[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70828-70832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28464]
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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 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
[[Page 70829]]
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 January 28, 2013.
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
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.
Title: Notice of Medical Necessity Criteria under the Mental Health
Parity and Addition Equity Act of 2008.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0138.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 446,400.
Responses: 446,400.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 949.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $562,506.
Description: MHPAEA includes disclosure provisions for group health
plans and health insurance coverage offered in connection with a group
health plan. The criteria for medical necessity determinations made
under a group health plan with respect to mental health or substance
use disorder benefits (or health insurance coverage offered in
connection with the plan with respect to such benefits) must be made
available in accordance with regulations by the plan administrator (or
the health insurance issuer offering such coverage) to any current or
potential participant, beneficiary, or contracting provider upon
request (``medical necessity disclosure''). The ICR contained in MHPAEA
was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB
Control No. 1210-0138, which currently is scheduled to expire on
January 31, 2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: PTE 2006-16 (Securities Lending by Employee Benefit Plans).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information
collection.
OMB Number: 1210-0065.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit institutions; not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 100.
Responses: 1,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 191.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $5,600.
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 that a bank or
broker-dealer that borrows securities from a plan must 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 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB
Control No. 1210-0065, which currently is scheduled to expire on
February 28, 2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Multiemployer Plan Access to Information.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0131.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 3,000.
Responses: 255,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 32,000.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $457,000.
Description: This final rule implements section 101(k) of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as amended by
the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Section 101(k) 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 final rule affects plan administrators, participants and
beneficiaries and contributing employers of multiemployer plans. In
connection with publication of this final rule, the Department
submitted an ICR to OMB for its request of a new collection. OMB
approved the ICR on February 21, 2010, under OMB Control Number 1210-
0131, which expires on February 28, 2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: ERISA Investment Manager Electronic Registration.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0125.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 10.
Responses: 10.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 12.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $730.
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
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electronically with the Investment Adviser Registration Depository
(IARD) established and maintained by the Securities Exchange Commission
(SEC). The Department promulgated a final regulation (69 FR 52120, Aug.
24, 2004) 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 approval is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Summary Plan Description Requirements under ERISA.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0039.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 3,507,787.
Responses: 108,006,000.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 262,000.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$295,148,000.
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 that 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 administrator to furnish participants
and specified beneficiaries a summary of material modifications (SMM)
or summary of material reductions (SMR). The Department of Labor
(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 the OMB Control No. 1210-
0039. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Employee Benefit Plan Claims Procedure under ERISA.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0053.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 6,646,164.
Responses: 334,015,402.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 506,808.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$509,877,037.
Description: Section 503 of ERISA requires each employee benefit
plan to provide, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Secretary
of Labor, notice in writing to any participant or beneficiary whose
claim for benefits under the plan has been denied. The notice must set
forth the specific reasons for the denial and must be written in a
manner calculated to be understood by the claimant. Plans must also
give a participant or beneficiary whose claim has been denied a
reasonable opportunity to obtain a full and fair review of any benefit
claim denial by the appropriate named fiduciary.
The Department issued a regulation pertaining to benefit claims
procedures in 1977 and amended that regulation in a Notice of Final
Rulemaking (NFRM) published on November 21, 2000 (65 FR 70246). The
regulation pertaining to benefit claims procedures is codified at 29
CFR 2560.503-1. The regulation requires plans to establish reasonable
claims procedures that meet specified standards governing the timing
and content of notices and disclosures. EBSA submitted an ICR for the
information collections in 29 CFR 2560.503-1 to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in connection with
publication of the NFRM, and OMB approved the information collections
under OMB control number 1210-0053. That approval is scheduled to
expire on May 31, 2013.
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: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
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 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (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 approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for this information collection requirement
under OMB Control No. 1210-0064. This approval is currently scheduled
to expire on May 31, 2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
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: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 8,376.
Responses: 8,376.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,396.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: PTE 75-1 provides exemptions from certain prohibited
transaction provisions of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 (ERISA), and the Code for specified types of transactions
between employee benefit plans and broker-dealers, reporting dealers
and banks relating to securities purchases and sales, provided
specified conditions are met. The exempted transactions include an
employee benefit plan's purchase of securities from broker-dealers'
inventories of stocks, from underwriting syndicates in which a plan
fiduciary is a member, from banks, from reporting dealers, and from a
market-maker even if a market-maker is a plan fiduciary. The exempted
transactions also include, under certain conditions, a plan's accepting
an extension of credit from a broker-dealer for the purpose of
facilitating settlement of a securities transaction. Among other
conditions, PTE 75-1 requires that a party seeking
[[Page 70831]]
to rely on the exemption with respect to a transaction maintain
adequate records of the transaction for a period of six years. The
Department has obtained approval from the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for this information collection under OMB Control No.
1210-0092. This approval is currently scheduled to expire on May 31,
2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: PTE 88-59--Residential Mortgage Financing Arrangements
Involving Employee Benefit Plans.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0095.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 2,237.
Responses: 11,184.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 932.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: PTE 88-59 provides an exemption from certain
prohibited transaction provisions of the Employment Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and from certain taxes imposed by the 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 the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control No. 1210-0095. The OMB
approval is currently scheduled to expire on May 31, 2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Petition for Finding under Section 3(40) of ERISA.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0119.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 45.
Responses: 45.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 225.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 163,268.
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 the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), under OMB Control No. 1210-0119, for the information
collections contained in its rules for a finding under section 3(40).
This approval is currently scheduled to expire on May 31, 2013.
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: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 274.
Responses: 2,462.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,859.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $12,309.
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 Pension
Protection Act of 2006, Public Law 109-280 (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
of Labor 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. This recordkeeping requirement constitutes an information
collection within the meaning of the PRA, for which the Department has
obtained approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under
OMB Control No. 1210-0130. The OMB approval is currently scheduled to
expire on May 31, 2013.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Final Amendment to PTE 84-14 for Plan Asset Transactions
Determined by Independent Qualified Professional Asset Managers.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0128.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 4,400.
Responses: 8,800.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 108,900.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$44,130,900.
Description: The Final Amendment to 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 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 is
also 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. The amendment permits a QPAM to manage an investment fund
containing the assets of the QPAM's own plan or an affiliate's plan.
The Department issued a final amendment on July 6, 2010. This
recordkeeping requirement constitutes an information collection within
the meaning of the PRA, for which the Department has obtained approval
from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control No.
1210-0128. The OMB approval is currently scheduled to expire on July
31, 2013.
[[Page 70832]]
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Final Amendment to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 96-23
for Plan Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset Managers.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0145.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
Respondents: 20.
Responses: 40.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,240.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $400,000.
Description: This final amendment to PTE 96-23, a class exemption,
permits various transactions involving employee benefit plans whose
assets are managed by in-house asset managers (INHAMs), provided the
conditions of the exemption are met. In accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) (PRA 95), the Department
submitted the information collection request (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, on July 26, 2010. The approval will
expire on July 31, 2013.
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.
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 16, 2012.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-28464 Filed 11-26-12; 8:45 am]
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