Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests Submitted for Public Comment
| Published date | 27 March 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 11573 |
| Record Number | 2019-05818 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Employee Benefits Security Administration,Labor Department |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11573-11577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05818]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests Submitted
for Public Comment
AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, 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 28, 2019.
ADDRESSES: G. Christopher Cosby, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5718,
Washington, DC 20210, [email protected], (202) 693-8410, FAX (202) 219-
4745 (these are not toll-free numbers).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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
[[Page 11574]]
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.
Title: Access to Multiemployer Plan Information.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0131.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 2,720.
Responses: 242,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 31,000.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $537,000.
Description: Section 101(k) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as amended by the Pension Protection Act
of 2006 (PPA) requires the administrator of a multiemployer plan to
provide copies of certain actuarial and financial documents about the
plan to participants, beneficiaries, employee representatives and
contributing employers upon request. The rule affects plan
administrators, participants and beneficiaries and contributing
employers of multiemployer plans. The Department previously submitted
an ICR to OMB for approval of this information collection and received
OMB approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0131. The current approval is
scheduled to expire on August 31, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Summary Plan Description Requirements Under the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as Amended.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0039.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 2,981,000.
Responses: 108,466,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 279,000.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$172,736,000.
Description: Section 104(b) of ERISA requires the administrator of
an employee benefit plan to furnish plan participants and certain
beneficiaries with a Summary Plan Description (SPD) that describes, in
language understandable to an average plan participant, the benefits,
rights, and obligations of participants in the plan. The information
required to be contained in the SPD is set forth in section 102(b) of
ERISA. To the extent there is a material modification in the terms of
the plan or a change in the required content of the SPD, section
104(b)(1) of ERISA requires the plan administrator to furnish
participants and specified beneficiaries with a summary of material
modifications (SMM) or summary of material reductions (SMR). The
Department has issued regulations providing guidance on compliance with
the requirements to furnish SPDs, SMMs, and SMRs. These regulations,
which are codified at 29 CFR 2520.102-2, 102-3, and 29 CFR 104b-2 and
104b-3, contain information collections for which the Department has
obtained OMB approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0039. The current
approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Securities Lending by Employee Benefit Plans, Prohibited
Transaction Exemption 2006-16.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0065.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 100.
Responses: 1,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 192.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $7,200.
Description: This ICR covers information collections contained in
PTE 2006-16. In 1981 and 1982, the Department issued two related
prohibited transaction class exemptions, PTE 81-6 and PTE 82-63, that
permit employee benefit plans to lend securities owned by the plans as
investments to banks and broker-dealers and to make compensation
arrangements for lending services provided by a plan fiduciary in
connection with securities loans. In 2006, the Department promulgated
PTE 2006-16, which combines and amends the exemptions previously
provided under PTE 81-6 and PTE 82-63. The new exemption 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.
Among other conditions, the class exemption requires a bank or
broker-dealer that borrows securities from a plan to provide the plan
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 ICRs contained in PTE 2006-16
were approved by OMB under OMB Control No. 1210-0065. The current
approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
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: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 4.
Responses: 4.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $270.
Description: Section 3(38)(B) of ERISA imposes certain registration
requirements on an investment adviser that wishes to be considered an
investment manager under ERISA. In 1997, section 3(38) was amended to
permit advisers to satisfy the registration requirements by registering
electronically with the Investment Adviser Registration Depository
(IARD) established and maintained by the Securities Exchange Commission
(SEC). The Department promulgated a final regulation to implement the
statutory change. The final regulation is codified at 29 CFR 2510.3-38.
EBSA submitted an ICR requesting OMB approval of the information
collection contained in 29 CFR 2510.3-38, and OMB approved the
information collection under OMB control number 1210-0125. The current
approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 88-59, Residential
Mortgage Financing Arrangements Involving Employee Benefit Plans.
[[Page 11575]]
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0095.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 50.
Responses: 11,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 900.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: PTE 88-59 provides an exemption from certain
prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA and from certain taxes
imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Code) for transactions in
which an employee benefit plan provides mortgage financing to
purchasers of residential dwelling units, provided specified conditions
are met. Among other conditions, PTE 88-59 requires that adequate
records pertaining to exempted transactions be maintained for the
duration of the pertinent loan. This recordkeeping requirement
constitutes an information collection within the meaning of the PRA,
for which the Department has obtained approval from OMB under OMB
Control No. 1210-0095. The current approval is scheduled to expire on
August 31, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: National Medical Support Notice--Part B.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0113.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.
Respondents: 370,000.
Responses: 8,700,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 727,000.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$4,700,000.
