[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 47 (Thursday, March 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12577-12578]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5764]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
Submission for OMB Emergency Review; Comment Request
March 1, 2000.
The Department of Labor has submitted the following (see below)
public information collection request (ICR), utilizing emergency review
procedures, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and
approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.
L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). OMB approval has been requested March
24, 2000. A copy of the ICR with applicable supporting documentation,
may be obtained by contacting the Department of Labor, Departmental
Clearance Officer, Ira Mills at (202) 219-5096, ext. 143, or by E-mail
at Mills-I[email protected]. The proposed Application for EFAST Electronic
Signature and Codes for EFAST Transmitters and Software Developers
(Form EFAST-1), the subject of this ICR, is available for viewing and
downloading through the Department of Labor's Internet site (http://
www.efast.dol.gov).
Comments and questions about the ICR listed below should be sent to
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: Desk Officer
for Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Office of Management
and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503 ((202) 395-7316) within 10
days of the date of this publication in Federal Register. After that
date and through May 8, 2000, further comments may be submitted to
Gerald B. Lindrew, Office of Policy and Research, U.S. Department of
Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW, Room N-5647, Washington, DC 20210, in response to its
separate Notice and request for comments also published in today's
Federal Register.
OMB is particularly interested in comments that:
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;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used:
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected:
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.
Agency: Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration.
Title: Application for EFAST Electronic Signature and Codes for
EFAST Transmitters and Software Developers.
OMB Number: 1210- 0NEW.
Frequency: On occasion.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit; not-for-profit institutions.
Total Respondents: 60,250.
Total Responses: 60,250.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 20,100.
Estimated Total Burden Cost: $22,900.
Description: Under part 1 of Title 1 of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), Title IV of ERISA, and the
Internal Revenue
[[Page 12578]]
Code of 1986, as amended, administrators of pension and welfare benefit
plans (collectively, employee benefit plans) subject to those
provisions and employers sponsoring certain fringe benefit plans and
other plans of deferred compensation are required to file returns/
reports annually concerning the financial condition and operations of
the plans. These reporting requirements are satisfied generally by
filing the Form 5500 Series in accordance with its instructions and the
related regulations.
In August of 1998, the Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare
Benefits Administration, Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue
Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
(collectively, the Agencies) received approval for the revised and
streamlined Form 5500 Series, subject to the Agencies' solicitation of
public comments on a computer scannable format for the Form 5500. A
notice requesting comments from the public on computer scannable
formats was published by the Agencies on June 28, 1999 (64 FR 34686).
The final computer scannable ``hand print'' and ``machine-print''
formats for the Form 5500 were announced on February 2, 2000 in
connection with the Agencies' Notice of Adoption of Revised Forms (65
FR 5026).
The computer scannable formats were developed to facilitate the
implementation of the new computerized system to process the Form 5500
and IRS Form 5500-EZ--the ERISA Filing and Acceptance System, or EFAST.
EFAST is designed to simplify and expedite the receipt and processing
of the new Form 5500 and Form 5500-EZ by relying on computer scannable
forms and electronic filing technologies. The computer scannable forms
are being implemented for 1999 plan year filings. The Form 5500 and
Form 5500-EZ for 1999 plan years also may be filed electronically via
modem, magnetic tape, floppy diskette, or CD-ROM.
In order to participate in the electronic filing program,
applicants will be required to submit an Application for EFAST
Electronic Signature and Codes for EFAST Transmitters and Software
Developers (Form EFAST-1), the subject of this ICR. The Internal
Revenue Service currently uses forms for similar purposes. This new
EFAST form was designed to meet the needs of the new processing system.
Applicants who may file the Form EFAST-1 include: (1) Individuals
applying for an electronic signature to sign a Form 5500 or 5500-EZ as,
or on behalf of, plan administrators, employers/plan sponsors, or
Direct Filing Entities (DFEs) using modem, magnetic tape, floppy
diskette, or CD-ROM to file electronically; (2) transmitters (a
company, trade, business, or other person) applying for codes to
transmit Forms 5500 and/or Forms 5500-EZ for electronic filing using
modem, magnetic tape, floppy diskette, or CD-ROM; and, (3) software
developers (a company, trade, business, or other person that creates,
programs, or otherwise modifies computer software) applying for codes
required to develop EFAST-compliant computer software for
electronically preparing and filing the Form 5500 and/or Form 5500-EZ.
Applicants will provide some or all of the following information
depending on applicant type: name and title of applicant, mailing
address, Employer Identification Number (EIN), telephone number,
facsimile number and e-mail address (optional), contact person if
different than applicant, and a signed agreement concerning the terms
and conditions of the electronic filing program. Applicants will
receive, depending on applicant type, some or all of the following:
electronic signature; filer identification number; personal
identification number; encryption key; electronic filing identification
number; password; and software developer ID. Applicants will use these
codes, as applicable, in connection with electronic filing, electronic
transmission, or developing EFAST software for the Form 5500 and 5500-
EZ.
The information provided by the applicants on EFAST-1, combined
with the codes supplied to the applicants by the program, will allow
EFAST to verify a filer, transmitter or software developer's standing
as a qualified participant in the EFAST electronic filing program for
the Form 5500 and 5500-EZ. EFAST-1 information also will establish a
means of contact between the EFAST program and filers, transmitters,
and software developers for information exchange.
Maureen D. Hill,
Acting Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-5764 Filed 3-8-00; 8:45 am]
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