[Federal Register: June 12, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 112)]
[Notices]
[Page 33778-33779]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12jn06-117]
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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment
Request; Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Submitted to the PBGC
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.
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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (``PBGC'') is
requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approve a
revision of a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction
Act. The information collection relates to qualified domestic relations
orders submitted to the PBGC. 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 July 12, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk
Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Washington, DC 20503.
Copies of the request for extension (including 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
1200 K Street, NW., 11th Floor, Washington, DC 20005-4026, or by
visiting or calling (202-326-4040) the Disclosure Division 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.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jo Amato Burns, Attorney, Legislative
and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024. (TTY and TDD
users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339
and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PBGC is requesting that OMB extend its
approval (with modifications) of the guidance and model language and
forms contained in the PBGC booklet, Divorce Orders & PBGC.
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, the 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. However, Title I of ERISA provides an exception
for domestic relations orders that relate to child support, alimony
payments, or the 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 qualified, i.e., a
qualified domestic relations order, or ``QDRO.'' ERISA provides that
pension plans are required to comply with only those domestic relations
orders which are QDROs, and that the decision as to whether a domestic
relations order is a QDRO is made by the plan administrator. Thus, as
statutory trustee of terminated plans, PBGC must first determine
whether any domestic relations order submitted to PBGC is qualified--
i.e., is a QDRO--before any obligation to comply is triggered.
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 QDRO are established by statute. The models and guidance provided in
the PBGC booklet, Divorce Orders & PBGC (the booklet's title will be
changed to Qualified Domestic Relations Orders & PBGC, to better
reflect its scope), assists parties by making it easier to comply with
ERISA's QDRO requirements when drafting orders for plans trusteed by
PBGC. The booklet does not create any additional requirements.
The PBGC is revising the QDRO booklet by: Defining a participant's
``earliest PBGC retirement date,'' which affects when a participant and
alternate payee may start receiving benefit payments; describing new
annuity benefit forms that are available to alternate payees; providing
information on how to make a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
to obtain information necessary for the preparation of a domestic
relations order; and providing additional model forms and language to
address a greater variety of situations. The revised booklet will be
available on the PBGC's Web site at http://www.pbgc.gov.
The collection of information has been approved through December
31, 2006, by OMB under control number 1212-0054. The PBGC is requesting
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 estimates that it will receive an average of 875 domestic
relations orders annually, and estimates 855 of these will be prepared
by attorneys or other professionals. The average hour burden for the
alternate payee or participant is .75 hours if the order is prepared by
a professional. In the case where the alternate payee or participant
prepares the order, the average hour burden is estimated to be 10
hours. The total annual hour burden for alternate payees and
participants is thus 841.25 hours ((855 x .75 hour = 641.25) + (20 x 10
= 200) = 841.25 hours). If the alternate payee or participant hires an
attorney, PBGC estimates costs of $450 to $880 in professional fees for
each order. PBGC estimates the total annual burden will be 841.25 hours
of the alternate payee's
[[Page 33779]]
or participant's time, and professional costs of $384,750 to $752,400.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 6th day of June, 2006.
Cris Birch,
Acting Chief Technology Officer, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. E6-9065 Filed 6-9-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P