[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4839-4841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2096]
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PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review;
Comment Request; Payment of Premiums
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of intention to request OMB approval of revised
collection of information.
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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is modifying
the collection of information under its regulation on Payment of
Premiums (OMB control number 1212-0007; expires December 31, 2013) and
intends to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
approve the revised collection of information under the Paperwork
Reduction Act for three years. This notice informs the public of PBGC's
intent and solicits public comment on the collection of information.
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DATES: Comments must be submitted by April 2, 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.
Comments received, including personal information provided, will be
posted to www.pbgc.gov.
Copies of the collection of information and comments may be
obtained without charge by writing to the Disclosure Division, Office
of General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street
NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026; visiting the Disclosure Division;
faxing a request to 202-326-4042; or calling 202-326-4040 during normal
business hours. (TTY/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 premium payment regulation and the premium instructions (including
illustrative forms) for 2012 are available at www.pbgc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Bloch, Program Analyst,
Legislative and Policy Division, 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. (TTY/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: Section 4007 of Title IV of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires pension plans
covered under Title IV pension insurance programs to pay premiums to
PBGC. Pursuant to section 4007, PBGC has issued its regulation on
Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part 4007). Under Sec. 4007.3 of the
premium payment regulation, plan administrators are required to file
premium payments and information prescribed by PBGC. Premium
information must be filed electronically using ``My Plan Administration
Account'' (``My PAA'') through PBGC's Web site except to the extent
PBGC grants an exemption for good cause in appropriate circumstances,
in which case the information must be filed using an approved PBGC
form. The plan administrator of each pension plan covered by Title IV
of ERISA is required to submit one or more premium filings for each
premium payment year. Under Sec. 4007.10 of the premium payment
regulation, plan administrators are required to retain records about
premiums and information submitted in premium filings.
PBGC needs information from premium filings to identify the plans
for which premiums are paid, to verify whether the amounts paid are
correct, to help PBGC determine the magnitude of its exposure in the
event of plan termination, to help track the creation of new plans and
transfer of participants and plan assets and liabilities among plans,
and to keep PBGC's insured-plan inventory up to date. That information
and the retained records are also needed for audit purposes.
All plans covered by Title IV of ERISA pay a flat-rate per-
participant premium. An underfunded single-employer plan also pays a
variable-rate premium based on the value of the plan's unfunded vested
benefits.
Large-plan filers (i.e., plans that were required to pay premiums
for 500 or more participants for the prior plan year) are required to
pay PBGC's flat-rate premium early in the premium payment year. Because
the participant count often is not available until later in the premium
payment year, PBGC permits filers to make an ``Estimated flat-rate
premium filing.''
All plans are required to make a ``Comprehensive premium filing.''
Comprehensive filings are used to report (i) the flat-rate premium and
related data (all plans), (ii) the variable-rate premium and related
data (single-employer plans), and (iii) additional data such as
identifying information and miscellaneous plan-related or filing-
related data (all plans). For large plans, the Comprehensive filing
also serves to reconcile an estimated flat-rate premium paid earlier in
the year.
PBGC intends to revise the 2013 filing procedures and instructions
to:
Provide for revoking a prior election to use the
Alternative Premium Funding Target (APFT) to determine unfunded vested
benefits (UVBs). (Under PBGC regulations, an election to use the APFT
is irrevocable for 5 years; 2008 was the first year that plans were
permitted to elect the APFT, so 2013 is the first year for which it is
necessary to collect this information.)
Require plan administrators using the APFT to report the
``effective interest rate'' (defined in section 430(h) of the Internal
Revenue Code). PBGC will use this information to update its annual
contingency list and financial statements more accurately.
Require that the plan effective date be reported for all
plans rather than just new and newly covered plans. This date helps
PBGC trace plans that change Employer Identification Number or Plan
Number.
Require plan administrators to provide a breakdown of the
total premium funding into the same categories of participants used for
Schedule SB reporting, i.e., active participants, terminated vested
participants, and retirees and beneficiaries receiving payment. PBGC
uses the premium funding target to estimate termination liability,
e.g., for the annual contingency list, and a breakdown will enable PBGC
to make a much better estimate than simply using only the total premium
funding target.
Allow a plan administrator to list a second person whom
PBGC could contact with questions about a filing.
Reorder and renumber some items on the illustrative form
that accompanies and is part of the instructions, and make other minor
changes.
The collection of information under the regulation has been
approved through December 31, 2013, by OMB under control number 1212-
0007. 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 estimates that it will receive 29,800 premium filings per year
from 24,500 plan administrators under this collection of information.
PBGC further estimates that the average annual burden of this
collection of information is 8,200 hours and $54,140,000.
PBGC is soliciting public comments to --
Evaluate whether the proposed 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 proposed collection 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 collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the
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use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 26th day of January, 2012.
John H. Hanley,
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2012-2096 Filed 1-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7709-01-P