[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76439-76441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31287]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests Submitted
for Public Comment: Disclosures by Insurers to General Account
Policyholders; ERISA Technical Release 91-1; Registration for EFAST-2
Credentials; ERISA Procedure 76-1; Prohibited Transaction Exemptions
94-71 and 2003-39; Notice of Blackout Period Under ERISA; Voluntary
Fiduciary Correction Program and Class Exemption
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 of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)),
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 February 6, 2012.
ADDRESSES: G. Christopher Cosby, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20210, (202) 693-8410, Fax (202) 693-4745 (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
transactions 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.
Title: Disclosures by Insurers to General Account Policyholders.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection of information.
OMB Number: 1210-0114.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 50,000.
Responses: 96,223.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 408,948.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $32,235.
Description: Section 1460 of the Small Business Job Protection Act
of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-188) (SBJPA) amended added a new section 401(c) to
the Employee Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This new section,
inter alia, required the Department to promulgate a regulation
providing guidance, applicable only to insurance policies issued on or
before December 31, 1998, to or for the benefit of employee benefit
plans, to clarify the extent to which assets held in an insurer's
general account under such contracts are ``plan assets'' within the
meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), because
the policies are not ``guaranteed benefit policies'' within the meaning
of section 401(b) of ERISA. SBJPA further directed the Department to
set standards for how insurers should manage the specified insurance
policies (called Transition Policies). Pursuant to the authority and
direction given under SBJPA, the Department promulgated a regulation,
issued in final form on January 5, 2000 (65 FR 714), and codified at 29
CFR 2550.401c-1. This regulation has not been amended subsequently. The
ICR is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2012.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: ERISA Technical Release 91-1.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection of information.
OMB Number: 1210-0084.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 15.
Responses: 107,040.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,827.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $25,286.
Description: The subject information collection requirements arise
from ERISA section 101(e), which establishes
[[Page 76440]]
notice requirements that must be satisfied before an employer may
transfer excess assets from a defined benefit pension plan to a retiree
health benefit account, as permitted under the conditions set forth in
section 420 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
The notice requirements of section 101(e) are two-fold. First,
subsection (e)(1) requires plan administrators to provide advance
written notification of such transfers to participants and
beneficiaries. Second, subsection (e)(2)(A) requires employers to
provide advance written notification of such transfers to the
Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury, the plan administrator, and each
employee organization representing participants in the plan. Both
notices must be given at least 60 days before the transfer date. The
two subsections prescribe the information to be included in each type
of notice and further give the Secretary of Labor the authority to
prescribe how notice to participants and beneficiaries must be given
and any additional reporting requirements deemed necessary.
Although the Department of Labor has not issued regulations under
section 101(e), on May 8, 1991, the Department published ERISA
Technical Release 91-1, to provide guidance on how to satisfy the
notice requirements prescribed by this section.
The Technical Release made two changes in the statutory
requirements for the second type of notice. First, it required the
notice to include a filing date and the intended asset transfer date.
Second, it simplified the statutory filing requirements by providing
that filing with the Department of Labor would be deemed sufficient
notice to both the Department and the Department of the Treasury as
required under the statute. The ICR is scheduled to expire on March 31,
2012.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Registration for EFAST-2 Credentials.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0117.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 400,000.
Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
Responses: 400,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 133,333.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: ERISA Section 104 requires administrators of pension
and welfare benefit plans (collectively, employee benefit plans), and
employers sponsoring certain fringe benefit plans and other plans of
deferred compensation, to file returns/reports annually with the
Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) concerning the financial condition
and operation of the plans. Reporting requirements are satisfied by
filing the Form 5500 in accordance with its instructions and the
related regulations. Beginning with plan year filings for 1999, Form
5500 filings were processed under the ERISA Filing Acceptance System
(EFAST), which was designed to simplify and expedite the receipt and
processing of the Form 5500 by relying on computer scannable forms and
electronic filing technologies. The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approved this information collection under OMB Control Number
1210-0117.
Beginning with plan year filings for 2009, Form 5500 filings are
processed under a new system, the ERISA Filing Acceptance System 2
(EFAST-2), which is designed to simplify and expedite the receipt and
processing of the Form 5500 by relying on Internet-based forms and
electronic filing technologies. In order to file electronically,
employee benefit plan filing authors, schedule authors, filing signers,
Form 5500 transmitters, and entities developing software to complete
and/or transmit the Form 5500 are required to register for EFAST-2
credentials through the EFAST-2 Web site. Requested information
includes: Applicant type (filing author, filing signer, schedule
author, transmitter, or software developer); mailing address; fax
number (optional); email address; company name, contact person; and
daytime telephone number. Registrants must also provide an answer to a
challenge question (``What is your date of birth?'' or ``Where is your
place of birth?''), which enables users to retrieve forgotten
credentials. In addition, registrants must accept a Privacy Agreement;
PIN Agreement; and, under penalty of perjury, a Signature Agreement.
