Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Public Comment
| Published date | 17 March 2022 |
| Citation | 87 FR 15267 |
| Record Number | 2022-05591 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Employee Benefits Security Administration,Labor Department |
Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 52 (Thursday, March 17, 2022)
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 52 (Thursday, March 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15267-15272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05591]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Public
Comment
AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with
the Paperwork Reduction Act, provides the general public and Federal
agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing
collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in
the desired format. The Employee Benefits Security Administration
(EBSA) is soliciting comments on the proposed extension of the
information collection requests (ICRs) contained in the documents
described below. A copy of the ICRs may be obtained by contacting the
office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. ICRs also are
available at reginfo.gov (http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the
Addresses section on or before May 16, 2022.
ADDRESSES: James Butikofer, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5718,
Washington, DC 20210, or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Current Actions
This notice requests public comment on the Department's request for
extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of
ICRs contained in the rules and prohibited transaction exemptions
described below. The Department is not proposing any changes to the
existing ICRs at this time. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless
it displays a valid OMB control number. A summary of the ICRs and the
current burden estimates follows:
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
[[Page 15268]]
Title: Employee Retirement Income Security Act Prohibited
Transaction Exemption 1986-128 For Securities Transactions Involving
Employee Benefit Plans and Broker-Dealers.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0059.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 11,894.
Responses: 819,448.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 19,495.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $661,045.
Description: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 86-128,
which was granted on November 18, 1986, exempts from the prohibited
transaction restrictions a fiduciary's use of its authority to cause a
plan (including an individual retirement account) or a pooled
investment fund to pay a fee to the fiduciary for effecting or
executing of securities transactions as agent for the plan or fund. It
also permits a fiduciary to act as an agent in an agency cross
transaction for both the plan and one or more other parties to the
transaction, and to receive reasonable compensation for effecting or
executing the agency cross transaction from one or more of the other
parties to the transaction.
Section III of the class exemption imposes the following
information collection requirements on fiduciaries of employee benefit
plans that effect or execute securities transactions (``broker-
dealers'') and the independent plan fiduciary authorizing the plan to
engage in the transactions with the broker-dealer (``authorizing
fiduciary'') under the conditions contained in the exemption: (1) The
authorizing plan fiduciary must provide the broker-dealer with an
advance written authorization for the transactions; (2) The broker-
dealer must provide the authorizing fiduciary with information
necessary to determine whether an authorization should be made,
including a copy of the exemption, a form for termination, a
description of the broker-dealer's brokerage placement practices, and
any other reasonably available information regarding the matter that
the authorizing fiduciary requests; (3) The broker-dealer must provide
the authorizing fiduciary with a termination form, at least annually,
explaining that the authorization is terminable at will, without
penalty to the plan, and that failure to return the form will result in
continued authorization for the broker-dealer to engage in securities
transactions on behalf of the plan; (4) The broker-dealer must provide
the authorizing fiduciary with either (a) a confirmation slip for each
individual securities transaction within 10 days of the transaction
containing the information described in Rule 10b-10(a)(1-7) under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 17 CFR 240.10b-10 or (b) a quarterly
report containing certain financial information including the total of
all transaction-related charges incurred by the plan; (5) The broker-
dealer must provide the authorizing fiduciary with an annual summary of
the confirmation slips or quarterly reports, containing all security
transaction-related charges, the brokerage placement practices (if
changed), and a portfolio turnover ratio; and (6) A broker-dealer who
is a discretionary plan trustee must provide the authorizing fiduciary
with an annual report showing separately the commissions paid to
affiliated brokers and non-affiliated brokers, on both a total dollar
basis and a cents-per-share basis.
These requirements are designed as appropriate safeguards to ensure
the protection of the plan assets involved in the transactions, which,
in the absence of the class exemption, would not be permitted. These
safeguards rely on the prior authorization and monitoring of the
broker-fiduciary's activities by a second plan fiduciary that is
independent of the first. They are necessary, as required under section
408(a) of ERISA, to ensure that respondents rely on the exemption only
in the circumstances protective of plan participants and beneficiaries.
The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB
Control No. 1210-0059. The current approval is scheduled to expire on
August 31, 2022.
Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 75-1, Security
Transactions with Broker-Dealers, Reporting Dealers, and Banks.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0092.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 6,116.
Responses: 6,116.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,019.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 75-1 was
granted on October 24, 1975. It consists of five parts covering, among
other things, securities transactions between plans and broker-dealers,
reporting dealers and banks as well as other parties. PTE 75-1 Part I
covers brokerage commissions and related services as well as advice by
persons that are not fiduciaries. Part II allows broker-dealers to
engage in principal purchases or sales of securities with plans and
permits reporting dealers and banks to do the same with respect to
Government securities. Part III allows a plan to purchase certain
securities from underwriting syndicates of which a plan fiduciary is a
member. Part IV allows a plan to purchase from or sell securities to a
market maker even if the market maker is a fiduciary. Part V allows a
broker-dealer to extend credit to a plan in connection with the
purchase or sale of securities. Each of the five parts of the exemption
contains its own conditions and limitations.
In order to ensure that the exemption is not abused, that the
rights of participants and beneficiaries are protected, and that
parties comply with the exemption's conditions, the Department requires
limited information collection pertaining to the affected transactions.
The information collection requirements that are conditions to reliance
on the class exemption consist only of recordkeeping. The records must
generally be maintained to enable plan fiduciaries and certain other
persons specified in the exemption (e.g., Department representatives
and employers of participants and beneficiaries) to determine whether
the conditions of the exemptions have been met. The records must
demonstrate that the transactions are fair to the plan. For certain
transactions covered by the exemption, the records must show that
qualitative standards (e.g., that the securities involved are of a
certain type) and quantitative standards (e.g., that the amount of
securities acquired by the plan does not exceed three percent of the
total amount of such securities being offered) were met. Consistent
with the other prohibited transaction exemptions granted by the
Department, the exemptions require that records of transactions entered
in reliance on the exemptions be maintained for a period of 6 years
from the date of each transaction. The Department has received approval
from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0092. The current
approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.
Title: Notice of Special Enrollment Rights under Group Health
Plans.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0101.
[[Page 15269]]
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 2,330,305.
Responses: 8,746,897.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $76,536.
Description: The Health Insurance Probability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA) provisions limit the extent to which group health plans and
their health insurance issuers can restrict health coverage based on
pre-existing conditions for individuals who previously had health
coverage. Section 701(f) of ERISA also provides special enrollment
rights to individuals who have previously declined health coverage
offered to them to enroll in health coverage upon the occurrence of
specified events, including when they lose other coverage, when
employer contributions to the cost of other coverage cease, and when
they marry, have a child or adopt a child (``special enrollment
events''). Plans and issuers are required to provide for 30-day special
enrollment periods following any of these events during which
individuals who are eligible but not enrolled have a right to enroll
without being denied enrollment or having to wait for a late enrollment
opportunity (often called ``open enrollment'').
Under the HIPAA provisions, a group health plan may require, as a
pre-condition to having a special enrollment right to enroll in group
health coverage after losing eligibility under other coverage, that an
employee or beneficiary who declines coverage provide the plan a
written statement declaring whether he or she is declining coverage
because of having other coverage. Failure to provide such a written
statement can then be treated as eliminating the individual's right to
special enrollment upon losing eligibility for such other coverage. The
regulations further establish that the right to special enroll can be
denied in such circumstances only if employees are given notice of the
requirement for a written statement and the consequences of failing to
provide the written statement at the time an employee declines
enrollment. As part of the special enrollment notice, it must be given
at or before the time the employee is initially offered the opportunity
to enroll.
This information collection request covers the requirement in the
implementing regulations under section 701(f) for a special enrollment
notice. This information collection implements the disclosure
obligation of a plan to inform all employees, at or before the time
they are initially offered the opportunity to enroll in the plan, of
the plan's special enrollment rules. The regulations require plans and
their issuers to provide all employees with a notice describing their
special enrollment rights, whether or not they enroll. This provision
is necessary to make sure that employees are informed of their special
enrollment rights before they take any action that may affect those
rights, so that they will be aware of and able to exercise their rights
within any 30-day enrollment period following a special enrollment
event. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0101. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on August 31, 2022.
Title: Annual Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0116.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 572.
