Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 243 / Thursday, December 18, 1997 / Proposed Rules 66319

Transport Airplane Directorate. Operators

shall submit their requests through an

appropriate FAA Principal Maintenance

Inspector, who may add comments and then

send it to the Manager, International Branch,

ANM–116.

Note 2: Information concerning the

existence of approved alternative methods of

compliance with this AD, if any, may be

obtained from the International Branch,

ANM–116.

(c) Special flight permits may be issued in

accordance with §§ 21.197 and 21.199 of the

Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR 21.197

and 21.199) to operate the airplane to a

location where the requirements of this AD

can be accomplished.

Note 3: The subject of this AD is addressed

in Dutch airworthiness directive 93–055 (A),

dated April 23, 1993.

Issued in Renton, Washington, on

December 11, 1997.

Gilbert L. Thompson,

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.

[FR Doc. 97–32996 Filed 12–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–U

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION

29 CFR Part 4022

RIN 1212–AA87

PBGC Recoupment and

Reimbursement of Benefit

Overpayments and Underpayments

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation proposes to amend its

regulation governing recoupment of

benefit overpayments in trusteed plans

to stop the reduction of monthly

benefits under its actuarial recoupment

method once the amount of the benefit

overpayment is repaid. The amendment

also makes other related changes.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before January 20, 1998.

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

the above address. Comments also may

be sent by Internet e-mail to

reg.comments@pbgc.gov. Comments

will be available for inspection at the

PBGC’s Communications and Public

Affairs Department in Suite 240 at the

above address during normal business

hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General

Counsel, or James L. Beller, Attorney,

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,

Office of the General Counsel, Suite 340,

1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC

20005–4026, 202–326–4024. For TTY/

TDD users, call the Federal relay service

toll free at 1–800–877–8339 and ask to

be connected to 202–325–4024.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Some

participants and beneficiaries in PBGCtrusteed plans receive benefit payments

in excess of their entitlements under

Title IV of ERISA after plan termination

and before the PBGC determines their

benefit entitlements. Under the PBGC’s

current recoupment regulation, unless a

participant or beneficiary elects to repay

a benefit overpayment in a single

payment, the overpayment is recouped

through a permanent actuarial reduction

in future benefit payments.

When overpayments are made,

recipients are generally unaware that

they are receiving amounts in excess of

their entitlements. In effect,

overpayments are unsolicited loans.

Many participants and beneficiaries are

unable to afford to repay the

overpayment in a single payment and

thus cannot avoid permanent actuarial

reductions. Participant and beneficiary

inquiries reflect their difficulty

understanding why the PBGC would

continue to reduce their monthly benefit

beyond the time the PBGC has fully

recouped the amount of the

overpayment.

The PBGC proposes to revise the

regulation to provide that recoupment

will cease when the amount of the

overpayment is repaid. This will help to

minimize hardship to participants and

beneficiaries as well as to cut down the

number of participant and beneficiary

inquiries about recoupment, thereby

reducing burden both on them and the

PBGC. The amendment also gives the

PBGC flexibility to waive recoupment of

de minimis amounts and to accept

repayment ahead of the recoupment

schedule, and modifies the rules

governing calculation of net

overpayments and underpayments.

E.O. 12866 and the Regulatory

Flexibility Act

The PBGC has determined that this

proposed rule is not a ‘‘significant

regulatory action’’ under the criteria set

forth in Executive Order 12866.

This rule affects only individuals.

Therefore, the PBGC certifies that, if

adopted, the amendment will not have

a significant economic effect on a

substantial number of small entities.

Accordingly, as provided in section

605(b) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act,

sections 603 and 604 do not apply.

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 4022

Pension insurance, Pensions.

For the reasons set forth above, the

PBGC proposes to amend 29 CFR Part

4022, subpart E as follows:

PART 4022—BENEFITS PAYABLE IN

TERMINATED SINGLE EMPLOYER

PLANS

1. The authority citation for part 4022

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1302, 1322, 1322b,

1341(c)(3)(D) and 1344.

2. In § 4022.81, paragraph (a) is

amended by removing the last two

sentences, adding a new phrase, and

paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) in their

place, and revising paragraphs (c) and

(d)(2) to read as follows:

§ 4022.81 General rules.

(a) Recoupment of benefit

overpayments. * * *

Notwithstanding the previous

sentence, the PBGC may, in its

discretion—

(1) Decide not to recoup net

overpayments that it determines to be

de minimis; and

(2) Recover overpayments by methods

other than recouping in accordance with

the rules in this subpart. The PBGC will

not normally do so unless net benefits

paid after the termination date exceed

those to which a participant or

beneficiary is entitled under the terms

of the plan before any reductions under

subpart D.

* * * * *

(c) Payments subject to recoupment or

reimbursement. The PBGC shall recoup

net overpayments made on or after the

latest of the proposed termination date,

the termination date, or, if no notice of

intent to terminate was issued, the date

on which proceedings to terminate the

plan are instituted pursuant to section

4042 of ERISA, and shall reimburse net

underpayments made on or after the

termination date.

(d) Interest. * * *

(2) Receipt of both overpayments and

underpayments. If both benefit

overpayments and benefit

underpayments are made with respect

to a participant, the PBGC shall compare

the net overpayment or underpayment

calculated without interest to the net

overpayment or underpayment

calculated with interest. (The interest

calculation shall be made by charging or

crediting interest from the first day of

the month after the date of payment to

the first day of the month in which

recoupment begins.) Of these two net

amounts, the PBGC shall use the one

more favorable to the participant or
66320 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 243 / Thursday, December 18, 1997 / Proposed Rules

beneficiary in applying either

§§ 4022.81 and 4022.82 or §§ 4022.81

and 4022.83, as applicable.

