[Federal Register: October 17, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 199)]
[Notices]
[Page 60380-60381]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17oc05-124]
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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Proposed 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 intention to request OMB approval of revisions to,
and extension of, a currently approved information collection.
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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 (OMB control number 1212-0054; expires December 31, 2006)
relating to model forms contained in the PBGC booklet, Divorce Orders &
PBGC. (The PBGC is changing the title of the booklet to Qualified
Domestic Relations Orders & PBGC.) In addition, the PBGC is requesting
3-year approval of the revised collection of information. The booklet
provides guidance on how to submit a proper qualified domestic
relations order (a ``QDRO'') to the PBGC. The revisions reflect changes
in how the PBGC pays benefits. This notice informs the public of the
PBGC's intent and solicits public comment on the collection of
information.
DATES: Comments must be submitted by December 16, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Legislative and Regulatory
Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20005-4026, or delivered to Suite 340 at that address
during normal business hours. Comments also may be submitted by e-mail
to paperwork.comments@pbgc.gov, or by fax to 202-326-4112. The PBGC
will make all comments available on its Web site at http://www.pbgc.gov
.
Copies of the collections of information may be obtained without
charge by writing to the PBGC's Communications and Public Affairs
Department at Suite 240 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 reportable events
regulations, forms, and instructions may be accessed on the PBGC's Web
site at http://www.pbgc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James L. Beller, Jr., Attorney,
Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-
4024. (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 intends to request paperwork
approval relating to model forms contained in the PBGC booklet, Divorce
Orders & PBGC. Although the collection of information has been approved
by OMB under control number 1212-0054 through December 31, 2006, the
PBGC is revising the model QDRO forms and accompanying guidance to
reflect changes in how it pays benefits. In addition, the PBGC is
changing the title of the booklet to Qualified Domestic Relations
Orders & PBGC and requesting 3-year approval of the revised QDRO forms
and accompanying guidance. 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.
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. 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 the 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 the guidance assist
parties by making it easier to comply with ERISA's QDRO requirements in
plans trusteed by the PBGC; they do not create any additional
requirements and result in a reduction of the statutory burden.
In April of 2002, the PBGC revised its regulations to make several
changes in how it pays benefits, including giving participants more
choices of annuity benefit forms, clarifying (for certain purposes
under Title IV of ERISA) what it means to be able to ``retire'' under
plan provisions, and adding rules on who will get certain payments the
PBGC owes to a participant at the time of death. See 67 FR 16950, April
8, 2002. Many of these changes may affect qualified domestic relations
orders submitted to the PBGC and, therefore, necessitate a number of
revisions to the model QDROs and accompanying guidance.
The PBGC estimates that it will receive 875 QDROs each year from
prospective alternate payees; that the average burden of preparing a
QDRO with the assistance of the guidance and model QDROs in PBGC's
booklet will be \1/4\ hour of the alternate payee's time and $734 in
professional fees if the alternate payee hires an attorney or other
professional to prepare the QDRO, or 10 hours of the alternate payee's
time if the alternate payee prepares the QDRO without hiring an
attorney or other professional; and that the total annual burden will
be 1067 hours and $578,600.
The PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
Evaluate whether the proposed collections of information
are 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 proposed collections of information, including the
validity of the methodologies and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collections 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.
[[Page 60381]]
Issued in Washington, DC, this 12th day of October, 2005.
Rick Hartt,
Chief Technology Officer, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 05-20703 Filed 10-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P