Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests Submitted for Public Comment, 30333-30336 [2013-12191]

Agencies

• Employee Benefits Security Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 99 (Wednesday, May 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30333-30336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-12191]


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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 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 (https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the 
Addresses section on or before July 22, 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).

I. 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 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: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 649,000.
    Responses: 15,662,333.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 503,815.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$20,217,778.
    Description: The continuation coverage provisions of section 601 
through 608 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA) (and parallel provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (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 the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 1210-0123, which is currently 
scheduled to expire on September 30, 2013.

[[Page 30334]]

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Model Employer CHIP Notice.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1210-0137.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit institutions; not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 7,056,000.
    Responses: 203,795,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,053,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$25,271,000.
    Description: On February 4, 2009, President Obama signed the 
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 
(CHIPRA, Pub. L. 111-3). 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 
Internal Revenue 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 Number 1210-0137 and currently scheduled to expire on September 
30, 2013.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Disclosures for Participant Directed Individual Account 
Plans Under ERISA Section 404(c).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0090.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 483,000.
    Responses: 738,206,912.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 6,583,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $ 
221,000,000.
    Description: Section 404(c) of ERISA provides that, if an 
individual account pension plan permits a participant or beneficiary to 
exercise control over assets in his or her account and the participant 
or beneficiary in fact exercises such control, the participant or 
beneficiary shall not be deemed to be a fiduciary by such exercise of 
control and no person otherwise a fiduciary shall be liable for any 
loss or breach that results from the participant's or beneficiary's 
exercise of control.
    The Department's regulation at 29 CFR 2550.404c-1 describes the 
circumstances in which a participant or beneficiary will be considered 
to have exercised independent control over the assets in his or her 
individual account as contemplated in section 404(c). The regulation 
specifies information that must be made available to participants or 
beneficiaries in order for them to exercise independent control over 
the assets in their individual accounts. The regulation provides that 
the relief from fiduciary liability specified in section 404(c) is not 
available with respect to a transaction undertaken by a participant or 
beneficiary unless the specific information is provided to the 
participant or beneficiary. The ICR contained in this rule was approved 
by OMB under OMB Control Number 1210-0090, which is scheduled to expire 
on October 31, 2013.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Affordable Care Act Grandfathered Health Plan Disclosure, 
Recordkeeping Requirement, and Change in Carrier Disclosure
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0140.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 2,200,000.
    Responses: 56,457,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,077,800.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $561,000.
    Description: Section 1251 of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act provides that certain plans and health insurance coverage in 
existence as of March 23, 2010, known as grandfathered health plans, 
are not required to comply with certain statutory provisions in the 
Act. To maintain its status as a grandfathered health plan, the interim 
final regulations (29 CFR 2590.715-1251(a)(3)) require the plan to 
maintain records documenting the terms of the plan in effect on March 
23, 2010, and any other documents that are necessary to verify, explain 
or clarify status as a grandfathered health plan. The plan must make 
such records available for examination upon request by participants, 
beneficiaries, individual policy subscribers, or a State or Federal 
agency official.
    The interim final regulations (29 CFR 2590.715-1251(a)(2)) also 
require a grandfathered health plan to include a statement in any plan 
material provided to participants or beneficiaries describing the 
benefits provided under the plan or health insurance coverage, that the 
plan or coverage believes it is a grandfathered health plan within the 
meaning of section 1251 of the Act, that being a grandfathered health 
plan means that the plan does not include certain consumer protections 
of the Act, and providing contact information for participants to 
direct questions regarding which protections apply and which 
protections do not apply to a grandfathered health plan and what might 
cause a plan to change from grandfathered health plan status and to 
file complaints. The ICR contained in this interim final rule was 
approved by OMB under OMB Control Number 1210-0140, which is currently 
scheduled to expire on November 30, 2013.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: PTE 92-6: Sale of Individual Life Insurance or Annuity 
Contracts By a Plan.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0063.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 21,533.
    Responses: 334,661.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 14,745.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $101,670.
    Description: PTE 92-6 exempts from the prohibited transaction 
restrictions of ERISA the sale of individual life insurance or annuity 
contracts by a plan to participants, relatives of participants, 
employers any of whose employees are covered by the plan, other 
employee benefit plans, owner-employees or shareholder-employees. In 
the absence of this exemption, certain aspects of

[[Page 30335]]

