[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 212 (Tuesday, November 3, 1998)] [Notices] [Pages 59341-59342] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-29398] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review; Comment Request; Annual Financial and Actuarial Information Reporting AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 the PBGC's regulation on Annual Financial and Actuarial Information Reporting, 29 CFR Part 4010 (OMB control number 1212-0049; expires December 31, 1998). This notice informs the public of the PBGC's request and solicits public comment on the collection of information. DATES: Comments should be submitted by December 3, 1998. ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Washington, DC 20503. Copies of the request for extension (including the collection of information) are available from the Communications and Public Affairs Department, suite 240, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on business days. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General [[Page 59342]] Counsel, or Deborah C. Murphy, Attorney, Office of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, 202-326-4024. (For TTY and TDD, call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and request connection to 202-326- 4024). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 4010 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires each member of a corporate controlled group to submit identifying, financial, and actuarial information to the PBGC in certain circumstances. Reporting is required (1) if the aggregate unfunded vested benefits of all defined benefit pension plans maintained by the controlled group exceed $50 million, (2) if the controlled group maintains any plan with missed contributions (unless paid within a ten-day grace period), or (3) if the controlled group maintains any plan with funding waivers in excess of $1 million and any portion is still outstanding (taking into account certain credit balances in the funding standard account). The PBGC's regulation on Annual Financial and Actuarial Information Reporting (29 CFR Part 4010) implements section 4010. The regulation requires the controlled group to file certain identifying information, certain financial information, each plan's actuarial valuation report, certain participant information, and a determination of the amount of each plan's benefit liabilities. The information submitted under the regulation allows the PBGC (1) to detect and monitor financial problems with the contributing sponsors that maintain severely underfunded pension plans and their controlled group members and (2) to respond quickly when it learns that a controlled group with severely underfunded pension plans intends to engage in a transaction that may significantly reduce the assets available to pay plan liabilities. The collection of information under the regulation has been approved by OMB under control number 1212-0049 through December 31, 1998. The PBGC is requesting that OMB extend its approval for another 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. The PBGC estimates that an average of 60 controlled groups per year respond to this collection of information. The PBGC further estimates that the average annual burden of this collection of information is 9.2 hours and $7,500 per controlled group, for a total burden of 552 hours and $450,000. Issued in Washington, D.C., this 28th day of October, 1998. Stuart Sirkin, Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. [FR Doc. 98-29398 Filed 11-2-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7708-01-P