Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests for Public Comment, 53500-53506 [2018-23079]

Agencies

• Employee Benefits Security Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53500-53506]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23079]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration


Proposed Extension of Information Collection Requests 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, 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

[[Page 53501]]

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 December 24, 2018.

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 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: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 Research 
Exception Notice.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0136.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 3.
    Responses: 3.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $16.
    Description: The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 
(GINA), Public Law 110-233, was enacted on May 21, 2008. Title I of 
GINA amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA), the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (Code), and the Social Security Act (SSA) to prohibit 
discrimination in health coverage based on genetic information. 
Sections 101 through 103 of Title I of GINA prevent employment-based 
group health plans and health insurance issuers in the group and 
individual markets from discriminating based on genetic information, 
and from collecting such information. The interim final regulations, 
which are codified at 29 CFR 2590.702-1, only interpret Sections 101 
through 103 of Title I of GINA.
    GINA and the interim final regulations (29 CFR 2590.702-1(c)(5)) 
provide a research exception to the limitations on requesting or 
requiring genetic testing that allow a group health plan or group 
health insurance issuer to request, but not require, a participant or 
beneficiary to undergo a genetic test if all of the following 
conditions of the research exception are satisfied:
     The request must be made pursuant to research that 
complies with 45 CFR part 46 (or equivalent Federal regulations) and 
any applicable State or local law or regulations for the protection of 
human subjects in research. To comply with the informed consent 
requirements of 45 CFR 46.116 (a)(8), a participant must receive a 
disclosure that participation in the research is voluntary, refusal to 
participate cannot involve any penalty or loss of benefits to which the 
participant is otherwise entitled, and the participant may discontinue 
participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which 
the participant is entitled (the Participant Disclosure). The interim 
final regulations provide that when the Participant Disclosure is 
received by participants seeking their informed consent, no additional 
disclosures are required for purposes of the GINA research exception.
     The plan or issuer must make the request in writing and 
must clearly indicate to each participant or beneficiary (or in the 
case of a minor child, to the legal guardian of such beneficiary) to 
whom the request is made that compliance with the request is voluntary 
and noncompliance will have no effect on eligibility for benefits or 
premium or contribution amounts.
     None of the genetic information collected or acquired as a 
result of the research may be used for underwriting purposes.
     The plan or issuer must complete a copy of the ``Notice of 
Research Exception under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination 
Act'' (the Notice) and provide it to the address specified in its 
instructions. The Notice and instructions are available on the 
Department of Labor's website (https://www.dol.gov/ebsa).
    The Participant Disclosure and the Notice are the ICRs contained in 
the interim final rules. The Department previously requested review of 
this information collection and obtained approval OMB under OMB control 
number 1210-0136. The ICRs are scheduled to expire on February 28, 
2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Definition of Plan Assets--Participant Contributions.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0100.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 1.
    Responses: 251.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 8.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $1,464.
    Description: The regulation concerning plan assets and participant 
contributions provides guidance for fiduciaries, participants, and 
beneficiaries of employee benefit plans regarding how participant 
contributions to pension plans must be handled when they are either 
paid to the employer by the participant or directly withheld by the 
employer from the employee's wages for transmission to the pension 
plan. For those employers who may have difficulty meeting the 
regulation's deadlines for transmitting participant contribution, the 
regulation (29 CFR 2510.3-102(d)) provides an opportunity for the 
employer to obtain an extension of the time limit by providing 
participants and the Department with a notice that contains specified 
information. The ICR pertains to this notice requirement. The 
Department previously requested review of this ICR and obtained 
approval from OMB under OMB control number 1210-0100. That approval is 
scheduled to expire on February 28, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Disclosures for Participant-Directed Individual Account 
Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0090.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 518,282.
    Responses: 713,900,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 7,300,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$274,000,000.
    Description: Plan administrators are required to provide plan- and 
investment-related fee and expense information to participants and 
beneficiaries in all participant directed individual account plans 
(e.g., 401(k) plans) for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 
2011. The Department previously requested review of this information 
collection and obtained approval from OMB under OMB control number 
1210-0090. The ICR is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2019.

