Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Request for Assistance From the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, 13750 [2024-03659]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 37 (Friday, February 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 13750]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03659]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Request for Assistance From the Department of 
Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Employee 
Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)-sponsored information 
collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that the agency 
receives on or before March 25, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    Comments are invited on: (1) whether the collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Howell by telephone at 202-
693-6782, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits 
Security Administration (EBSA) maintains a program designed to provide 
education and technical assistance to participants and beneficiaries as 
well as to employers, plan sponsors, and service providers related to 
their health and retirement plan benefits. EBSA assists participants in 
understanding their rights, responsibilities, and benefits under 
employee benefit law and intervenes informally on their behalf with the 
plan sponsor in order to assist them in obtaining the health and 
retirement benefits to which they may have been inappropriately denied, 
which can avert the necessity for a formal investigation or a civil 
action. EBSA maintains a toll-free telephone number through which 
inquirers can reach Benefits Advisors in ten Regional Offices. EBSA has 
also made a request for assistance form available on its website for 
those wishing to obtain assistance in this manner. Contact with EBSA is 
entirely voluntary.
    The collection of information is an intake form for assistance 
requests from the public. This information includes the plan type, 
broad categories of problem type, contact information for responsible 
parties, and a mechanism for the inquirer to attach relevant documents. 
Summary data from the existing intake form has also been used, in 
accordance with section 513 of ERISA, to respond to requests for 
information regarding employee benefit plans from members of Congress 
and governmental oversight entities, and to inform the policy 
formulation process. For additional substantive information about this 
ICR, see the related notice published in the Federal Register on August 
25, 2023 (88 FR 58312).
    This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency 
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and 
the public is generally not required to respond to an information 
collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid 
OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions 
of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to 
comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid 
OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
    DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for 
three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than 
three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information 
collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive 
a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.
    Agency: DOL-EBSA.
    Title of Collection: Request for Assistance from the Department of 
Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration.
    OMB Control Number: 1210-0146.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 14,991.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 14,991.
    Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 7,496 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.

    (Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D))

Michael Howell,
Senior Paperwork Reduction Act Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2024-03659 Filed 2-22-24; 8:45 am]
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