[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 201 (Friday, October 17, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54138-54139]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-27705]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION


Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment 
Request; Payment of Premiums

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 the collection of 
information under its regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR Part 
4007), including Form 1-ES, Form 1, and Schedule A to Form 1, and 
related instructions (OMB control number 1212-0009; expires February 
28, 1998). The collection of information also includes a certification 
(on Schedule A) of compliance with requirements to provide certain 
notices to participants under the PBGC's regulation on Disclosure to 
Participants (29 CFR Part 4011), and surveys of plan

[[Page 54139]]

administrators to assess compliance with those requirements. 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 November 17, 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.
    Copies of the collection of information may be obtained without 
charge by writing to the PBGC's Communications and Public Affairs 
Department at the address given above or calling 202-326-4040. (For TTY 
and TDD, call 800-877-8339 and request connection to 202-326-4040). The 
premium payment regulation can be accessed on the PBGC's home page at 
http://www.pbgc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah C. Murphy, Attorney, or Harold 
J. Ashner, Assistant General Counsel, 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: 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 certain forms prescribed by the PBGC, and 
Sec. 4007.10 requires plans to retain and make available to the PBGC 
records supporting or validating the computation of premiums paid.
    The forms prescribed are PBGC Form 1-ES and Form 1 and (for single-
employer plans only) Schedule A to Form 1. Form 1-ES is issued, with 
instructions, in the PBGC's Estimated Premium Payment Package. Form 1 
and Schedule A are issued, with instructions, in the PBGC's Annual 
Premium Payment Package.
    The premium forms are needed to determine the amount and record the 
payment of PBGC premiums, and the submission of forms and retention and 
submission of 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 of the premium payment forms 
each year. The PBGC uses the information on the premium payment forms 
to identify the plans paying premiums and to verify whether plans are 
paying the correct amounts. 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 Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation's guarantee of plan benefits. The participant notice 
requirement only applies (subject to certain exemptions) to plans that 
must pay a variable rate premium. In order to monitor compliance with 
Part 4011, plan administrators must indicate on Schedule A to Form 1 
that the participant notice requirements have been complied with. The 
PBGC has also conducted surveys of plan administrators to assess 
compliance.
    The collection of information under the regulation on Payment of 
Premiums, including Form 1-ES, Form 1, and Schedule A to Form 1, and 
related instructions has been approved by OMB under control number 
1212-0009 through February 28, 1998. This collection of information 
also includes the certification and surveys of compliance with the 
participant notice requirements (but not the participant notices 
themselves). The PBGC is requesting that OMB extend its approval of 
this collection of information for another three years. (The 
participant notices constitute a different collection of information 
that has been separately approved by OMB.)
    Under the Retirement Protection Act of 1994, certain special 
premium rules for regulated public utility company plans cease to apply 
for plan years beginning after 1997. The premium forms and instructions 
are being revised for 1998 to reflect this change. The revised forms 
and instructions will also include provisions regarding the use of 
electronic funds transfers as an optional form of payment for premiums 
and for PBGC payment of premium refunds, and will permit plan 
administrators whose filings are prepared by consultants to request 
that the PBGC no longer send them unneeded forms packages. In addition, 
reporting of plan-to-plan transfers will now be required only where the 
transferor plan ceases to exist, rather than in all cases.
    The 1998 forms and instructions will eliminate multiple repetition 
of the rules regarding the date as of which the premium is calculated 
by using a new defined term, ``premium snapshot date,'' for this 
purpose. Instructions and line items for variable-rate premium 
exemptions (which are relatively brief) are being placed before those 
for non-exempt filing methods to save exempt filers from having to read 
through the relatively lengthy filing method descriptions.
    The 1998 Form 1 will also give plans a way to notify the PBGC of 
their participation in the PBGC's new premium ``self-audit'' program. 
Under this program, plans could elect to engage independent auditors to 
review their premium filings as part of the regular plan audit cycle. 
The PBGC expects to announce details about the ``self-audit'' program 
within the next few months.
    Other appropriate revisions (e.g., clarifying and editorial 
changes) are also being made.
    The PBGC estimates that it receives responses annually from about 
49,500 plan administrators and that the total annual burden of the 
collection of information is about 4,042.5 hours and $11,236,125.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 15th day of October, 1997.
David M. Strauss,
Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 97-27705 Filed 10-16-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P