Description: Section 609(a) of ERISA, requires each group health
plan, as defined in ERISA section 607(1), to provide benefits in
accordance with the applicable requirements of any ``qualified medical
child support order'' (QMCSO). A QMCSO is, generally, an order issued
by a state court or other competent state authority that requires a
group health plan to provide group health coverage to a child or
children of an employee eligible for coverage under the plan. In
accordance with Congressional directives contained in the Child Support
Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (CSPIA), EBSA and the Federal
Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) cooperated in the development of regulations
to create a National Medical Support Notice (NMSN or Notice). The
Notice simplifies the issuance and processing of qualified medical
child support orders issued by state child support enforcement
agencies, provides for standardized communication between state
agencies, employers, and plan administrators, and creates a uniform and
streamlined process for enforcement of medical child support
obligations ordered by state child support enforcement agencies. The
NMSN comprises two parts: Part A was promulgated by HHS and pertains to
state child support enforcement agencies and employers; Part B was
promulgated by the Department and pertains to plan administrators
pursuant to ERISA. This solicitation of public comment relates only to
Part B of the NMSN, which was promulgated by the Department. In
connection with promulgation of Part B of the NMSN, the Department
submitted an ICR to OMB for review, and OMB approved the information
collections contained in Part B under OMB control number 1210-0113. The
current approval is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: PTE 80-83--Sale of Securities To Reduce Indebtedness of
Party in Interest.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0064.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 25.
Responses: 25.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 15.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: PTE 80-83 provides an exemption from certain
prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA and from certain taxes
imposed by the Code for transactions in which an employee benefit plan
purchases securities when the proceeds from such purchase may be used
to reduce or retire a debt owed by a party in interest with respect to
such plan, provided that specified conditions are met. Among other
conditions, PTE 80-83 requires that adequate records pertaining to an
exempted transaction be maintained for six years. The Department has
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0064. The current approval is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Statutory Exemption for Cross-Trading of Securities.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0130.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 319.
Responses: 2,870.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 3,333.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $14,000.
Description: The Interim Final Rule on Statutory Exemption for
Cross-Trading of Securities implements the content requirements for the
written cross-trading policies and procedures required under section
408(b)(19)(H) of ERISA, as added by section 611(g) of the PPA. Section
611(g)(1) of the PPA created a new statutory exemption, added to
section 408(b) of ERISA as subsection 408(b)(19), that exempts from the
prohibitions of sections 406(a)(1)(A) and 406(b)(2) of ERISA those
cross-trading transactions involving the purchase and sale of a
security between an account holding assets of a pension plan and any
other account managed by the same investment manager, provided that
certain conditions are satisfied. Section 611(g)(3) of the PPA further
directed the Secretary to issue regulations, within 180 days after
enactment, regarding the content of the policies and procedures to be
adopted by an investment manager to satisfy the conditions of the new
statutory exemption.
The Department issued a final cross-trading regulation on October
7, 2008. The recordkeeping requirement in the regulation constitutes an
information collection within the meaning of the PRA, for which the
Department has obtained approval from OMB under OMB Control No. 1210-
0130. The current approval is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Plan Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset
Managers under Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 96-23.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0145.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 20.
Responses: 20.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 940.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $400,000.
Description: PTE 96-23, a class exemption, permits various
transactions involving employee benefit plans whose assets are managed
by in-house asset
[[Page 11576]]
managers (INHAMs), provided the conditions of the exemption are met.
The Department submitted the ICR included in the Proposed Amendment to
PTE 96-23 for Plan Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset
Managers to OMB for review and clearance at the time the Notice of the
proposed exemption was published in the Federal Register (June 14,
2010, 75 FR 33642). OMB approved the amendment under OMB control number
1210-0145. The current approval will expire on November 30, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Petition for Finding Under Employee Retirement Income
Security Act Section 3(40).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0119.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 41,386.
Responses: 10.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 50.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $41,000.
Description: Rules codified beginning at 29 CFR 2570.150 set forth
an administrative procedure (``procedural rules'') for obtaining a
determination by the Department as to whether a particular employee
benefit plan is established or maintained under or pursuant to one or
more collective bargaining agreements for purposes of section 3(40) of
ERISA. These procedural rules concern specific criteria set forth in 29
CFR 2510.3-40 (``criteria rules''), which, if met, constitute a finding
by the Department that a plan is collectively bargained. Plans that
meet the requirements of the criteria rules are not subject to state
law. Among other requirements, the procedural rules require submission
of a petition and affidavits by parties seeking a finding. The
Department has obtained approval from OMB, under OMB Control No. 1210-
0119, for the information collections contained in its rules for a
finding under section 3(40). The current approval is scheduled to
expire on November 30, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Plan Asset Transactions Determined by Independent Qualified
Professional Asset Managers under Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-
14.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0128.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 721,000.
Responses: 4,620.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 111,000.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$46,200,000.
