Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 / Notices 34487

use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology,

e.g., permitting electronic submissions

of responses.

A copy of the proposed information

collection request can be obtained by

contacting the employee listed below in

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section of this notice.

DATES: Submit comments on or before

August 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Patricia

W. Silvery, Director, Office of

Standards, Regulations, and Variances,

4015 Wilson Boulevard, Room 627,

Arlington, VA 22203–1984. Commenters

are encouraged to send their comments

on a computer disk, or via E-mail to

psilvey@msha.gov, along with an

original printed copy. Ms. Silvey can be

reached at (703) 235–1910 (voice) or

(703) 235–5551 (facsimile).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Theresa M. O’Malley, Program Analysis

Officer, Director, Office of Program

Evaluation and Information Resources,

U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Safety

and Health Administration, Room 715,

4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA

22203–1948. Mrs. O’Malley can be

reached at tomalley@msha.vog (Internet

E-mail), (703) 235–1470 (voice), or (703)

235–1563 (facsimile).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Background

The Self-Rescue devices are subjected

to harsh in-mine conditions that may

result in damage to the device which

could cause the device to malfunction

or provide less than adequate

protection. The 90-day examination of

the device is necessary in order to

provide for early detection of potential

problems that would otherwise go

undetected. Requiring the mine operator

to certify the examination was made and

to record any identified defects gives

credibility to the program and decreases

the likelihood of a person being

required to use a device that may not

function as designed. In addition, this

information is useful in determining

how durable a device may be when

subjected to the harsh conditions that

are encountered during in-mine use.

This allows for early detection of design

problems that may require the

manufacturer to make changes to a

device in order to assure the device will

continue to function as designed and

provide adequate protection in the event

of an emergency.

II. Current Actions

In 1997, a large number of problems

were identified with self-rescue devices

that indicated either the 90-day

examinations were not being conducted,

or defective devices were not being

removed from service. As a result of

these problems, MSHA issued a

Program Information Bulletin reminding

the industry of the standard requiring

the 90-day examination and certification

of the self-rescue devices, and requiring

devices that fail the 90-day examination

to be removed from service. In addition,

MSHA increased the inspection effort to

include quarterly evaluation of the mine

operators records as well as a physical

examination of a representative number

of self-rescue devices. However, due to

the large number of devices in use in the

mining industry (approximately 50,000

devices), it is essential that mine

operators continue to certify that the 90-

day examination was conducted on each

device, and record the results for

devices that failed the 90-day

examination. Although MSHA has

increased the enforcement effort, the

large number of devices in use in the

mining industry make it impractical for

MSHA to be able to examine each of the

devices quarterly.

Type of Review: Extension.

Agency: Mine Safety and Health

Administration.

Title: Records of Results of

Examinations of Self-Rescuers.

OMB Number: 1219–0044.

Agency Number: MSHA 243.

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit.

Cite/Reference/Form/Etc: 30 CFR

75.1714–3.

Total Respondents: 1,284.

Frequency: Quarterly.

Total Responses: 4,000.

Average Time per Response: 30

minutes.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,000

hours.

Estimated Total Burden Cost:

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): 0.

Total Burden Cost (operating/

maintaining): $86,000).

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for Office of

Management and Budget approval of the

information collection request; they will

also become a matter of public record.

Dated: June 19, 1998.

Theresa M. O’Malley,

Acting Director, Program Evaluation and

Information Resources.

[FR Doc. 98–16805 Filed 6–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–43–M

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation;

Proposed Extension/Reinstatement of

Information Collection Request

Submitted for Public Comment and

Recommendations

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, the

Internal Revenue Service, and the

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

(the Agencies), as part of their

continuing efforts to reduce paperwork

and respondent burden, conduct a

preclearance consultation program to

provide the general public and other

federal agencies with an opportunity to

comment on proposed and continuing

collections of information in accordance

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

This program helps to ensure that

requested data is provided in the

desired format, reporting burden (time

and financial resources) is minimized,

collection instruments are clearly

understood, and the impact of collection

requirements on respondents can be

properly assessed. By this notice, the

Agencies are soliciting comments

concerning the proposed extension/

reinstatement of approval of this

collection of information—the Form

5500 Series, Annual Return/Report of

Employee Benefit Plan—for the 1998

plan year. A copy of the proposed

information collection request (ICR) can

be obtained by contacting the office

listed below in the addressee section of

this notice. Although the 1998 Form

5500 Series is not yet available, it is not

expected at this time to differ materially

from the 1997 Form 5500 Series.

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted to the office listed in the

addressee section below on or before

August 24, 1998. The Agencies are

particularly interested in comments

that:

• Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the agencies, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;

• Evaluate the accuracy of the

agencies’ estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;
34488 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 / Notices

• Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected;

• Comment on estimates of capital or

startup costs and costs of operation,

maintenance, and purchase of services

to provide information; and

• Minimize the burden of the

collection 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.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are

invited to submit written comments

regarding the collection of information.

Send comments to Mr. Gerald B.

Lindrew, Office of Policy and Research,

U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and

Welfare Benefits Administration, 200

Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N–

5647, Washington, DC 20210.