Responses: 572.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 120.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $111,377.
Description: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 (HIPAA), codified as Part 7 of Title I of the Employee
Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), was enacted to improve the
portability and continuity of health care coverage for participants and
beneficiaries of group health plans. HIPAA also added section 101(g) to
ERISA, providing the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) with authority to
require, by regulation, multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs)
as defined in section 3(40) of ERISA, that offer or provide coverage
for medical benefits but which are not group health plans (non-plan
MEWAs), to report annually for the purpose of determining compliance
with Part 7 requirements. While the statutory authority was directed at
non-plan MEWAs, based on the authority in ERISA sections 101(g), 505,
and 734, the Department of Labor (Department) in 2003 promulgated a
regulation at 29 CFR 2520.101-2 that required the administrators of
both plan MEWAs and non-plan MEWAs that offer or provide coverage for
medical benefits, as well certain entities that claim not to be a MEWA
solely due to the exception in section 3(40)(A)(i) of ERISA (referred
to as ``Entities Claiming Exception'' or ``ECEs''), to file the Form M-
1 on an annual basis (Form M-1 annual report).
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care
and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (these are collectively known
as the ``Affordable Care Act'' or ``ACA'') amended section 101(g) of
ERISA to require non-plan MEWAs that provide benefits consisting of
medical care to register with the Secretary before operating in a
State. In 2011, the Department amended the Form M-1 reporting
regulations to enact the ACA required provisions by requiring all MEWAs
(plan and non-plan MEWAs) that offer or provide coverage for medical
benefits and ECEs to register with the Secretary upon occurrence of
certain registration events, such as prior to operating in a State, in
addition to continued reporting on an annual basis regarding compliance
with part 7 of ERISA.
The primary purpose of the information collection contained in the
Form M-1 is to provide the Department with a complete and uniform
source of information that identifies MEWAs and helps the Secretary and
State regulators evaluate Part 7 compliance by MEWAs. The Department
has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0116. The current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.
Title: Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement Administrative Law
Judge Administrative Hearing Procedures.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0148.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 10.
Responses: 10.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 20.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $668,900.
Description: Section 521 of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 1151, provides that
the Secretary of Labor may issue ex parte cease and desist orders when
it appears to the Secretary that the alleged conduct of a multiple
employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) under section 3(40) of the Act, 29
U.S.C. 1002(40), is fraudulent, or creates an immediate danger to the
public safety or welfare, or is causing or can be reasonably expected
to cause significant, imminent, and irreparable public injury. Section
521(b) provides that a person that is adversely affected by the
issuance of a cease and desist order may request an administrative
hearing regarding the order. The Department has promulgated a final
regulation that is the subject of this
[[Page 15270]]
information collection request, which describes the procedures before
an administrative law judge (ALJ) when a person seeks an administrative
hearing for review of such an order.
Under section 2571.3 of the rule, the party that is subject to a
cease and desist order issued under ERISA section 521 has the burden to
initiate an adjudicatory proceeding before an ALJ. Section 2571.3
governs the service of documents necessary to initiate ALJ proceedings
by such a party on the Secretary of Labor and the ALJ. The Department
expects that MEWAs contesting a cease and desist order will hire
outside counsel to draft motions, petitions, pleadings, briefs, and
other documents relating to the case. These are information collection
requests (ICRs) subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The information
will be used by a party that is subject to a cease and desist order
issued under ERISA section 521 to contest the order through an
adjudicatory proceeding before an ALJ. This section would apply in such
cases in lieu of 29 CFR 18.3. The Department has received approval from
OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0148. The current approval
is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.
Title: Alternative Reporting Methods for Apprenticeship and
Training Plans and Top Hat Plans.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0153.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 1,872.
Responses: 1,872.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 312.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: Section 2520.104-22 provides an exemption to the
reporting and provision of Part 1 of Title I of ERISA for employee
welfare benefit plans that provide exclusively apprenticeship and
training benefits if the plan administrator meets the following
requirements: (1) Files a notice with the Secretary that provides the
name of the plan, the plan sponsor's Employer Identification Number,
the plan administrator's name, and the name and location of an office
or person from whom interested individuals can obtain certain info
about courses offered by the plan; and (2) take steps reasonably
designed to ensure that the information required to be contained in the
notice is disclosed to employees of employers contribution to the plan
who may be eligible to enroll in any course of study sponsored or
establish by the plan; (3) and make the notice available to employees
upon request.