Description: PTE 84-14, a class exemption that permits various
parties that are related to employee benefit plans to engage in
transactions involving plan assets if, among other conditions, the
assets are managed by ``qualified professional asset managers'' (QPAMs)
that are independent of the parties in interest and which meet
specified financial standards. The exemption provides additional
exemptive relief for employers to furnish limited amounts of goods and
services to a managed fund in the ordinary course of business. Limited
relief also is provided for leases of office or commercial space
between managed funds and QPAMs or contributing employers. Finally,
relief is provided for transactions involving places of public
accommodation owned by a managed fund. QPAMs are permitted to manage an
investment fund containing the assets of the QPAM's own plan or an
affiliate's plan. The Department has obtained approval for the
information collections from OMB under OMB Control No. 1210-0128. The
current approval is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption for Certain
Transactions Between Investment Companies and Employee Benefit Plans
(PTE 77-4).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0049.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 873.
Responses: 271,238.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 23,040.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $117,069.
Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 77-4 provides
relief from the restrictions of section 406 of ERISA and from the
sanctions resulting from the application of section 4975 of the Code,
for an employee benefit plan's purchase or sale of shares of an open-
end investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of
1940 (mutual fund) when an investment advisor for the mutual fund or
its affiliate is: (1) A plan fiduciary; and (2) not an employer of
employees covered by the plan.
Section II(d) of PTE 77-4 contains certain conditions for the
exemptive relief and provides, in pertinent part, that: A second
fiduciary with respect to the plan, who is independent of and unrelated
to the fiduciary/investment adviser or any affiliate thereof, receives
a current prospectus issued by the investment company, and full and
detailed written disclosure of the investment advisory and other fees
charged to or paid by the plan and the investment company, including
the nature and extent of any differential between the rates of such
fees, the reasons why the fiduciary/investment adviser may consider
such purchases to be appropriate for the plan, and whether there are
any limitations on the fiduciary/investment adviser with respect to
which plan assets may be invested in shares of the investment company
and, if so, the nature of such limitations.
Delivery of a ``summary prospectus'' may be used to satisfy the
condition in section II(d) of PTE 77-4 requiring the delivery of a
mutual fund's prospectus to the second fiduciary if the summary
prospectus meets the requirements of the Securities and Exchange
Commission's (SEC) revised disclosure provisions for mutual funds
including a summary prospectus rule that were published in 2009.
Pursuant to the SEC's revised disclosure provisions, mutual funds also
are required to send the full prospectus to the investor upon an
investor's request and to provide the full prospectus on-line at a
specified internet site. The Department previously submitted an ICR to
OMB for approval of the information collections in PTE 77-4 and
received OMB approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0049. The current
approval is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Notice Requirements of the Health Care Continuation Coverage
Provisions.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0123.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 605,869.
Responses: 16,052,495.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$30,490,898.
Description:The continuation coverage provisions of section 601
through 608 of ERISA (and parallel
[[Page 11577]]
provisions of the Code) generally require group health plans to offer
qualified beneficiaries the opportunity to elect continuation coverage
following certain events that would otherwise result in the loss of
coverage. Continuation coverage is a temporary extension of the
qualified beneficiary's previous group health coverage. The right to
elect continuation coverage allows individuals to maintain group health
coverage under adverse circumstances and to bridge gaps in health
coverage that otherwise could limit their access to health care. The
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) provides
the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) with authority under section 608
of ERISA to carry out the continuation coverage provisions. The
Conference Report that accompanied COBRA divided interpretive authority
over the COBRA provisions between the Secretary and the Secretary of
the Treasury (the Treasury) by providing that the Secretary has the
authority to issue regulations implementing the notice and disclosure
requirements of COBRA, while the Treasury is authorized to issue
regulations defining the required continuation coverage. The ICR
contained in these rules was approved by OMB under OMB Control No.
1210-0123. The current approval is scheduled to expire on December 31,
2019.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Model Employer Children's Health Insurance Program Notice.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0137.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Farms, Not-for-
profit institutions.
Respondents: 5,897,699.
Responses: 175,973,641.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 706,828.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$16,963,859.
Description: The Children's Health Insurance Program
Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA, Pub. L. 111-3) was signed into law
on February 4, 2009. Under ERISA section 701(f)(3)(B)(i)(I), PHS Act
section 2701(f)(3)(B)(i)(I), and section 9801(f)(3)(B)(i)(I) of the
Code, as added by CHIPRA, an employer that maintains a group health
plan in a State that provides medical assistance under a State Medicaid
plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act (SSA), or child health
assistance under a State child health plan under title XXI of the SSA,
in the form of premium assistance for the purchase of coverage under a
group health plan, is required to make certain disclosures.
Specifically, the employer is required to notify each employee of
potential opportunities currently available in the State in which the
employee resides for premium assistance under Medicaid and CHIP for
health coverage of the employee or the employee's dependents. ERISA
section 701(f)(3)(B)(i)(II) requires the Department of Labor to provide
employers with model language for the Employer CHIP Notices to enable
them to timely comply with this requirement. This ICR relates to the
Model Employer CHIP Notice, which was approved by OMB under OMB Control
No. 1210-0137. The current approval is scheduled to expire on December
31, 2019.
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.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the ICRs for OMB approval of the extension of the
information collection; they will also become a matter of public
record.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-05818 Filed 3-26-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P
