[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33497-33498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [http://www.gpo.gov/]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13635]
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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review;
Comment Request; Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Submitted to PBGC
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of intent to request OMB approval of revised collection
of information.
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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') intends to
request that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approve,
under the Paperwork Reduction Act, revisions to an information
collection relating to PBGC's booklet, Qualified Domestic Relations
Orders & PBGC (OMB control number 1212-0054; expires August 31, 2012).
PBGC is requesting 3-year approval of the revised collection of
information. The booklet provides guidance on how to submit a qualified
domestic relations order (``QDRO'') to the PBGC. This notice informs
the public of PBGC's intent and solicits
[[Page 33498]]
public comment on the collection of information, as modified.
DATES: Comments should be submitted by August 6, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the
Web site instructions for submitting comments.
Email: paperwork.comments@pbgc.gov.
Fax: 202-326-4224.
Mail or Hand Delivery: Legislative and Regulatory Department,
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC
20005-4026.
PBGC will make all comments available on its Web site at
http://www.pbgc.gov/.
Copies of the collection of information may 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 that office
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 regulations relating to
this collection of information are available on PBGC's Web site at
http://www.pbgc.gov/.
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. (For TTY and TDD,
call 800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)
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 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 domestic relations order meets specific
legal requirements that make it a qualified domestic relations order.
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 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.
OMB has approved the collection of information in PBGC's booklet,
Qualified Domestic Relations Orders & PBGC under control number 1212-
0054 through August 31, 2012. PBGC intends to request that OMB approve
the revised collection of information for three 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 intends to revise the booklet, Qualified Domestic Relations
Orders & PBGC, to describe a proposed change in PBGC's procedures that
would apply when a draft domestic relations order is submitted for
informal review. Under PBGC's current procedures, PBGC delays the
commencement of benefits (for participants not in pay status) or
suspends payment of benefits (for participants in pay status) from the
date of receipt of a draft domestic relations order to up to 60 days
after the date PBGC notifies the parties of the results of the review.
Under the proposed change, PBGC would suspend payments for participants
in pay status only upon receipt of an original signed domestic
relations order or a certified or authenticated copy.
PBGC is also revising or eliminating certain model language which
has often led to confusion as to how the language was to be
interpreted. In addition, PBGC is making clarifying, simplifying, and
editorial changes to model forms in the information collection.
PBGC estimates that it will receive 1,361 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 4,138 hours and $870,400.
PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
Evaluate whether the collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the 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 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.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 31st day of May 2012.
John H. Hanley,
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2012-13635 Filed 6-5-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-01-P