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

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.

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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

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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. 99-8586 Filed 4-6-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708-01-P