Agency information collection activities: Proposed collection; comment request,

[Federal Register: April 7, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 66)]

[Notices]

[Page 17040-17041]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr07ap99-127]

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

Request for Extension of Approval of a Collection of Information Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Customer Service Focus Groups and Surveys

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of request for extension of OMB approval.

SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is requesting that the Office of Management and Budget 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 the PBGC assess the efficiency and effectiveness with which it serves its customers and to design actions to address identified problems.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted to OMB at the address below within 30 days after April 7, 1999.

ADDRESSES: All written comments should be addressed to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the

[[Page 17041]]

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 725 17th Street, NW., Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503. The request for approval and copies of the proposed collection of information 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, 202-326-4024. (For TTY/TDD users, call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4024.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 is requesting 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 April 30, 1999). The collection is in furtherance of the goals described in Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, which states that, in order to carry out the principles of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (formerly, the National Performance Review), the Federal Government must be customer- driven. The Executive Order 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.

This collection of information enables the PBGC 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 change over time, and it is important that the PBGC have the ability to evaluate customer concerns quickly.

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.

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.

On January 15, 1999, the PBGC published in the Federal Register a notice of intention to request extension of OMB approval of this collection. No comments were received in response to the notice.

Issued at Washington, D.C., this 31st day of March, 1999. Stuart Sirkin, Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

[FR Doc. 99-8586Filed4-6-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708-01-P