Under 2520.14-23, the Department provides an alternative method of
compliance with the reporting and disclosure of Title I of ERISA for
unfunded or insured plan established for a select group of management
of highly compensated employees (i.e., top hat plans). In order to
satisfy the alternative method of compliance, the plan administrator
must file a statement with the Secretary of Labor that includes the
name and address of the employer, the employer EIN, a declaration that
the employer maintains a plan or plans primarily for the purpose of
providing deferred compensation for a select group of management or
highly compensated employees, and a statement of the number of such
plans and the employees covered by each. Plan documents must be made
available to the Secretary upon request, and only one statement needs
to be filed for each employer maintaining one or more of the plans.
The 2019 final rule requires electronic filing with the Secretary
through EBSA's website in accordance with instructions published by the
Department. Going forward, EBSA's web-based filing system will be the
exclusive method for filing these notices and statements; filings by
mail or personal delivery will no longer be accepted. The new web-based
system is designed to assist administrators by ensuring that all of the
information required by the regulations is included in the notice or
statement before the filing can be completed through the website. Upon
submission of a completed filing, the new web-based filing system sends
an electronic confirmation of receipt to the administrator. This
confirmation is not available through the existing paper-based filing
system. The design of the new filing system facilitates the requirement
that plan administrators of apprenticeship and training plans make
notices available to participants upon request under Sec. 2520.104-
22(a)(3). Filings are now available to the public on the Department's
website at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa. The Department has received
approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0153. The
current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.
Title: Insurance and Annuity Contracts and Mutual Fund Principal
Underwriters (PTE 1984-24).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0158.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 2,789.
Responses: 227,068.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 18,948.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $92,377.
Description: PTE 84-24, as amended, provides an exemption for
insurance agents, insurance brokers and pension consultants to receive
a sales commission from an insurance company in connection with the
purchase, with plan or IRA assets, of an insurance or annuity contract.
Relief is also provided for a principal underwriter for an investment
company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to receive
a sales commission in connection with the purchase, with plan or IRA
assets, of securities issued by the investment company.
In order to receive commissions in conjunction with the purchase of
an insurance or annuity contract or of securities issued by the
investment company, the insurance agent, insurance broker, pension
consultant, or principal underwriter must obtain written authorization
from the authorizing fiduciary. Prior to obtaining the written
authorization, the insurance agent, insurance broker, pension
consultant, or principal underwriter must provide the authorizing
fiduciary with sufficient materials and disclosures for the authorizing
fiduciary to evaluate the appropriateness of the investment. Finally,
the insurance agent, insurance broker, pension consultant, or principal
underwriter must maintain sufficient records to demonstrate that the
conditions of the exemption have been met. In order to ensure that the
class exemption is not abused, that the rights of the participants and
beneficiaries are protected, and that the exemption's conditions are
being complied with, the Department often requires minimal information
collection pertaining to the affected transactions. The Department has
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0158. The current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.
Title: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Investment
Manager Electronic Registration.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0125.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
[[Page 15271]]
Respondents: 4.
Responses: 4.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $270.
Description: Section 203A(a) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
(and the implementing SEC regulations) provides that investment
advisers with less than $25 million in assets under management must
register with the state regulatory authority in the state where the
investment adviser maintains its principal office and place of
business, rather than with the SEC; advisers with more than $30 million
in assets under management must register with the SEC; and those with
assets under management between those two dollar values are permitted
to choose between state registration and registration with the SEC.
Investment advisers that register with a state, rather than with
the SEC, must satisfy ERISA's section 3(38) requirement to file a copy
of the state registration with the Department by electronically
registering through the Investment Adviser Registration Depository
(IARD). This is a centralized electronic filing system operated by the
SEC in conjunction with state securities regulation authorities.
