33274 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 120 / Thursday, June 21, 2001 / Notices

5147 Meats and Meat Products

5148 Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

5149 Groceries and Related Products,

NEC

5181 Beer and Ale

5182 Wine and Distilled Alcoholic

Beverages

5211 Lumber and Other Building

Materials Dealers

5311 Department Stores (Pilot

collection)

8051 Skilled Nursing Care Facilities

8052 Intermediate Care Facilities

8059 Nursing and Personal Care

Facilities, NEC

8062 General Medical and Surgical

Hospitals (Pilot collection)

8063 Psychiatric Hospitals (Pilot

collection)

8069 Specialty Hospitals, Except

Psychiatric (Pilot collection)

In addition, OSHA will collect data

from establishments that were visited by

OSHA during Fiscal years 1998, 1999

and 2000 (October 1, 1997 through

September 30, 2000) that are required to

maintain the OSHA Log. Information

will also be collected from Public Sector

establishments in certain State Plan

States.

In accordance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–

3520), OMB has renewed its approval

for the information collection and

assigned OMB control number 1218–

0209. The approval expires 01/31/2002.

Under 5 CFR 1320.5(b), an Agency may

not conduct or sponsor, and a person is

not required to respond to, a collection

of information unless the collection

displays a valid control number.

Dated: June 15, 2001.

R. Davis Layne,

Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 01–15645 Filed 6–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–26–M

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION

Proposed Extension of Information

Collection Request Submitted for

Public Comment and

Recommendations

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor 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 of approval of the

Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of

Employee Benefit Plan. The Internal

Revenue Service (IRS) published its

preclearance notice related to the Form

5500 and schedules on April 13, 2001

(66 FR 19287). A copy of the proposed

information collection request (ICR) can

be obtained by contacting the office

listed below in the addresses section of

this notice. Although the 2001 Form

5500 is not yet available, it is not

expected at this time to differ

substantively or materially from the

2000 Form 5500. The Agencies are

considering certain modifications to the

existing Form 5500 to address

processing issues arising from

implementation of the ERISA Filing

Acceptance System (EFAST) and

incorporate statutory or regulatory

changes that have occurred.

Informational copies of the 2000 Form

5500 and schedules, as well as the 2001

Form 5500 and schedules when they are

finalized, are available for downloading

and viewing on the EFAST website:

www.efast.dol.gov. Official hand print

forms are also made available as part of

the annual mailing of the Form 5500

package. The hand print forms,

schedules and instructions will also be

available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

by calling: 1–800–TAX–FORM (1–800–

829–3676).

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted to the office listed in the

addresses section below on or before

August 20, 2001.

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. Fax: (202)

219–4745 (these are not toll-free

numbers). All comments will be shared

between the Agencies.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The purpose of this notice is to seek

comments from the public prior to

submission to OMB for continued

approval of the Form 5500 in

accordance with the provisions of PRA

95. The existing approval will expire on

August 31, 2001. We are providing this

detailed background information to

summarize the numerous changes that

have occurred for the Form 5500 and

processing system since the OMB’s most

recent prior action to approve the ICR,

and to provide context for the comments

requested at this time.

Under Titles I and IV of the Employee

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,

as amended (ERISA), and the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the

Code), pension and other employee

benefit plans are generally required to

file annual returns/reports concerning,

among other things, the financial

condition and operations of the plan.

These annual reporting requirements

can be satisfied generally by filing the

Form 5500 in accordance with its

instructions and related regulations. The

Form 5500 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 the IRS, 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.

On September 3, 1997, the Agencies

and IRS published a Notice of Proposed

Revision of Annual Information Return/

Reports (September 3 Notice) in the

Federal Register (62 FR 46556) as part

of the effort to streamline and simplify

the Form 5500, Annual Report/Return of

Employee Benefit Plan. The Agencies

and the IRS proposed the replacement

of the Form 5500, Form 5500–C and

Form 5500–R with one Form 5500

intended to streamline the report and

the methods by which it is filed.

Concurrent with the development of the

new forms, the Agencies and the IRS

initiated the development of a new

computerized system to process the

Form 5500 (EFAST). EFAST is designed

to simplify and expedite the receipt and

processing of the new Form 5500 by

relying on computer scannable forms

and electronic filing technologies. The

development of the forms in

conjunction with the EFAST system was

intended to streamline and improve the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 120 / Thursday, June 21, 2001 / Notices 33275

1 Information concerning these technical changes

may be found in the footnote at 65 FR 5027 in the

Agencies’ Notice of Adoption of Revised Forms

published in the Federal Register on February 2,

2000.

2This preclearance notice does not pertain to the

information collection request related to the Form

5500–EZ.

