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

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

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 OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation intends to request

that the Office of Management and Budget extend and expand its approval

of an information collection 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

PBGC invites public comment on this information collection.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by February 8, 2000.

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

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

K St. NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026. The comments will be available

for public inspection between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the PBGC's

Communications and Public Affairs Department, Suite 240, at the above

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas H. Gabriel, Attorney, Office of

the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026, (202) 326-4020, extension 3898.

(For TTY and TDD users, call the Federal relay service toll-free at 1-

800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 202-326-4040.)

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

intends to request that the Office of Management and Budget 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

PBGC also intends to request that the Office of Management and Budget

expand its approval to encompass a broader range of surveys than those

approved under 1212-0053, which provided for surveys only as an adjunct

to focus groups. The expanded 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.''

The 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, the 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 the PBGC's insurance program. Because

the areas of concern to the PBGC and its customers vary and may quickly

change, it is important that the PBGC have the ability to evaluate

customer concerns quickly by developing new vehicles for gathering

information under this generic approval. The PBGC intends to include in

this information collection two surveys already approved by the Office

of Management and Budget (OMB Approval Nos. 1212-0056 and 1212-0058).

Participation in the focus groups and surveys will be voluntary.

The PBGC will consult with the Office of Management and Budget

regarding each specific information collection during the approval

period.

The PBGC estimates that the annual burden for this collection of

information will total 2,000 hours for 8,000 respondents.

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 e.g.,

permitting electronic submission of responses.

Issued at Washington, DC, this 6th day of December, 1999.

Stuart A. Sirkin,

Director, Corporate Policy and Research Department, Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation.

[FR Doc. 99-32096 Filed 12-9-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708-01-P