2014-22580. 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.

SUMMARY:

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is modifying the collection of information under its regulation on Payment of Premiums (OMB control number 1212-0009; expires April 30, 2017) 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.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted by November 24, 2014.

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: [e-mail].
• Fax: [phone].
• 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 the 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 2014 are available at www.pbgc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Deborah C. Murphy, Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Office of the General Counsel, 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. All plans covered by Title IV 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.

Pursuant to section 4007, PBGC has issued its regulation on Payment of Premiums (29 CFR Part 4007). Under § 4007.3 of the premium payment regulation, the plan administrator of each pension plan covered by Title IV of ERISA is required to file a premium payment and information prescribed by PBGC for each premium payment year. 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. Under § 4007.10 of the premium payment regulation, plan administrators are required to retain records about premiums and information submitted in premium filings.

Premium filings 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). PBGC needs this information 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.

PBGC intends to revise the 2015 filing procedures and instructions to:

• Require reporting of certain undertakings to cash out or annuitize benefits for a specified group of former employees;
• Change certain premium declaration certification procedures, resulting in greater uniformity among the procedures applicable to different filing methods. and
• Offer the option for a plan to provide a telephone number specifically for inclusion in PBGC's Search Plan List on PBGC's Web site, instead of the number provided for PBGC to contact the plan administrator.

PBGC is also intending to update the premium rates and make conforming, clarifying, and editorial changes.

The collection of information under the regulation has been approved through April 30, 2017, by OMB under control number 1212-0009. 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 25,700 premium filings per year from 25,700 plan administrators under this collection of information. PBGC further estimates that the average annual burden of this collection of information is 8,000 hours and $53,200,000.

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 use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Issued in Washington, DC, this 17th day of September, 2014.

Judith Starr,

General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.