efficiency and

effectiveness with which it serves its

customers and to design actions to

address identified problems. The effect

of this notice is to advise the public of,

and to solicit public comment on, this

proposed collection of information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted

by March 16, 1999.

ADDRESSES: All written comments

should be addressed to: Office of

General Counsel, Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation, Suite 340, 1200 K

St. NW., Washington, D.C. 20005. The

comments will be available for public

inspection at the PBGC

Communications and Public Affairs

Department, Suite 240, 1200 K Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20005, between

the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marc L. Jordan, Attorney, Office of the

General Counsel, Suite 340, 1200 K

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005,

202–326–4026. (This not a toll-free

number.) (For TTY/TDD users, call the

Federal relay service toll-free at 1–800–

877–8339 and ask to be connected to

202–326–4024).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 is requesting that OMB

extend its approval, for a three-year

period, of a generic collection of

information consisting of customer

satisfaction focus groups and surveys

(OMB control number 1212–0053;

expires April 30, 1999). The collection

is in furtherance of the goals described

in Executive Order 12862, Setting

Customer Service Standards, which

states that, in order to carry out the

principles of the National Partnership

for Reinventing Government (formerly,

the National Performance Review), the

Federal Government must be customerdriven. The Executive Order directs all

executive departments and agencies that

provide significant services directly to

the public to provide those services in

a manner that seeks to meet the

customer service standards established

in the Executive Order.

In transforming itself into a customerdriven agency, the PBGC has made use

of a variety of tools for listening to

customers, including focus groups and

customer satisfaction surveys. Feedback

from these contacts keeps the PBGC

informed about customer service needs

and expectations, and gauges how well

customers think the PBGC is meeting

those needs. The PBGC will keep these

avenues of customer communications

open, and add to and refine what has

been learned to date. In this way service

to customers can be continually

improved.

This collection of information enables

the PBGC to explore issues of mutual

concern (e.g., kind and quality of

desired services) with its major outside

client groups, i.e., participants and

beneficiaries, plan sponsors and their

affiliates, plan administrators, pension

practitioners and others involved in the

establishment, operation and

termination of plans covered by the

PBGC’s insurance program. The areas of

concern to the PBGC and its client

groups change over time, and it is

important that the PBGC have the ability

to evaluate customer concerns quickly.

Participation in the focus groups and

surveys will be voluntary. The PBGC

will consult with OMB regarding each

specific information collection during

the approval period.

This voluntary collection of

information will put a slight burden on

a very small percentage of the public.

The PBGC expects to conduct focus

groups involving a total of

approximately 225 persons each year,

with a total annual burden of

approximately 675 hours, including

travel time. (Some portion of this time

may be spent completing surveys at

focus group meetings.) In addition, the

PBGC expects to distribute written

surveys to approximately 1,600 persons

each year (in most cases as an adjunct

to a focus group), with a total annual

burden of approximately 200 hours.

The PBGC is specifically seeking

public comments to:

(1) 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;

(2) evaluate the accuracy of the

estimate of the burden of the proposed

collection of information, including the

validity of the methodology and

assumptions used;

(3) enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and

(4) 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.

Issued at Washington, DC, this 12th day of

January, 1999.

Stuart Sirkin,

Director, Corporate Policy and Research

Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 99–1003 Filed 1–14–99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION

Interest Assumption for Determining

Variable-Rate Premium; Interest on

Late Premium Payments; Interest on

Underpayments and Overpayments of

Single-Employer Plan Termination

Liability and Multiemployer Withdrawal

Liability; Interest Assumptions for

Multiemployer Plan Valuations

Following Mass Withdrawal

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of interest rates and

assumptions.

SUMMARY: This notice informs the public

of the interest rates and assumptions to

be used under certain Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation regulations. These

rates and assumptions are published

elsewhere (or are derivable from rates

published elsewhere), but are collected

and published in this notice for the

convenience of the public. Interest rates

are also published on the PBGC’s web

site (http://www.pbgc.gov).

DATES: The interest rate for determining

the variable-rate premium under part

4006 applies to premium payment years

beginning in January 1999. The interest

assumptions for performing

multiemployer plan valuations

following mass withdrawal under part

4281 apply to valuation dates occurring

in February 1999. The interest rates for

late premium payments under part 4007

and for underpayments and

overpayments of single-employer plan

termination liability under part 4062
2690 Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 1999 / Notices

and multiemployer withdrawal liability

under part 4219 apply to interest

accruing during the first quarter

(January through March) of 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of the General Counsel,

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,

1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC

20005, 202–326–4024. (For TTY/TDD

users, call the Federal relay service tollfree at 1–800–877–8339 and ask to be

connected to 202–326–4024.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Variable-Rate Premiums

Section 4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of the

Employee Retirement Income Security

Act of 1974 (ERISA) and § 4006.4(b)(1)

of the PBGC’s regulation on Premium

Rates (29 CFR part 4006) prescribe use

of an assumed interest rate in

determining a single-employer plan’s

variable-rate premium. The rate is the

‘‘applicable percentage’’ (currently 85

percent) of the annual yield on 30-year

Treasury securities for the month

preceding the beginning of the plan year

for which premiums are being paid (the

‘‘premium payment year’’). The yield

figure is reported in Federal Reserve

Statistical Releases G.13 and H.15.

