[Federal Register: April 13, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 71)]
[Notices]
[Page 18692-18693]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13ap07-81]
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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review;
Comment Request; Procedures for Implementing Multiemployer Plan
Elections
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of intention to request OMB approval.
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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, a collection of information under its
procedures on multiemployer plan elections. This notice informs the
public of the PBGC's intent and solicits public comment on the
collection of information.
DATES: Comments should be submitted by June 12, 2007.
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.
E-mail: 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. Comments received will be posted to https://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 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.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Constance Markakis, Attorney,
Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-
4000, ext. 6779. (For TTY and TDD, call 800-877-8339 and request
connection to 202-326-4000, ext. 6779.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 1106 of the Pension Plan Protection
Act of 2006 (``PPA 2006'') amends the definition of a ``multiemployer
plan'' in Title I of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
allow certain plans to elect to be multiemployer plans pursuant to
procedures prescribed by PBGC. A plan is eligible for the election if
it is (i) a plan revoking a previous election to remain a single-
employer plan under section 3(37)(E) of ERISA, or (ii) a plan with
respect to which substantially all employer contributions were made by
tax-exempt employers. In either case, for the three plan years
preceding the enactment of PPA 2006, the plan must have been a plan to
which more than one employer was required to contribute that was
maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements.
PPA 2006 also imposes other requirements for an election, and provides
certain exemptions from the requirements. All elections must be made by
August 17, 2007.
PBGC's proposed procedures for implementing the multiemployer plan
election requires a plan to submit specified information to PBGC to
demonstrate that it meets the statutory eligibility requirements. The
information collection includes names of contributing employers, copies
of collective bargaining agreements that require contributions to the
plan, numbers of participants and contributions to the plan under those
collective bargaining agreements and the plan as a whole, information
on common control among contributing employers to the plan, copies of
the plan and trust documents, and evidence of the tax-exempt status of
contributing employers and the percentage of total plan contributions
attributable to these employers. For the limited purposes of the
election under section 1106 of PPA 2006, the procedures provide a safe
harbor provision for meeting the multiemployer criterion that a plan be
``maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements.''
The PBGC intends to request that OMB approve this collection of
information for three years. (Although plans must make an election by
August 17, 2007, PBGC may request additional information, after that
date, that is needed to review the election.) 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.
The PBGC estimates that from 20 to 50 plans will respond to this
collection of information. The PBGC further estimates that the average
burden of this collection of information is 5 hours and $1,875 per
plan, with an average total burden of 175 hours and $65,625.
The PBGC is soliciting public comments to--
[[Page 18693]]
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 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.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 11th day of April 2007.
Marc A. Felton,
Deputy Chief Information Officer, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. E7-7126 Filed 4-12-07; 10:57 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-01-P