```

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90320-90321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26664]

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

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment 
Request; Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Submitted to Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval of an 
information collection, with modifications.

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

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is requesting 
that the Office of Management and Budget extend approval, under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act, of the collection of information (with 
modifications) (OMB Control Number 1212-0054, expires January 31, 2025) 
related to PBGC's booklet, Qualified Domestic Relations Orders & PBGC. 
This notice informs the public of PBGC's intent and solicits public 
comment on the collection of information.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by December 16, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    All comments received will be posted without change to PBGC's 
website, www.pbgc.gov, including any personally identifiable 
information provided. Do not submit comments that include any 
personally identifiable information or confidential business 
information.
    A copy of the request will be posted on PBGC's website at 
www.pbgc.gov/prac/laws-and-regulation/federal-register-notices-open-for-comment. Itmay also be obtained without charge by writing to the 
Disclosure Division ([email protected]), Office of the General 
Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20024-2101; or, calling 202-229-4040 during normal 
business hours. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, or have a speech 
disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay 
services.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Levin ([email protected]), 
Attorney, Regulatory Affairs Division, Office of the General Counsel, 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20024-2101; 202-229-3559. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, or 
have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access 
telecommunications relay services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A defined benefit pension plan that does not 
have enough money to pay benefits may be terminated if the employer 
responsible for the plan faces severe financial difficulty, such as 
bankruptcy, and is unable to maintain the plan. In such an event, PBGC 
becomes trustee of the plan and pays benefits, subject to legal limits, 
to plan participants and beneficiaries.
    The benefits of a pension plan participant generally may not be 
assigned or alienated. Title I of ERISA provides an exception for 
domestic relations orders (DRO) that relate to child support, alimony 
payments, or marital property rights of an alternate payee (a spouse, 
former spouse, child, or other dependent of a plan participant). The 
exception applies only if the DRO meets specific legal requirements 
that make it a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO).
    When PBGC is trustee of a plan, it reviews submitted domestic 
relations orders to determine whether the order is qualified before 
paying benefits to an alternate payee. The requirements for submitting 
a domestic relations order and the contents of such orders are 
established by statute. The models and the guidance provided by PBGC 
assist parties by making it easier for them to

[[Page 90321]]

comply with ERISA's QDRO requirements in plans trusteed by PBGC; they 
do not create any additional requirements and result in a reduction of 
the statutory burden.
    The existing collection of information was approved under OMB 
control number 1212-0054, expiring on January 31, 2025. On August 8, 
2024, PBGC published in the Federal Register (at 89 FR 64965), a notice 
informing the public of its intent to request an extension of this 
collection of information, as modified. PBGC is adding one term and is 
clarifying other terms in the Glossary and is making other clarifying 
changes to the QDRO booklet. No comments were received. PBGC is 
requesting that OMB extend approval of the collection with 
modifications for 3 years. 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.
    PBGC estimates that it will receive approximately 253 domestic 
relations orders each year from prospective alternate payees and 
participants. PBGC further estimates that the total average annual 
burden of this collection of information will be approximately 190 
hours and $177,100.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Hilary Duke,
Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2024-26664 Filed 11-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-02-P
```