these transactions might be prohibited by section 406 of ERISA.
    Among other conditions, PTE 92-6 requires that pension plans inform 
the insured participant of a proposed sale of a life insurance or 
annuity policy to the employer, a relative, another plan, an owner-
employee, or a shareholder employee. 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. 1210-0063. The OMB approval is currently scheduled to 
expire on December 31, 2013.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Regulation Relating to Loans to Plan Participants and 
Beneficiaries Who Are Parties In Interest With Respect to The Plan.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0076.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 1,900.
    Responses: 1,900.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $673,000.
    Description: ERISA prohibits a plan fiduciary from causing the plan 
to engage in a transaction if he knows or should know that such 
transaction constitutes direct or indirect loan or extension of credit 
between the plan and a party in interest. ERISA section 408(b)(1) 
exempts from this prohibition loans from a plan to parties in interest 
who are participants and beneficiaries of the plan, provided that 
certain requirements are satisfied. In final regulations published in 
the Federal Register on July 20, 1989, (54 FR 30520), the Department 
provided additional guidance on section 408(b)(1)(C), which requires 
that loans be made in accordance with specific provisions in the plan. 
The ICR contained within this rule was approved by OMB under OMB 
Control Number 1210-0076, which is scheduled to expire on December 31, 
2013.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: PTE 91-55: Transactions Between Individual Retirement 
Accounts and Authorized Purchasers of American Eagle Coins.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0079.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 3.
    Responses: 10,286.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 349.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $3,125.
    Description: PTE 91-55 permits purchases and sales by certain 
``individual retirement accounts,'' as defined in Internal Revenue Code 
section 408 (IRAs) of American Eagle bullion coins (``Coins'') in 
principal transactions from or to broker-dealers in Coins that are 
``authorized purchasers'' of Coins in bulk quantities from the United 
States Mint and which are also ``disqualified persons,'' within the 
meaning of Code section 4975(e)(2), with respect to IRAs. The exemption 
also describes the circumstances under which an interest free extension 
of credit in connection with such sales and purchases is permitted. In 
the absence of an exemption, such purchases and sales and extensions of 
credit would be impermissible under ERISA.
    Among other conditions, the exemption requires certain information 
related to covered transactions in Coins to be disclosed by the 
authorized purchaser to persons who direct the transaction for the IRA. 
Currently, it is standard industry practice that most of this 
information is provided to persons directing investments in an IRA when 
transactions in Coins occur. The exemption also requires that the 
disqualified person maintain for a period of at least six years such 
records as are necessary to allow accredited persons, as defined in the 
exemption, to determine whether the conditions of the transaction have 
been met. Finally, an authorized purchaser must provide a confirmation 
statement with respect to each covered transaction to the person who 
directs the transaction for the IRA. The requirements constitute 
information collections within the meaning of the PRA, for which the 
Department has obtained approval from OMB under OMB Control No. 1210-
0079. The OMB approval is currently scheduled to expire on December 31, 
2013.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: PTE 85-68: Permit Employee Benefit Plans to Invest in 
Customer Notes of Employers.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0094.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 325.
    Responses: 325.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $1.
    Description: Pursuant to section 408 of ERISA, the Department has 
authority to grant an exemption from the prohibitions of sections 406 
and 407(a) if it can determine that the exemption is administratively 
feasible, in the interest of participants and beneficiaries, and 
protective of the rights of participants and beneficiaries of the plan. 
PTE 85-68 describes the conditions under which a plan is permitted to 
acquire customer notes accepted by an employer of employees covered by 
the plan in the ordinary course of the employer's primary business 
activity. The exemption covers sales as well as contributions of 
customer notes by an employer to its plan. Specifically, the exemption 
requires that the employer provide a written guarantee to repurchase a 
note which becomes more than 60 days delinquent, that such notes be 
secured by a perfected security interest in the property financed by 
the note, and that the collateral be insured. The exemption requires 
records pertaining to the transaction to be maintained for a period of 
six years for the purpose of ensuring that the transactions are 
protective of the rights of participants and beneficiaries. 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. 1210-0094. The OMB approval is currently 
scheduled to expire on December 31, 2013.

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Default Investment Alternatives under Participant Directed 
Individual Account Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0132.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Respondents: 648,000.
    Responses: 83,358,375.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 782,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$32,116,000.
    Description: Section 404(c) of ERISA states that participants or 
beneficiaries who can hold individual accounts under their pension 
plans, and who can exercise control over the assets in their

[[Page 30336]]

accounts ``as determined in regulations of the Secretary [of Labor]'' 
will not be treated as fiduciaries of the plan. Moreover, no other plan 
fiduciary will be liable for any loss, or by reason of any breach, 
resulting from the participants' or beneficiaries exercise of control 
over their individual account assets.
    The Pension Protection Act (PPA), Public Law 109-280, amended ERISA 
section 404(c) by adding subparagraph (c)(5)(A). The new subparagraph 
says that a participant in an individual account plan who fails to make 
investment elections regarding his or her account assets will 
nevertheless be treated as having exercised control over those assets 
so long as the plan provides appropriate notice (as specified) and 
invests the assets ``in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 
Secretary [of Labor].'' Section 404(c)(5)(A) further requires the 
Department of Labor (Department) to issue corresponding final 
regulations within six months after enactment of the PPA. The PPA was 
signed into law on August 17, 2006.
    The Department of Labor issued a final regulation under ERISA 
section 404(c)(5)(A) offering guidance on the types of investment 
vehicles that plans may choose as their ``qualified default investment 
alternative''(QDIA). The regulation also outlines two information 
collections. First, it implements the statutory requirement that plans 
provide annual notices to participants and beneficiaries whose account 
assets could be invested in a QDIA. Second, the regulation requires 
plans to pass certain pertinent materials they receive relating to a 
QDIA to those participants and beneficiaries with assets invested in 
the QDIA as well to provide certain information on request. The ICRs 
are approved under OMB Control Number 1210-0132, which is scheduled to 
expire on December 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: May 9, 2013.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013-12191 Filed 5-21-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P