Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2004 / Notices 2365

authorized under Section 274(b) of the 

Atomic Energy Act, are utilized in part 

by NRC in preparing responses to 

Congressional inquiries. Agreement 

State comments are also solicited in the 

areas of proposed procedure and policy 

development.

Submit, by March 15, 2004, comments 

that address the following questions:

1. Is the proposed collection of 

information necessary for the NRC to 

properly perform its functions? Does the 

information have practical utility?

2. Is the burden estimate accurate?

3. Is there a way to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected?

4. How can the burden of the 

information collection be minimized, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology?

A copy of the draft supporting 

statement may be viewed free of charge 

at the NRC Public Document Room, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Room O–1 F21, Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. OMB clearance 

requests are available at the NRC 

worldwide Web site http://

www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doccomment/omb/index.html. The 

document will be available on the NRC 

home page site for 60 days after the 

signature date of this notice.

Comments and questions about the 

information collection requirements 

may be directed to the NRC Clearance 

Officer, Brenda Jo Shelton, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, T–5 F52, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, by 

telephone at (301) 415–7233, or by 

Internet electronic mail to 

INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day 

of January 2004.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Brenda Jo Shelton,

NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 04–868 Filed 1–14–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION

Required Interest Rate 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 can be derived 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).

The PBGC notes that the provisions of 

the Job Creation and Worker Assistance 

Act of 2002 that temporarily increased 

the required interest rate to be used to 

determine the PBGC’s variable-rate 

premium to 100% (from 85%) of the 

annual yield on 30-year Treasury 

securities expired at the end of 2003. 

Thus, the required interest rate 

announced in this notice for plan years 

beginning in January 2004 has been 

determined under prior law, and 

represents a significant decrease from 

the rate for plan years beginning in 

December 2003. Legislation has been 

proposed that would further change the 

rules for determining the required 

interest rate. If such legislation is 

adopted, and the change affects the 

required interest rate for plan years 

beginning in January 2004, the PBGC 

will promptly publish a Federal 

Register notice with the new required 

interest rate and post the change on the 

PBGC’s Web site.

DATES: The required interest rate for 

determining the variable-rate premium 

under part 4006 applies to premium 

payment years beginning in January 

2004. The interest assumptions for 

performing multiemployer plan 

valuations following mass withdrawal 

under part 4281 apply to valuation dates 

occurring in February 2004. The interest 

rates for late premium payments under 

part 4007 and for underpayments and 

overpayments of single-employer plan 

termination liability under part 4062 

and multiemployer withdrawal liability 

under part 4219 apply to interest 

accruing during the first quarter 

(January through March) of 2004.

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. (TTY/TDD users 

may 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 (the 

‘‘required interest rate’’) in determining 

a single-employer plan’s variable-rate 

premium. The required interest 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’’). (Although 

the Treasury Department has ceased 

issuing 30-year securities, the Internal 

Revenue Service announces a surrogate 

yield figure each month—based on the 

30-year Treasury bond maturing in 

February 2031—which the PBGC uses to 

determine the required interest rate.) 

The required interest rate to be used in 

determining variable-rate premiums for 

premium payment years beginning in 

January 2004 is 4.31 percent (i.e., 85 

percent of the 5.07 percent yield figure 

for December 2003).

The PBGC notes that the provisions of 

the Job Creation and Worker Assistance 

Act of 2002 that temporarily increased 

the required interest rate to be used to 

determine the PBGC’s variable-rate 

premium to 100% (from 85%) of the 

annual yield on 30-year Treasury 

securities expired at the end of 2003. 

Thus, the required interest rate 

announced in this notice for plan years 

beginning in January 2004 has been 

determined under prior law, and 

represents a significant decrease from 

the rate for plan years beginning in 

December 2003. Legislation has been 

proposed that would further change the 

rules for determining the required 

interest rate. If such legislation is 

adopted, and the change affects the 

required interest rate for plan years 

beginning in January 2004, the PBGC 

will promptly publish a Federal 

Register notice with the new required 

interest rate and post the change on the 

PBGC’s Web site.

