[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 241 (Friday, December 15, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64401-64402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30415]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
26 CFR Part 1
[EE-34-95]
RIN 1545-AT78
Notice of Significant Reduction in the Rate of Future Benefit
Accrual
AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking by cross-reference to temporary
regulations.
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SUMMARY: In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the
Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations relating to
the requirements of section 204(h) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). Section 204(h) of ERISA
applies to defined benefit plans and to individual account plans that
are subject to the funding standards of section 302 of ERISA. It
requires the plan administrator to give notice of certain plan
amendments to participants in the plan and certain other parties. The
text of those temporary regulations also serves as the text of these
proposed regulations.
DATES: Written comments must be received by March 14, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Send submissions to CC:DOM:CORP:R (EE-34-95), room 5228,
Internal Revenue Service, POB 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington,
DC 20044. In the alternative, submissions may be hand delivered between
the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to CC:DOM:CORP:R (EE-34-95), Courier's
Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betty J. Clary, (202) 622-6070 (not a
toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collection of information contained in this notice of proposed
[[Page 64402]]
rulemaking has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget
for review in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3507).
Comments on the collection of information should be sent to the
Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for the Department
of Treasury, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Washington,
DC 20503, with copies to the Internal Revenue Service, Attn: IRS
Reports Clearance Officer, T:FP, Washington, DC 20224. Comments on the
collection of information should be received by February 13, 1996.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of
information displays a valid control number.
The collection of information is in Sec. 1.411(d)-6T which
implements the statutory requirement of section 204(h) of ERISA that a
plan administrator provide notice to participants and certain other
parties if certain pension plans are amended to provide for a
significant reduction in the rate of future benefit accrual. This
collection of information is required to assure that the rights of
participants in plans subject to section 204(h) of ERISA are protected.
The likely respondents are small businesses. Responses to this
collection of information are required under section 204(h) of ERISA in
order for certain amendments to qualified plans to become effective.
These regulations do not involve any issues of confidentiality.
Estimated total annual reporting burden: 15,000 hours.
The estimated annual burden per respondent varies from 1 hour to 40
hours, depending on individual circumstances, with an estimated average
of 5 hours.
Estimated number of respondents: 3,000.
Estimated annual frequency of responses: Once.
Background
Temporary regulations in the Rules and Regulations portion of this
issue of the Federal Register amend the Income Tax Regulations (26 CFR
part 1) (relating to section 411(d)). The text of those temporary
regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. The
preamble to the temporary regulations explains the temporary
regulations.
Special Analyses
It has been determined that this notice of proposed rulemaking is
not a significant regulatory action as defined in EO 12866. Therefore,
a regulatory assessment is not required. It also has been determined
that section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.
chapter 5) and the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) do
not apply to these regulations, and, therefore, a Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis is not required. Pursuant to section 7805(f) of
the Internal Revenue Code, the notice of proposed rulemaking will be
submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration for comment on their impact on small business.
Comments and Requests for a Public Hearing
Before these proposed regulations are adopted as final regulations,
consideration will be given to any written comments (a signed original
and eight (8) copies) that are submitted timely to the IRS. All
comments will be available for public inspection and copying. A public
hearing may be scheduled if requested in writing by a person that
timely submits written comments. If a public hearing is scheduled,
notice of the date, time, and place for the hearing will be published
in the Federal Register.
Drafting Information: The principal author of these regulations
is Betty J. Clary, Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee
Benefits and Exempt Organizations), IRS. However, other personnel
from the IRS and Treasury Department participated in their
development.
List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 1
Income taxes, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Proposed Amendments to the Regulations
Accordingly, 26 CFR part 1 is proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 1--INCOME TAXES
Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read,
in part, as follows:
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805. * * *
Section 1.411(d)-6 also issued under Reorganization Plan No. 4 of
1978, 29 U.S.C. 1001nt. * * *
Par. 2. Section 1.411(d)-6 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.411(d)-6 Section 204(h) notice.
[The text of this proposed section is the same as the text of
Sec. 1.411(d)-6T published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal
Register.]
Margaret Milner Richardson,
Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
[FR Doc. 95-30415 Filed 12-12-95; 1:23 pm]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-U
