Proposed Submission of Collection of Information for OMB Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Comment Request; Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

Proposed Submission of Collection of Information for OMB Review

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Comment Request; Customer

Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of intention to request extension of OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation intends to request

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. The

effect of this notice is to advise the public of, and to solicit public

comment on, this proposed collection of information.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by March 16, 1999.

ADDRESSES: All written comments should be addressed to: Office of

General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Suite 340, 1200

K St. NW., Washington, D.C. 20005. The comments 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. (This not a toll-free number.) (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.

In transforming itself into a customer-driven agency, the PBGC has

made use of a variety of tools for listening to customers, including

focus groups and customer satisfaction surveys. Feedback from these

contacts keeps the PBGC informed about customer service needs and

expectations, and gauges how well customers think the PBGC is meeting

those needs. The PBGC will keep these avenues of customer

communications open, and add to and refine what has been learned to

date. In this way service to customers can be continually improved.

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.

The PBGC is specifically seeking public comments to:

(1) 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;

(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.

Issued at Washington, DC, this 12th day of January, 1999.

Stuart Sirkin,

Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation.

[FR Doc. 99-1003 Filed 1-14-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708-01-P