[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 144 (Monday, July 28, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 40391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19812]


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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment 
Request; Procedures for PBGC Approval of Multiemployer Plan Amendments

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') is 
requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') extend 
approval, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of a collection of 
information in its regulation on Procedures for PBGC Approval of Plan 
Amendments (29 CFR part 4220). This notice informs the public of the 
PBGC's request and solicits public comment on the collection of 
information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by August 27, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: 
Desk Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Washington, DC 
20503. The request for extension will be available for public 
inspection at the Communications and Public Affairs Department of the 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, suite 240, 1200 K Street, NW., 
Washington, DC, 20005-4026, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on business days.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah C. Murphy, Attorney, office of 
the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024. (For TTY and TDD, 
call 800-877-8339 and request connection to 202-326-4024).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PBGC administers the pension plan 
termination insurance programs under Title IV of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (``ERISA''). Section 
4220 of ERISA requires the plan sponsor of a multiemployer pension plan 
covered by Title IV of ERISA to submit for PBGC review certain plan 
amendments authorized by ERISA sections 4201 through 4219. Plan 
amendments under those sections deal with modification of the statutory 
provisions regarding when a withdrawal from a multiemployer plan occurs 
and how the withdrawing employer's withdrawal liability is determined. 
Any such amendment is effective only if, within 90 days after receiving 
notice and a copy of the amendment, the PBGC approves it or fails to 
disapprove it. The PBGC may disapprove an amendment only if it 
determines that the amendment creates an unreasonable risk of loss to 
plan participants and beneficiaries or to the PBGC.
    The PBGC's regulation on Procedures for PBGC Approval of Plan 
Amendments (29 CFR part 4220) includes, in Sec. 4220.3, rules for 
requesting the PBGC's approval of an amendment. (The regulation may be 
accessed on the PBGC's home page at http://www.pbgc.gov.) Section 
4220.3(d) requires the submission of information that the PBGC needs to 
identify a plan and evaluate the risk of loss, if any, posed by the 
amendment (and, hence, determine whether it should disapprove the 
amendment). The regulation also permits submission of other information 
that the plan sponsor may consider pertinent to the request.
    The collection of information under the regulation has been 
approved by OMB under control number 1212-0031. The PBGC is requesting 
that OMB extend its approval for three years. The PBGC estimates that 
it receives three submissions annually under the regulation and that 
each submission costs the submitting plan about $165 to have prepared 
by an outside consultant, for a total annual cost burden of $495.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 23rd day of July, 1997.
David M. Strauss,
Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 97-19812 Filed 7-25-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P