3. Section 4022.82 is amended by

removing the words, ‘‘lump sum’’, in

paragraph (a)(3) and adding, in their

place, the words, ‘‘single payment’’, and

by revising paragraph (a) introductory

text and the heading of paragraph (b) to

read as follows:

§ 4022.82 Method of recoupment.

(a) Future benefit reduction. Unless a

participant or beneficiary elects

otherwise under paragraph (b) of this

section, the PBGC shall recoup

overpayments of benefits in accordance

with this paragraph. The PBGC shall

reduce the amount of each future benefit

payment to which the participant or any

beneficiary is entitled by the fraction

determined under paragraphs (a)(1) and

(a)(2) of this section, except that benefit

reduction will cease when the amount

of the net benefit overpayment is

recouped. Notwithstanding the

preceding sentence, the PBGC may

accept repayment ahead of the

recoupment schedule. Recoupment

under this section constitutes full

repayment of the net benefit

overpayment.

* * * * *

(b) Single payment. * * *

Issued in Washington, D.C. this 12th day

of December, 1997.

David M. Strauss,

Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 97–33028 Filed 12–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 21

RIN 2900–AI88

Veterans’ Education: Effective Date for

Awards of Educational Assistance to

Veterans Who Were Voluntarily

Discharged

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This document proposes to

amend the educational-assistance and

educational-benefit regulations of the

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It

proposes to establish effective dates of

awards of educational assistance to

certain voluntarily discharged veterans

who are eligible for the Montgomery GI

Bill—Active Duty (MGIB). The effective

dates are intended to correspond with a

statutory mandate for the effective dates.

The proposed rule also clarifies that

these veterans may not receive

educational assistance for training that

occurs before they pay the Federal

government $1,200.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before February 17, 1998.

Applicability Dates: It is proposed

that the effective dates be made

retroactive from the effective dates of

the statutory provisions. For more

information concerning the proposed

effective dates, see the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver written

comments to: Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Ave., NW, Room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420. Comments

should indicate that they are submitted

in response to ‘‘RIN 2900-AI88.’’ All

written comments will be available for

public inspection at the above address

in the Office of Regulations

Management, Room 1158, between the

hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday

through Friday (except holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June

C. Schaeffer, Assistant Director for

Policy and Program Administration,

Education Service, Veterans Benefits

Administration, 202–273–7187.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

document clarifies 38 CFR part 21,

subpart K, regarding the effective dates

for awards of educational assistance to

certain voluntarily discharged veterans.

Pub. L. 102–484 (sec. 4404, 38 U.S.C.

3018B) allows a veteran who was

voluntarily separated under either 10

U.S.C. 1174a or 1175 before Oct. 23,

1992, to elect to receive educational

assistance under the Montgomery GI

Bill—Active Duty. The veteran was

given until Oct. 23, 1993, to do so. The

law also requires such a veteran to

submit $1,200 to VA as a condition of

receiving such educational assistance.

However, the law does not specify a

time limit for submitting the $1,200 and

the proposed rule clarifies that there is

no such time limit.

The effective date of an award also is

affected by when VA received the

$1,200. VA is required by 38 U. S. C.

5113 to make the effective dates of the

award of educational assistance, to the

extent feasible, correspond to the

effective dates relating to awards of

disability compensation. The provisions

of 38 U.S.C. 5110 and 5111 contain the

rules for determining the effective date

of an award of disability compensation.

The general intent of 38 U.S.C. 5110 is

to allow the effective date of an award

of compensation to be the day following

the date of discharge if application is

filed within one year after discharge.

Otherwise, the earliest date of the award

shall be the date of receipt of

application. Further, 38 U.S.C. 5103

provides, as to benefit claims generally,

that information or evidence necessary

to complete the claim must be

submitted within one year of the date

requested by VA; otherwise, no benefits

are payable based on that claim.

Accordingly, when payment of the

$1,200 must be made as a condition of

receiving benefits, it is proposed to

establish effective dates for educational

assistance consistent with the

provisions of 38 U.S.C. 5103 and 5110.

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs

hereby certifies that this proposed rule

will not have a significant economic

impact on a substantial number of small

entities as they are defined in the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601–

612. The proposed rule will affect

individual, not small entities. Therefore,

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), this

proposed rule is exempt from the initial

and final regulatory flexibility analyses

requirements of sections 603 and 604.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number for the program

affected by this proposed rule is 64.124.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 21

Administrative practice and

procedure, Armed forces, Civil rights,

Claims, Colleges and universities,

Conflict of interests, Defense

Department, Education, Educational

institutions, Employment, Grant

programs—education, Grant programs—

veterans, Health care, Loan programs—

education, Loan programs—veterans,

Manpower training programs, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements, Travel

and transportation expenses, Veterans,

Vocational education, Vocational

rehabilitation.

Approved: December 5, 1997.

Hershel W. Gober,

Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set out above, 38 CFR

part 21, subpart K, is proposed to be

amended as set forth below.

Subpart K—All Volunteer Force

Educational Assistance Program

(Montgomery GI Bill—Active Duty)

1. The authority citation for subpart K

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), chs. 30 and 36,

unless otherwise noted.

2. In § 21.7131, paragraph (n) is added

to read as follows:

§ 21.7131 Commencing dates.

* * * * *

(n) Eligibility established under

§ 21.7045(c). The effective date of an