[[Page 53502]]

    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Bank Collective Investment Funds; Prohibited Transaction 
Class Exemption 1991-38.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0082.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 6,000.
    Responses: 6,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: PTE 91-38 provides an exemption from the prohibited 
transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 (ERISA) for certain transactions between a bank collective 
investment fund and persons who are parties in interest with respect to 
an employee benefit plan. Without the exemption, ERISA sections 406 and 
407(a) and Internal Revenue Code section 4975(c)(1) may prohibit 
transactions between the collective investment fund (CIF) and a party 
in interest to one or more of the employee benefit plans participating 
in the collective investment fund.
    Under PTE 91-38, a collective investment fund generally may engage 
in transactions with parties in interest to a plan that invests in the 
fund as long as the plan's total investment in the fund does not exceed 
a specified percentage of the total assets of the fund. PTE 91-38 also 
contains more limited or differently defined relief for funds holding 
more than the specified percentage for multiemployer plans, and for 
transactions involving employer securities and employer real property. 
In order to ensure that the rights of participants and beneficiaries 
are protected, and that bank collective investment funds can 
demonstrate compliance with the terms of the exemption, the Department 
requires a bank to maintain records regarding the exempted transactions 
and make them available for inspection to specified interested persons 
(including the Department and the Internal Revenue Service) on request 
for a period of six years.
    EBSA previously submitted the information collection provisions of 
PTE 91-38 to OMB for review in an ICR that was approved under the OMB 
Control No. 1210-0082. The current approval is scheduled to expire on 
February 28, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 97-41; Collective 
Investment Funds Conversion Transactions.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0104.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 50.
    Responses: 105.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,760.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $508,282.
    Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 97-41 provides 
an exemption from the prohibited transaction provisions of the 
Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and from 
certain taxes imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The 
exemption permits employee benefit plans to purchase shares of one or 
more open-end investment companies (the funds) registered under the 
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 by transferring in-kind, to the 
investment company, assets of the plan that are part of a collective 
investment fund (CIF) maintained by a bank or plan advisor that is both 
a fiduciary of the plan and an investment advisor to the investment 
company offering the fund.
    The exemption requires that an independent fiduciary receive 
advance written notice of any covered transaction, as well as specific 
written information concerning the funds to be purchased. The 
independent fiduciary must also provide written advance approval of 
conversion transactions and receive written confirmation of each 
transaction, as well as additional on-going disclosures as defined in 
PTE 97-41. These disclosures are the basis for this ICR.
    EBSA previously submitted the information collection provisions of 
PTE 97-41 to OMB for review in connection with promulgation of the 
prohibited transaction exemption. OMB approved the ICR under OMB 
Control No. 1210-0104. The ICR approval is currently scheduled to 
expire on February 28, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Foreign Currency Transactions; Prohibited Transaction Class 
Exemption 1994-20.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0085.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 248.
    Responses: 1,240.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 200.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: PTE 94-20 permits the purchase and sale of foreign 
currencies between an employee benefit plan and a bank, broker-dealer, 
or an affiliate thereof, that is a trustee, custodian, fiduciary, or 
other party in interest with respect to the plan. The exemption is 
available provided that the transaction is directed (within the meaning 
of section IV(e) of the exemption) by a plan fiduciary that is 
independent of the bank, broker-dealer, or affiliate and all other 
conditions of the exemption are satisfied. Without this exemption, 
certain aspects of these transactions might be prohibited by ERISA 
section 406(a).
    To protect the interests of participants and beneficiaries of the 
employee benefit plan, the exemption requires that the party wishing to 
take advantage of the exemption (1) develop written policies and 
procedures applicable to trading in foreign currencies on behalf of an 
employee benefit plan; (2) provide a written confirmation with respect 
to each transaction in foreign currency to the independent plan 
fiduciary, disclosing specified information; and (3) maintain records 
pertaining to the transaction for a period of six years. This ICR 
relates to the foregoing disclosure and recordkeeping requirements.
    EBSA previously submitted the information collection provisions of 
PTE 94-20 to OMB for review in connection with promulgation of the 
prohibited transaction exemption. OMB approved the ICR under OMB 
Control No. 1210-0085. The ICR approval is currently scheduled to 
expire on February 28, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Affordable Care Act Internal Claims and Appeals and External 
Review Procedures for Non-Grandfathered Plans.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0144.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 1,801,225.
    Responses: 278,413.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,271.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$1,143,236.
    Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public 
Law 111-148, (the Affordable Care Act) was enacted by President Obama 
on March 23, 2010. As part of the Act, Congress

