[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14164-14165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7673]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups
AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of submission for OMB review; comment request.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has requested that
the Office of Management and Budget approve a series of new collections
of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of the
information collections, which will be conducted through focus groups
and surveys over a three-year period, is to help the PBGC assess the
efficiency and effectiveness with which it serves its customers and to
design actions to address identified problems.
DATES: All comments must be submitted to OMB by April 29, 1996.
ADDRESSES: All written comments should be addressed to: Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for
the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 725 17th Street NW., Room
10235, Washington, DC 20503. The request for approval will be available
for public inspection at the PBGC Communications and Public Affairs
Department, suite 240, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20005, between
the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marc L. Jordan, Attorney, Office of
the General Counsel, Suite 340, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC
20005, 202-326-4026 (202-326-4179 for TTY and TDD). (These are not
toll-free numbers.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35) establishes policies and procedures for controlling
the paperwork burdens imposed by Federal agencies on the public. The
Act vests the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with regulatory
responsibility over these burdens, and OMB has promulgated rules on the
clearance of collections of information by Federal agencies.
Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, states
that, in order to carry out the principles of the National Performance
Review, the Federal Government must be customer-driven. It directs all
executive departments and agencies that provide significant services
directly to the public to provide those services in a manner that seeks
to meet the customer service standards established in the Executive
Order.
The PBGC intends to establish a mechanism through which it will be
able to explore issues of mutual concern (e.g., kind and quality of
desired services) with its major outside client groups, i.e.,
participants and beneficiaries, plan sponsors and their affiliates,
plan administrators, pension practitioners and others involved in the
establishment, operation and termination of plans covered by the PBGC's
insurance program.
The areas of concern to the PBGC and its client groups will change
over time, and it is important that the PBGC have the ability to
evaluate customer concerns quickly. Accordingly, the PBGC is requesting
that OMB grant ``generic'' approval, for a three-year period, of focus
groups and surveys of the PBGC's outside client groups. Participation
in the focus groups and surveys will be voluntary. The PBGC will
consult with OMB regarding each specific information collection during
the approval period.
On December 29, 1995, the PBGC published in the Federal Register a
notice of intention to request OMB approval of these collections. No
comments were received in response to the notice.
This voluntary collection of information will put a slight burden
on a very small percentage of the public. The PBGC expects to conduct
focus groups involving a total of approximately 225 persons each year,
with a total annual burden of approximately 675 hours, including travel
time. (Some portion of this time may be spent completing surveys at
focus group meetings.) In addition, the PBGC expects to distribute
written surveys to approximately 1,600 persons each year (in most cases
as an adjunct to a focus group), with a total annual burden of
approximately 200 hours.
[[Page 14165]]
Issued at Washington, D.C., this 26th day of March 1996.
Martin Slate,
Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
[FR Doc. 96-7673 Filed 3-28-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7708-01-P
