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 and expansion of OMB approval.

SUMMARY:

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is requesting that the Office of Management and Budget extend and expand 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:

Comments should be submitted on or before June 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES:

All written comments should be addressed to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 725 17th Street, NW., Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503-0009. The request for approval 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 20005-4026, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas H. Gabriel, 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 No. 1212-0053; expires July 31, 2002). The PBGC also is requesting that OMB 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 focus groups and surveys will provide important information on customer attitudes about the delivery and quality of agency services and will be used as part of an ongoing process to improve PBGC programs. The PBGC is including in this information collection two surveys previously approved by OMB (OMB Approval Nos. 1212-0056 and 1212-0058).

Participation in the focus groups and surveys will be voluntary. The PBGC estimates that the average annual burden will total 2,500 burden hours for 9,500 respondents (an average of about one-quarter hour per respondent). The PBGC will consult with OMB regarding each specific information collection during the approval period.

On December 10, 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.