[[Page 53503]]

added Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) section 2719, which provides 
rules relating to internal claims and appeals and external review 
processes. The Department, in conjunction with the Departments of the 
Treasury and Department of Health and Human Services (collectively, the 
Departments), issued interim final regulations on July 23, 2010 (75 FR 
43330), which set forth rules implementing PHS Act section 2719 for 
internal claims and appeals and external review processes. With respect 
to internal claims and appeals processes for group health coverage, PHS 
Act section 2719 and paragraph (b)(2)(i) of the interim final 
regulations provide that group health plans and health insurance 
issuers offering group health insurance coverage must comply with the 
internal claims and appeals processes set forth in 29 CFR 2560.503-1 
(the DOL claims procedure regulation) and update such processes in 
accordance with standards established by the Secretary of Labor in 
paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of the regulations.
    Also, PHS Act section 2719 and the interim final regulations 
provide that group health plans and issuers offering group health 
insurance coverage must comply either with a State external review 
process or a Federal review process. The regulations provide a basis 
for determining when plans and issuers must comply with an applicable 
State external review process and when they must comply with the 
Federal external review process.
    The claims procedure regulation imposes information collection 
requirements as part of the reasonable procedures that an employee 
benefit plan must establish regarding the handling of a benefit claim. 
These requirements include third-party notice and disclosure 
requirements that the plan must satisfy by providing information to 
participants and beneficiaries of the plan.
    On June 24, 2011, the Department amended the interim final 
regulations. Two amendments revised the ICR. The first amendment 
provides that plans no longer are required to include diagnosis and 
treatment codes on notices of adverse benefit determination and final 
internal adverse benefit determination. Instead, they must notify 
claimants of the opportunity to receive the codes on request and plans 
and issuers must provide the codes upon request.
    The second amendment also changes the method plans and issuers must 
use to determine who is eligible to receive a notice in a culturally 
and linguistically appropriate manner, and the information that must be 
provided to such persons. The previous rule was based on the number of 
employees at a firm. The new rule is based on whether a participant or 
beneficiary resides in a county where ten percent or more of the 
population residing in the county is literate only in the same non-
English language. The ICR was approved by OMB under OMB Control Number 
1210-0144 and is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Affordable Care Act Advance Notice of Rescission.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0141.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 100.
    Responses: 1,533.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 20.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $250.
    Description: Section 2712 of the PHS Act, as added by the 
Affordable Care Act, and the Department's interim final regulation (26 
CFR 54.9815-2712, 29 CFR 2590.715-2712, 45 CFR 147.2712) provides rules 
regarding rescissions of health coverage for group health plans and 
health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance 
coverage. Under the statute and the interim final regulations, a group 
health plan, or a health insurance issuer offering group or individual 
health insurance coverage, generally must not rescind coverage except 
in the case of fraud or an intentional misrepresentation of a material 
fact. This standard applies to all rescissions, whether in the group or 
individual insurance market, or self-insured coverage. The rules also 
apply regardless of any contestability period of the plan or issuer.
    PHS Act section 2712 adds a new advance notice requirement when 
coverage is rescinded where still permissible. Specifically, the second 
sentence in section 2712 provides that coverage may not be cancelled 
unless prior notice is provided, and then only as permitted under PHS 
Act sections 2702(c) and 2742(b). Under the interim final regulations, 
even if prior notice is provided, rescission is only permitted in cases 
of fraud or an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact as 
permitted under the cited provisions.
    The interim final regulations provide that a group health plan, or 
a health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage, 
must provide at least 30 days advance notice to an individual before 
coverage may be rescinded. The notice must be provided regardless of 
whether the rescission is of group or individual coverage; or whether, 
in the case of group coverage, the coverage is insured or self-insured, 
or the rescission applies to an entire group or only to an individual 
within the group. The ICR was approved by OMB under OMB Control Number 
1210-0141 and is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2019.
    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: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 983,923.
    Responses: 18,143,918.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,220.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $366,791.
    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

[[Page 53504]]

