Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / Notices 68421

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

Proposed Submission of Information 

Collections for OMB Review; Comment 

Request; Payment of Premiums; Filing, 

Issuance, Computation of Time, and 

Record Retention

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of intention to request 

OMB approval of revision of collections 

of information. 

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation (‘‘PBGC’’) intends to 

request Office of Management and 

Budget (‘‘OMB’’) approval, under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, of revisions 

of the collections of information under 

its regulations on Payment of Premiums 

(29 CFR part 4007) (OMB control 

number 1212–0009; expires November 

30, 2006) and on Filing, Issuance, 

Computation of Time, and Record 

Retention (29 CFR part 4000) (OMB 

control number 1212–0059; expires 

October 31, 2006). Collection of 

information 1212–0009 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 collections of information 

to provide for an alternative means of 

electronic filing of premium 

information, in addition to the PBGC’s 

existing e-filing method using ‘‘My Plan 

Administration Account’’ (‘‘My PAA’’) 

through the PBGC’s Web site. The 

alternative e-filing method is being 

developed in connection with an 

anticipated PBGC proposal to require 

electronic premium filing in the near 

future. This notice informs the public of 

the PBGC’s intent and solicits public 

comment on the collections of 

information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

by January 24, 2005.

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 http://www.pbgc.gov/paperwork, 

or by fax to 202–326–4112. The PBGC 

will make all comments available on its 

Web site at http://www.pbgc.gov. 

Copies of the collections 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 tollfree at 1–800–877–8339 and ask to be 

connected to 202–326–4040.) The 

premium payment, participant notice, 

and filing regulations and the paper 

premium forms and instructions for 

2004 and prior years can be accessed on 

the PBGC’s Web site at http://

www.pbgc.gov; the My PAA forms and 

instructions can also be accessed 

through the Web site by My PAA users.

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 refers filers to subpart A 

of its regulation on Filing, Issuance, 

Computation of Time, and Record 

Retention (29 CFR part 4000) for rules 

on permissible filing methods. Section 

4007.10 of the premium payment 

regulation requires plans to retain and 

make available to the PBGC records 

supporting or validating the 

computation of premiums paid. Subpart 

A of part 4000 states the methods that 

may be used for sending a filing to the 

PBGC. (Payments are treated as filings.) 

The PBGC has prescribed a series of 

paper premium forms: Form 1–ES, Form 

1–EZ, and Form 1 and (for singleemployer plans only) Schedule A to 

Form 1. Form 1–ES is issued, with 

instructions, in the PBGC’s Estimated 

Premium Payment Package. Form 1–EZ, 

Form 1, and Schedule A are issued, 

with instructions, in the PBGC’s Annual 

Premium Payment Package. In addition, 

the PBGC provides for premium filing 

through an electronic facility, ‘‘My Plan 

Administration Account’’ (‘‘MyPAA’’), 

on its Web site at http://www.pbgc.gov. 

The forms that filers prepare using My 

PAA are not in the same format as the 

paper premium forms, but they solicit 

the same premium information. 

Premium forms are used to report the 

computation, determine the amount, 

and record the payment of PBGC 

premiums. The submission of premium 

information and retention and 

submission of premium 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 PBGC’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 in 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, 

corresponding My PAA electronic 

forms, and related instructions has been 

approved by the Office of Management 

and Budget (‘‘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 collection of information under 

the regulation on Filing, Issuance, 

Computation of Time, and Record 

Retention has been approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) under control number 1212–

0059.

The PBGC is revising the collections 

of information to provide for a new 

alternative means of electronic filing of 

premium information, in addition to the 

existing MyPAA application. The PBGC 

intends to establish standards, for the 

structure and submission of files 

containing premium filing information, 

that can be incorporated in privatesector premium filing software to permit 

users of such software to submit their

68422 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / Notices 

premium filings to the PBGC 

electronically. This alternative e-filing 

method is being developed in 

connection with an anticipated PBGC 

proposal to require electronic premium 

filing in the near future. 

In connection with and as part of the 

new filing standards, the PBGC is 

providing for a new method for 

certifying premium filings made using 

private-sector software. Currently, a 

plan’s premium filing must be certified 

by the plan administrator and, in many 

cases, also by an enrolled actuary. My 

PAA, which uses interactive software on 

the PBGC’s Web site, permits both a 

plan administrator and an enrolled 

actuary to certify the same filing, but the 

PBGC anticipates that private-sector 

software developers will find it difficult 

or impossible to implement such a 

feature, which requires both the plan 

administrator and the enrolled actuary 

to access the same filing electronically. 