On October 23, 2011, OMB approved a revision to OMB Control Number
1210-0117 to reflect the EFAST-2 credential process under the emergency
procedures for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) and 5 CFR
1320.13. OMB's approval of the revision currently is scheduled to
expire on April 30, 2012.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: ERISA Procedure 76-1; Advisory Opinion Procedure.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection of information.
OMB Number: 1210-0066.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 63.
Responses: 63.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 652.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$1,425,229.
Description: Under ERISA, the Department has responsibility to
administer the reporting, disclosure, fiduciary and other standards for
pension and welfare benefit plans. In 1976, the Department issued ERISA
Procedure 76-1, Procedure for ERISA Advisory Opinions (ERISA
Procedure), in order to establish a public process for requesting
guidance from EBSA on the application of ERISA to particular
circumstances. The ERISA Procedure sets forth specific administrative
procedures for requesting either an advisory opinion or an information
letter and describes the types of questions that may be submitted. As
part of the ERISA Procedure, requesters are instructed to provide
information to EBSA concerning the circumstances governing their
request. EBSA relies on the information provided by the requester to
analyze the issue presented and provide guidance. The ERISA Procedure
has been in use since 1976, and the Department has issued hundreds of
advisory opinions and information letters under its rules. The ICR is
scheduled to expire on June 30, 2012.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Settlement Agreements Between a Plan and a Party-in-Interest
(PTEs 94-71 and 2003-39).
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection of information.
OMB Number: 1210-0091.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 4.
Responses: 1080.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 28.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $315.
Description: Section 408(a) of ERISA and section 4975(c)(2) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code) give the Secretary of Labor
the authority to grant an exemption to a class or order of fiduciaries,
disqualified persons, or transactions from all or part of the
restrictions imposed by sections 406 and 407(a) of ERISA and from the
taxes imposed by sections 4975(a) and (b) of the Code, by reason of
section 4975(c)(1)
[[Page 76441]]
of the Code. This information collection request (ICR) relates to two
prohibited transaction class exemptions (PTEs) that the Department of
Labor (the Department) has granted, both of which involve settlement
agreements. These two exemptions are described below:
PTE 94-71. Granted on September 30, 1994, PTE 94-71 exempts from
certain restrictions of ERISA and certain taxes imposed by the Code, a
transaction or activity that is authorized, prior to the execution of
the transaction or activity, by a settlement agreement resulting from
an investigation of an employee benefit plan conducted by the
Department.
PTE 2003-39. Granted on December 31, 2005, PTE 03-39 exempts from
certain restrictions of ERISA and certain taxes imposed by the Code,
transactions arising out of the settlement of litigation that involve
the release of claims against parties in interest in exchange for
payment by or on behalf of the party in interest, provided that certain
conditions are met.
Because both exemptions involve settlement agreements, the
Department has combined their information collection provisions into
one ICR and has obtained OMB approval for their paperwork burden. The
Department believes that the public and the Federal government are both
best served by allowing the public to review and comment on similar
exemption provisions in combination. The ICR is scheduled to expire on
June 30, 2012.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Notice of Blackout Period Under ERISA.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection of information.
OMB Number: 1210-0122.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 45,200.
Responses: 3,465,447.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 183,342.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$1,628,760.
Description: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA), enacted on July 30,
2002, added ERISA section 101(i), which requires individual account
pension plans to furnish a written notice to participants and
beneficiaries in advance of any ``blackout period'' during which their
existing rights to direct or diversify their investments under the
plan, or obtain a loan or distribution from the plan will be
temporarily suspended. Under 306(b)(2) of SOA, the Secretary of Labor
was directed to issue interim final rules necessary to implement the
SOA amendments. The Department's regulation for this purpose is
codified at 29 CFR 2520.101-3. The ICR is scheduled to expire on June
30, 2012.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection of information.
OMB Number: 1210-0118.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Respondents: 1,525.
Responses: 76,242.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 6,863.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $273,403.
Description: This information collection arises from two related
actions: the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (the VFC Program or
the Program) and Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 2002-51
(the Exemption). The Department adopted the Program and the Exemption
in order to encourage members of the public to voluntarily correct
transactions that violate (or are suspected of violating) the fiduciary
or prohibited transaction provisions of the ERISA. Both the Program and
the Exemption incorporate information collection requirements in order
to protect participants and beneficiaries and enable the Department to
oversee the appropriate use of the Program and the Exemption. The ICR
is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2012.
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.
Dated: November 30, 2011.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-31287 Filed 12-6-11; 8:45 am]
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