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 March 31, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Patient 
Protection Notice.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0142.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 41,386.
    Responses: 693,007.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 5,173.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $5,371.
    Description: Section 2719A of the PHS Act, as added by the 
Affordable Care Act, and the Department's interim final regulation (29 
CFR 2590.715-2719A), states that if a group health plan, or a health 
insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance 
coverage, requires or provides for designation by a participant, 
beneficiary, or enrollee of a participating primary care provider, then 
the plan or issuer must permit each participant, beneficiary, or 
enrollee to designate any participating primary care provider who is 
available to accept the participant, beneficiary, or enrollee. When 
applicable, it is important that individuals enrolled in a plan or 
health insurance coverage know of their rights to (1) choose a primary 
care provider or a pediatrician when a plan or issuer requires 
participants or subscribers to designate a primary care physician; or 
(2) obtain obstetrical or gynecological care without prior 
authorization. Accordingly, paragraph (a)(4) of the interim final 
regulations requires such plans and issuers to provide a notice to 
participants (in the individual market, primary subscribers) of these 
rights when applicable. Model language is provided in the interim final 
regulations. The notice must be provided whenever the plan or issuer 
provides a participant with a summary plan description or other similar 
description of benefits under the plan or health insurance coverage, or 
in the individual market, provides a primary subscriber with a policy, 
certificate, or contract of health insurance. The ICR was approved by 
OMB under OMB Control Number 1210-0142 and is scheduled to expire on 
March 31, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Employee Retirement Income Security Act Summary Annual 
Report Requirement.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0040.
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, Businesses or other 
for-profits.
    Respondents: 721,000.
    Responses: 168,200,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,300,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$62,500,000.
    Description: ERISA Section 104(b)(3) and the regulation published 
at 29 CFR 2520.104b-10 require, with certain exceptions, that 
administrators of employee benefit plans furnish annually to each 
participant and certain beneficiaries a summary annual report (SAR) 
meeting the requirements of the statute and regulation. The regulation 
prescribes the content and format of the SAR and the timing of its 
delivery. The SAR provides current information about the plan and 
assists those who receive it in understanding the plan's current 
financial operation and condition. It also explains participants' and 
beneficiaries' rights to receive further information on these issues.
    EBSA previously submitted the ICR provisions in the regulation at 
29 CFR 2520.104b-10 to OMB, and OMB approved the ICR under OMB Control 
No. 1210-0040. The ICR approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 
2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Summary of Benefits and Coverage and Uniform Glossary 
Required Under the Affordable Care Act.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0147.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 4,644,924.
    Responses: 71,252,236.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 431,552.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): 
$9,273,266.
    Description: Section 2715 of the PHS Act directs the Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the 
Department of the Treasury (collectively, the Departments), in 
consultation with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners 
(NAIC) and a working group comprised of stakeholders, to ``develop 
standards for use by a group health plan and a health insurance issuer 
in compiling and providing to applicants, enrollees, and policyholders 
and certificate holders a summary of benefits and coverage explanation 
that accurately describes the benefits and coverage under the 
applicable plan or coverage.'' To implement these disclosure 
requirements, collection of information requests relate to the 
provision of the following: Summary of benefits and coverage, which 
includes coverage examples; a uniform glossary of health coverage and 
medical terms; and a notice of modifications. The ICR was approved by 
OMB under OMB Control Number 1210-0147 and is scheduled to expire on 
April 30, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Annual Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements 
(Form M-1).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0116.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 456.
    Responses: 456.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 97.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $81,900.
    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. In the interest of assuring 
compliance with Part 7, section ERISA 101(g), added by HIPAA, further 
permits the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to require multiple 
employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs), as defined in ERISA section 
3(40), to report to the Secretary in such form and manner as the 
Secretary might determine. The Department published a final rule 
providing for such reporting on an annual basis, together with a form 
(Form M-1) to be used by MEWAs for the annual report. The reporting 
requirement enables the Secretary to determine whether the requirements 
of Part 7 of ERISA are being carried out.
    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148, 
124 Stat. 119) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 
2010 (Pub. L. 111-152, 124 Stat. 1029) (these are collectively known as 
the ``Affordable Care Act'') amended ERISA section 101(g). Under this 
amendment, MEWAs providing benefits consisting of medical