The assumed interest rate to be used

in determining variable-rate premiums

for premium payment years beginning

in January 1999 is 4.30 percent (i.e., 85

percent of the 5.06 percent yield figure

for December 1998).

The following table lists the assumed

interest rates to be used in determining

variable-rate premiums for premium

payment years beginning between

February 1998 and January 1999.

For premium payment years

beginning in

The assumed interest rate

is

February 1998 .......................... 4.94

March 1998 ............................... 5.01

April 1998 .................................. 5.06

May 1998 .................................. 5.03

June 1998 ................................. 5.04

July 1998 .................................. 4.85

August 1998 .............................. 4.83

September 1998 ....................... 4.71

October 1998 ............................ 4.42

November 1998 ........................ 4.26

December 1998 ........................ 4.46

January 1999 ............................ 4.30

Late Premium Payments;

Underpayments and Overpayments of

Single-Employer Plan Termination

Liability

Section 4007(b) of ERISA and

§ 4007.7(a) of the PBGC’s regulation on

Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part

4007) require the payment of interest on

late premium payments at the rate

established under section 6601 of the

Internal Revenue Code. Similarly,

§ 4062.7 of the PBGC’s regulation on

Liability for Termination of Singleemployer Plans (29 CFR part 4062)

requires that interest be charged or

credited at the section 6601 rate on

underpayments and overpayments of

employer liability under section 4062 of

ERISA. The section 6601 rate is

established periodically (currently

quarterly) by the Internal Revenue

Service. The rate applicable to the first

quarter (January through March) of

1999, as announced by the IRS, is 7

percent.

The following table lists the late

payment interest rates for premiums and

employer liability for the specified time

periods:

From— Through— Interest rate

(percent)

10/1/92 .............. 6/30/94 7

7/1/94 ................ 9/30/94 8

10/1/94 .............. 3/31/95 9

4/1/95 ................ 6/30/95 10

7/1/95 ................ 3/31/96 9

4/1/96 ................ 6/30/96 8

7/1/96 ................ 12/31/96 9

1/1/97 ................ 3/31/97 9

4/1/97 ................ 6/30/97 9

7/1/97 ................ 9/30/97 9

10/1/97 .............. 12/31/97 9

1/1/98 ................ 3/31/98 9

4/1/98 ................ 6/30/98 8

7/1/98 ................ 9/30/98 8

10/1/98 .............. 12/31/98 8

1/1/99 ................ 3/31/99 7

Underpayments and Overpayments of

Multiemployer Withdrawal Liability

Section 4219.32(b) of the PBGC’s

regulation on Notice, Collection, and

Redetermination of Withdrawal

Liability (29 CFR part 4219) specifies

the rate at which a multiemployer plan

is to charge or credit interest on

underpayments and overpayments of

withdrawal liability under section 4219

of ERISA unless an applicable plan

provision provides otherwise. For

interest accruing during any calendar

quarter, the specified rate is the average

quoted prime rate on short-term

commercial loans for the fifteenth day

(or the next business day if the fifteenth

day is not a business day) of the month

preceding the beginning of the quarter,

as reported by the Board of Governors

of the Federal Reserve System in

Statistical Release H.15 (‘‘Selected

Interest Rates’’). The rate for the first

quarter (January through March) of 1999

(i.e., the rate reported for December 15,

1998) is 7.75 percent.

The following table lists the

withdrawal liability underpayment and

overpayment interest rates for the

specified time periods:

From Through Rate

(percent)

10/1/92 .............. 6/30/94 6.00

7/1/94 ................ 9/30/94 7.25

10/1/94 .............. 12/31/94 7.75

1/1/95 ................ 3/31/95 8.50

4/1/95 ................ 9/30/95 9.00

10/1/95 .............. 3/31/96 8.75

4/1/96 ................ 12/31/96 8.25

1/1/97 ................ 3/31/97 8.25

4/1/97 ................ 6/30/97 8.25

7/1/97 ................ 9/30/97 8.50

10/1/97 .............. 12/31/97 8.50

1/1/98 ................ 3/31/98 8.50

4/1/98 ................ 6/30/98 8.50

7/1/98 ................ 9/30/98 8.50

10/1/98 .............. 12/31/98 8.50

1/1/99 ................ 3/31/99 7.75

Multiemployer Plan Valuations

Following Mass Withdrawal

The PBGC’s regulation on Duties of

Plan Sponsor Following Mass

Withdrawal (29 CFR part 4281)

prescribes the use of interest

assumptions under the PBGC’s

regulation on Allocation of Assets in

Single-employer Plans (29 CFR part

4044). The interest assumptions

applicable to valuation dates in

February 1999 under part 4044 are

contained in an amendment to part 4044

published elsewhere in today’s Federal

Register. Tables showing the

assumptions applicable to prior periods

are codified in appendix B to 29 CFR

part 4044.

Issued in Washington, DC, on this 11th day

of January 1999.

David M. Strauss,

Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 99–938 Filed 1–14–99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

POSTAL SERVICE

Notice of Meeting

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of State

will hold a briefing meeting January 26,

1999, for the public and for U.S.

government agency representatives on

international postal issues in the

Universal Postal Union (UPU). The

meeting is part of the process of

formulating U.S. policies in preparation

for the Universal Postal Union Congress

to be held in Beijing, China from August

23 through September 15, 1999. The

agenda will include briefings on the

World Customs Organization and plans