Accordingly, the PBGC is introducing 

a new premium filing certification 

methodology for premium filings made 

with private-sector software. The new 

methodology requires one responsible 

person (who may but need not be either 

the plan administrator or the enrolled 

actuary) to certify a private-sector 

software premium filing. If the 

responsible person is not the plan 

administrator, the certification will also 

state that the responsible person is 

authorized to act by the plan 

administrator and has a written 

representation from the plan 

administrator that the filing is proper. If 

the responsible person is not the 

enrolled actuary, the certification for a 

filing that includes actuarial items 

(variable-rate premium computations or 

certain variable-rate premium 

exemptions) will also state that the 

responsible person has a written 

representation from the enrolled actuary 

that the actuarial items in the filing are 

proper. The responsible person may be 

either the plan administrator or the 

enrolled actuary, and if not, must be at 

an appropriate level of authority, such 

as an officer of the plan sponsor. 

The PBGC intends to request that 

OMB approve this revision of the 

collections of 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 estimates that it will 

receive premium filings annually from 

about 28,900 plan administrators and 

that the total annual burden of the 

collection of information will be about 

3,478 hours and $18,172,550. (These 

estimates include paper and electronic 

filings.) 

The PBGC is soliciting public 

comments to—

• Evaluate whether the collections of 

information are 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 

collection of information 1212–0009, 

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 

collections 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 19th day of 

November, 2004. 

Stuart A. Sirkin, 

Director, Corporate Policy and Research 

Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 04–26051 Filed 11–23–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

2005 Railroad Experience Rating 

Proclamations, Monthly Compensation 

Base and Other Determinations

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 8(c)(2) 

and section 12(r)(3) of the Railroad 

Unemployment Insurance Act (Act) (45 

U.S.C. 358(c)(2) and 45 U.S.C. 362(r)(3), 

respectively), the Board gives notice of 

the following: 

1. The balance to the credit of the 

Railroad Unemployment Insurance 

(RUI) Account, as of June 30, 2004, is 

$98,626,277.48; 

2. The September 30, 2004, balance of 

any new loans to the RUI Account, 

including accrued interest, is zero; 

3. The system compensation base is 

$3,119,631,126.68 as of June 30, 2004; 

4. The cumulative system unallocated 

charge balance is ($257,789,781.80) as of 

June 30, 2004; 

5. The pooled credit ratio for calendar 

year 2005 is zero; 

6. The pooled charged ratio for 

calendar year 2005 is zero; 

7. The surcharge rate for calendar year 

2005 is 1.5 percent; 

8. The monthly compensation base 

under section 1(i) of the Act is $1,150 

for months in calendar year 2005; 

9. The amount described in section 

1(k) of the Act as ‘‘2.5 times the monthly 

compensation base’’ is $2,875 for base 

year (calendar year) 2005; 

10. The amount described in section 

2(c) of the Act as ‘‘an amount that bears 

the same ratio to $775 as the monthly 

compensation base for that year as 

computed under section 1(i) of this Act 

bears to $600’’ is $1,485 for months in 

calendar year 2005; 

11. The amount described in section 

3 of the Act as ‘‘2.5 times the monthly 

compensation base’’ is $2,875 for base 

year (calendar year) 2005; 

12. The amount described in section 

4(a–2)(i)(A) of the Act as ‘‘2.5 times the 

monthly compensation base’’ is $2,875 

with respect to disqualifications ending 

in calendar year 2005; 

13. The maximum daily benefit rate 

under section 2(a)(3) of the Act is $56 

with respect to days of unemployment 

and days of sickness in registration 

periods beginning after June 30, 2005.

DATES: The balance in notice (1) and the 

determinations made in notices (3) 

through (7) are based on data as of June 

30, 2004. The balance in notice (2) is 

based on data as of September 30, 2004. 

The determinations made in notices (5) 

through (7) apply to the calculation, 

under section 8(a)(1)(C) of the Act, of 

employer contribution rates for 2005. 

The determinations made in notices (8) 

through (12) are effective January 1, 

2005. The determination made in notice 

(13) is effective for registration periods 

beginning after June 30, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Secretary to the Board, 

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 Rush 

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611–2092.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marla L. Huddleston, Bureau of the 

Actuary, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 

Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611–

2092, telephone (312) 751–4779.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RRB 

is required by section 8(c)(1) of the 

Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act 

(Act) (45 U.S.C. 358(c)(1)) as amended 

by Public Law 100–647, to proclaim by 

October 15 of each year certain systemwide factors used in calculating 

experience-based employer contribution 

rates for the following year. The RRB is 

further required by section 8(c)(2) of the 

Act (45 U.S.C. 358(c)(2)) to publish the 

amounts so determined and proclaimed. 

The RRB is required by section 12(r)(3) 

of the Act (45 U.S.C. 362(r)(3)) to 

publish by December 11, 2004, the 

computation of the calendar year 2005 

monthly compensation base (section 1(i) 

of the Act) and amounts described in