Form 5500 and lower the administrative

burdens and costs incurred by the more

than 1 million employee benefit plans

that file the Form 5500 each year.

A public hearing on the proposed

forms revisions was held on November

17, 1997, and written comments on the

proposal were received until the public

record was closed on December 3, 1997.

After considering public comments

received in connection with the

September 3 Notice and the public

hearing, the Agencies and the IRS made

various adjustments to the proposed

forms and instructions where consistent

with the purposes of the Form 5500 and

the objectives of the streamlining

project. A revised Form 5500 was

submitted to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for approval under

the Paperwork Reduction Act, and a

Notice was published in the Federal

Register on June 24, 1998 (63 FR 34493)

that provided a 30-day opportunity to

submit comments to OMB on the new

Form 5500 submission.

On August 26, 1998, OMB approved

the data elements of the revised Form

5500 through August 31, 2001. OMB’s

approval was conditioned on the

Agencies and IRS making certain minor

technical adjustments that were

completed in September of 1998,1 and

their solicitation of additional public

comments on the computer scannable

formats of the Form 5500 being

developed in connection with the

EFAST project. Accordingly, when draft

computer scannable formats were

developed, the Agencies and the IRS

published a Federal Register notice on

June 28, 1999 (64 FR 34686) soliciting

public comments on the draft versions

of the new form developed by two

vendors who were competing for the

contract to install the EFAST system.

The Agencies subsequently selected the

vendor to process the final scannable

version of the new Form 5500. Although

the reformatting of the form approved

by OMB on August 26, 1998 to a

computer scannable format affected the

appearance and length of the new form,

the actual number of data elements was

not affected. The final hand print

versions of the Form 5500 were

published as part of the Agencies’ and

IRS’s Notice of Adoption of Revised

Forms on February 2, 2000 (65 FR

5026). Except for filers who file

electronically, the use of the scannable

Form 5500 is mandatory for 1999 and

all later plan year filings.

The 1999 and later Forms 5500 are

available in two different formats. Both

have the same data elements, but

provide filers with a choice of formats

for preparing the form. The formats are

referred to as ‘‘machine print’’ and

‘‘hand print.’’ EFAST is designed to

accept only approved machine print and

hand print forms. The Agencies expect

vendors to offer EFAST-approved

computer software that may be used to

complete the 2000 and later versions of

either the machine print or the hand

print Form 5500. Filers completing the

Form 5500 by hand or typewriter must

use the official government-produced

hand print forms because the EFAST

system uses optical character

recognition technology to scan the data

entries on the specially designed forms

that enable the computer to read the

forms.

The hand print forms can be filed

only on paper by mail or approved

private delivery services. The machine

print forms may be printed out and filed

on paper by mail or approved private

delivery service, transmitted on-line via

modem, or transferred to floppy disks,

tapes, or CD–ROMs and filed via mail or

approved private delivery service.

Electronic filers submitting via modem

must use approved EFAST transmitters.

Additional information concerning

EFAST filing requirements may be

found on the EFAST website, or by

calling 1–866–463–3278 Monday

through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Eastern Time.

In conjunction with the

implementation of EFAST, the

Department of Labor’s Pension and

Welfare Benefits Administration

(PWBA) assumed the administrative

responsibility for accepting the Form

5500 and Form 5500–EZ2 filings of plan

year 1999 and all future plan years.

These forms had previously been filed

with the IRS.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

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;

• Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; 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.

III. Current Actions

The Agencies intend to request an

extension of the currently approved ICR.

Although the 2001 Form 5500 Series is

not yet available, the Agencies will not

be making changes that would be

substantive or material for purposes of

PRA 95. A limited number of technical

modifications and clarifications of the

forms and instructions are being

considered at this time to address

EFAST-related processing issues and

recognize certain regulatory

adjustments.

Agencies: Department of Labor,

Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration; Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

Title: Form 5500 Annual Return/

Report of Employee Benefit Plan.

Type of Review: Extension of

currently approved collections.

OMB Numbers: 1210–0110 (PWBA);

1212–0057 (PBGC).

Affected Public: Individuals or

households; business or other for-profit;

not-for-profit institutions.

Form Number: Form 5500.

Total Respondents: 863,682.

Total Responses: 863,682.

Frequency of Response: Annually.

Estimated Burden Hours: 1,847,163

for PWBA; 3,859 for PBGC.

Estimated Burden Cost (Operating

and Maintenance): $546,789,000 for

PWBA; $2,554,000 for PBGC.

Comments submitted in response to

this 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, 2001.

Gerald B. Lindrew,

Deputy Director, Office of Policy and

Research, Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration.

Stuart A. Sirkin,

Director, Corporate Policy and Research

Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 01–15638 Filed 6–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–29–P