[Federal Register: August 9, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 152)]
[Notices]
[Page 47857-47858]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09au10-80]
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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment
Request; Locating and Paying Participants
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of request to OMB for approval of modifications to
information collection.
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SUMMARY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is requesting that the
Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approve modifications to a
collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act (OMB
control number 1212-0055; expires September 30, 2011). The purpose of
the information collection is to enable PBGC to locate and pay benefits
to participants and beneficiaries in plans covered by the PBGC
insurance program. PBGC intends to add three new forms to the
information collection and to modify an approved form. 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 September 8, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk
Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, via electronic mail
at OIRA_DOCKET@omb.eop.gov, or by fax to (202) 395-6974. Copies of the
collection of information may also be obtained without charge by
writing to the Disclosure Division of the Office of the General Counsel
of PBGC at the above address or by visiting the Disclosure Division or
calling 202-326-4040 during normal business hours. (TTY and TDD users
may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and ask
to be connected to 202-326-4040.) The Disclosure Division will e-mail,
fax, or mail the requested information to you, as you request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jo Amato Burns, Attorney, or Catherine
B. Klion, Manager, Regulatory and Policy Division, Legislative and
Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024, ext. 3072 (Burns)
or 3041 (Klion). (For TTY/TDD users, call the Federal relay service
toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PBGC is requesting that OMB approve
modifications to an information collection needed to locate and pay
participants and beneficiaries who may be entitled to pension benefits
under a defined benefit plan that has terminated. The collection
consists of information that participants and beneficiaries are asked
to provide when applying for benefits. In addition, in some instances,
as part of a search for participants and beneficiaries who may be
entitled to benefits, the PBGC requests individuals to provide
identifying information that the individual would provide as part of an
initial contact with the PBGC. The information collection also includes
My Pension Benefit Account (My PBA), an application on PBGC's Web site,
http://www.pbgc.gov, through which plan participants and beneficiaries
may conduct electronic transactions with PBGC, including applying for
pension benefits, designating a beneficiary, granting a power of
attorney, changing contact information, and applying for electronic
direct deposit. All requested information is needed to enable the PBGC
to determine benefit entitlements and to make appropriate payments, or
to provide respondents with specific
[[Page 47858]]
information about their pension plan so they may obtain rough estimates
of their benefits.
Most of the applications and forms are covered by the current
approval. However, PBGC intends to add three new forms to the
information collection and intends to modify an existing form. Two of
the new forms will be used to confirm continuing eligibility of
participants who are receiving benefits based on disability. The other
new form will be used to determine whether participants are eligible
for additional pension service credit under the Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which establishes specific
rights for reemployed service members in their employee pension benefit
plans. (See PBGC's final regulation on USERRA Benefits under Title IV
of ERISA, 74 FR 59093 (Nov. 17, 2009).) PBGC also intends to modify
PBGC Form 704 (Request for Earnings Information) to eliminate the
requirement that respondents provide copies of IRS Form W-2 (Wage and
Tax Statement) to confirm their earnings.
The collection of information under the regulation has been
approved by OMB under control number 1212-0055 (expires September 30,
2011). 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 84,800 benefit application or information forms
will be filed annually by individuals entitled to benefits from the
PBGC and that the associated burden is 63,550 hours (an average of
about 45 minutes per response) and $3,730 (based on PBGC's estimate
that less than 10% of all benefit applications and information forms
submitted annually to PBGC will be by mail, at an average of $.44 per
submission). PBGC further estimates that 12,000 individuals annually
will provide the PBGC with identifying information as part of an
initial contact and that the associated burden is 3,500 hours (an
average of about 20 minutes per response). Thus, the total estimated
annual burden associated with this collection of information is 67,050
hours and $3,730.
Issued in Washington, DC, August 3, 2010.
John H. Hanley,
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2010-19515 Filed 8-6-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-01-P