E9-19173. Proposed Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment Request; Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups

AGENCY:

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION:

Notice of intention to request extension of OMB approval.

SUMMARY:

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) intends to request that the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) extend its approval of a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of the information collection, which will be conducted through focus groups and surveys over a three-year period, is to help PBGC assess the efficiency and effectiveness with which it serves its customers and to design actions to address identified problems. This notice informs the public of PBGC's intent and solicits public comment on the collection of information.

DATES:

Comments should be submitted by October 13, 2009.

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: [e-mail].

Fax: [phone].

Mail or Hand Delivery: Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026. PBGC will make all comments available on its Web site at http://www.pbgc.gov.

Copies of the collections 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 that office 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:

Thomas H. Gabriel, Attorney, Legislative & Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024. TTY and TDD users may call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and request connection to 202-326-4024.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

PBGC intends to request that OMB extend its approval, for a three-year period, of a generic collection of information consisting of customer satisfaction focus groups and surveys (OMB control number 1212-0053; expires 12/31/2009). The information collection will further the goals of Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, which states the Federal Government must seek to provide “the highest quality of service delivered to customers by private organizations providing a comparable or analogous service.”

PBGC uses customer satisfaction focus groups and surveys to find out about the needs and expectations of its customers and assess how well it is meeting those needs and expectations. By keeping these avenues of communication open, PBGC can continually improve service to its customers, including plan 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 PBGC's insurance program. Because the areas of concern to PBGC and its customers vary and may quickly change, it is important that PBGC have the ability to evaluate customer concerns quickly by developing new vehicles for gathering information under this generic approval.

Participation in the focus groups and surveys will be voluntary. PBGC will consult with OMB regarding each specific information collection during the approval period. 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 the annual burden for this collection of information will total 710 hours for 2,000 respondents. PBGC further estimates that the cost to respondents per burden hour will average $72, resulting in a total cost of $51,120 ($72 × 710).

PBGC is specifically seeking public comments to:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of PBGC's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) evaluate the accuracy of the estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) 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 at Washington, DC, this 5th day of August 2009.

John H. Hanley,

Director, Legislative and Regulatory Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.