Because the IARD was established by the SEC and the states, and made
mandatory for advisers required to file with SEC, and because all
states permit filing through IARD even for advisers who do not file
with SEC, the Department determined that use of the IARD would
eliminate the duplication of filing paper copies of state registration
forms with the Department and facilitate creation of a uniform and
efficient ``one-stop'' filing system for state-registered filings by
advisers who wished to meet the ``investment manager'' definition of
ERISA section 3(38).
Previously, state-registered advisers that filed with the states in
a variety of ways, including paper, electronically through vendor-
provided software, and through IARD were required to file an additional
paper copy of the filing with the Department in order to meet the
requirements of section 3(38). This information collection incorporates
electronic filing as a mandatory element, eliminating the previously
required duplicative filing of a paper copy of a state registration
with the Department. The Department has received approval from OMB for
this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0125. The current approval is
scheduled to expire on September 30, 2022.
Title: Securities Lending by Employee Benefit Plans, Prohibited
Transaction Exemption 2006-16.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection.
OMB Number: 1210-0065.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 155.
Responses: 1,550.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 297.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $12,765.
Description: In 2006, the Department promulgated a final class
exemption, PTE 2006-16, which amended and replaced the exemptions
previously provided under PTE 81-6 and PTE 82-63. The final exemption
incorporates the exemptions into one renumbered exemption and expands
the categories of exempted transactions to include securities lending
to foreign banks and broker-dealers that are domiciled in specified
countries and to allow the use of additional forms of collateral, all
subject to specified conditions outlined in the exemption.
Among other conditions, the class exemption requires a bank or
broker-dealer that borrows securities from a plan to provide the
lending fiduciary with its most recent audited financial statement. The
borrower must also affirm, when the loan is negotiated, that there has
been no material adverse change in its financial condition since the
previously audited statement. The exemption also requires the
agreements regarding the securities loan transaction or transactions
and the compensation arrangement for the lending fiduciary to be
contained in written documents. Individual agreements are not required
for each transaction; rather the compensation agreement may be made in
the form of a master agreement covering a series of transactions. The
Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB
Control No. 1210-0065. The current approval is scheduled to expire on
October 31, 2022.
Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1988-59, Residential
Mortgage Financing Arrangements Involving Employee Benefit Plans.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection.
OMB Number: 1210-0095.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 2,192.
Responses: 10,960.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 913.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 88-59,
which amended and replaced PTE 82-87, allows employee benefit plans to
participate in several different types of residential mortgage
financing transactions, provided certain conditions are met. Without
this exemption, these transactions would be prohibited under section
406 of ERISA and under the prohibited transaction provisions of section
4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The five categories of
transactions permitted under the exemption are: (1) Issuance of
commitments for the provision of mortgage financing to purchasers of
residential dwelling units; (2) receipt by a plan of a fee for the
issuance of the commitments; (3) the actual making or purchase of a
mortgage loan or participation interest therein pursuant to the
commitment; (4) the actual making or purchase of an mortgage loan or
participation interest therein without the precondition of a
commitment; and (5) the sale, exchange or transfer of a mortgage loan
or participation interest therein prior to the maturity date of the
instrument, provided that the interest sold, exchanged, or transferred
represents the plan's entire interest in such investment.
Among other conditions, the exemption requires a plan to maintain
for the duration of any loan made pursuant to this exemption all
records necessary to determine whether conditions of the exemption have
been met and to make such records available for examination on request
by any trustee, investment manager, participant or beneficiary of the
plan, or agents of the Department or the IRS. Such records could
include, for example, showing the identities of the borrower, lender,
any developer or builder involved, the qualifications of the lender,
the written acknowledgment of the fiduciary obligation of any real
estate manager involved in the transaction, evidence of the type of
residential dwelling unit involved, and information concerning
comparable mortgages and expenses offered at the time of the
commitments. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR
under OMB Control No. 1210-0095. The current approval is scheduled to
expire on October 31, 2022.
Title: National Medical Support Notice-Part B.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0113.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
[[Page 15272]]
Respondents: 425,444.
Responses: 10,546,371.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 878,864.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$3,322,107.