Telephone: (202) 219–4782 (this is not

a toll-free number). All comments will

be shared among the Agencies.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On September 3, 1997, the Agencies

published a Notice of Proposed Revision

of Annual Information Return/Reports

(September 3 Notice) in the Federal

Register (62 FR 46556) to streamline

and simplify the annual return/report

forms filed for pension, welfare and

fringe benefit plans under the Employee

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,

as amended (ERISA), and the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the

Code).

The Agencies anticipate that the

revision of the annual return/report

form (Form 5500 Series) will be

finalized and available for use for plan

years which begin in 1999 (see the

Agencies’ notice concerning their

submission of the revised Form 5500

Series to OMB for review and approval,

also published in today’s Federal

Register). OMB approval for the existing

Form 5500 Series will expire prior to

implementation of the proposal to revise

the Form 5500 Series. As a result, the

Agencies are requesting an extension/

reinstatement of the current ICR through

the filing period for the 1998 Form 5500

Series.

The Form 5500 Series is the primary

source of information concerning the

operation, funding, assets and

investments of pension and other

employee benefit plans. In addition to

being an important disclosure document

for plan participants and beneficiaries,

the Form 5500 is a compliance and

research tool for the Agencies, and a

source of information for use by other

federal agencies, Congress, and the

private sector in assessing employee

benefit, tax, and economic trends and

policies.

The Agencies solicited comments on

the ICR included in the September 3

Notice, and specifically requested

comments on the Agencies’ estimates of

burden hours and burden estimation

methodologies. The Agencies received

comments indicating that estimates of

the time required to collect the

information and prepare the forms and

related schedules were unrealistically

low. In an effort to respond to those

comments, the Agencies are currently in

the process of evaluating the existing

burden estimation methodologies to

develop a revised and uniform burden

estimation methodology. However, the

burden hour estimates in this Notice are

based on the methodologies described

in the September 3 Notice, pending the

availability of revised burden estimates.

To avoid unnecessary duplication of

public comments, the supplementary

Paperwork Reduction Act information

published in the September 3 Notice is

incorporated herein by this reference in

its entirety, and comments submitted

thereon addressing the Agencies’

burden estimates will be treated as

comments on this Notice of Proposed

Extension/Reinstatement of Information

Collection Request.

II. Current Actions

The Agencies intend to request an

extension/reinstatement of the currently

approved ICR through the filing period

for the 1998 Form 5500 Series because

the new forms are not scheduled to be

implemented until 1999 plan years.

Although the 1998 Form 5500 Series

is not yet available, it is not expected at

this time to differ materially from the

1997 Form 5500 Series. However, the

following limited changes have been

made to the 1997 Form 5500 Series as

of the date of this notice.

Schedule B: Technical revisions to

reflect requirements for 1998 plan years

(e.g., elimination of the box for

‘‘condition code’’ on line 12a in Part II

of Schedule B, resulting from an

amendment to the Code).

Schedule F: The Taxpayer Relief Act

of 1997 amended Code section 6039D to

include adoption assistance programs.

As a result, a checkbox was added to

line 2 of Schedule F to indicate that the

fringe benefit plan is an adoption

assistance program.

Agencies: Department of Labor,

Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration (DOL, PWBA);

Department of the Treasury, Internal

Revenue Service (IRS); Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

Title: Form 5500, Form 5500–C/R and

Schedules.

Type of Review: Extension of a

currently approved collection for

Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration and Internal Revenue

Service; reinstatement without change

of an expired collection for Pension

Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

OMB Numbers: 1210–0016 (Pension

and Welfare Benefits Administration);

1545–0710 (Internal Revenue Service);

1212–0026 (Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation).

Affected Public: Individuals or

households; Business or other for-profit;

Not-for-profit institutions.

Form Number: Form 5500, Form

5500–C/R and Schedules.

Total Respondents: 801,934 for PWBA

and PBGC; 901,400 for IRS.

Total Responses: 801,934 for PWBA

and PBGC; 901,400 for IRS.

Frequency of Response: Annually.

Estimated Burden Hours, Total

Annual Burden: 1.68 million burden

hours (using the PWBA methodology) to

56.4 million burden hours (using the

IRS methodology) for preparing the

Form 5500 Series and filing it with the

government. This total burden is shared

among the Agencies. See the September

3 Notice for detailed information on the

burden estimation methodology.

Comments submitted in response to

this comment request will be

summarized and/or included in the

request for Office of Management and

Budget approval of the information

collection request; they will also

become a matter of public record.

Dated: June 18, 1998.

Gerald B. Lindrew,

Deputy Director, Office of Policy and

Research, Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration.

Garrick R. Shear,

IRS Reports Clearance Officer.

Stuart A. Sirkin,

Director, Corporate Policy and Research

Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 98–16790 Filed 6–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–29–P

NORTHEAST DAIRY COMPACT

COMMISSION

Notice of Meeting

SUMMARY: The Compact Commission

will hold its monthly meeting to

consider matters relating to

administration, the price regulation and

a proposed interim procedural rule.