20 CFR 422.122(b)
OMB No. 0960-0547
A. Justification
1. All pension plan information is filed annually by plan administrators with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which then forwards the information to the Social Security Administration (SSA). This information is then maintained by SSA and is organized by plan numbers and by the plan participant’s name and Social Security Number. Under Section 1131(a) of the Social Security Act, pension plan participants are entitled to request this information from SSA. The Wage Reports and Pension Information regulation, 20 CFR 422.122(b) of the Code of Federal Regulations, stipulates that before SSA disseminates this information, the requester must first submit a written request with identifying information to SSA.
SSA will use the identifying information submitted by the requester to ensure that the requester is the individual to whom the pension information pertains, and to locate the requested pension plan information. Once identity has been established and the information has been located, it can then be sent to the requester. Respondents are requestors of pension plan information.
Because the Wage Reports and Pension Information is a requirement mandated by government regulation for which there is no standardized form, and most requestors merely write to or call their local field office for the information, SSA currently has no plans to make this information collection available electronically.
The nature of the information being collected and the manner in which it is collected preclude duplication. There is no other collection instrument in use by SSA that collects data similar to that collected here.
5. This collection does not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small businesses or other small entities.
6. If this requirement was not in place, then SSA would have no way of confirming that individuals calling to request pension plan information were actually entitled to that information. This could result in: a) an individual receiving information he or she is not entitled to, leading to potential fraud; or b) pension plan information not being provided to an individual at all. Since the identifying information is only requested when someone calls to request pension plan information, the information collection cannot be conducted less frequently. There are no technical or legal obstacles that prevent burden reduction.
7. There are no special circumstances that would cause this information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.
The 60-day advance Federal Register Notice was published on March 23, 2007 at 72 FR 13851, and SSA has received no public comments. The second Notice was published on June 13, 2007, at 72 FR 32697. There have been no outside consultations with members of the public.
9. SSA provides no payment or gifts to the respondents.
10. The information requested is protected and held confidential in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C. 552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974), and OMB Circular No.A-130.
11. The information collection does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.
12. Each year, approximately 600 individuals take 30 minutes each to provide the identifying information required to request pension plan information. Therefore, the total annual burden for the Wage and Pension Plan Information regulation is 300 burden hours. The total burden is reflected as burden hours, and no separate cost burden has been calculated.
13. There is no known cost burden to the respondents.
14. The annual cost to the Federal Government is approximately $231,000. This estimate is a projection of the costs for collecting and processing the requested information and for providing the pension information.
15. There are no changes in the public reporting burden.
The results of the information collected will not be published.
SSA is not requesting an exception to publishing the OMB expiration date.
SSA is not requesting an exception to the certification requirements at 5 CFR 1320.9 and related provisions at 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
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B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
Statistical methods are not used for this information collection.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | September 2000 |
| Author | John V Hailman |
| Last Modified By | 177717 |
| File Modified | 2007-06-14 |
| File Created | 2007-03-07 |