Description: Pursuant to Section 401(a) of the CSPIA, the
Department of Labor (the Department) and HHS jointly promulgated the
National Medical Support Notice Final Rule on December 27, 2000 (65 FR
82128) (NMSN Regulation). The NMSN Regulation simplifies the issuance
and processing of medical child support orders; standardizes
communication between state agencies, employers, and Plan
Administrators; and creates a uniform and streamlined process for
enforcement of medical child support to ensure that all eligible
children receive the health care coverage to which they are entitled.
The NMSN Regulation, codified at 29 CFR 2590.609-2, includes a
model National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) that is comprised of two
parts: Part A is a notice from the state agency to the employer,
entitled: ``Notice to Withhold for Health Care Coverage;'' and Part B
is a notice from the employer to the Plan Administrator, entitled:
``Medical Support Notice to Plan Administrator.'' Both Parts have
detailed instructions informing the recipient to whom responses are due
depending on varying circumstances. This ICR addresses the Plan
Administrator's responsibilities under NMSN Regulation to complete Part
B of the NMSN, the ``Plan Administrator Response,'' pursuant to the
CSPIA and section 609(a)(5)(C) of Title I of ERISA.
The ``Plan Administrator Response'' in Part B of the NMSN requires
the Plan Administrator to provide information verifying whether the
child is or will be receiving health care coverage from the group
health plan. If enrollment has already occurred or can begin
immediately, the Plan Administrator's response in Part B serves as
notice to the state agency, the participant (parent), the child (or
their non-participant parent or guardian) and the employer that the
child is or will begin receiving dependent health care coverage
pursuant to the group health plan. When the child is eligible for more
than one coverage option, the Administrator must first send the Part B
response to the state agency so that the agency may choose one option.
The Plan Administrator must also use the Part B response to notify all
of the above-affected persons of any waiting period before enrollment
of the child can occur. The Department has received approval from OMB
for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0113. The current approval is
scheduled to expire on October 31, 2022.
Title: Access to Multiemployer Plan Information.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection.
OMB Number: 1210-0131.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 2,636.
Responses: 235,798.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 30,379.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $521,815.
Description: Section 101(k)(1) of ERISA requires multiemployer plan
administrators to furnish certain documents to any plan participant,
beneficiary, employee representative, or any employer that has an
obligation to contribute to the plan upon written request. The
Department issued a final rule that implements the disclosure
requirements of ERISA section 101(k) on March 2, 2010 (75 FR 9334). The
documents that may be requested are: (1) A copy of any periodic
actuarial report (including sensitivity testing) received by the plan
for any plan year which has been in the plan's possession for at least
30 days; (2) a copy of any quarterly, semi-annual, or annual financial
report prepared for the plan by any plan investment manager or advisor
or other fiduciary that has been in the plan's possession for at least
30 days; and (3) a copy of any application filed with the Secretary of
the Treasury requesting an extension under section 304 of ERISA (or
section 431(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) and the
determination of such Secretary pursuant to such application.
The information collection provisions of this final regulation are
found in 29 CFR 2520.101-6(a), which requires multiemployer defined
benefit and defined contribution pension plan administrators to furnish
copies of certain actuarial and financial documents to plan
participants, beneficiaries, employee representatives, and contributing
employers upon request.
This information constitutes a third-party disclosure from the
administrator to participants, beneficiaries, employee representatives,
and contributing employers for purposes of the PRA. Pursuant to Sec.
2520.101-6(d)(5), the documents required to be disclosed shall not
contain any information that the plan administrator reasonably
determines to be either: (i) Individually identifiable information
regarding any plan participant, beneficiary, employee, fiduciary, or
contributing employer, except that such limitation shall not apply to
an investment manager or adviser, or with respect to any other person
(other than an employee of the plan) preparing a financial report
described in paragraph Sec. 2520.101-6(c)(2); or (ii) proprietary
information regarding the plan, any contributing employer, or entity
providing services to the plan. The plan administrator must inform the
requester if any such information is withheld. The Department has
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0131. The current approval is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2022.
II. Focus of Comments
The Department is particularly interested in comments that:
Evaluate whether the collections of information are
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
collections of information, including the validity of the methodology
and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
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., by
permitting electronic submissions of responses.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the additional demographic
questions.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the ICR for OMB approval of the information
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 11th day of March, 2022.
Ali Khawar,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration,
U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-05591 Filed 3-16-22; 8:45 am]
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