Rules and Regulations. Notice of request for extension of OMB approval

Agency: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Action: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval
Citation: FR Doc. 01-30382

Summary

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) is requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) extend approval, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, of the collection of information under its regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part 4007), including Form 1-ES, Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A to Form 1, and related instructions (OMB control number 1212-0009). The collection of information also includes a certification (on Form 1-EZ and on Schedule A) of compliance with requirements to provide certain notices to participants under the PBGC's regulation on Disclosure to Participants (29 CFR part 4011). This notice informs the public of the request for OMB approval and solicits public comment on the collection of information.

Dates

Comments should be submitted by January 7, 2002.

Supplementary Information

Section 4007 of Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) requires the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) to collect premiums from pension plans covered under Title IV pension insurance programs. Pursuant to ERISA section 4007, the PBGC has issued its regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR part 4007). Section 4007.3 of the premium payment regulation requires plans, in connection with the payment of premiums, to file certain forms prescribed by the PBGC, and section 4007.10 requires plans to retain and make available to the PBGC records supporting or validating the computation of premiums paid. The forms prescribed are PBGC Form 1-ES, Form 1-EZ, and Form 1 and (for single-employer plans only) Schedule A to Form 1. Form 1-ES is issued, with instructions, in the PBGC's Estimated Premium Payment Package. Form 1-EZ, Form 1 and Schedule A are issued, with instructions, in the PBGC's Annual Premium Payment Package. The premium forms are needed to determine the amount and record the payment of PBGC premiums, and the submission of forms and retention and submission of records are needed to enable the PBGC to perform premium audits. The plan administrator of each pension plan covered by Title IV of ERISA is required to file one or more of the premium payment forms each year. The PBGC uses the information on the premium payment forms to identify the plans paying premiums and to verify whether plans are paying the correct amounts. That information and the retained records are used for audit purposes. In addition, section 4011 of ERISA and the PBGC's regulation on Disclosure to Participants (29 CFR part 4011) require plan administrators of certain underfunded single-employer pension plans to provide an annual notice to plan participants and beneficiaries of the plans' funding status and the limits on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's guarantee of plan benefits. The participant notice requirement only applies (subject to certain exemptions) to plans that must pay a variable rate premium. In order to monitor compliance with Part 4011, plan administrators must indicate on Form 1-EZ or Schedule A to Form 1 that the participant notice requirements have been complied with. The collection of information under the regulation on Payment of Premiums, including Form 1-ES, Form 1-EZ, Form 1, and Schedule A to Form 1, and related instructions has been approved by OMB under control number 1212-0009. This collection of information also includes the certification of compliance with the participant notice requirements (but not the participant notices themselves). The PBGC is revising the forms and instructions to clarify them and make them easier to use. The PBGC is requesting that OMB extend its approval of this collection of information, as revised, for three years from the date of approval. (The participant notices constitute a different collection of information that has been separately approved by OMB.) 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 it receives responses annually from about 37,700 plan administrators and that the total annual burden of the collection of information is about 2,540 hours and $9,657,780. Issued in Washington, DC, this 4th day of December, 2001. Stuart A. Sirkin, Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. [FR Doc. 01-30382 Filed 12-6-01; 8:45 am]