[[Page 53505]]

care (within the meaning of ERISA section 733(a)(2) that are not group 
health plans must now register with the Secretary prior to operating in 
a State. EBSA previously submitted an ICR for the information 
collection in Form M-1 to OMB for review under the PRA and received 
approval under OMB control number 1210-0116. This current approval is 
scheduled to expire on June 30, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    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.
    Affected Public Businesses or other for-profits, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 2,300,000.
    Responses: 8,600,000.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $75,000.
    Description: Subsection (c) of 29 CFR 2590.701-6 requires group 
health plans to provide a notice describing the plan's special 
enrollment rules to each employee who is offered an initial opportunity 
to enroll in the group health plan. The special enrollment rules 
described in the notice of special enrollment generally provide 
enrollment rights to employees and their dependents in specified 
circumstances occurring after the employee or dependent initially 
declines to enroll in the plan. EBSA previously submitted an ICR 
concerning the notice of special enrollment to OMB for review under the 
PRA and received approval under OMB Control No. 1210-0101. The current 
ICR approval is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemptions for Multiple 
Employer Plans and Multiple Employer Apprenticeship Plans, PTE 76-1, 
PTE 77-10, PTE 78-6.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    OMB Number: 1210-0058.
    Affected Public Businesses or other for-profits, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Respondents: 3,625.
    Responses: 3,625.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 906.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
    Description: This ICR covers information collections contained in 
three related prohibited transaction class exemptions: PTE 76-1, PTE 
77-10, and PTE 78-6. All three of these exemptions cover transactions 
that were recognized by the Department as being well-established, 
reasonable, and customary transactions in which collectively bargained 
multiple employer plans (principally, multiemployer plans, but also 
including other collectively bargained multiple employer plans) 
frequently engage in order to carry out their purposes.
    PTE 76-1 provides relief, under specified conditions, for three 
types of transactions: (1) Part A of PTE 76-1 permits collectively 
bargained multiple employer plans to take several types of actions 
regarding delinquent or uncollectible employer contributions; (2) Part 
B of PTE 76-1 permits collectively bargained multiple employer plans, 
under specified conditions, to make construction loans to participating 
employers; and (3) Part C of PTE 76-1 permits collectively bargained 
multiple employer plans to share office space and administrative 
services, and the costs associated with such office space and services, 
with parties in interest. PTE 77-10 complements Part C of PTE 76-1 by 
providing relief from the prohibitions of ERISA section 406(b)(2) with 
respect to collectively bargained multiple employer plans sharing 
office space and administrative services with parties in interest if 
specific conditions are met. PTE 78-6 provides an exemption to 
collectively bargained multiple employer apprenticeship plans for the 
purchase or leasing of personal property from a contributing employer 
(or its wholly owned subsidiary) and for the leasing of real property 
(other than office space within the contemplation of ERISA section 
408(b)(2)) from a contributing employer (or its wholly owned 
subsidiary) or an employee organization any of whose members' work 
results in contributions being made to the plan.
    Each of these PTEs requires, as part of its conditions, either 
written agreements, recordkeeping, or both. The Department has combined 
the information collection provisions of the three PTEs into one ICR 
because it believes that the public benefits from having the 
opportunity to collectively review these closely related exemptions and 
their similar information collections. The Department previously 
submitted an ICR to OMB for approval of the information collections in 
PTEs 76-1, 77-10, and 78-6 and received OMB approval under OMB Control 
No. 1210-0058. The current approval is scheduled to expire on June 30, 
2019.
    Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of 
Labor.
    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: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Respondents: 10.
    Responses: 10.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 20.
    Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $595,700.
    Description: Congress enacted section 6605 of the Affordable Care 
Act, Public Law 111-148, 124 Stat. 119, 780 (2010), which adds section 
521 to ERISA, to provide the Secretary with additional enforcement 
authority to protect plan participants, beneficiaries, employees or 
employee organizations, or other members of the public against 
fraudulent, abusive, or financially hazardous Multiple Employer Welfare 
Arrangements (MEWAs). This section authorizes the Secretary to issue ex 
parte cease and desist orders when it appears to the Secretary that the 
alleged conduct of a MEWA 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.'' A person that is adversely affected by the issuance of 
a cease and desist order may request an administrative hearing 
regarding the order. This request for an administrative hearing is an 
information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    The Department previously submitted this information collection to 
OMB in an ICR that was approved under OMB Control Number 1210-0148. The 
current approval is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2019.

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

[[Page 53506]]

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: October 17, 2018.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2018-23079 Filed 10-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-29-P