2366 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2004 / Notices 

The following table lists the required 

interest rates to be used in determining 

variable-rate premiums for premium 

payment years beginning between 

February 2003 and January 2004.

For premium payment years 

beginning in: 

The required 

interest rate is: 

February 2003 ...................... 4.94

March 2003 ........................... 4.81

April 2003 ............................. 4.80

May 2003 .............................. 4.90

June 2003 ............................. 4.53

July 2003 .............................. 4.37

August 2003 ......................... 4.93

September 2003 ................... 5.31

October 2003 ........................ 5.14

November 2003 .................... 5.16

December 2003 .................... 5.12

January 2004 ........................ 4.31

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 

2004, as announced by the IRS, is 4 

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) 

7/1/96 ............ 3/31/98 .......... 9

4/1/98 ............ 12/31/98 ........ 8

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

4/1/99 ............ 3/31/00 .......... 8

4/1/00 ............ 3/31/01 .......... 9

4/1/01 ............ 6/30/01 .......... 8

7/1/01 ............ 12/31/01 ........ 7

1/1/02 ............ 12/31/02 ........ 6

1/1/03 ............ 9/30/03 .......... 5

10/1/03 .......... 3/31/04 .......... 4

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 2004 

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

2003) is 4.00 percent.

The following table lists the 

withdrawal liability underpayment and 

overpayment interest rates for the 

specified time periods:

From Through Interest rate

(percent) 

7/1/97 ............ 12/31/98 ........ 8.50

1/1/99 ............ 9/30/99 .......... 7.75

10/1/99 .......... 12/31/99 ........ 8.25

1/1/00 ............ 3/31/00 .......... 8.50

4/1/00 ............ 6/30/00 .......... 8.75

7/1/00 ............ 3/31/01 .......... 9.50

4/1/01 ............ 6/30/01 .......... 8.50

7/1/01 ............ 9/30/01 .......... 7.00

10/1/01 .......... 12/31/01 ........ 6.50

1/1/02 ............ 12/31/02 ........ 4.75

1/1/03 ............ 9/30/03 .......... 4.25

10/1/03 .......... 3/31/04 .......... 4.00

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 2004 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 12th day 

of January, 2004.

Joseph H. Grant,

Deputy Executive Director and Chief 

Operating Officer, Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 04–874 Filed 1–14–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

which provides opportunity for public 

comment on new or revised data 

collections, the Railroad Retirement 

board (RRB) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed data collections.

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed information collection is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information has practical 

utility; (b) the accuracy of the RRB’s 

estimate of the burden of the collection 

of the information; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

ways to minimize the burden related to 

the collection of information on 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology.

Title and purpose of information 

collection: Public Service Pension 

Questionnaires; OMB 3220–0136. Public 

Law 95–216 amended the Social 

Security Act of 1977 by providing, in 

part, that spouse or survivor benefits 

may be reduced when the beneficiary is 

in receipt of a pension based on 

employment with a Federal, State, or 

local governmental unit. Initially, the 

reduction was equal to the full amount 

of the government pension. Public Law 

98–21, changed the reduction to twothirds of the amount of the government 

pension. Sections 4(a)(1) and 4(f)(1) of 

the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) 

provides that a spouse or survivor 

annuity should be equal in amount to 

what the annuitant would receive if 

entitled to a like benefit from the Social 

Security Administration. Therefore, the 

public service pension (PSP) reduction 

provision applies to RRA annuities.

Regulations pertaining to the 

collection of evidence relating to public 

service pensions or worker’s 

compensation paid to spouse or 

survivor applicants or annuitants are 

found in 20 CFR 219.64c.

The RRB utilizes Form G–208, Public 

Service Pension Questionnaire, and 

Form G–212, Public Service Monitoring 

Questionnaire, to obtain information 

used to determine whether an annuity 

reduction is in order. The RRB proposes 

a minor non-burden impacting editorial 

change to Form G–208. Form G–212 is 

being revised to add additional 

questions needed to accurately adjust an 

annuitant’s monthly benefit. The new 

questions are intended to eliminate the